Day 377 Off to Harmony Island

We left Boho Bay by 0900 and took off with several of the other boats that had been at anchor with us right behind us.  Off to the East past the South tip of Texada Island and then up it eastern shore till we could venture across to the Agamemnon Channel.  That's an 8 mile long short cut to get farther up the Jervis Inlet.  It was a lovely day for the trip.  Some Sun and some clouds but not much wind which was fine since we were motoring along.  It didn't get cloudy till later in the afternoon.

We passed a few fishing boats and several crab buoys but other than that the trip was uneventful.  No complaints there!  The shores were rocky and there were lots of trees all over the hills.

Once we got to Harmony Islands(49 51.806N  124 00.920W) a distance of 32 miles, we circled them checking to see the best place to drop our anchor.  There were two poser boats in a protected cove that we checked out as they were just about to leave as we made our first trip around the island.  It was too shallow for Zephyr.  Farther down the channel between the island and shore was another place that was shallow enough for us.  The bad thing was that there was already a boat near there.  We decided to drop our anchor in front of him and drop back but do a stern tie to shore so we wouldn't swing over and hit him if winds came up.  It was the only place we could find with depths of less than 50 feet. 

Since the dingy was still on deck, we went back out into the bay and lowered Puff into the water.  With her tied up to our side, we went back to where we wanted to anchor and dropped the hook.  I let out 120 feet of chain and she bit in just fine.  Down into Puff and a quick row ashore.  Up the hills dragging line with me to put around a tree and back to Puff and back to Zephyr.  We now have a line stretching from the stern starboard side cleat to the shore and back to the port side cleat.  This way, when we are ready to leave, all we have to do is untie the line from one side and pull it in.  No rowing ashore and untying from a tree.  Much simpler.  It was the first time we have done it.  We keep a 600 foot spool of line at the stern just for this.  The spool fits right in the space where the ladder drops so it's perfect.

Once we were set, we lowered Dragon onto Puff and she stated right up--unlike the other day.  There was a huge waterfall that we passed as we neared Harmony Island.  We took off to see it closer.  We could get right to the bottom of the falls.  They were the first falls we've seen this trip.  

It had been quiet and peaceful till 1930 hours and then the winds picked up to almost 20 knots.  Not knowing how secure the anchor was, I sat in the cockpit just incase.  I'd taken a compass bearing at the bow to a specific space on shore.  During the blows, if that heading changed, it might mean that our anchor had dragged.  Even at 20 knots, the anchor held fast.  By 2100, it was over and the winds dropped to just about zero.  With this being our first time with a stern tie. if the anchor had broken loose, I would have had to start the engine and cut the stern line to shore so we could get off the rocky shore.  We didn't want to hit the shore and we certainly didn't want to hit the boat next to us.  

Out thanks to Christopher Carrigan for the information on the tree shown in our post a few days ago.  They were eaten by a Teredo Worm.  Boy, they sure can make a mess of a nice piece of wood.

We're not sure if we are off to Princess Louisa Inlet tomorrow.  It will depend upon the weather.  It's raining now and that is the forecast for the next few days.   We also have to plan the trip around the times of the currents coming and going at the Malibu Rapids that lead to the inlet.  The plans are written sand.