Before I talk about today, let me just show you a picture of the beautiful calm evening we had last night.
Now for today. Today’s forecast was for crap weather, and the meteorologists were right. We had already decided not to push too far after seeing uncomfortable winds predicted by both Windy and Environment Canada; but we wanted to make some northward progress, so we picked a destination about 25 miles away, planned our route to skirt the areas with the worst winds, and left early. Lumpy seas meant we abandoned our slow-boat approach to cruising, planing most of the way to our next anchorage. Along the way we crossed Hole In the Wall rapids near peak flow, about 6 mph against us. We were definitely jerked around a bit in the crazy chop and eddies, but traveling at 25 mph meant that nothing could shove us too far off course.
We found Octopus Islands Provincial Marine Park deserted and settled into a sheltered nook with no one else in sight. The wind continued to pick up and then came the rain, so it’s been a day of napping and tea drinking.
Right before dinner, the rain let up and we braved the elements to take down our dinghy and visit the Driftwood Cabin, a landmark we read about when researching this anchorage. It’s a cabin full of nothing but pieces of driftwood and beach detritus carved with the names of visiting boats. Some elaborate creations had clearly had been prepared ahead of time, but most were makeshift affairs produced on site by generations of boaters.
That was the extent of our explorations. While I was boat-bound today, I put together a small “tour” of our home away from home. Here it is, it won’t take long.
The galley is not big, but it gets the job done. We love having the Rancilio Silvia for lattes and Americanos. Shout out to Ryan for the wall-mounted rack (above) he made for our dishes, silverware, glasses, and even paper towels. I installed some shelves-that-slide under the sink (below), which has made that space much more usable. I got the soft-close slides, which means that when the drawers are closed, they don’t rattle around - perfect for bouncing around on a boat.
The dining area is where we spend a lot of our indoor time. Notice the Starlink router on the table. Starlink has provided us with high-speed internet everywhere we’ve been so far, even sometimes when we’re underway; it gives us access to detailed weather forecasts, connects us to the rest of the world - and allows me to keep this blog up :)
The last part of today’s tour is the bathroom, or the “head” in marine parlance. It’s pretty tiny, but better than a bucket and a hose on the back deck. The sink faucet can pull out and mount on a bracket on the wall for a shower. Marine toilets are a little tricky, so you’ll notice Ryan has thoughtfully made labels describing the flushing procedures for #1 and #2. No one likes to have to ask for help with that!
I didn’t get any pictures of the cuddy cabin, since Ryan was napping in it this afternoon, and the back deck is better photographed in the sun. We’ll save those for another time.
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