Hiding out in “Chicken Cove”

Today (August 27) we left Cameron Cove in Barnard Harbour and motored down the west coast of Princess Royal Island. The sun was poking through, but the clouds slapped the “evil day moon” back to where we couldn’t see it. The first hour or so, we were in Whale Passage, but the whales didn’t pass in front of us. It was an easy trip, and we saw the back side of Campania Island and then the inside of Aristazabal Island. Laredo Channel (named after the same person the town in Texas was named for) was an easy transit, and just a little north from where we started our passage to Haida Gwaii, we turned east instead of west, and headed up the entrance to Laredo Inlet (same Laredo again). As we headed through a very narrow passage behind Hague Point (two “s” curves, a fairway that is only 20 feet wide, and rocks all over the place–I’m sure Lorelette felt like she was riding a pinball on a record-breaking bounce-about as she served as bow-watch), the leaden skies turned from mist to rain. We anchored in an unnamed lagoon that is informally known as “Chicken Cove”, as the waters in the channel can get pretty wild, and wise mariners “chicken out” into this cove. Remember our first few days in Haida Gwaii? Anchored out in Bag Harbour as a storm blew through? This is the same song, second verse. We likely will be here from today (Saturday) until Tuesday, when this storm is supposed to blow out. We’ll have a couple of days to get to a good anchorage on our way to Roscoe Inlet (we’ve already got it planned) and with a bit of luck, we’ll be far enough inland so we won’t have to hide, but we’ll see. Looks like the northern North Pacific High has given up what little ghost it had this year after our hot summer days in Bishop Bay (sunset photo was taken on Thursday night). The “Bow-Watch” writing: We enjoyed our overnight stay in Cameron Cove (photo from Friday afternoon), where we could hea r loons, eagles, ravens, and other birds chortling, laughing, cawing, and otherwise filling the cove with their calls. As we arrived there on Friday, I saw a number of Canada geese exploring a gravel beach surrounded with golden rock weed, and as Walt was raising the anchor this morning (Saturday) I saw some otters canoeing by, swimming, diving, and resurfacing not far away. Walt thought he’d seen evidence of “bubble fishing” by dolphins earlier in the morning, and though we didn’t see whales, other creatures were delightful! Now we appear to be settling in for the duration of the storm presently dousing us with rain; Walt is making bread, I might bake muffins, and we have plenty of books to read and videos to watch, and I can make blog posts and send and receive Iridium satellite mail (write to me at wrknowles@myiridium.net). I’m grateful for another lovely, secure anchorage, which we have all to ourselves, at least for now.