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Echo Bay is set within a protected cove where Fife Sound and Tribune Channel meet and is said to be good protection against all winds. On one side of the cove is Echo Bay where we docked and on the other side, at the base of a huge rock cliff, is Windsong Sea Village. They too have docks but I don’t think they have power there. There are supposed to be aboriginal paintings on the cliff face behind them but unfortunately, we didn’t read about that until after we left, so we didn’t see them. The cliffs are impressive enough though just in themselves as they make a beautiful back drop to all the colorful and interesting boats and float houses on that side. It sure makes for a great view from our side of the cove. It’s like a split between the colorful free spirited people on one side of the cove and the plain vanilla white cruising boats on our side. I think it’s a much better view on our side to face over at such an interesting bunch. (Photos across the bay)
Echo Bay doesn’t have a restaurant but has a big dock with picnic tables and once a week I think they have a boater’s pot luck. There is an old hotel on the hill above the docks and you can walk around the grounds. We walked down the wooden docks and up the ramp to the store to check in. The store I think has been there since the early part of the last century and has seen a lot over the years. The supplies are good and fresh. They have fresh baked bread and great fresh vegetables. I bought a huge head of romaine lettuce that was wonderfully fresh. The people are friendly and I immediately liked the place. (Photos around Echo Bay)
I noticed some books for sale sitting on the counter by Alexandra Morton and it then dawned on me that this is where Alexandra Morton lives. She gave up city life to come live here and study the whales. I’ve read her books and they really opened up my eyes to how fragile the environment is up here. She is a well know marine mammal scientist and writer and has devoted her life to the study of the orcas and now more recently to the devastating effects fish farming has had on the survival of wild salmon and how that loss effects the whole living system here. If you care about the Pacific Northwest waters and the survival of the habitats of these magnificent coastlines I recommend checking out the information on her website and reading at least one of her books. Check out her website called Raincoast Research Society. http://www.raincoastresearch.org/home.htm
BILLY PROCTOR This is also home to Billy
Proctor a “coastal legend” of the Broughton Archipelago. He’s lived here
his whole life and has written a couple books too, one co-authored with
Alexandra Morton called Heart of the Raincoast, A Life Story,
and another Full Moon Flood Tide co-authored
with Yvonne Maximchuk. His books are unpretentious and charming. They
offer insight into the way of life and history up here in the Broughtons.
He can tell you what life was like when they hand logged and exactly how
they did it which is an amazing story in itself. He remembers the days
when commercial fishing was done only in small row boats and what it was
like. He gives you an amazing glimpse into life and survival up here in a
remote wilderness only accessed by boat. He has explored probably all the
islands and shorelines and can tell you where the indigenous people lived
and camped and about what life as a trapper was like, and a whole slew of
information. He knows where the fish run, when and why and how the full
moon effects the life cycle, how life has changed from the beginning to
the present, life of survival in a rugged environment, things you would
never have privy to if you haven’t had the opportunity to read one of his
books.
He, like Alexandra Morton, will both tell you of the sad changes they’ve seen too, the loss of the salmon through the carelessness and lack of concern by the fish farms and the devastation brought on by aggressive and careless logging. They explain the dangers and problems created by parasites found on farmed salmon which they believe are spreading to the wild salmon, and how artificial sounds are used by the fish farms to keep the seals from eating the farmed salmon but meanwhile are scaring off the orcas and other important wild life. Its eye opening story and everyone should know about it. These are books that would interest every cruiser and every fisherman who values the ecological welfare of this fragile system and also tells a story of the incredible people that have lived and still live in this remote wilderness. It’s a look into the past, with humor and everything but the kitchen sink thrown in, that would have been forgotten without their careful recording and explanation of it. If you take your dinghy to the inner part of the cove, there is a dock at the end. You can walk through the marine park and forest and by the little school and then on over to Proctor Cove where you can meet “Billy”. (Walk to Billys photos) He is a character, a lovable character, and has opened his homestead up to visiting boaters to just come visit. He has collected over the years an amazing amount of “stuff”, some indigenous artifacts and other found items that he just thought was interesting. There was so much stuff that he finally created a little rustic museum, a collection of his collections. It’s a view into the past. People just naturally gather round Billy to hear his stories and it’s really an amazing experience. Don’t miss it. (Photos of Billy)
Next morning it was time to go again. We’re up early and “Its 55 degrees out for Pete’s Sake!” I say to myself. It is cold, wet and foggy. When the heck are we going to be done with this weather? I’m all for getting south now to some sun and warmer weather and good power at the docks and restaurants, yes lots of restaurants. We still have a ways to go yet though. We have to wait until 9:00 AM to check out and then off we go. I back her out of the slip and around the sports fishing skiff that the boat on the other side of the dock has now left behind us. The current is surprisingly strong inside the bay even though the water looks like glass. I can feel it pulling the boat strongly. There’s a trick to guiding the boat in close quarters with a current pulling you in unwanted directions. I don’t have the feel for it or the hang of it yet but manage to maneuver successfully out of the cove. We head out and the
current out in the channel is running even stronger. There are swirls in
the water like mini rapids. I think to myself, “Oh yeah, I forgot we are
in the vicinity of the Inside Rapids again”, areas where currents and
tides become prominent factors to consider during your cruising. Larry
lets me drive the boat to get the feel for them. It’s like riding on ice
in a way. As we head up the channel we see Mach Zero, the Nordhavn 40 that we saw in Shearwater. They left a few days ahead of us but we’ve caught up with them again. I don’t think they are heading south quite yet though, not like us. They were trolling in the channel for fish and just looked like they were enjoying themselves. We waved as we went by. Nice people.
FLOAT PLANES Up ahead are two red
sailboats in the fog, traveling together. We see several salmon jumping
completely out of the water as we go by. It’s quite a sight. Suddenly
though, I see a light in the sky ahead. Oh my gosh, it’s a float plane!!
He looks like he’s flying straight towards the boat and very low over the
water. Since he doesn’t have good visibility in the thick fog layer just
above him, he’s following the water closely to find his way and trying to
stay away from the land areas. It’s amazing to watch as he flies right
over us. Ziggy is surprised and chases him around the gangway barking at
him. These guys are risk takers that’s for sure. Amazing! And just when I thought I’d seen it all, another plane comes down the channel towards us, EVEN LOWER!!!! Wow, amazing!
CHITTER CHATTER ON THE RADIO Oh my God, there is non stop radio traffic. It’s all these cruisers and fishermen hailing each other. It’s literally non stop over channel 16. Some of them, if they don’t reach the other, just continually repeat the hailing name over and over until you just want to go crazy and pull your hair out or say something back to him the radio. RETURNING SALMON It’s a beautiful trip, passing hundreds of little islets and then magnificent channels again with glorious mountains on each side. We pass a couple more sailboats and in the fog ahead can see the outline of three trawlers I think. One barge comes this way and that’s about it. Several salmon are jumping clear out of the water. If we had been thinking smarter we would’ve watched more closely near the stream outlets for grizzlies and bears because it’s getting to be that season for them to feed on the incoming bounty of salmon beginning to return to their birthplaces.
We’re heading to Lagoon Cove today. We’ve been to Lagoon Cove before and it’s a fun place that will be noted in Alaska Log 2002 when that’s complete. The best part of it is the wonderful man that owns it. He is a special person. If you ever have had the good fortune to meet him, you’ll know what I’m saying. Last time we came the place was so crowded, but somehow he just very confidently manages to squeeze everyone in. No one is left out. He’s an ex successful advertising executive from San Francisco I’d heard and he knows how to make his guests feel right at home. About 30 minutes out Larry hails Lagoon Cove and asks if they have room for a 60 foot power boat and they said they did. So we said we’d be there soon and would hail them when we get in sight. When we came through the cut and into the entrance there was visible room at the docks. I told Larry this is one place you don’t have to worry about tying up at as they have all sorts of people that take your lines and pull you into place. Before you even have a chance to jump onto the dock, you’re in and snugged up tight. Same thing happened this time. I could see the owner, Bill, standing there on the dock smiling face, hands to his side waiting for us, with the same old little cap on his head that he had 4 years ago. Larry turned the boat around in the cove and backed her in alongside the dock opposite the fuel dock and again I just threw the lines to the people on the dock and within a couple seconds it seemed we were tied up.
TWINKLE IN HIS EYE Immediately, Bill the
owner, came up to me at the dock and with that twinkle in his eye that I
remembered from last time says “Hi Jayne. Welcome back!” I looked
shocked that he knew my name. He said, “Its Jayne and Larry right? You
were here four years ago on Knotty Dog, right?” I said “Yes, we were here
but in a different boat. We haven’t been back for a few years because
we’ve been cruising the East Coast and just got back to the Pacific
Northwest.” He gave me a big welcome hug as I think he considers all that
come to Lagoon Cove are his family. Now that guy has a great tickler
file. I doubt if he really remembers us, because we’re surely not that
memorable, but what a great way to make you feel welcome. I’m sure it’s a
hang over from his successful career before he decided to come up here and
create a fun place for cruisers to come.
Some people just come here and stay for a whole week though there’s no restaurant. You are immediately invited and expected to come to their really fun cocktail party. They supply fresh caught delicious steamed shrimp and you bring the rest, whatever it might be as it doesn’t matter. It’s held up in their dock house which is decorated with burgees from all over and all sorts of memorabilia and silly things. It’s really fun. If you are lucky they have songs and stories and marshmallow roasts that evening around a camp fire up behind their house. Sound corny? Well, it’s not, its lots of fun.
SQEEZES THEM IN Bill has lots of friends it seems who like to help out. He has an amusing or should I say an amazing way of squeezing in more boats than you would ever imagine could be squeezed into this place. He tells me as soon as we are settled that we may need to bring in a couple other boats beside us before the day is done but they will be pulled up to the dock like a med tie and will get on and off the dock from their sterns. We knew that probably would be the case as that’s the way it was when we came before and we said that would be fine. We had some lunch and suddenly felt the need for a nap. I hadn’t slept much the night before and immediately conked out on the settee. Larry was tired to and fell asleep in his chair. We were both sound asleep when suddenly awakened by some knocking on the window. Bill was there looking in
and said a boat was coming in that they’d like to put beside us. We
scrambled to our feet trying to wake up, act normal and quickly put a
fender or two on our portside and just that quickly the new boat backed in
beside us. The captain threw me a line and I threaded it through the bow
hawsehole to give him a spring line to keep him from backing into the
dock. He then threw me a bow line from his boat and I cleated that on to
our bow and that was about it. The rest of their lines were tied from
their stern, crisscrossed to the dock and voila, we were rafted right next
to each other.
They were very nice people and the captain must know Bill from way back as he says they come up here every summer and stay for a week and help him out. He said he likes to mow the lawns for Bill and do whatever else that he needs done. He said he likes to putter. I noticed lots of other people were helping out too, like helping with the boats docking, etc. Everyone pitches in around here. It’s like one big family. I think this is the last year though as Bill, I heard, is retiring. I’m not sure what will happen with the resort then as it surely won’t be the same without him. He’s obviously a likeable guy and has so many friends that just come here for his good company. By the end of the day the place was packed with boats just like a can of sardines. No one seems to mind though as it’s a friendly place.
RUNS A TIGHT SHIP Bill runs a tight ship
though and has some rules. The power is only turned on from 4:00 PM to
11:00 PM and 7:00 AM to 10:30 AM. That way he can turn off the generator
at certain hours. It’s really all you need or all that the majority of
boats need but still a couple were running their generators. We don’t
know why unless they’ve got some big freezers on their boats.
So the docks have power and there’s a cute little dock shack right in the center of everything which is kind of like the central meeting place. Right behind it is a gift shop where you can buy shirts and jackets with Lagoon Cove logo printed on them. I bought a cook book that has a collection of recipes submitted by visiting boaters and their galley slaves and was surprised to find one of my recipes in it that I submitted 4 years ago. (I hope I got the proportions right, yikes.) So, I naturally had to buy one. Everything is fun here. That’s what it is all about. The wonderful afternoon sun came up and heated everything up. All those winter clothes that we had layered ourselves with were stuffed into drawers and out came the lighter weight shirts, tops and pants. It was great, finally. I stayed aboard this time for cocktail hour as I was really tired. I had also pulled my back a little and thought some quiet horizontal time would be good for it. I could hear everyone laughing and enjoying themselves up at the old boat house. I told Larry to go on and enjoy the party while I stayed with Zig on board. I watched as everyone headed up to the party anxious to have a good time, loaded with a drink in one hand and a plate of food in the other that they were going to share with the other boaters. It was funny though, as soon as they went up, they all came back to their boats to get plates as they don’t provide plates and napkins. So don’t forget to bring your own. That included Larry. He did manage to sneak back a plate of that delicious fresh shrimp, just caught that day, and boy were they tasty. GALES ON JOHNSTONE STRAIT That night we both went to sleep early as we have a long day tomorrow. We didn’t join the 8:30 PM traditional gathering around the camp fire for singing and listening to local stories. I’ll probably regret that but my body didn’t regret it as the minute my head hit the pillow it was morning and Larry was bringing me coffee saying “We need to leave earlier than we thought as Johnstone Straits has a gale warning. I’d like to get south before the gales come up.” We hated to disturb the people next to us. Yesterday, I remember hearing the captain ask Larry when he told them we were leaving in the morning, “You aren’t leaving a 6 AM in the morning are you?” And Larry said “No, we’ll leave about 9 or 9:30.” Actually though, as it turns out, we didn’t have to wake them at all as the people on the dock moved their boat over a little and we were able to scoot right out without disturbing them.
OUT THE BLOW HOLE Larry put the lines and fenders away as I took her out and through Blow Hole. I sure don’t see any blow hole here, so I guess it must be named after the winds that funnel through this narrow spot as we know from first hand experience how the winds funnel directly across the channel in Cutter’s Cove when we anchored there on the way up. Some local even referred to it as “Oh you mean Windy Cove.” We passed several middens along the way. There are so many in this area that they almost seem a bit common place now.
PORPOISES We come out of Havannah Channel and get our first glimpse at the conditions on Johnstone Strait. It’s flat calm and filled with trawlers heading south taking advantage of the moment. It actually looks like highway 101 there are so many. There are a lot of seiners out too. Suddenly we are greeted by a large group of dolphin. They look like baby orcas but I actually think they are Dall’s Porpoises. They turned sideways and looked up at us. I love how they come to greet you and then turn sideways and look up. It is an amazing thing. I think Ziggy and his big mouth scared them off too quickly though. Zig gets so excited when they come that he can’t help himself and starts making this high pitched hideous barking cry which practically breaks your ear drums or for sure the sound barrier. They stayed a brief time and played with the waves off our bow but when that yelping started they left us and dropped back as we left the channel and entered Johnstone Strait. I’m so disappointed that we came out south of the Robson Bight, the Ecological Reserve where the orcas like to scratch their bellies on the pebble shore but we had to cut our travel time short today because of the gale warnings.
There are gazillion seiners on Johnstone Strait today. One big one has his net out. The Strait too amazingly is scattered with Orca fins as they are feeding in the area too. We’ve never seen so many. Immediately we become concerned that the orcas are getting too near the one seiner. How does that work I wonder? Will the orca head to his net full of fish and try to feed? Can they get caught and tangle in their nets? Or will they stay safely away? It’s worrisome. There are so many trawlers out here heading south that it’s amazing to us. There’s so much traffic you wonder how the poor orca can fine space to feed and do what’s natural with all this stuff going on. It doesn’t seem right.
ORCAS FEEDING AND SEINERS WORKING I just recently read that the orcas are now officially protected and are supposed to be allowed to feed first but how does that work out here? It doesn’t seem like they have much of a chance today as the seiners have their nets out now and its right near the orcas. I wish I knew the rules. Two seiners are pulling in their nets, but others are waiting off to the side of the channel for an opening I guess. I’d just like to know how this all works. We’re nearing Port Neville and several of the trawlers are heading in there for an anchorage and protection from the gales that are predicted to come up this afternoon. I don’t know what the weather report has predicted for tomorrow but I’d hate to get stuck in Port Neville for more than one night.
We hear a boat on the radio, its name is Prime Time. He’s trying to hail someone, anyone it seems, down by Chatham Point, to find out what the conditions are there. He stepped all over a conversation we were having with Mach Zero so he could tell some other boater what the conditions on Johnstone Strait were by Havannah Passage. We would hear him every few minutes asking again and again for the conditions from whoever might answer. It was a bit nerve wracking to be out on Johnstone Strait with gale warnings predicted as all boaters have to have a great deal of respect for the waters here from all that you read. Its funny though as it looks like everyone is running, like a mad race, to beat the gales predicted for this afternoon. We’re following a large tug towing logs. Half of the trawlers head into Port Neville for protection and the other half are merging over to the east side of the Strait, as they’re probably going to head up into Sunderland Channel. We hear a few others talking on the radio amongst themselves saying they are glad they stuck their noses out this morning and were able to get south a ways before the gales.
MISSING KAYAKER FOUND We hear MV Alert hailing the Comox Coast Guard on 16. We hear Comox CG come back and Alert says they have spotted the “missing kayaker” that the CG put an emergency message out on earlier in the day. We had heard the emergency report too, several times that morning, and wondered if he was lost or drowned as you never know. They switched to Ch 22A and it turns out a friend of the kayaker was concerned because the kayaker hadn’t checked in on schedule for several days. We listen as the CG asks Alert to make communication with the kayaker to determine if he is OK and if he is, what are his plans of travel, so they can relay the information back to his friend and to request that in the future, if he only has a cell phone, that he communicate through other people’s boat radios to let them know where he is. CG relays that they will notify the rescue center of his safety and whereabouts.
Soon we are what seems to
be practically the only ones left out here on the Strait as the cruisers
have all headed into the protection of the inside passages but in there
they will now have to wait and deal with the timing of the rapids if they
go that way. We’ve got white caps and waves on all sides but, so far
(knock on wood), it’s a smooth passage. Amazingly,
we’ve got 20-25 knot winds behind us and going against the current
a bit, all the conditions that are not recommended, but so far OK. The
tug and his large log tow are still stoically coming behind us so guess
he’s going to keep at it unless he is headed to a protected area that he
knows about where he can tuck into. I can’t imagine
towing logs down in
these conditions. A fast small boat that appeared from the shore made a
daring crossing behind across to the West side of the channel.
OFF HARDWICKE ISLAND We are coming up to a nerve wracking area for me only because, if you read the books, it says just off Hardwicke Island on the East and Kelsy on the West, the seas can get very dicey and dangerous there depending on the conditions as the currents can really stir up. Once through there we’ll head in to protection if need be or continue on through Race Passage and by Ripple Shoal. Once past those areas we should be OK. It’s only 10:30 in the morning and the winds aren’t too bad yet. A fast sports fisher appears behind us and passes heading up the channel.
We glance off to our portside and see something on the rocks. We get the binoculars to get a closer view and are shocked to see a large new fishing boat recently wrecked on the rocks off Yorke Island at the entrance to Sunderland Channel. It looks like a very recent wreck, maybe even today? I wish I knew.
SIZZLING WATERS There are white caps everywhere. The strong current has dropped our speed to 6.4 knots now and we are sliding back and forth like a side winder but riding nicely off Kelsey Bay. It’s amazing to see the white caps stir up so quickly as the currents change and winds counteract. We pass some really strange waters up by Earl Ledge Light at Hardwicke Island. The water looks like its sizzling, like when you heat up oil in a pan and drop some water in it to see if it’s hot. It’s like its bubbling and then the wind catches it and whips it up in the air. It’s almost as if there are thousands of fish jumping around under the surface and some breaking the surface, but you know it’s just the mixture of the currents and winds. No wonder the indigenous peoples thought monsters lived beneath the waters. If there are any, the fiercest of them are living here. Then as we pass the light there are large flat swirling boils mixed in with the sizzling waters. It’s very strange and exciting to watch. We were totally fascinated with the whole thing. We have never seen such seas, such a variety of conditions, and ever changing. Hardwicke Island settlement looks very picturesque as we pass by. Imagine living there and looking out over these unsettled and changing waters day after day. We’re heading up Current Passage now keeping Helmicken Island to our right. I look over to Salmon Bay on the Eastern shore of Vancouver Island on Johnstone Strait and it looks nice and calm. We can see several large fishing seiners over there. They seem to be waiting just south of Peterson Light in a recess that looks very calm. It looks as if we should have gone on the other side of the island for calmer waters. Race Passage looks very calm compared to where we are. We thought by heading up this way we’d be in calmer waters. Go figure. That’s what I love about boating, there’s always this challenge and mystery and it stretches your capabilities and intelligence daily.
We are now in the strongest current we have ever been in. It’s so strong that it has forced us down to 5.8 knots. The white caps have practically disappeared. There are just little surfing waves off to our port running with us. We’ve got 25 knots on our hiny. Once you pass these areas most of the dangers of Johnstone Strait are gone depending of course on wind velocities and current directions and strengths. It’s fascinating to see what happens in here. I asked Larry a question about something and he answered back, “I can’t answer now I have to watch all this stuff that’s going on here.” We are in the lee of Helmicken Island now, in Current Passage (at 5.9 knots) and within minutes the seas are like Jekyll and Hyde. You can see how things can go wrong very quickly. You might be cruising along and things are hunky dory and then suddenly you find yourself right smack dab in the center of these unpredictable strong waters swirling in all directions and lifting up in strange unpredictable ways and lose all control. It was truly fascinating to watch all this. The boat handled beautifully. We decided to continue on down Johnstone Strait instead of heading in for protected water. Actually, it seems like now it might even be much calmer than the upper reaches that we just came from. Seiners are everywhere. Most are snuggled into recesses to either rest or get out of the seas. I can’t imagine trying to fish in these seas but these guys are capable of doing anything in my book, well except for the fishing boat on top of the rocks a few miles back. My, my, Vancouver Island looks grand along this stretch across from West Thurlow Island. It’s sunny and clear out and we can see everything including the sea ahead of us which is, ah oh, now covered in white caps again. We have slowed down again to 5.5 knots. The seas are riding alongside of us, all white crested waves. Thank goodness they are coming our way. The seiners are all hunkered down. We have heard on the radio that they have until 9:00 PM tonight to fish. I guess they are not going to be doing much with the gales. We came out this morning riding with the ebb and were getting a good 10.5 knots but once we turned down Johnstone Strait we headed into the ebb. It won’t turn now until 2:00 PM this afternoon (its 12:20 right now). We’ve got about 5 miles to go before we make our turn up to the protection finally of Blind Channel and to our destination port for the day. The skies have cleared and it’s beautiful out. We see one lonely large seiner to our right working their nets and his bow is splashing hard into the waves. The winds are building slowly. They are about 33 knots winds behind us now. White caps are everywhere again and the seas look rough but we’re riding them along nicely. A big yacht Pageantry caught up with us and passed us by, pulling a fishing boat behind them no less! I guess he’s a captain on a schedule. Off to our right is a large mountain that is so cropped from logging it looks like it has a dang Mohawk. Ridiculous!
PROTECTION OF MAIN CHANNEL We’re finally leaving the excitement of Johnstone Strait and heading up Main Channel to Blind Channel Resort, our destination for the night. Wow, the seas were really crazy back there at the turn, coming together in all different directions, big waves pushing the boat in all directions. What a ride! This whole day was exhilarating. What varied seas we had. Never once did we feel unsafe though but it was a good experience to see what the boat can do and what these complicated currents can react out there, and we know to never, never take them for granted. Fortunately, we didn’t push the winds much as they didn’t get much above 33-35 knots but I can see why you have to respect the waters here. It’s beautiful heading up this channel, with layers and layers of mountains, all receding back into a perfect perspective focused by the channel. There’s one large tall mountain at the back that peaks up into a familiar point as we’ve recognized it from many locations up here, no matter where you are as its tall and can be seen from almost anyplace. I’m sure it has some important name but I sure don’t know it today. The seas are still scattered with white caps every few feet but much calmer as we head up the channel. We went from 800 to about 147 feet deep in less than a 1/8th of a mile which explains the crazy seas in combination with ebbing currents against 30 knot plus winds at the entry to the channel. Interesting.
The pock marked face of logging is everywhere here. You almost forget to be appalled by it because it is such a frequent and common sight. There is, I heard, an old growth tree that one of the logging companies’s saved that is still at Blind Channel. It has now become somewhat of a tourist attraction. Imagine how ridiculous that we have to save one tree so we can all remember what it looked like in all its glory.
Thank goodness we have reservations because the place looks packed. We knew about their reputation of having strong currents in here when trying to dock so I was a little concerned but Larry said we were near high tide so it should be OK. As we came in near the docks the dock the dock guy said the tide will pull us right down to the dock, to just let it take you sideways. We went up past the slip and let the current slide us down the channel in front of the docks sideways until we reached our slip and then Larry headed in. The dock guy is very good and immediately secured a line and I secured the stern to keep her from swinging out. I had the bow line hanging out so the dock guy then grabbed that and in one swift moment we were set.
They have a nice store here and I bought three books that I found interesting about the local area. We made reservations for dinner and looking forward to a nice meal with a great bottle of wine. The power is so, so. We’ve popped the breakers a couple times but we’re settling in just fine and hey the sun is out and we’re happy to be here. On to Seymour Narrows or Back to Top
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There’s another resort
just up the way from Echo Bay towards Tribune Channel called Pierre’s.
(
ECHO BAY TO LAGOON COVE
LAGOON COVE
JOHNSTONE STRAIT
MAD RUSH TO BEAT THE
GALE ON JOHNSTONE STRAIT
ONLY ONES LEFT
RECENT SHIP WRECK ON
YORKE ISLAND
WATCHING WHAT’S GOING
ON WITH THESE STRANGE WATERS
We pass the only boat
heading in this direction today, a huge aluminum sailing boat. He was
heading straight for us after coming out of Blind Channel and though we
were in the Channel and on a course we had to turn to give way to him, he
wasn’t under sail either. Maybe he didn’t see us. The seiners down in
this area are netting. It must be a rough day’s work for them. 
POCK MARKED FACE OF
LOGGING
BLIND CHANNEL, DOCKING
IN CURRENTS
What a beautiful setting
this is. We immediately walked down the docks and up to the park like
grassy area where the lodge is to stretch our legs. There is a nice grass
park and out door patio where after a walk we sat down and admired the
great view out over the channel and down overlooking the docks. The sun
was out, it was warm and beautiful (well except for the view of the
mountain directly across from the resort which has been completely logged
shamelessly naked for all to see). We had fun watching other boats come
down the channel riding so swiftly with the current. It was fascinating
to watch them as they slid down the channel sideways.
