| Tuesday June 22nd, we arrived at Squirrel Cove, on Cortes Island, and anchored in the back of the "inner harbour". A word of caution here. In back of the inner harbour there are two small islets. Several years ago, this area was used for extensive logging, and there are many submerged logs lying on the bottom rotting, but still solid enough to foul an anchor. We use a backhaul line (5/16 nylon reinforced line) attached to the backend of our 30Kg SL claw type (Bruce) anchor, so we can pull it out from under a log or rock if need be. The other end of our backhaul line is tied to a float in the water, so we and other skippers know where our anchor is located. Well as luck would have it, we did get hooked on a submerged log, but one turn of our backhaul line around our windlass worked just fine to pull our anchor free. The cruise books say many a skipper has given-up his anchor and chain to the Squirrel Cove gods.
We really loved Squirrel Cove, a well protected anchorage. The water there was pristine, warm and no jellyfish. We went swimming off the stern several times, and twice our anchor backhaul line fouled the starboard prop and rudder during the night (our boat wanders around the anchorage at night), and I had to get in the water and free it from under the boat, which was no big deal. I want to mention the Squirrel Cove General Store. It's located adjacent the Government dock in the main harbour, and has a large variety of provisions, especially the locally-grown and freshly-picked produce. And yes, they have ice cream, whereas Refuge Cove had none. Their prices were a lot less too, and it's open year-round, whereas Refuge Cove has limited summer hours of operation. There are a few small stores selling locally made jewelery, art of all types, tee shirts and hats. There is an Native Indian Reservation there. Close to where we anchored, there is a drying inlet that feeds into a very pristine, almost spiritual, saltwater lagoon. One evening around 8:00pm we were out exploring in our dingy, and saw two other dingies our size scoot over the drying inlet and into the saltwater lagoon. So we followed them in... Sorry, but we didn't have our camera with us at the time, to take pictures. The lagoon was very quiet and still. Overhead, a pair of eagles flew and kept a close watch on us. We idled around for several minutes, then returned to the drying inlet, only to find that it had dried too much, and we couldn't get back. We had to wait until almost midnight (3-1/2hrs later), before the inlet had enough water in it, to let us back out. We plan on visiting Squirrel Cove many times in the future. |
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| Squirrel Cove, gov't dock and stores | (center) Entrance to inner harbor |
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| NW end of inner harbor where we anchored | SE end of inner harbor |
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| Ahhhhh... |
