The Rocky Road

We spent a day in Codville Lagoon with full intentions of exploring the trail to Sagar Lake. The day started a little overcast but promising. However, it just got colder and started to rain for most of the afternoon. Not our idea of ideal hiking weather. So we sat around and read books and entertained ourselves as best we could. One of the seals in the cove was quite entertaining, splashing around, chasing fish we assume. Interesting that on the first day we had 10+ boats anchored in the cove - now there are only 2 left - how do they know the weather is going to turn nasty? - do they have access to some sort of weather info that we do not?

Today, we decided to make a break from these extremely protected waters and try our luck on the open ocean (sort of). We left in the morning, in relatively calm winds, and motored across Fisher Channel and on into Lama Passage, following exactly the same route on which we had our mechanical mishap last week. They say if you fall off your boat, you should just jump back on and tempt fate some more.
Everything went ok this time.

At the middle of Lama Passage, we now made a left turn into Hunter Channel (instead of continuing to Bella Bella and Shearwater). This channel leads out to the Pacific.

As soon as we entered the channel, we were able to kill the engine and sail for almost an hour down wind, making 4 to 5 knots, right on course. After we exited the channel we had to turn west, directly into the now 10 to 15 knot winds, so we just doused the sail and fired up the trusty motor. This part of the coast is a minefield of rocks and reefs and I felt we needed the added maneuverability that we get when using the engine.

We picked our way through the labyrinth of islands, islets, rocks, reefs, etc. until we were able to round the south end of McNaughton Island, then back north to a very cozy inlet where we tucked in for the night.

This is a very beautiful and rugged area and there are absolutely no other cruising boats around - kind of nice after the busy anchorages we have been experiencing lately (When you are used to having places to yourself, even 2 boats is 2 too many).

We explored some of the immediate area with the dinghy before stowing it on deck. This is the first time we have tried this on this trip, and is a prelude to what could be some rougher waters tomorrow as we attempt to go outside of the rest of these treacherous rocks and make our way south to Pruth Bay. Should be exciting!
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