Nicely making way

July 7, 2020. Dixie Cove to Nuchatlitz. 27 NM.

Shortly after I finished writing last night, two fishing boats came in to spend the night in Dixie Cove. It was reassuring to see that I wasn’t the only person left in the world. I slept well, once the wind settled for the night, and by the time I got up around 0700, both fishing boats were gone.

After breakfast, I went through the morning routine of getting the boat ready, and was motoring out of Dixie Cove by 0830. Having read about the other anchorages in Kyoquot, I decided I was ready to move on, and headed back out towards the ocean.

Instead of going out into deep water, though, I decided to try Clear Passage, which winds it’s way  along inside some low-lying barrier rocks and islands, cutting off the ocean swell. There was less than 1 knot of wind as I rounded Rugged Point, so it probably didn’t make much difference to be inside or outside. I was treated to a great view of the long, white sand beach of Rugged Point as I cut inside the menacing Grogan Rock. In retrospect, it would have been great to stop inside Rugged Point, and explore the beach. That is one that I’ve left for next time. It looks like an amazing spot, and the long beach is definitely worth exploring.

Nasty looking Grogan Rock and the barrier islets

Part of Rugged Point beach.  A must stop for next time.

Coming to the end of Clear Passage, I started to see more signs of life. A remarkable house on the high point at the end of Rugged Beach presented an impressive view. Just below, 7 or 8 small sport fishing boats all gathered around what I can only assume is the hot fishing hole in the area.

Pretty impressive building site!

Exiting Clear Passage, it was another hour of relatively open water before I turned into Gillam Channel, and started my way up the Esperanza Inlet. I didn’t go far before I turned into the tight and winding entrance to the bay at Nuchatlitz Provincial Park. I was treated to even more civilization, with a few summer houses dotting the eastern shore. A couple were occupied, as evidenced by the boats parked at their docks. I headed to the middle of the bay, and dropped the hook in about 20 feet of water.

Summer houses at Nuchatlitz

This bay is probably the biggest anchorage I’ve been in since we left Nanaimo. It’s hard to believe that was more than a month ago! There is probably room in here for 30 or 50 boats. Once again, though, I am the only boat in sight, other than the small sport fishers at the docks of the summer homes.

Solo in Nutchatlitz Bay

I had a quick sandwich for lunch, and relaxed for an hour, waiting for the afternoon inflow winds to calm down. Once again, they seemed to start up just as I got into the anchorage, after motoring all morning with winds in the 2 to 3 knot range. It may be that I’m timing my day wrong, and should be starting later to catch more wind. The early starts work well for exploring new anchorages, though, so it is a trade off.

Since the timing worked out well today, after lunch I launched the paddleboard, and paddled upwind to the old first nation’s village site. There was a nice gravel beach, so I hauled the board out of the water and switched to my hiking shoes, then set off to walk around the island. It took about 20 minutes to get all the way around. On the way, I surprised a bear who was enjoying some raspberry bushes close to shore. He surprised me, too, but he seemed more scared than I was, running off into the bushes. I kept walking, a bit more briskly than before, and was soon back at my board. I pushed off into the bay, pretty confident that I could paddle faster than a bear could swim. I worked my way out towards some of the barrier islands, and enjoyed the small ocean swell coming through that lifted the board up and down.

Exploring further out.

It was starting to get late, so I headed back towards the boat, paddling back around the village island, re-tracing my steps on the beach, but this time, a bit offshore. Sure enough, I soon saw the same bear, grazing in the sea grass on shore. He didn’t see me for a long time, and when he finally looked up, he was completely unconcerned. I took a couple of pictures, then paddled back to the boat.

Second encounter from a safer distance.

Dinner was chicken cordon bleu (really!) which was pre-made at the grocery store. I cooked it up in the oven, and had some salad left over from last night. I’m sitting in the cockpit now, listening to the birds calling each other on shore as the light of the day is starting to wane. I can’t really claim to be getting a sunset, since the clouds have obscured the sun pretty much all day, but at least the rain has held off so far.

Steven Stills just finished singing about the Southern Cross. 80 feet on the water line, nicely making way. I guess if you’re a rock star, you can afford an 80-foot boat!