August 11, 2013 ~ Hoy Bay to Shawl Bay

The main attraction here was to be Hopetown Passage, a shallow and rocky passageway between Grappler Sound and McKenzie Sound.  It is strewn with lots of rocks, but is passable by the locals at high tide.  We all piled into the dinghy after breakfast for a low tide cruise along its shoreline.  We were anchored on the opposite side of Hoy Bay, so we first traversed across that before entering the passage.  Many of the rocks within the passage were marked by the “sailor’s friend”, kelp.  It grows up to the surface from the shallows and was a good indicator to the explorers of old long before GPS or even charts were developed.  Still, there were lots of shipwrecks back in those days, but I digress.

We followed the shoreline for the most part, dodging a few kelp marked rocks here and there.  We saw some gradually sloping shoreline that would be good roaming spots for the local bears, but once again none made an appearance.  We all wore our water shoes, intending to do a little beachcombing should we find a good landing spot.  On our first attempt the beach was pretty muddy, sucking one of Erin’s shoes off her foot.  It also didn’t look all that interesting once we all got out of the dinghy, so we eventually abandoned that walk, climbed back in and headed further down the inlet.

At the very end is a shoal that when crossed leads to Burly Bay in McKenzie Sound.  The tide was coming in, and the water was just beginning to clear the shoal, creating a current headed that way.  It’s a great shortcut for the locals, as going around the other way would be several miles.  We didn’t cross, but headed back up the passage where we found another beach and made a landing.  We found a few shells of interest, and I found a piece of wormwood with barnacles on one side.  The piece could be construed to look like a fish with just a little imagination, so it is added to our collection.

By the time we got back to the boat it was about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, so without further ado we stowed the dinghy for travel, fired up the engines and weighed anchor to head to our next destination, Shawl Bay.

Compared to our last few days of cruising this trip was a bit more out in the open water, but none the less scenic than any other day, with sheer rock cliffs and distant mountains almost always in view.  The trip to Shawl Bay took about 2 hours, and we arrived just after 4 o’clock.  Shawl Bay is pretty quaint, although it has more amenities than Jennis Bay.  We have a 15 amp shore power connection, which will provide power until 10 o’clock tonight.  There’s a bakery here, and we ordered a strawberry rhubarb pie.  There are several choices, and I think they’re all pre-made in the freezer and travel to the oven once an order is made.  Our pie was delivered fresh out of the oven to the boat later in the evening.  We decided it wasn’t quite done, as the crust was still doughy in the middle, and none of the fruit had bubbled out.  We put it in our own oven to complete the job.

Just as we were finishing dinner, at 8 o’clock, it started to rain.  This is our first rain since Refuge Cove, where we had a downpour that lasted all of 15 or 20 minutes.  This rain has already doubled that, but we hope it does a good rinse of the air before returning to our unusually sunny weather up here.  This is the first good soaking the boat has had in a couple of years, so our leaks are extra active.  Hopefully the leaks will swell enough so that they can get back to normal – or better yet, stop completely.

Tomorrow morning we intend to take advantage of Shawl Bay’s signature feature, the morning pancake breakfast, which will happen at the community dock right next to us.  After that it’s back to Sullivan Bay, where we’ll do chores while Laura and Lynn gather up their stuff for the flight out the following day.