Bay Of Many Coves
Our goal for Monday was to get partway down Queen Charlotte Sound and find a place to moor for the night. We drove the short road into Picton in order to do some grocery and other shopping, check and update our internet ties to home, and have some lunch. By the time all that had been done, it was past 2:00 before we were back to Zachary Hicks, and 2:30 before we were out on the water.
The wind had picked up substantially, be we felt the boat was up to the task as long as we kept the sail exposed down to a reasonable level. We started with a partial jib and found that was not sufficient, so rolled out the remainder. At this point I must admit to a lapse in judgement. I advocated the addition of a reefed main sail at this point, and Debbie agreed. I unfortunately was not as reef savvy as I might have been and it took some time to get the sail down to a reasonably small size. In the time it took to get the sail reefed, the brisk winds we were out in caused much scrambling and although all turned out well, it would have been much wiser to roll in the jib before hauling up the main.
After our sail plan had been properly executed, we had a very nice sail up the sound. Although the wind was brisk, with two reefs and about 20% of the jib showing we found we were doing a comfortable 4 to 5 knots. We sailed like this for a couple of hours until we reached the mouth of the Bay of Many Coves, our target for the night.
Here is a shot of Queen Charlotte Sound
Queen Charlotte Sound is a busy tourist destination, with numerous cottages dotting the shores of the various bays and coves. In addition, there are a few commercial resorts operating that offer moorings to drive-up traffic such as ourselves. After confirming our welcome on the VHS radio, we proceeded up the bay to the Bay Of Many Coves Resort. We had two radio instructions as to which of the 10 or so mooring balls we were to tie up to, but they were so vague and ambiguous we were still puzzled as to where they thought we should tie up. I guess we looked sufficently lost that eventually someone came out in the motorized tender to point out the mooring they had in mind.
These are of the Bay Of Many Coves, which unsurprisingly look a lot like Queen Charlotte Sound ...
After all that, you would think they had a full house. In reality, we were the one and only boat on moorings that night. It's not entirely clear what their motivations were, but all was sorted out to everyone's satisfaction, so why should we care?
We radio'd in to request reservations at the resort's restaurant and were granted an 8:30 seating. We used the few hours until that time to set the boat affairs in order, and to settle ourselves down with a couple of cocktails and some pleasing music.
On schedule, a representative from the resort came out in the motorized tender to collect us and we were dropped off safe and dry on the jetty. A short walk took us to the resort restuarant where we were instantly greeted and seated at balcony edge seats overlooking the beautiful bay. As the sun set, we recieved our drinks, and in short order our excellent meals were served. Debbie had the curried chicken and I had the beef tenderloin, and I can honestly say both meals were outstanding. The desserts were at least as good if not better.
Here is a (blurry, sorry) shot of the resort. The restaurant is on the second floor of the building just to the left of the jetty.
A short tender ride later we found ourselves back abord the Zachary Hicks and we settled in to watch a little Alias on the laptop followed by a not very quiet night's sleep.
About 2:30, we heard a loud engine noise approaching. I jumped up and poked my head out the forward hatch just in time to see a rescue helicoptor cruise not 10 feet above the top of our mast. The noise was terrific as the chopper cruised the bay, the searchlight scanning the water, and then the shoreline. At last, a light flashed from one of the resort units, and the helicoptor searchlight zoned in on it.
I dropped down and headed aft and followed Debbie out the main companionway into the cockpit to watch as the pilot, performing some fairly impressive flying, set the helicopter down into what seemed like solid rainforest (although we later determined there was an area up the hill levelled out onto which the chopper was landed).
Here is an "art" shot of the helicopter landing. The exposure was long, and the boat was bobbing around, so this is what I got. The target of the searchlight is the bright foggy patch.
After setting down, the chopper idled for 5 or so minutes for shutting down completely. We waited for a while expecting a speedy exit. When no such departure happened, we retired again, only to be woken again an hour later when the helicopter left. In truth, though, the exit was substantially quieter than the entrance. I cannot account for this.
Other than the mid sleep interruption, our rest aboard Zachary Hicks swinging from her mooring was ... well ... restful.
Let's see what Tuesday has to offer ...
Don
The wind had picked up substantially, be we felt the boat was up to the task as long as we kept the sail exposed down to a reasonable level. We started with a partial jib and found that was not sufficient, so rolled out the remainder. At this point I must admit to a lapse in judgement. I advocated the addition of a reefed main sail at this point, and Debbie agreed. I unfortunately was not as reef savvy as I might have been and it took some time to get the sail down to a reasonably small size. In the time it took to get the sail reefed, the brisk winds we were out in caused much scrambling and although all turned out well, it would have been much wiser to roll in the jib before hauling up the main.
After our sail plan had been properly executed, we had a very nice sail up the sound. Although the wind was brisk, with two reefs and about 20% of the jib showing we found we were doing a comfortable 4 to 5 knots. We sailed like this for a couple of hours until we reached the mouth of the Bay of Many Coves, our target for the night.
Here is a shot of Queen Charlotte Sound
Queen Charlotte Sound is a busy tourist destination, with numerous cottages dotting the shores of the various bays and coves. In addition, there are a few commercial resorts operating that offer moorings to drive-up traffic such as ourselves. After confirming our welcome on the VHS radio, we proceeded up the bay to the Bay Of Many Coves Resort. We had two radio instructions as to which of the 10 or so mooring balls we were to tie up to, but they were so vague and ambiguous we were still puzzled as to where they thought we should tie up. I guess we looked sufficently lost that eventually someone came out in the motorized tender to point out the mooring they had in mind.
These are of the Bay Of Many Coves, which unsurprisingly look a lot like Queen Charlotte Sound ...
After all that, you would think they had a full house. In reality, we were the one and only boat on moorings that night. It's not entirely clear what their motivations were, but all was sorted out to everyone's satisfaction, so why should we care?
We radio'd in to request reservations at the resort's restaurant and were granted an 8:30 seating. We used the few hours until that time to set the boat affairs in order, and to settle ourselves down with a couple of cocktails and some pleasing music.
On schedule, a representative from the resort came out in the motorized tender to collect us and we were dropped off safe and dry on the jetty. A short walk took us to the resort restuarant where we were instantly greeted and seated at balcony edge seats overlooking the beautiful bay. As the sun set, we recieved our drinks, and in short order our excellent meals were served. Debbie had the curried chicken and I had the beef tenderloin, and I can honestly say both meals were outstanding. The desserts were at least as good if not better.
Here is a (blurry, sorry) shot of the resort. The restaurant is on the second floor of the building just to the left of the jetty.
A short tender ride later we found ourselves back abord the Zachary Hicks and we settled in to watch a little Alias on the laptop followed by a not very quiet night's sleep.
About 2:30, we heard a loud engine noise approaching. I jumped up and poked my head out the forward hatch just in time to see a rescue helicoptor cruise not 10 feet above the top of our mast. The noise was terrific as the chopper cruised the bay, the searchlight scanning the water, and then the shoreline. At last, a light flashed from one of the resort units, and the helicoptor searchlight zoned in on it.
I dropped down and headed aft and followed Debbie out the main companionway into the cockpit to watch as the pilot, performing some fairly impressive flying, set the helicopter down into what seemed like solid rainforest (although we later determined there was an area up the hill levelled out onto which the chopper was landed).
Here is an "art" shot of the helicopter landing. The exposure was long, and the boat was bobbing around, so this is what I got. The target of the searchlight is the bright foggy patch.
After setting down, the chopper idled for 5 or so minutes for shutting down completely. We waited for a while expecting a speedy exit. When no such departure happened, we retired again, only to be woken again an hour later when the helicopter left. In truth, though, the exit was substantially quieter than the entrance. I cannot account for this.
Other than the mid sleep interruption, our rest aboard Zachary Hicks swinging from her mooring was ... well ... restful.
Let's see what Tuesday has to offer ...
Don
posted by Don at
10:36 pm
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