Sailing Vessel Karma

A few beers, popcorn, and silly movie later we decided to leave and head across the way to Squirrel Cove on Cortez Island. This did have hikes as well as a tiny town accessible. Anchoring in the middle of the bay by Dual Dragons, we set the hook and finished the hatch install, deciding to bed it down with SikaFlex later on.

The following morning we were up and paddling and got the scoop on the trails from Ben on Dual Dragons. Wondering if we should hit the town, however, we decided to dinghy the mile or so over and found ourselves at Cortez’s biggest event of the year, the annual OysterFest. The ‘town’ was alight with people lining up to eat at the buffet style tent setup in the middle of the garden while different small local bands played including a First Nation man from the area. We hung out on the grass, tried the native fry bread, Bannock, from the local tribes, and listened to the music and watch the crowd. A highlight was the pie which a lady from neighbouring Quadra Island bakes but once a year for this festival, and the Canadian Coast Guard walking around eating everything they passed.

As the festival wound down we walked the streets for a bit before deciding to head back to the anchorage. After heading back we decided to take the dinghy through the rapids at the end of the bay. There is a lagoon which is maybe 10 feet above low tide at the north end of Squirrel Cove which means at low tide there is a waterfall, and at high tide the water in the Cove is above the lagoon leaving the water to run in a rapid back into the lagoon. At high tide the depth is such that you can dinghy in. Having seen the waterfall coming the other direction earlier on the paddleboard, it was strange to realize the same place now had the water in the reverse direction and it wasn’t a 5 minute walk up over the rocky waterfall to get to the other body of water. We flipped up the outboard to be save and whipped out the oars to do some classic Montana style rafting in our Aquapro RIB down the rapids.

Once in the lagoon there was one other dinghy and that was about it. We started our engine then did a sightseeing loop around the lagoon before going over to talk to the other couple.

An Australian Couple from the Gold Coast, these were the two on the seemingly brand new Leopard 50, S/V Walkabout, a fitting name. Soon after beginning to talk we realized we had, all 4 of us, made a mistake. The rapids entering the lagoon were most likely too strong to get back out of until slack tide, in an hour and a half…. Apparently as Walkabout’s crew went down the rapids the family off SV Oatmeal Rasin were trying to get them to stop, but it was too late.

No worries, chatting time it was. We did an impromptu dinghy raft up while we chatted of cruising plans, where and how we’d ended up here, and where we had been. They were fufilling a dream of 30 or so years after having explored the BC Coast by car. They bought Walkabout in Flordia and sailed her through the canal and up the coast at different times while returning to Australia in between. Some stretches with hired on captains and some not.

Eventually we decided it was time to attempt the rapids. They, with their center console Highfield and 20hp Honda went first. As they entered the rapids they throttled up and up and were barely making any headway, but they were moving alright. Slowly but surely they pulled through and made it back to Squirrel Cove. Now it was our turn.

Our 2 stroke Yamaha 6hp at full tilt, we entered the rapids and began sort of surfing the standing waves. It was a bit squirrely to keep the dinghy heading straight, but we were able to sort of surf one wave back and forth then get around to the next wave, thus gaining half a boat length of distance. After a bit of negociation we too were able to get back to the cove, just before sunset.

We finished off the day lounging around reading in the cockpit knowing the following day we were going to walk the Von Donnop Loop trail. In the morning Walkabout came over in their dinghy after exploring the town and invited us over for drinks and snacks that evening. With that now on the books we set off in search of the trails.

Much like all the previous trails in Canada we had walked on, it seemed we were a tidge early in the season, but the trail was easy to follow. It wound through different bays around the far east side of Cortez, passing other anchorages and coves which were on the otherside of the peninsuela. We passed another group hiking the opposite direction and one of them was a photographer for NatGeo who told us about his studying of the White Spotted owl, of which there is just one left in the area due to the previous logging.

Back onboard we were planning our departure from Karma in a few weeks time for Heather’s sister’s wedding and trying to negociate the return to civilization from the far out remote part of the world the boat brings us to while I made spring rolls to bring over to Walkabout this evening.

Dinghying over to the Leopard 50 catamaran, we had a choice of which stern to go to for the first time in our cruising careers. After being welcomed aboard we got the grand tour of what could have been a comfortable family home for 5, with its 4 separate queen sized staterooms, owner’s hull, 4 bathrooms with hot showers, and a mirayd of fridges, freezers and deck space for lounging both on top, aft, and in front of the coachroof.

To the top we went! With gin & tonics, snacks, and smiles in hand. We had a lovely evening talking until way after sunset and into the night. We even played Code Names for a bit before going back to chatting before realizing it was well past midnight and we should probably head home. Thank you to the crew of Walkabout for having us over and spending the evening with us.

Returning with but 4 spring rolls left we ate those and hit the hay right away so we could depart in the morning. Off to see the waterfall at Teakearn Arm then down to Georgia Bay, where we had sailed right past upon our entering into Desolation Sound initially.