Sirius Sailin'

Saturday 4 July

We were northwest bound for Desolation Sound by 08:00, so that we could take advantage of a favorable current and benign weather conditions in the morning and early afternoon hours. We had an excellent day; the conditions were great, blue skies, light winds and warm sunshine. Along the way, we saw seals, eagles, gulls, lion's mane jellyfish, and moon jellyfish. We stopped mid-afternoon for fuel at Lund, "The Gateway to Desolation Sound." The harbor is easily accessed with an efficient fuel dock, so our stop was brief and we were quickly back on course for Squirrel Cove. The price of diesel at Lund was $1.09 Canadian per liter or about $3.35 per gallon US.

Squirrel Cove, our destination, is a protected tree lined anchorage that can shelter many boats. There is a small islet in the cove nicknamed "Dog Island," as it's an excellent place to walk the dogs without fear of running into a bear or mountain lion. Pretty much anywhere we travel from now until we return to Oregon, we will need to be mindful of the possibility of encountering bears, cougars, and wolves. All of these animals have dog "on the menu" and Kaela would be a particularly tasty treat!

Our two nights in Squirrel Cove were graced by the glow of the almost full moon as it rose over the tops of the evergreens covering the small islands near where we anchored. Midevening, the crew of Kairos joined us with their dog, Skipper, for a walk on Dog Island. All four dogs seemed overjoyed at the opportunity for a romp after being onboard for about ten hours. Casey, Jake, and Kaela raced into the water and invited us to throw sticks for them to retrieve. Skipper, a gorgeous Sheltie, forgot his usual reticence about the water and eventually went in chest deep to join in the fun.

We bid bon voyage to Nan, Steve, and Skipper on Sunday afternoon as they headed toward the Broughton Islands. It was relaxing to stay at anchor in Squirrel Cove for a full day before continuing our journey. We took the dinghy across to the outer bay to visit the little community of Squirrel Cove where there is a market/hardware store and a co-op island art gallery. There was also a Saturday/Sunday Market, where we hoped to find some local produce. We did find a jar of island honey, but there was little in the way of produce for sale, except two heads of lettuce and a small bowl of beans. Perhaps the produce was sold out at the Saturday Market! A delicious lunch of fresh seafood soup and salads at a small beach front restaurant just next door to the market area more than compensated for our mild disappointment at not being able to buy a delectable island lettuce.

The remainder of Sunday afternoon was focused on planning the next passages in our route north to the top of Vancouver Island. When traveling by sailboat or any boat with a top speed of less than 10 knots, all passages in this area must be timed around slack current. One must use flood and ebb currents to one's advantage, just as in Dodd Narrows. There are numerous narrows, passes, and channels that restrict the flow enough to create rapids, whirlpools, and overfalls, during all but slack water. Traveling north of Desolation Sound requires navigating through at least one set of rapids if the direct route through Discovery Passage and Johnstone Strait is taken and perhaps several sets, if an alternative inner island route is traversed.

While enjoying the evening in the cockpit at anchor, we were visited by a couple touring the harbor in their dinghy. They were very pleasant and after admiring our dogs, they invited us over to join their friends for dessert. On our way for the dogs' last spin around Dog Island for the evening; we stopped to enjoy a wonderful bananas flambé dessert. It was fun to meet new people and trade sailing stories.