July 20, 2013 ~ Octopus Islands

The skies were overcast this morning, but it didn’t take very long for them to clear as the winds were gusting from the west to over 15 mph here in our little protected anchorage.  We imagined it would be a choppy day out in Johnstone Strait, but we have no plans to venture out there just yet.

By the time we finished breakfast it was already low tide, but according to the tables it would rise less than a foot over the next hour and a half.  We wanted to head over to the shallow passageway that we had navigated via dinghy last night so Erin could gather some sand dollars, and that’s what we did.  We decided to run around to the other side of the island to beach the dinghy and walk in from there.  I brought along our dinghy anchor to make sure our transportation didn’t leave us with the incoming tide. Our dinghy anchor, by the way, is a genuine Bruce anchor and definitely the smallest one available.  It weighs maybe a pound at the most.  I got it about 30 years ago at the Marine Center store on Westlake, where it was part of a display where you could drag it through a small box of sand to demonstrate how the flukes of the Bruce anchor turn and dig in from any angle.  This may have been when they were preparing to move over to Eastlake – I asked the clerk, mostly in jest, “how much for this one?”  He said, “oh, how about ten bucks” and I snapped it up.  I think I paid another $10 for a tiny stainless shackle for it.

As we approached the shore and it shallowed down to a foot or two, I tilted up the motor and rowed us the rest of the way in.  We both had on our wading shoes, and Erin stepped out with the anchor in hand.  Once we were both out I could bring the dinghy in even closer, and wrapped the anchor chain around a big rock that was about 4 feet higher than the beach.  That would give us plenty of time to explore.  

There was quite a bit of kelp on the beach in places, and although we didn’t sink into any mire, it was easy to have the heel of your shoe sucked off if you weren’t careful.  The passageway was like one giant tide pool with a myriad of little sea creatures, including hermit crabs, star fish, sea anemones, urchins, crabs, clams, barnacles, and of course sand dollars.  If the sand dollar were recognized in the global marketplace, we could finance a large portion of this trip.

We headed for the area where we had seen some sand dollars about 8 or 9 feet down during yesterday’s dinghy ride.  When they’re alive, sand dollars are black, and many of them wedge into the sand at an angle, although others are flat on the bottom.  Although they’re usually found in clusters, they are able to move about some.  It’s only after they die that they turn the familiar white, and those are the ones we were after. 

After an hour or so of gathering and just having a good time exploring, we headed back to the dinghy, which was now afloat but securely tethered to that large rock.  I reeled it in and we headed back towards the boat, circling the island and coming back in via the northern entry.  The sand dollars and shells collected are drying on the foredeck.  Erin found one “sand dime”, which is actually a bit smaller in diameter than a dime.  There must have been an infant death in that sand dollar family.

I think we’ll stay here for yet another day before heading north.  We perused through some cruising guides and charts today, and once we leave here we’ll probably go through the lower and upper rapids of Osikollo Channel, then Nodales Channel up to Shoal Bay.