Wow! We must have
been tired. We didn’t get out of bed
until 10AM this morning and I slept like a rock. We woke up to fog, clouds, but a light
breeze. We decided to try to find the
trailhead that lead to Lowrie Beach.
Pepper spray, check. Cameras,
check. Dog leashes, check. Val decided to bring the air horn as she’s
worried about another wolf attack or bear attack.
We had a hard time finding a place deep enough to beach the
dinghy. We keep running aground about
100 yards out from the shoreline and knew that the tide would rise about 8’ or
so meaning our dinghy would be a long,
long ways from shore at high tide and the water is very cold. Initially, we had it tied to an island with
an isthmus that was dry for hiking at low tide.
Upon further inspection, we decided we may not be able to retrieve it at
high tide. So, the rest of the crew went
to find the trail head while I found a steeper beach to secure the dinghy.
The trail to Lowrie Beach was pretty well grown over and
really, really muddy. I thought I was
the smart one because I had my big rubber boots on until I sunk up to my knees
in the black, stinky mud. Connor turned
out to be the smart one in his flip flops even though he had to dig them out of
the mud a few times.
The hike through the bog and the forest was well worth it
though. Even on a cloudy day, this beach
was still so amazing and beautiful. Time
just flies by out here and before we knew it several hours had passed. We all enjoyed ourselves, the scenery, the
roaring and crashing waves, and, most of all, Tanner’s daredevil water stunts
in the big waves. That dog is just plain
nuts! He loves to swim in the biggest
crashing waves possible. We all belly
laughed at him for a long time.
Back through the bog and the forest we went, to the beach
where our dinghy was anchored. Just as
Val crossed the last fallen log before the dinghy, she gave a bit of a
shriek. I turned to see her holding her
hooded sweatshirt and she was just staring at it. I also heard what sounded like a bit of a
“squeaker” from her. “Hmmm? That’s peculiar,” I thought. Just then, her sweatshirt started to
smoke! I thought that even more
peculiar. She was starting to look
pretty nervous but I still could not figure out what was happening. Now her sweatshirt looks like it’s about to
burst into flames and it’s starting to make noise! Suddenly, it dawned on me at the same time
she began to tell me what had happened.
She was wearing her sweatshirt around her waist with the air horn in her
pocket. When she sat on the log, it
jammed the horn into the canister releasing the gas in her pocket. The evaporation looked like smoke and the
“squeaker” was a sick sort of sound that it’s supposed to make when it’s fully
discharged. We all had a good laugh at
that one!
I had set the anchor as high as I could on the beach but it
was now out quite a ways out in the water but, thankfully, the wind had blown
the dinghy back to us on the beach when we arrived back from our hike. Actually, there was a pretty good wind
blowing through the bay and the white caps were significant for our heavily
loaded dinghy. We only idled but the
waves were crashing over the bow and we were all soaked and chilly by the time
we motored a half mile or so back to the boat.
The wind must have been blowing outside the bay pretty hard too as the
four hurricane mooring buoys are all occupied.
I’m glad we were tied to one!
We fired up the diesel furnace and the genset right away and
flipped on the hot water heater for toasty warm showers. Val started to make a delicious late lunch or
early supper; we didn’t care what it was called- we just wanted it! Salmon nachos and salmon sandwich for me and
soup and leftover pork loin and prime rib sandwiches for Connor and Val. I just can’t get enough fresh fish and
seafood. Val also made hot chocolate and
spiked hers and mine with Caramel Baileys, which warmed our innards immediately
and made us both quite happy! Connor
found his fix in the whip cream can.
The wind has died and it’s now supper time, even though we
just got done cleaning up our dishes.
The furnace feels so good that I really don’t want to leave my comfy,
cozy abode to go set the crab trap. The
forecast seems fine the next couple of days so we’re planning on leaving here
in the morning to check out San Josef Bay Beach and then make the 20 mile
unprotected run to Qautsino Sound with many miles of protected waters to
explore and quiet anchorages. There’s
also supposed to be communications and supplies in the little village of Winter
Harbour.
All warm and cuddly on the boat,
Connor is doing his homework while Val is “reading” a.k.a. snoozing, and both
pups are just plain pooped. I made a
batch of tomato basil pesto dough from scratch to bake fresh bread tomorrow and
then started a new book, yet another high seas peril story…go figure. I do think it makes me a better captain,
however. The last of the sun is just
breaking through and you know what they say, “Red sky at night, sailor’s
delight!” Have a good evening!
