August 14, 2013 ~ Sullivan Bay to Bootleg Cove

This morning I went to the store just as they were about to open.  Coming from the manager’s house I saw two employees carrying a couple of trays to the store – laden with cinnamon rolls and turnovers!  The cinnamon rolls are mostly reserved for those who order ahead, but I claimed the last two that were unspoken for, along with a couple of apple turnovers.  Everything was still warm from the oven, and the cinnamon rolls were consumed for breakfast, along with turkey bacon and eggs over easy. 

Although the ‘third night free’ deal is still going on, we decided it was time to start cruising and working our way back south, so I paid our moorage tab while collecting our fresh bakery items.  I refilled the water tank and Erin did some vacuuming while we were still connected to shore power.  Another large boat came in and docked ahead of us just as we were disconnecting stuff, and it turned out to be the Tuzi – the boat destined for Australia next year.  Barry came over and gave us a shove away from the dock, as my usual sideways crawl with rudder and engine power wasn’t too successful against the current and wind at the dock.  If I’d known it was them before we were pulling away we could have stayed and visited for a few minutes – but hopefully we’ll see them again.

The waters were very calm as we pulled away from Sullivan Bay, but that didn’t last long.  We soon had a brisk wind on our port beam, along with heavy chop – but all in all it was smooth going.  The wind was blowing right into the flue for the LP powered refrigerator, and after a couple of relight attempts we just left it off for most of the way to Echo Bay, our first stop.  We recorded gusts up to 32.2 mph along the way.

We got to Echo Bay around 2:00pm or so, and had been listening to radio calls from boats seeking moorage or arriving for the reserved spots.  Sounds like there will be no more available moorage shortly.  Tonight is prime rib night, and many cruisers tend to flock in for the specials.  We were just interested in a stop at the grocery store, and were directed to the transient dock, which is alongside the breakwater.  An employee came out to help with the lines, and remembered us from our previous visit.  I reminded him that we were the only boat there for a day, and he said they had been 3/4 to completely full each night ever since then.  The moorage across the bay used to be called Windsong, but is now owned by Pierre and Tove and called Cliffside.  Boats that moor over there take a dinghy over to the store or to the feature meal of the evening.

At our last visit here we picked up a large bag of treats called “Munchies”, and our plan was to get a couple more to have for when Ray and Mary join us next week.  Of course, they had none this time, but we picked up a few grocery items anyway to make our stop worthwhile – it doesn’t take long up here for a few things to add up to over 50 bucks!

We did get one bonus during our stop.  I had left this little Netbook computer turned on, and it recognized the wifi signal from Echo Bay, connected and downloaded all our emails.  That was good, because the connection wasn’t working at all this morning at Sullivan Bay.  It’ll be a couple days before any outgoing stuff happens, though.

With our new groceries in hand, we backed away from the dock and set our course for Bootleg Cove, just 4 miles to the southwest of Echo Bay, on the other side of Blunden Passage.  The cove is unnamed on the chart and does not visually appear to be a harbor from out in the channel.  We read about it in one of the cruising guides, checked it out on the way north and decided it was worth a stop on our way home.  It’s big enough for 2 or 3 boats, but so far we’re the only boat in here.  Hopefully no one cruising by today read the same book and we’ll have it to ourselves.  Once we set the anchor and shut off the engines, Erin said she could hear a waterfall.  We soon discovered that it wasn’t a waterfall, but the sound of the wind blowing through the treetops that completely surround us.  We’ve had a few gusts come through here, but I’m sure it’s blowing pretty good on the outside.  The other thing mentioned in that article was that it was the most secure harbor in all of British Columbia.  We should definitely still be here come morning.

Bootleg Cove - green boat icon not to scale :)