July 23, 2013 ~ Forward Harbor to Lagoon Cove

Douglas Bay in Forward Harbor is a nice anchorage, and we’ll probably stay here again as a good resting spot before or after Johnstone Strait.  We left just after 8:30 this morning, with the thought of going to Port Harvey for either the night, or to wait for more favorable current in Chatham Channel.  The giant raft of logs that was parked in the entrance last night was gone this morning when we left and headed out into Sunderland Channel.  We encountered more turbulence from Whirlpool Rapids coming out of Forward Harbor than we did going through last night when it was running 5 knots.  I guess that’s because it was running about 6 knots towards us this morning.  Glad we weren’t trying to go up that hill.

Sunderland was a bit choppy, but not all that bad.  We’d read that whatever the condition in Sunderland, expect more and a bit worse in Johnstone Strait, but that didn’t turn out to be the case.  It was a bit rough at first, where Sunderland merges in with Johnstone, but once we were past that and past Port Neville, it calmed right down for a nice smooth ride.  We had an ebb current pushing us along too, so that saved us a few gallons of diesel.

There was quite a bit of debris in Johnstone Strait – mostly logs and trees, but we saw evidence of a dock that had recently broken up.  A long piece of the caprail here, some flotation there, another dock section down the channel a bit.  Also saw a huge deadhead while still in Sunderland – it was the butt of a log protruding above the water just about a foot or so, and I would say it was close to 3 feet in diameter.  It would have been the winner in any sort of boat collision.

We saw several dolphins swimming along during our journey today, and one group approached our bow.  I thought maybe they’d play in the bow wake for awhile, but they continued on their own way.

As we reached the Broken Islands, where we could leave Johnstone Strait for Havana Channel, we were ahead of the time I thought we’d be here, and decided to head straight for Lagoon Cove instead of going to Port Harvey.  At the time Chatham Channel showed a speed of just a couple knots against us, but by the time we arrived there it was up to 4 knots, and to 4.8 knots when we reached the other end, where we could take a left into “The Blowhole” – a shallow passage that leads to Lagoon Cove.  We were in the channel for quite some time against the current, and it actually looked like we were going uphill – must be the lay of the land.  We radioed ahead from The Blowhole for moorage – we had been listening to the frequency they monitor for 20 minutes or so, and it sounded like they were pretty busy.  We were assigned the first stern tie on the gas dock.  From there, other boats raft to us with their stern tied to the dock that runs perpendicular from the gas dock.  Those boats exit over their stern, while we have full dock access.  It’s the same position we were in last time we were here.  It’s very convenient, as we can fill our fuel tanks from here without moving the boat at all.

Speaking of fuel, we’ve now traveled 346 miles – 300 miles since filling up in Oak Harbor.  We didn’t actually fill up – I left 5 or 6 gallons of space in each tank.  I can tell pretty closely by using the dipstick how much fuel is in each tank – it’s about 8 gallons per inch of depth.  I haven’t dipped the tanks yet here, but I’m curious to see how our fuel burn is on this trip compared to when we had the Perkins engines.  I know one thing – we haven’t run out of fuel yet.  But, we’ll top up here before moving on.

Behind us is the office, a couple of showers, and the caretaker’s residence, all on floats.  In the eaves of the building are some sparrow nests and this has attracted Tribble’s attention.  At home she can sit in the back yard and watch a bird for hours.  Here she has to balance her curiosity about the birds with her fear of strangers walking by.  I think the birds will be safe, but they did get a pretty good stare.

We arrived in plenty of time for the fabled Happy Hour/Potluck that happens here every afternoon at 5 o’clock.  Everyone brings a dish of something, and the marina folks provide a mess of prawns, caught fresh earlier in the day outside the harbor.  This has been going on for many years, and we’re glad the tradition has continued after the death earlier this year of Bill Barber, the owner of Lagoon Cove.  We learned he had purchased lagoon Cove in 1992, so he had over a 20 year run of having fun running the place.  He would tell these outrageous stories that entertained us all, and he is missed by all those who have experienced his hospitality. 

We learned today that the Internet connection here is still via an Ethernet cable at a small table in the shop at the head of the dock.  This is the only marina left in the Broughtons that hasn’t gone to a wifi setup.  The connection is slow and you have to wait your turn, so I probably won’t be able to add any photos of the wondrous sights we’ve been seeing just yet.