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Epilogue - The Places we have been

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Well it’s our last night and I’ve chosen the tightest little anchorage on the coast, Frenchman’s Cove just around the point for our run down the Straight back to home port.  We’ve had our last supper and a full moon is lighting up the cove as everyone gets a turn on YouTube music to choose an artist and a song.  Our run of the rapids was a bit more edgy than the run in but we made it through without incident.  The whale bell was rung on the way down Agamemnon Channel with 3 orcas on our port side and we spent a delightful day on the beach on Thormanby island. A great way to end the trip.  I’ll never forget Patti on the dock at Bishop’s Bay directing traffic and access to the hot tub between Vietnamese fisherman, drunken fishermen and water taxi passengers  Although we haven’t solved any of the worlds problem’s on this trip, the people we have met have given us hope, Brady who is willing to spend months on his boat as a ranger for the Kitsoo band to protect the Grizzlies of Khutze inlet
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Sketches from the Raincoast - Vol. 3

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Day 27 - Sechelt Inlet

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Sechelt inlet has been a home and source of bounty to the local First Nations for time immemorial, mostly populated by the Tuwanek nation but the protected nature of the inlet led to exploitation by logging operations, fish farms and fishing resorts  Over the years these commercial and industrial operations have decreased and the inlet has become a recreational haven for seasonal and full time retirees and Vancouver day trippers.   The inlet is separated from the Salish Sea by a narrow spit of land between Trail Bay and Porpoise Bay which, if removed would make it an incredible shortcut to Jervis Inlet and parts north. saving boaters literally a days travel or more.  Local legends has it that the Sechelt people were the first to try and make a canal but we’re unsuccessful and no one had tried since.  I wonder if it would create two great rapids at the north and south with slightly different slack times  and whether that would lead to huge nutrient upwelling and increased health for the
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Day 26 - Back in Harmony

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We’re anchored in one of my favourite spots on the coast, tucked into a nook behind one of the islands in the Harmony islands marine park in Hotham Sound.  It’s only about a 45 minute hop to the head of Skookumchuk rapids which we will traverse tommorrow to head into Sechelt Inlet for our second to last night of the trip. It was Father’s Day today so it was good we had cell service again most of the way down from Lund where we stopped for some fuel, water and a delicious breakfast at Nancy’s bakery, famous up and down the coast for its Cinnamon Buns and friendly service. Roman and I both got to talk to all of our kids which was a treat.  Malaspina Straight was calm most of the way but started to get lumpy around Nelson Island where we tucked back in for the run to Hotham. As promised, the day was clear, sunny and hot but we got notice of a Gale warning for the Georgia straight for tonight, tommorrow and Monday so it’s a good thing we’ll be in the inlet and it should calm down for our r
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Day 25 - Cortes and the Laughing Oyster

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After filling up the water tanks and a send off from Sarah at 7am, we had another uneventful crossing through Dent and Yuculta rapids and made it through Uganda Passage to Manson’s landing at the Northwestern edge of Cortes island in good time for 10am.  We had planned a day at Hague Lake and kayaking through the Lagoon but the weather was still cold and cloudy so it turned into a visit to the Natural Foods Co-op for a breakfast of homemade pastries and a tour of the Museum followed by a walk down to the Lake and a nap on the amazing white sand beach listening to the sounds of kids playing In the water.  We all felt a bit weird seeing so many people again and cars on the road after being so isolated up the coast the past 3 weeks. We are sure the big city will take some getting used to when we are back next week.  We took the trail through the forest back to the Lagoon and the tide was high enough for an exploration by dingy.  The same abandoned boats from last year were still in the la
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Day 24 - Kona Kai on the rocks…almost

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We departed our anchorage on schedule at 7 planning to reach Dent rapids noon for slack.  We entered Johnstone straight which was a little choppy but we had planned the tide and we had both in our favour, the chop was from the Northwest and the tide was flowing in so we made good time down the straight into Sunderland channel which almost got us to 13 knots at one point.  After another of Patti’s granola specials for breakfast and our uneventful transit of the first 2 rapids, Whirlpool and Greene Point, we got cell service back and I got a voicemail from Peter, one of the owners of Denham Bay resort located just before Dent rapids that they were open for moorage so we decided to leave our transit of Dent for the 7am slack tommorrow and spend a nice relaxing day in the first real sunshine we’ve had for the trip and tie up there. Sarah met us at the dock and I had just kissed the dock using the wind to push me in when I went aft to help Roman with the lines.  My life jacket strap or some
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