Desolation Sound Part 2

After our first week in Desolation Sound, we were running out of fresh produce so on July 5th, we sailed to Heriot Bay on Quadra Island to reprovision. We pulled up to the Heriot Bay Inn and Marina to get fuel and then tied up at a slip in the marina as we planned to stay the night. Ellery filled up our water tanks, while Amelia and I walked a short distance to the Heriot Bay Tru Value Foods. This was the biggest grocery store we’d been to in a while so we stocked up on everything. Tru Value even drove our groceries back to the marina. At this point we decided that we’d rather go to anchor in Drew Harbour a short motor away. Ellery went to ask for a refund and then we were on our way.

We are getting pretty quick at reprovisioning now and find it works best if we each take a kid and divide and conquer. We used to always tie up at the dock to reprovision but this costs money. It can be anywhere from $0.74 to $1.65 per foot. We are kind of proud of ourselves as we haven’t tied up as much as we did in June, which saves us money.

We found a spot at the head of Drew Harbour to anchor. It was quite windy but we went for a quick dinghy ride ashore to the beach as Maddie hadn’t been off the boat yet that day.

The next day we decided to head back to Gorge Harbour on Cortes Island for the weekly market and some more time in the pool.

We made it to the market in time and enjoyed chatting with the locals and eating some yummy food. We spent the afternoon in the pool and finished the day with beer and appies at the restaurant overlooking the harbour. Later that night and the next night, we listened to some great live music from our boat as it was being played on the patio at Gorge Harbour Marina. What a treat!

We spent a couple days at Gorge Harbour, mainly because of the pool and the space for Maddie to run around, we didn’t have to entertain her much. She was happy just out doing things with us, even if it was just colouring at the restaurant while we enjoyed a beer. Gorge Harbour was also a really easy place to do laundry and we enjoyed talking to lots of other boaters and campers.

We actually met a couple, Laura & Mike from Orcas Island who had their 4 kids onboard their 36ft sailboat Cascadia. They did have grandparents with them to help but I sure was impressed. We hope to meet up with them again in the future!

After Gorge Harbour we headed to to Teakerne Arm via Sutil and Lewis channels. Ellery had been to Teakerne Arm a couple times before and was really excited to take me there.

On the way we saw Humpback Whales in Sutil Channel. We watched the Humpbacks breach and splash for about an hour while we drifted in the calm weather and ate lunch. Maddie saw them and I know Amelia heard a splash at one point too.

Teakerne Arm was beautiful. We recognized another sailboat, Cariba and anchored with a stern-tie next to them. It was late in the day so we quickly got in the dinghy for a short ride to see Cassel Falls. I think this may have been Maddie’s first waterfall.

When we returned, we invited Susan & Brian from Cariba over to our boat for appies. It was great to see familiar faces and fun to socialize as well.

The next day, we all slept in and had a yummy egg breakfast before getting in the dinghy to head to shore. We planned to do the short hike to Cassel Lake, which is known for having warm water for swimming. We were so proud as Maddie hiked the whole way there, up a steep trail, although she did need Ellery’s hand for help quite a few times. Ellery and I took turns swimming in the lake as the girls didn’t come in. It was sort of overcast and there was a bit of a sloping rock to scramble down to get to the water so it wasn’t very toddler friendly. We did have the whole lake to ourselves though, which was wonderful!