Beautiful, Noisy and Busy Rebecca Spit

The morning alarm.

I awoke at 6:00 A.M. this morning to clamouring and crunching sounds.  At first I thought I had slept in and it was Len and Giselle coming to visit.  Remaining still, quiet and relaxed, I identified the noises.  Aha!  I leapt out of bed to grab my camera.  Topside, I crept to catch the culprit in the act. 

An otter had climbed aboard my tender (dinghy) to chow down on his freshly caught halibut.  He was

so engrossed in his breakfast that he did not notice as I took a couple of pictures.  He raised his nose in the air,  took a whiff (I guess he didn’t like my scent), looked around and disappeared overboard, leaving bloody remains and a head in my dinghy.

Ta Daa at Rebecca Spit

Good morning, Rebecca Spit!

I arrived yesterday (with Did It) with high expectations.  I expected quiet, I expected sandy beaches, I expected less boats.  None of my expectations were met.  I will say, if you keep your eyes to the east it is beautiful.  To the west

are houses, roads with loud trucks, lawnmower sounds, carpentry sounds, and chainsaw sounds among other civilization sights and sounds.  After hanging out in remote bays and coves, I did not welcome what I heard and saw.  Besides all that, the boats kept coming and coming.  There must have been 20 boats anchored here last night.  If this is what it is like in September, I cannot imagine what it would be like in the summer. 

Heriot Bay Inn and Pub

The beach is over run with bees and one got between my right flipflop and my right little toe.  Yep!  He got me.  I felt little rushes running through my body for hours afterwards and my toe ached to the wee hours of the morning.  That littly guy packed a punch with his sting and a couple of swear words may have escaped  past my lips.

I would like it here if I were to bring or meet the kids.  There is a

campsite and across Drew Harbour there is a hotel, pub, resort and shopping.  In the meantime, I will keep looking east and I will tune out civilization.

Sunset in Von Donop Inlet.

The fog before the rain.

 Backtracking a couple of days, while in Von Donop, Len and Giselle picked me up in their dinghy and to shore we went.  This was an afternoon adventure because it rained and it rained and it rained all morning. The goal was to walk through the forest to Squirrel Cove.  Between Von Donop and Squirrel Cove there is just a narrow stretch of land.  It is something I have always wanted to do.  The sign clearly said 5 kilometers.  Nowhere did I read that it was three kilometers up hill and two steep kilometers down hill.  The first three were through the forest and the last two were paved and a part of Whatetown Road.  While at Squirrel

Cove we snacked and had a bit of a rest before we started out trek uphill.  Giselle decided she would hitch a ride.  Funny things, all the cars were going to Squirrel Cove, not coming from.  When a car finally did approach, out went her thumb.  It was the lady from the gift shop.  She invited us to pile in.  The turn-off to the forest path was an embarrassingly quarter kilometer from where she picked us up.  We burst out laughing while profusely thanking her for her good deed of the day.

Squirrel Cove, here we come.

Before setting out on our walk, we had read about and had been warned of wolves by Barnicle Barry. 

I had heard them howling the night before and thankfully we never encountered any on the path.  Giselle was wise to leave Mr. Bean on Did It for this adventure.

We knew when we beached the dinghy the tide was rising.  Little did we know how long we would be gone and how high the tide would rise.  Len had to hoist the legs of his shorts to retrieve the dinghy.  This tactic did not work.  Eventually he waded waist high to untie the dinghy from the

Where is Mr. Bean

fallen tree.  It was a very laughable moment for Giselle and me.

As we left Von Donop yesterday morning, I spotted Maggie K anchored a bay away from us.  I hailed Eric on the loud speaker and out popped his head.  We shared a couple stories then carried on.  The tide exiting Von Donop was much lower than when we entered.  All the books told us to beware of the rock where the inlet narrows.  I inched my way past the rock

Len and Giselle resting at Squirrel Cove

while keeping an eye on the depth sounder.  I never saw less than 16 feet and felt relieved when the sounder read 20, 30 and 70 feet below me.

Tomorrow we head to Comox and this is whereDid It will head home to Shelter Island.  I will stay in Comox for a few days. My friend Cecilia will join me for my last week of sailing before I return to Victoria on or near September 20^th.   

Looking down Georgia Strait from
Rebecca Spit

our paths with take different directions. 

As I sit and type, the winds were predicted to be blowing NW 15-20 knots.  It is warm with high overcast.  It is calm.  Many boats have left and I expect to see many boats arrived later.

We have eaten very well and very healthy — except for the S’mores.  We have had chicken, steak, crab, clams, salmon and ling cod.  We have had an array of fresh and cooked vegetables, salads, and quinoa or rice.  We have also been taking turns preparing the dinner.  Giselle and have both loved when it was the other’s turn as it gave us a night out of the galley. 

It is my turn to cook dinner so tonight we will have salmon and spinach in foil (cooked on the Barby) with ginger and garlic.  

Heriot Bay - Whaletown Ferry looking north.