Stats for whatever day this is…

(I looked it up…this was actually from 8/5/2018)

Origin: Beaverstone Bay Anchorage

Destination: Marianne Cove Anchorage in Baie Fine

Distance:  36.8 miles

Speed:  8.7

Time on the Move: 4 hours 13 minutes

 

 

We were up and at em early in Beaverstone Bay because the wind sounded like a plane was about to land on our boat and the waves were slapping against the hull, making you wonder if you’re taking on water or what the heck is going on out there. That might be a little dramatic, but it was windy. PLUS, we had a weird day ahead of us—some inside route, some outside route, and some unknown.  We weren’t sure what to expect (especially with the wind/waves), so we tackled the unknown early.

Our plan was to meet up with our kid boat looper friends (“Have Another Day” and “La Cigale”) again in a cove in Baie Fine, which is a long lake/channel/inlet that gets rave reviews for beauty and a specific, well-known hike. Our trip went well—beautiful scenery, some rocking on the outside portion, but not as bad because the waves were hitting us on the front corner and not directly on the side. We even snuck in a quick water fill-up/grocery/cinnamon bun run in Killarney which made me feel like we were winning already by 9am.

 

Coming up Baie Fine was an interesting experience because it was quite a wide bay, yet the channel that you follow is all the way to one side, bringing you right up next to the rocks.  AGAIN!  Boaters around here are so used to just driving right next to huge rocks and it goes against everything I am comfortable with in boating.  Rocks are bad so stay away.  Here the mindset is “well, the rocks go straight down anyway, so just drive so close to them that you can reach out your window and touch them, but you’ll still be in 60 feet of water.”  Canadians!  😉

Getting set at anchor was only mildly amusing.  We ended up tying our stern line off a tree behind us (growing out of the rocks!).  Many people here quickly take a line over to shore on their dinghy immediately after dropping anchor and make it look so easy.  We first
threw the extra anchor out the back to make sure we didn’t swing, then later Mike pulled it up while on the paddleboard and paddled it to shore, wrapped the line around a tree and left the anchor attached.  The good news was, it was all set by the time our friends arrived, so it looked like we were pros.

The kids had a great time jumping off the back of the boats, painting nails, kayaking the 10 feet to the rocky shore right behind us, exploring land, playing uno, and swimming, swimming, swimming.  Some neighbors came over to chat and told us about all the bear sightings and attacks due to starvation because of the dried up blueberry crop.  Meanwhile, our kids were being sent to shore as bait in hopes that we could finally see one.  No luck.  (Actually, they are so loud when they’re playing or when Tobin is screaming at everyone that there were probably no bears for miles!!)

That evening a storm came on fast and strong and broke the stern line of one of the boats we were rafted with (tied up to).  The storm lead to a tense hour of watching the rock walls out our windows, hoping we weren’t getting blown into them.  The captains all communicated via VHF in case we decided we had to move our floatilla in tandem, and I carried tupperware around and tried to catch the leaks before they soaked our rugs again.  No luck.

***I have no pictures of this whole afternoon…having too much fun swimming and chatting, I guess!!  Imagine that!***

 

The next morning we took a 7 mile dinghy ride from our anchorage to the far end of Baie Fine where there is a great hike up to Topaz Lake.

 

The rain from the night before had the ground a little wet and muddy, but that didn’t slow down our kiddos!  They hiked right up the dry creek bed and scrambled over rocks like champs.

When we got to the top, Topaz Lake was stunning and calm and pristine on the overcast day.  It didn’t take the kids long to jump right in and liven that lake up.  Actually, Topaz Lake is called a “dead lake” because there are no fish, creatures, or plants that live in it (apparently) because it is all quartz at the bottom.  The water was very clear and slightly greenish.  We all swam except Toby who didn’t have his life jacket (mom fail), but he rock hopped and sat on some of the shallow areas along the shore.

 

On the dinghy ride back to our boat, we passed by a group of 10 boys or so who were doing some rustic camping right along the channel.  They were on day 8 of 11 and were happy to answer our questions about provisioning, dealing with wildlife, etc.  The boys all thought our “loop plan” was so cool when they heard about it and they really made our kids feel like they are lucky to be on this adventure.  We were inspired by their adventures in nature, so it was great that they were so excited about ours, as well.  That is our main goal in sharing our journey, to inspire others to start their own adventures now and not to wait.  🙂

Later that afternoon we got caught in another rainstorm as we were out kayaking and meeting new boat friends.  Of course, the boat windows were wide open, so the carpet was wet yet again.  Seems we just can’t win on that one.  Hayley tells us to “prepare for the worst and hope for the best” which is great advice, but apparently we’re slow learners.

The next day we were ready to leave the anchorage and anxious to get to a marina after 7 nights on the hook.  First, however, we were interested in a hike we heard about from our new friends on the boat “Mighty Wench”.  This hike started from the other end of our anchorage and went straight up to the top of the “hill” behind us.

It turned out to be quite a hike, first walking under giant spruce and cedar trees and then climbing straight up rocks and rocks and rocks, all the while looking for the next orange markers to lead the way.

The kids loved looking for the markers to lead us in the right direction, but at times they were tough to see.  It was like a real-life scavenger hunt!

Eventually we made it to the top of the hill and the view was amazing!  We could see a good ways out into the Bay, much of Baie Fine, and even beyond into McGregor Bay.  The whole hike was at the edge of my comfort zone with the kids because of the steep climbing and the peaks at the top were definitely steep.  After rock hopping and exploring at the top a bit, I was anxious to head down and get going, but WHAT A VIEW!  The kids usually do great on hikes and loved the adventure of searching for the next markers on this one, so I’d say hiking is one of our favorite outdoor activities.

Just a quick kayak back to the boat and we were off on the next adventure.  What a morning!!  Thanks for following and for having amazing patience waiting for new posts to come out!!  We’ll be out of the boondocks soon! (Unfortunately!)  😉