June 23, 2023
We left Princess Louisa at slack and motored through Malibu Rapids, sad knowing that we wouldn’t be back for a long time, if ever. We were going to Desolation Sound to see if it would live up to the hype of the ultimate cruising grounds in British Columbia.
We settled in for the 50-mile trip back down Jervis Inlet. We took the time to research where to anchor in Desolation and which route we’d take to get there since we hadn’t bothered to do any research beforehand. The trip down the inlet was uneventful, just a long, slow motor. By the time we got close the Edgmont, the winds had shifted, and we managed some excellent upwind sailing. We even found another boat along the way and had a short-lived race.
Mark has us going to Maude Cove for the night. He said, “It’s a nice marine park with trails and stuff.” So we sar as we could towards this destination….except someone (cough Mark cough) mixed up the anchorages. Maude Cove isn’t a lovely marine park. It’s a small cove surrounded by summer homes and a cow farm. Oopsie! Oh well, it would be just okay for the night.
After a quick paddle board to shore for Sprocket to take a walk, we hauled the anchor and were on our way. It would be another long day of 50 or so miles, but we were confident we could make it. The light winds gave us the perfect opportunity to raise our spinnaker again. We raised the spinnaker within 15 minutes, beating our previous record of 45. We cruised along towards Desolation at a whopping 3 knots. We zig-zagged across the water, even getting to gybe the spinnaker over successfully a couple of times. We weren’t alone; it seemed like every motor yacht in the province was also heading the same way we were. We got slightly worried that this was what the weekend would look like, us and all our motorboat buddies.
It was getting later in the day, and we chose to sail over the motor, so we didn’t make as much distance as we’d hoped. We decided to grab some dock space in Lund for the night. About this time, we realized it was our wedding anniversary (oops again). Lund looked like a lovely place to stay over, and we could probably find somewhere to celebrate another year together. We weren’t the only ones celebrating that night; the one restaurant was packed. We pulled the “but it’s our anniversary” card, and the staff took pity on us and fit us in. So we enjoyed a nice dinner with one of our best views.
After a couple of days, it was time to move on. A gentle breeze carried us into Desolation and Tenedos Bay, where we planned to stay for a few days. And then the struggle began. We scoped out a little cove and put the anchor down. We knew we’d breed to stern tie and that it would be deep. So we dropped the anchor in 60 ft and did our regular routine. Except the anchor just skidded across the bottom. After 3 tries, we were having Winter Cove flashbacks. Let’s try somewhere else. So we moved to the next spot. A nice wide open space between two boats. Only we didn’t have a chance to drop the anchor before some old guy in a sailboat chased us away, claiming we were too close at 300 feet. We moved along to another spot to avoid his glares all weekend (and he just sat on his boat glaring at anyone who dared anchor near him). Anchor down, finally. However, the peace and quiet didn’t last long before another guy came to ask us if we had hit his boat because he found a scratch on it. Nope, we didn’t hit it, we told him as he slowly circled our boat, looking for clues. Once he didn’t find evidence of the “crime,” he moved along. Turns out we were moving along, too, as we slowly dragged towards shore. This place wasn’t living up to the hype.
Okay, last chance. We dropped anchor in what looked to be the only somewhat shallow part and hoped for the best. We started backing down and BANG. Wtf was that!?!? Oh great, that was our anchor getting lodged under a rock. Awesome. Well, on the positive side, we wouldn’t drag anywhere.
We got over the unfriendliness of the place and enjoyed the warm water and hot weather. We hiked, paddle-boarded, and did some cliff jumping. All the while, the stuck anchor loomed at the back of our minds. We forgot Canada Day weekend was coming up until the anchorage started filling up. And fill up it did. It went from about 15 boats in the small bay to 45 almost overnight.
We spent Canada Day enjoying a parade of dinghies through the anchorage, and then some orcas decided to show up. Shortly after this, though, things took a turn again. The anchorage filled up more, and we got cozy with a new neighbour. After a significant wind shift, we noticed our anchor wasn’t stuck! Hooray! Only now, we were dragging our way closer to our new neighbour. The boat made up her mind. It was time to leave.
So we did. At night. Towards Hornby Island...
NM Sailed: 89
Another great adventure and post! Love the pictures.
Thank you for sharing the highlights of your voyages!⚓️🌞❤️