Cruising the Broughtons, Part 2
15 August 2018 | Kwatsi Bay Marina, The Broughtons
Sunny, hot
Tribune Channel
After a calm night, we woke in Potts Lagoon to yet another beautiful sunny morning. The weather here has been impressive! We came equipped with warm clothing, down vests, etc. But they are tucked far away. The days have been sunny and hot, cooling off in the evenings, perfect cruising weather.
Off to check the crab trap, where we found four nice male Red Rock Crab, all well over the legal minimum. By some miracle, I was able to pull them all out of the trap without getting my fingers caught in their snapping jaws. Into a bucket and off back to the boat to clean them. I had watched our neighbours at Lagoon Cove with interest and went at it with some trepidation. Red Rock crabs have a much harder shell than the Dungeness crabs that our friends had caught. But after some struggling on my part (more on the crab's part), we had them dispatched and into the pot. Next job, Jeannie's, picking the meat out. This turned out to be the worst part, given the amount of complaining I heard.
But off we went deeper into the Broughton Archipelago. We retraced our steps up Clio Channel, passing Minstrel Island and its abandoned village out into Knight Inlet, the longest inlet in BC. But we just crossed it into beautiful Tribune Channel. We wound our way up for 16 miles between the towering cliffs plunging straight down so that we motored along just a boatlength off the cliff face, still with no reading on the depth sounder.
Rounding Irvine Point, we turned into Kwatsi Bay, our destination for the night. Heading in, we called the Kwatsi Bay Marina on VHF 66A and received a warm welcome and docking instructions. Tied up, we met owners Max and Anka and were told about the (minimal) facilities and the happy hour for which they are well known. Normally we would avoid this sort of activity but the warm welcome made it impossible. Also, our friends Mike and Paula on Verstovia were there to meet us. So with the four other boats in the marina, we enjoyed a beautiful evening on the dock.
In the morning, we decided to stay another night, and hiked a short way to what would in a normal summer be a waterfall. We invited Frank and Marchien Archer, dockmates, on the hike. This year, heading for a record dry summer, the falls were just a trickle. But it was good to stretch our legs.
Back at the dinghy, we dragged it out with no damage (this time) and back to the boat for lunch. Afternoon was kayaking around the bay and just relaxing.
The evening was a pot luck on the dock, again not something we would normally look forward to, but with our friendly hosts, we prepared Chicken Pesto Penne and again enjoyed ourselves, meeting new dockmates, including one who was a musician in LA whose band hosted such sit-ins as Taj Mahal and the Rolling Stones. He was very modest but his crew had mentioned it, so we enjoyed hearing his experiences. He has since become a lawyer!! From bad to worse, I said.