Dude, Don't Harsh My Mellow!

Today was just lovely. After two busy dock-days at the Discovery Bay Marina in Campbell River --doing laundry, reprovisioning, professional beard trim, etc., we set out for Desolation Sound and Discovery Passage. In spite of its name Desolation Sound is reputed to be awesome. Waggoner's describes its "unforgettable beauty .one of the Northwest's most dreamed-about cruising destinations."

The weather was calm as we rounded Cape Mudge, our first anchorage is behind Rebecca Spit in Drew Harbour. This is part of a Provincial Marine Park and has one of the prettiest beaches I have seen. We anchored just off the beach - all alone for about six minutes. A steady stream of sailboats pulled in all afternoon and also set their hooks. No worries, there is plenty of splendor to go around. We skiffed to shore and took a nice long, flat walk up and down the spit - first on the harbor side and then on the exposed Sutil Channel side. It felt good to stretch and walk.

For those of you who haven't seen Rob turn into man/boy when he gets in his skiff I'll describe the transformation. It's a twelve foot Lund. He paid $200 for it in Petersburg several years ago; it was baby poop brown and butt ugly back then. He spent many hours stringing buoys as bumpers, just like a seine skiff, repainting and transforming the skiff into a very presentable ride. He bought a fifteen horse motor (out of the trunk of some guy's car in Muldoon.) and he loves it! What is truly remarkable is the transition to 16 year old boy when he starts running it. Something about "getting on step" mixed with testosterone. So once we were back in the skiff, Milo and I braced ourselves for a fast and sure ride across to Heriot Bay to explore things there a bit. Here sits a lovely Inn, right on the waterside, with freshly varnished Adirondack chairs all lined up along the quay. Had to have some of that. We ordered up a cold adult beverage and enjoyed the view.

Back at our boat, we excitedly open the hatch to the "Guido" deck. As you know, most luxury Liners have their Lido deck and we of course have the Guido Deck. Reserved for special days with lots of sun, little wind and wonderful views, this was going to be perfect. A couple of grilled Canadian Rib-eyes, a fresh salad and yams, we were savoring the food, enjoying the wine and drinking in the majesty of the moment when this fella on the sailboat DIRECTLY in front of us stands, turn to his right and PEES. "Dude!"

Today we are headed to Gorge Harbour, entered through a narrow cleft in the surrounding rock cliffs. Should be some great kayaking.