Day 24-25

We stayed over at Columbia cove. It was a grey morning with fog and no
one seemed keen to move on to Battle Bay or some such place so we stayed
at Columbia Cove with plans to move on the next to Walter's Cove.

We spent the day spending the day; it is hard to describe how the day
can dissolve in front of you and you can still feel that you ran out of
time. After breakfast and catching up on organizing photo's and blog
update, I went for a row to investigate the shipwreck in the cove. I
rowed for the exercise thinking I could always cheat and use the motor
on the way back. I forgot the motor key so I also rowed back and got a
double workout. The current state of the wreck is much different from
the guide photo's. It has rusted out its bottom and has been moved
inland and rotated 90 degrees by storm waves. The engine and bottom of
the hull is now in a different spot than the topsides.

I also rowed back to the small beach to see if there were any signs of
bears; it was pleasant as the tide was coming in and I could just let
the dinghy drift into shore while I watched. However, this meant I had
to row back against the tide but it was not much of a current. When I
got back I decided to clean up the hull from black marks from various
fuel docks,etc and now the old boat looks a bit more like someone cares
about her.

Day 25:

We were away at about 09:00, there was not enough wind to sail so we
ended up motoring all of the 20 miles to get to Walter's Cove. The crew
spotted a whale but it had disappeared by the time I got on deck. We
went outside the Bunsby Islands in hope that we would have some sea room
to sail if the wind was up. Nothing much else happend enroute except for
the coffee pot that fell off the stove and crashed during one
particularly bad roll in a swell; at the time our course had us such
that the swell was hitting us on the beam (side) and rolling us from
side to side.

The route into Walter's Cove is interesting; and initially confusing. We
had worked out a route using the electronic charts and had it on the
GPS's ( 2 of the 3) to ensure we got it right. There are about 9 day
beacons to keep aligned on the way in and can be confusing if you don't
know your "red right returning" rule! The cove has two villages, the
Native village across from the town proper. It is similar to Winter Cove
except that there are no outside roads to here and the waterfront has a
pathway/boardwalk the entire length. There are 2 sport fishing lodges,
and the store. "Charlies Resturant" is NOT open as reported in the
guide... much disappointment to the crew who were looking forward to
food NOT cooked by one of us. The owner told us she was only open today,
Thursday, because they do a meal for the passengers on the UCHUCK which
visits every Thursday bringing visitors and freight. The good news is
that there is no moorage charge ( no service either ; no water, no fuel
and no power); but they did say we could make a donation to help offset
the costs of the garbage which is freighted out...which we did do. She
also told us that fresh produce would be coming in later on the UCHUCK
so we decided to hold off doing any grocery shopping until later.

When we arrived just after lunch time and went to the store, there was
no one other than the owner there. The only other activity in the cove
was a work party repairing the old fuel dock. However, we were fortunate
to witness rush hour in Walter's Cove when the U CHUCK came in. It
promptly disembarked its passengers who "filled" the town street (note
singular). Meanwhile they started to unload freight, and small skiffs
started to arrive en masse from around the cove. They tied up beside the
ship and got their freight, other freight was off loaded on the dock and
the store provisions were taken up the dock to the store. People were
jamming the store to get the fresh stuff; quite a sight. In about 2
hours it was all over and peace came back to the cove. We only got
enough fresh stuff to last us until Zebbalos; good thing since just
about everything worked out to be close to $1 each; including potatoes,
tomatoes, apples,etc. 2L of milk was $4.80. There was no fresh meat so
we ended up eating cabbage and canned corned beef hash for dinner. Did I
also mention that Walter's Cove is a dry community and there is no
beer/alcohol sold here? Zeballos with more than one restaurant and a
pub is beginning to sound pretty good.

Having sea water for rinsing, teeth, some cooking and dishes has enabled
the crew to do an excellent job of water management. Showers were
allowed for anyone who wanted one, but no one decided to take one
unless voted to do so by the other crew. I had a shave which was well
received.

I did a walk about, tried to exercise my underexercised sketching skills
and took a bunch of photo's; I can't do a good job explaining the
atmosphere here but it feels laid back but without the feeling of
dieing a slow death that Winter Cove seemed to have. We did not see the
reported tamed seal that lives ( used to live?) here and acts like it
is a dog. It was an orphan raised by a local family that had to return
it to the sea but it came back. Stewart was sketching up on the dock so
engrossed that Ralph had to warn him to move otherwise he was going to
be interfering with the docking of the UCHUCK!. This is a 136' former
minesweeper! Ralph was off the boat but only got about 1 block of the
dock before he turned back to guard the boat.

On our way in we did see a number of sea otters again. One in
particular was quite close to our path but was watching us and seemed
to be trying to decide if he should make the effort of diving or
swimming away. In the end he just did a slow rollover as he kept his
eyes on us going by and didn't seem too concerned. It is funny how they
seem to try to keep their feet out of the water as they float; it seems
as if they are waving at you as you pass.

Tomorrow's plan is to go to Dixie Cove, apparently famous for crabs, so
maybe we can get some fresh protein for dinner.... stayed tuned.

Again, I apologize for not being able to get a long enough connection on
the sat phone to send photo's; that will have to wait until Zeballos i
expect.

Over and out from Walter's Cove.