Tuesday, September 3. We have four bars on Roger!!! We left Mouat Bay yesterday and headed for Jedediah Island, which we enjoyed so much on our trip north. We sailed for an hour or so until the wind gave out. When we got to Jedediah all the anchorages were already full so, rather than squeeze in cheek-by-jowl, we soldiered on to Sergeant Bay on the mainland.

On our way from Jedediah to Sergeant Bay, just at the bottom of Malaspina Strait, we ran into some humpback whales (not literally). I cut the engine and we drifted. Two of them surfaced right across our bow and another was performing tricks off to starboard. We didn’t know where to look! The guy off to starboard really put on a show, slapping the water with his tail, pectoral fins (which are incredibly long), breaching and spyhopping. He also did something, I later learned from google, called a penducle throw, “a behavior unique to this species in which they raise their entire rear torso and tail out of the water, twist, and slam their lower half down onto the ocean surface.” This went on for half an hour and there were no other boats around (usually there are a dozen whale-watch boats). Good thing there was no room at the inn at Jedediah!

After the whale show, we passed the Merry Island Lighthouse.

Finally, we landed in Sergeant Bay at 1730. Whew! What a day! This morning we went ashore to hike the trail here. This one does not follow the coast but goes straight up. However, it follows a creek and has a waterfall! Totally worth it!

Sunday, September 1. The weather was nice so we decided to head down the west side of Texada Island to Mouat Bay again. Texada is long with not many anchorages and the west side is open to the Strait of Georgia so calm weather is a must. We liked Mouat Bay, it had lots of seals, birds and a nice trail. This trail, like the one at Powell River, runs parallel to the beach so is relatively flat. It has nice woods with views of the bay. Roger was giving us three bars but he wouldn’t do squat. What’s up with that?

Growing along the trail in Mouat Bay was the biggest fir tree that I have ever seen.

Saturday, August 31. We have been in Powell River for a few days doing laundry, getting groceries and fuel. It’s a great place with a good feel. Today we went for a hike on a great waterfront trail. Leaving tomorrow morning to go back down Texada to Moat Bay and then Jedediah Island again.

Wednesday, August 28. Last Saturday we headed down Malaspina Inlet and spent 4 days in Grace Harbor anchored behind a little islet called Jean Island. It was about a half mile row up to the head of Grace Harbor from there but was also more private. We rowed up twice and there were about a dozen boats anchored there. Quite a crowd. We wanted to get to the Desolation Sound area after Labor Day to avoid the crowds but one can only dawdle so much, it seems.

The reason to row up to the head of the Harbor was to hike a trail to a small lake, passing a waterfall along the way. You know how we feel about waterfalls!

We don’t know what the deal is, but we see these stacked rock “sculptures” everywhere. Alan decided to get in on the fun.

This morning we went up Lancelot Inlet to Wootten Bay but we didn’t like it. It was too, well, desolate. Logging, fish farms, hot and dry. So we came back down to Malaspina proper and anchored behind the Conchrane Islets for the night. Tomorrow we start heading back to Bellingham. We estimate it will take about three weeks to arrive. Roger will mostly be around.

On Friday, August 23 we left Carrington Bay to go to Manson’s Landing, also on Cortes Island. We were in need of fresh groceries and, about a mile uphill from the Landing, there is a co-op grocery and a farmer’s market on Fridays. When you’re on a boat, everything is uphill. The good news is that it’s downhill on the way back when we’re fully loaded.

To get from Carrington Bay to Manson’s Landing we went through Uganda Passage, a nail-biting little double-chicane that had me sweating but it saved us several miles of going around Marina Island.

Manson’s Landing was crowded and windy so we left and went to a small nook on the south end of Twin Islands called Echo Bay. We spent one night then headed to Refuge Cove for fuel, then down Malaspina Inlet.

Wednesday, August 21. We motored down Ramsay Arm, through Deer Passage and into Sutil Channel to Carrington Bay. This is a really nice spot with hiking trails and a very small waterfall to a lagoon. The loons seem to prefer the calmer waters in lagoons and we saw and heard some while here. It’s always good to get out and hike a trail after being in the deep and steep for several days.

Monday, August 19. We went back to Ramsay Arm and parked next to our favorite waterfall. We stayed a couple of lovely days, got water and oysters and caught a couple of rock cod.

I made a most awesome seafood chowder with rock cod, oysters, mussels, prawns, seaweed, sea asparagus, onions and celery. Life is good.

As we were leaving, I spotted some strange waves on the far shoreline. Like maybe a very large boat wake breaking against rocks on shore, except there were no boats anywhere. I asked Alan to check it out with the binoculars. It turned out to be a pod of about 50 dolphins, herding smaller fish and having a feeding frenzy. It was amazing to see multiple dolphins swimming and surfacing in concert. They really kicked up the surface. I’ve never seen so many dolphins. We tried to get a little closer but they were moving fast. As usual, we got a few not so great pictures.

Monday, August 19. Yesterday we headed back up Nodales Channel to traverse the set of three rapids: Dent, Gillard and Yaculta. We arrived too soon so I pulled off the main channel (Cordero) and cut the engine. We still had two hours before slack at Dent so we just drifted around and ate lunch. The time passed quickly because first two humpback whales passed by and shortly after that, two orcas. The orcas split our boat, one passing on each side. Then they breached several times, coming all the way out of the water and then slapping their tails. What a show.

We passed through the rapids without incident. Dent is by far the worst and it was quite a slog through turbulent water to get to it. Phew! Church House is not a particularly good anchorage but cell reception is good (we haven’t had any for about 10 days or so) and it’s on the way to and from. Today, we head back up Ramsay Arm to get more water and oysters. Roger doesn’t go there. Afterwards we plan to head south along the west side of Cortes Island. We haven’t been there before so we don’t know if Roger has either.

Thursday, August 15. We travelled up Cordero Channel, stopped at Shoal Bay to hike their trail, then on down Nodales Channel. Our first stop was Hemming Bay on East Thurlow Island. We stopped here because another boater told us there was a nice waterfall here. There was a very small waterfall, BUT: it was up at the end of a shallow saltwater lagoon so we couldn’t anchor anywhere near where we could see or hear it; it wasn’t very big; there were private property signs posted all around; we had to anchor across from a massive logging operation. What would have been a pretty anchorage was dampened by logging and derelict fish farms. There were a lot of loons who called to each other all morning. I love that.

Saturday, August 17, we went across the street (Nodales Channel) to a tiny bay called Handfield, just off of Chameleon Harbor, Sonora Island. This was a delightful anchorage with a trail to a lagoon called, “Noname Bay.” It’s always nice to get off the boat and hike a trail. Except for old logging roads, trails are rare in the deep and steep wilderness.

Wednesday, August 14. We came back down Loughborough Inlet, through Greenpoint Rapids and anchored in the Cordero Islands at the start of Cordero Channel. They say there are ling cod here but I didn’t catch any. Caught one really big rock cod. This place, while scenic, is also like a rest stop on the main drag. People stop here to wait for the tide to change for Greenpoint Rapids. While here we saw some more tiny baby seals, loons, eagles, herons and for the first time since heading north, some sea otters. We did not see any sea otters anywhere north of here. Madrona trees either. Must be a line of demarcation somewhere around here.