August 15th Shoal Bay to Rebecca Spit
6:00 am 59 degrees high
fog
It got breezy last night and David spent the early evening
sitting in the wheelhouse listening to the anchor and watching our swing. He
decided to let out some additional rode and finally felt more at ease. David
was able to get some sleep.
Around 11:00 a small fishing boat cruised in and his
powerful searchlights lit up the entire bay. That did wake us up. Another wakeup call came at 4:00 am when he
departed. With the searchlights on our boat, I expected to hear a voice through
a megaphone, “This is the FBI. Come out with your hands up.”
Lots of traffic through the rapids today. Everyone working
the timing just right. Passed a fleet of small charter fishing boats all along
one shore. Must be a hot fishing spot. Wish we could have
stopped. David
remarked that the rapids were exciting enough this morning that if it had been
our first time through, it would have been a whole different experience! He
knew what to expect, it delivered, and he was ready. Makes all the difference.
We entered “unchartered territory” for us…Drew Passage. As
we did, the smoke started to roll in. Throughout that passage and Sutil
Channel, we spotted several whales. It never gets old. Always exciting.
We anchored in Rebecca Spit a little after noon just across
from Taku Resort. This is a very popular destination with many boats anchored
and docked at the resorts. The Marine Park draws campers and day trippers. The
spit is a narrow long strip of land which creates a natural breakwater. We are
facing the sandy beach and can see the campgrounds and cars traveling down the
road on this skinny stretch of land. It was 78 degrees when we arrived and by
2:00 it was 90 degrees.
Our dinghy was down in no time and we went exploring. Ended
up at the Heriot Harbour Inn pub for a beer and then walked to the store for
groceries trying not to buy more than we could carry back to the boat. We
noticed a schedule of artists performing at the inn and put our names on a
waiting list for a storytelling and music performance on the 19th. If
we get tickets, we will make it work.
Heriot Harbour Inn
Giant chess board
Our friends, Geoff and Donna, were to meet us in Campbell
River on the 19th. They have been anxious to escape the smoke-filled
skies in Medford, Oregon. When I texted that we were seeing smoke, as well,
Geoff checked the air quality in Vancouver. Surprisingly, it was worse than in
Medford. They questioned the sense in spending all that money just to see more
smoke. Reluctantly, they made the difficult decision not to join us.
Disappointment all around, but we certainly understood. Just hope they find a
smoke-free alternative! We look in the direction we are headed and can see lots
of smoke in our future.
August 16th Rebecca Spit
Our itinerary has a bit of wiggle room now that we are not going to Campbell River. Staying here another day did not take much consideration. We are enjoying ourselves. This morning we headed out to do some fishing. Right off the bat, I snagged a very young sand shark. Minutes later, I pulled up a larger shark whose fin was hooked. It was whipping about as David tried to release him. I was afraid he was going to flop into our boat and start chomping on something!
The next tug I got was a strong one. I was working hard to reel in the line. I turned to David and said, “This feels like jaws to me!” Instead I had managed to tangle my lure in a bed of kelp and my hook brought up a slimy green mass. We figured we were in shark country so motored on into the harbor and tried our luck there. I was holding David’s pole when I got a hit. He finished reeling it in and on the end was an even bigger shark. We gave up. Figured we would try fishing off our boat. Where are all the halibut and salmon, eh?
David is taking advantage of the nice weather and is scrapping window frames and sanding. The guy knows how to have fun.
Crowds of adults and children were enjoying kayaking, sunbathing, swimming, paddle boarding, and fishing while soaking up the sunshine.
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