Santa Gertrudis to Bacchante Bay, June 25

We are up at 4:30 this morning to take advantage of the calm seas for our trip from Nootka Sound to Clayoquot Sound.  At first light, we pull-up the anchor and very carefully work our way out of Santa Gertruis Cove trying to avoid the unmarked rocks.  On our trips to Alaska, we often started our voyage at dawn to cover the long distances required.  This trip our destinations are much closer together and arising in the dark has not been part of the experience.  Now I recall how much I love the still and quiet of the early morning.
 

Our route today takes us around the Hesquiat Peninsula and past the Estevan Point lighthouse.  We have almost 30 miles to cover before we are reach the entrance to Hot Springs Cove where we can duck out of the ocean and into Sydney Inlet.  The first half of this trip takes us on a southerly course with westerly ocean swells of 1-2 meters on our beam.  Chug has a full-displacement hull (and no stabilizers) so the swell rocks the boat but we are thankful that there is no chop.  In less that an hour, the Estevan Point Light is in sight and by 9 am we have our anchor down in Hot Springs Cove.  

We relax on the boat for an hour before deploying the dinghy for our trip to shore.  As we are doing this, the cove seems to suddenly get very busy.  Small yellow tourist boats are arriving from Tofino and float planes follow suit.  There are literally dozens of folks headed to the hot springs.  We go ashore and join them for the walk down the well-kept boardwalk that includes several hundred steps both up and down. The walk is beautiful and we have fun reading all the carvings in the boardwalk under-foot.  When we arrive at the springs, it is a madhouse.  Many of the planks of the board walk have been replaced by boaters with planks inscribed with their boat names – we do not have such a thing with us.  We do note one plank says Ursa Major and we wonder if our friends Josh and Emily have been here before us.  Many planks also have individual names and messages.  We find one with a heart that says B & K – we will claim this as our own for now.  We also find M & M and think that perhaps Mike and Mary might have been here????  Another says Bye Susan when what we would rather do is say hello Susan.  And finally, the most prominent board says Zeus and reminds us of our good friends at home and the waffles that are long gone.  

We have lunch aboard the boat and agree that we need to move to a quieter cove.  We select a couple of coves that we think might be interesting but the current in Hayden Passage could be quite strong right now and we don’t want to wait.  We pull out the charts and select Baccante Bay at the top of Shelter Inlet.  

Baccante Bay - Paradise

We slip through the narrow entrance to the bay and work our way back to the end of the inlet.  All around us are steep mountains and a river coming into the end of the inlet floods this area with fresh water.  I take my kayak up the river a half mile or so until I can go no further and then ride the current back into the inlet.  A good dinner and good books fill the remainder of the evening.