PORT ELIZABETH
Last night the Pig Roast was
great fun and absolutely delicious! Afterward we sat up on the boat deck of the
Ocean Cape and visited while we observed a huge humpback swimming and diving
about 100 yards from the marina. What a sight…and no camera…you’ll just have to
take my word for it.
The next morning, David got
up at 5:30 and made cinnamon rolls for everyone for our farewell breakfast.
David always has success baking on the boat, more so than at home. Those rolls
were sinfully good and the best ever.
Then we cruised here...Port Elizabeth
We took off around 9:30 this
morning and down Retreat Passage and Spring Passage to Knight Inlet dodging
several small islands along the way. We ended up in Port
Elizabeth and anchored in Maple Bay
with a fish farm across the bay from us. We have pretty good protection and
just hope the winds are kind to us.
After dropping our crab pots
we took a cruise around the shoreline. There were several strings of commercial
pots all over the bay so it looked promising. We are surrounded by wooded foothills
and islands. There are several stretches of rocky shore with piles of
driftwood. There are steel cables, ramps and rafts that are remnants of the
logging industry, as well as hillsides of new growth. One grassy area near the
shore looks like the perfect place for bears to romp. I’m keeping an eye on it.
Winds picked up around 5:00
this evening, and we were doing a bit of rocking but the weather report assures
us that it will calm down later tonight. Anchor is holding which is
encouraging.
We woke up to a beautifully
calm sunny morning but David was concerned about staying here any longer. The
winds are supposed to increase and that rocking last night was a bit unnerving.
We decided to return to Minstrel
Island where we can tie
up at the Public Dock again and wait out the winds. We also need to get fuel
for our dinghy, and we will do that at Lagoon Cove not far from there. This
will be our first repeat destination on this journey.
We hit the motherlode of crab
today! Pulled up 18 crabs but once again, could only keep 4…more than enough
for us. I let David do the cleaning…I’m better at eating them. Our theory
devised in Simoon Sound (after pulling up empty pots two days in a row) about
Fish Farms being harmful to the crab and prawn population certainly did not
hold true here.
Quite the catch...David and the crab!
We were both pretty exhausted
once we tied up at the dock. Naps came quickly. Over the Canada Day weekend we
had this entire dock to ourselves but this time we were joined by two Canadian
boats. Two of the boaters were from Captain’s Cove which is about ½ hour down
the Fraser River from us. Small world.
The building on shore which
we thought was a residence is actually a lodge where people come to stay and
take bear excursions. A float plane landed twice letting off passengers for
their next adventure. They seem to have luck finding bear along the shores of
Knight Inlet where we are headed next.
I noticed something different
in the window of the small shed by the stacks of crab pots. We took a closer
look with the dinghy and laughed at the large cut out photo of a young man in a pink strapless dress obviously having a raucous time. There were also beer
bottles strewn all over the dock. I was thinking bachelor party but it sure is
out of the way for something like that.
We did indeed fill out gas
containers at Lagoon Cove at $5.86 (US) a gallon! To date we have
traveled approximately 550 miles and have circumnavigated Gilford Island with
Claydon Bay off Grappler Sound being our most northern destination.
Fun Boat Name: Happy Place
I like the maps with the arrows!
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