British Columbia
Desolation Sound
Grace Harbour, Desolation Sound Marine Park
Tuesday, September 20, 2011TheCambrians
With another full day ahead of us, we left Ballet Bay at 9:30 am in hopes of gaining a bit of help in our travels north with wind (predicted to be blowing 20 knots out of the southeast) and current. The wind hadn't filled in yet, so we had to motor, but we did see a one knot push most of the way north. And in these waters, you take whatever you can get.
Along the way, David decided to fill the diesel tanks one more time before returning to Poulsbo next month, so we stopped off in Westview at 11:45 am, filled up with fuel and water, were off by noon and had our anchor down in Grace Habour by 3 o'clock.
Even though the view is etched in my brain, rounding Sarah Point still takes my breath away as Homfray Channel winds it's way through the enormous green and grey portals of the Coast Mountains. And because the weather is still settled, it's tempting to explore some of the more desirable anchorages in the area with an open vista to the mountains,but Environment Canada has moved the forecast up by several days so it's time to seek shelter and wait out the storm. They were predicting winds up to 50 knots in Johnstone Strait for Friday and are now calling for 40 knot winds tonight and tomorrow with 20 to 25 knots in the Strait of Georgia, north of Nanaimo – Desolation Sound lies between the two and will feel the impact – so Grace Harbour it is.
There are four boats anchored here, including ourselves, but Salubrious is nowhere to be found. Before we separated in Roscoe Bay, they were talking about some of the anchorages in Lancelot Inlet so, after the boat was anchored and secured, we put the outboard on the dinghy and I rode over to hike the trail that leads to Isabel Bay. I brought my camera with me to guard against seeing bears who are down from the hills to feed so I didn't see any, but I didn't see Salubrious either ... or any other boats for that matter.
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