 |
|
|
WAGGONER CRUISE REPORT, WEEK THREE
by Bob Hale
|
|
CLAYDON BAY, JUNE 23 -- It’s a quiet Saturday afternoon, and we’re anchored in 4 fathoms in the north arm of Claydon Bay, at the north end of the Broughtons cruising grounds. A light rain is falling from a leaden sky. The rain is the result of weak fronts rotating around a low pressure area a couple hundred miles west of Vancouver Island. The low is filling as it moves east toward the coast, and a weak ridge of high pressure is predicted to be in place in another day or so. We’ve been several days with steady rain and only occasional moments of sunshine, so a change in the weather will be welcome.
At anchor at last. I can think of nothing that compares with the peace of being on the hook in a snug cove, watching dense evergreen forest work past my view as the boat swings in the breeze. Marilynn is taking a nap, with the red blanket pulled over her. Little wavelets are talking to the hull.
But this is a report not a reverie, so I’d better get on with the news, and news there is.
Cordero Lodge. Cordero Lodge, between Dent Rapids and Greene Point Rapids on Cordero Channel, is open and still serving Doris Kupers’ superb German cooking. We had lunch: schnitzel for Marilynn and German meat loaf for me. They were wonderful. The docks are wide and stable and in excellent condition. New this year are planter boxes spaced along the docks, with solar powered lights to show the way at night. At least two dozen hummingbirds took turns at the feeder that is hung outside the dining area. Reinhardt takes care of the outside maintenance, and Doris could be everyone’s mom. A charming spot.
Blind Channel. The big news is that Phil and Jennifer’s eldest son Eliot and his wife Laura have come back from Vancouver and joined the business. Eliot is an intelligent and handsome young man with a welcoming manner and a dazzling smile, and Laura is the daughter everyone wants to have. After university, Eliot managed Vancouver’s second-busiest office in a well-known car rental firm, but decided the corporate ladder wasn’t for him and went home to the family business. He’s comfortable handling boats as they land at the docks, and later, dressed differently, he’s equally comfortable serving dinner and drinks in the dining room. Laura is quick and bright and lights up the place.
It was a tough winter at Blind Channel, as at many stops along the coast. Hurricane-force winds nearly destroyed the docks. Grandfather Edgar’s boat broke free during the storm, and Jennifer managed to get her hand between the boat and a piling as Phil (not knowing Jennifer was even there) tried to wrestle the boat back under control. Jennifer had to crouch low to keep from being blown off the dock.
Later, a cutting tool slipped as Phil was installing plastic plumbing in a cabin, and severed six tendons in Phil’s left wrist. Both are undergoing painful physical therapy exercises to restore full use of their hands.
The restaurant had a good crowd for dinner, which was excellent. The store is well stocked, and Jennifer’s baking sells out. We arrived late in the afternoon and were lucky to get a loaf of her bread. Blind Channel’s perfectly clear filtered spring water is available for its moorage guests. We topped up the tanks.
Lagoon Cove. Bill and Jean Barber at Lagoon Cove Marina continue to fill up the place, regardless of how young the season is. We arrived to nearly-full docks, and it was only mid-morning. All day long more boats came around the corner, often with a “Hi, Bill, got any room for us?” exchange on the radio. Somehow, Bill found room, even when it meant stern-tying cheek by jowl along the dock or rafting out. It’s not what we want to do at every stop, but Bill and Jean make it okay at Lagoon Cove.
That evening, everyone brought snacks—many of them darned tasty—up to the deck, and when the plates were emptied, Bill held up a white bone with “Bear” written on it, and said, “This is a bear bone.” It was the opening to a bear story, told as only Bill Barber can do it. This was the one about teaching the bear to water ski, but it took a lot of sidebars and detours to get to the water ski part. Bill is part of a dying breed on old-time tall tale-spinners, the kind that can entertain for hours.
Minstrel Island. We’ve not yet met Dan, the caretaker. He wasn’t around, anyway, so we don’t have much to report. The docks are usable, although grass is growing on them in places, and the ramp up to the wharf is seems safe. There are no other facilities. Some cleanup has taken place. Much more is needed.
Kwatsi Bay. As warm and personable as ever. Marieke is 14 and Russell is 11—they’re growing up before our eyes. Max and Anca have a new float almost re-decked, and will be moving the gift shop over to a building on that float. Winter storms and freezing have held projects back. At one point the family went weeks with the water line frozen. Mere survival had to come before new construction.
Anca took five of us in the speedboat around the corner to Watson Cove, where we climbed up to a fabulous old cedar tree, 15 feet in diameter. The tree is called out on p. 164 of Bill Proctor’s Full Moon, Flood Tide, a book all Broughtons cruisers should have. The rocks between the water and the forest were tricky and the trail has some difficult places, but even with my gimpy ankle I made it. Look for the large links of chain on rocks at the head of the cove, and land the dinghy there. The trail is just above.
Pierre’s Bay. Some of the work is about two weeks behind, but Pierre will have everything together by July, when the real crowds show up. Pierre’s wife Tove (pronounced “Tova”) will be up after school in Nanaimo is out at the end of June. Pierre’s has BroadbandXPress wireless Internet this year. Lady Di, the baker, was up briefly, but had to be flown out with what they feared was a heart attack. Fortunately, it wasn’t. She plans to be back shortly.
Echo Bay. The generator fire (see separate item) was devastating. Everything is behind. And then Nancy landed in the hospital. Not good.
Windsong Sea Village. Carol, the bead lady, has the gallery full of beautiful (and affordable) things. The docks are in good shape. Jerry came down with a touch of pneumonia, and has been on slow bell.
Bill Proctor. Bill is doing well, despite losing Yvonne last fall. He says Anca brings bread from Kwatsi Bay from time to time. The cook from the research station across the bay has brought some goodies, and the gal running a tour boat showed up with a bag of treats while we were there. We hope casseroles get delivered, too.
The museum has a steady stream of visitors. Bill still cannot believe that a former trapper and highliner fisherman is now receiving admiring guests at a museum.
Shawl Bay. Lorne and Rob have re-decked part of the dock, with more re-decking planned. The K-9 yacht club, is being expanded. Pancake breakfasts are offered every morning, as before. They have wireless Internet. Shawn’s rheumatoid arthritis is under control, and she’s looking good again. She’s adding pies to her bread and sticky bun offerings. In the mornings, Auntie Jo collects payment for moorage and any purchases, chain-smoking as she checks and re-checks her calculations. It’s part of the experience. Be patient.
Lorne and son Rob are running a water taxi service, plus scheduled shopping trips to Port McNeill every Wednesday. Departing from Shawl Bay at 0930 they pick up at Pierre’s Bay, Windsong and Echo Bay, and arrive Port McNeill at 1130. They depart Port McNeill at 1430. Cost is $100/person including 100 pounds of freight per person.
Greenway Sound Resort. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. Our dinner there last night was terrific. Wireless Internet is fast and available everywhere on the dock. A couple from Calgary are helping out, which is a good thing. Ann can’t work in the kitchen the way she used to, and this winter Tom developed a heart condition that has slowed him down. Greenway Sound is very seriously, very aggressively, for sale. The time has come.
Sullivan Bay. Sullivan Bay is dressed up and ready for the summer season. It’s still as quaint and funky as ever, meaning the docks aren’t quite level—but that’s Sullivan Bay. The store is getting stocked, the liquor store has needed provisions, the laundry and showers are running. The high-speed wireless Internet is in service. We had a good lunch in the Town Hall Restaurant.
Jennis Bay. Our boat and three others, all in the 40-foot range, pretty much filled the docks. Tom was in Port McNeill picking up some parts and equipment, but Allyson and the kids were here. Little Charlie Marie, age 6, is a salmon berry-picking dynamo. She came back from a walk with a container full of them. Orion went trout fishing in Bughouse Lake with a man off another boat and returned with a mess of handsome cutthroat trout. Talk about a proud 8-year-old. After supper several of us went for a walk up the logging road that leads to Huaskin Lake. The Lake is 7 kilometers from the marina, but we didn’t get that far (by a big margin). This is going to be a popular stop. Navigation Note: Stuart Narrows, near the mouth of Drury Inlet, is slack about the same time as high or low water at Alert Bay. On spring tides the narrows can run hard.
Rowers. As we approached Sullivan Bay a 23-foot-long rowing boat with two people aboard crossed our bow. This wasn’t a fishing skiff, it was a long-distance rowing machine. We caught up and met Robin Clark, age 44, from Seattle, and Sue Dandridge, 53, from Port Townsend. They had set out from Ketchikan June 1, destination Port Townsend or perhaps Seattle. They row 20-30 miles a day, camp on the beach, and think about food and hot showers. When we told them Sullivan Bay had showers, a store and a restaurant, they altered course at once. They were at the table next to us in the restaurant, and left not a crumb on their plates. See their Web site www.backwardsfromketchikan.org. The home page looks as if you got to the wrong place, but scroll to the bottom and click on Launch.
--Bob Hale
|
|
|
|
