May 16, 2014
Bedwell Harbour, Pender Island, BC
There
was no chance of getting back to sleep after being awakened at 4 a.m. by the thumping and bumping of
our harbor boat against the Belle. We had expected a change in the weather and
we sure got it! The winds kicked up in
the early morning hours rendering me “Sleepless in Cowichan”. The clanking and
clunking was not exactly lulling me back to sleep as I kept thinking that maybe
David had been right after all.
David
wanted to retrieve our crab pot and haul the skiff up last night. I argued that the longer the pot stayed down,
the better chance we had that crab would find their way to it. Who knows? Maybe
they would be searching for breakfast instead of a late lunch. At 5 a.m. David woke up and glanced out the
window. He immediately realized that we had dragged our anchor, drifting hazardously
close to a neighboring boat. We sprung into action!
We
brought in some anchor chain and motored as much forward as possible. The
bouncing harbor boat had to be hauled up. After managing that chore and hauling
up the anchor, we motored over to our crab pot buoy. I had a 12 foot pike in
hand ready to snatch the line. We had never attempted this before, and it was
crucial that the operation go smoothly. Having a line drift back to the
propeller would be bad news. Miraculously, I hooked it on my first try and
began to haul up the line. Whether we had crab or not didn’t seem to matter at
that point. After the cluster of events that morning, I just wanted to get it
aboard without incident. Mission
accomplished.
We
didn’t get to revel in our crab bounty until we were safely on our way. Yes,
you heard right…we got us some crab!! We
had seven in all; three legal sized keeper males and the ladies were thrown
back. Yahoo!! We were ecstatic over our
salty harvest.
After
three hours of boating, it was only 8:30
in the morning and we arrived in Bedwell
Harbour…nap time! It is a
favorite spot of ours and we return often sometimes as our check in point for
the Canadian customs. The resort here is called, Poet’s Cove. You should search
it…great website. It’s a beautiful hideaway with a café, pool, bar, restaurant,
spa, kayak rentals, whale watching, etc.
While here there were two weddings taking place with lots of families
gathering to celebrate many arriving by seaplane. Because of the holiday weekend, many more
boats were anchored and docked here than we have ever seen before. Several boats were rafted together…party
time!
We
stayed two nights at Bedwell
Harbour. Last time we were
here, we took our skiff over to the Café at Hope Bay
and had some amazing clam chowder. We had been thinking about it since we
arrived so headed over for a bowl and a flight of local beers. Hoyt beer was a
new one for us…brewed in Victoria
and the amber was quite tasty.
The
ride back was a bit bouncy and my back was drenched. Brought back memories of
our skiff ride with the Yarbroughs in Cowichan a few years ago. No one was dry
going to shore or returning to the Belle. Our dining experience was delicious and fun
but definitely damp.
Our
crab trapping on our second day here brought our usual count of zero. It
doesn’t really bother us now that we have proven ourselves crab trap capable.
When we pulled it up we found the chicken was all gone…hmmm. Perhaps some
little critter ordered “take out”.
It
is uncommon for us to be where harbors are crowded since we rarely travel
during Canadian or US
holidays or during the frenzied summer. The large number of anchored boats at Bedwell Harbor was an unusual situation for us,
but the area is so beautiful, it didn’t matter.
Tomorrow
we head for Roche
Harbor on San Juan Island. We will check in with the US customs
there. I saw my first Orca whales along the island’s coast…got my fingers
crossed for another sighting.
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