David enjoying the view along Tribune Channel.
We left Port Harvey early this morning to time our passage through Chatham Channel with the ebb tide. What started off as a gray morning with low clouds turned into another beautifully brilliant afternoon with blue skies and plenty of sunshine. The trip to Kwatsi Bay was incredible and, as nice as our destination may be, the journey up Tribune Channel turned out to be the real treat.
We dropped the hook in the bay just forward of the bowl that forms its head and tied a stern-line to shore. The Kwatsi Bay Marina, owned by the Knierim family, sits to the southwest of the anchorage on the site of a former shingle mill. Over the winter, there was a massive tree-slide that came within metres of wiping out their property – more evidence of the extensive damage logging has done to the area.
The marina is reputed to be a friendly and welcoming place. And it must be because people come back year after year, some for extended stays, but I soon learned that their hospitality only extends to paying customers, not potential ones. Looking for a safe place to shore Sally, I used their dock to access a “pet path” where I was greeted by Max, the father, standing with his armed crossed, blocking my passage and making it clear that we weren't wanted. Because anchored boats are invited to share the docks for the daily happy hour, I made an incorrect assumption, so I apologize and promised not to come back. And we won't. Whatever charm Kwatsi Bay may have held, vanished in that confrontational conversation.
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