Day 15 it was time to start heading south again.  The kids needed to run!  So with the thought of beaches and hiking we asked some of the locals and seasoned boaters where we might find such a thing.  Their response – Savory Island, at least for the beach.  A local old salt and his son were at the dock in Squirrel Cove. They just came on a little (maybe 14’) boat from Lund.  The boat was a 1961 something that his son has been working on for the last few years.  They were so proud of it, and it really was cool.  They said go to Savory “its like Hawaii in BC”.  Other locals said all the rich families from Vancouver have summerhouses there; it’s a very interesting community, kind of like the Hamptons of BC.

There’s no public dock at Savory to tie up to, and everyone said anchoring overnight is not recommended.  It’s also very exposed to weather; so the plan was to anchor, then take the dinghy up to shore, just for the day.  The town of Lund is just a couple miles away; they have a nice marina, so that would be our destination for the night.

After anchoring off the northeast shore of Savory, we dropped the dinghy in the water and headed for shore.  The beach was awesome, long and sandy, something we haven’t seen in a while.  We read there was a restaurant close by so we beached the dinghy on an outgoing tide and walked up the road.  The island is not serviced by ferry; the only way in is by floatplane, private boat or water taxi from Lund.  This place was very interesting!  Only dirt roads, bikes everywhere, very few cars, lots of people walking and nice cabins surrounded the island.  Taxies were full size trucks picking people and all their gear up from the water taxis running every 15 minutes from Lund.  People would pile in the back of the truck to be whisked away to their summer home.  Everyone it seemed had cases and cases of wine as their luggage.

The restaurant was a short walk up the hill. Everyone sat out on the patio waving and saying hi to all the walkers and bikers passing by.  Everyone was extremely friendly and the sense of community was awesome!

A kid about 12 years old sat across the road playing his guitar and singing.  People would put money in his guitar case as they passed by stopping to talk for a moment before continuing on.  A brave little kid!

Back down the road to the beach, the kids ran and ran exploring every little creature and shell along the way.  Now our dingy was high and dry.  It took all we had for Julie, Skylar and I to drag it back to the water but we finally got it in.

Lund doesn’t take reservations and they didn’t have any space on the main docks.  They stuck us out on the breakwater dock; it just floats not connected to anything.  The view was awesome!  No boats in front of us gave an unobstructed view across the water looking west.  The sunset was incredible as we sat on the upper deck of the boat beer in hand!

Dinner at a little fish and chips place was ok but the ice cream from a little shack on the boardwalk was incredible.  If you go there ask for the ice cream way in the front, she’ll give you two large cups of vanilla!

After the nice sunset, a few boats across the waterway started getting super rowdy. Loud music, yelling and screaming at each other with words I cannot repeat, and being downwind from them didn’t help.  “Dad what’s that smell?”  “Well son that’s what ya call the marijuana” So much so I think we all got a little high!  3am they finally quieted down and we were able to fall asleep.

Day 14 we decided our destination would be Squirrel Cove just a few miles away.  First though, we took a little detour to Teakerne Arm, northeast of Refuge.  Teakerne Arm has a great waterfall at the head of the bay but anchoring there is really tricky.  We wanted to spend the night there but after talking to fellow boaters and reading more it’s not a good idea.  You have to anchor in about 90 feet of water, holding is not good and we heard many people get there anchor stuck on all the cables loggers left in the water long ago.

We decided a pass through to see the falls from the boat would be our best bet.  The falls were really cool but I’m glad we didn’t try and anchor.  While we were at the falls, someone called on the VHF radio looking for a diver to come help free his anchor.  I guess the stories are true!

Back at Squirrel Cove we anchored but no stern tie this time.  It’s a huge anchorage with lots of awesome shoreline and many small islets throughout the bay.  The best part is the reversing rapids where the water flows into and out of a large lagoon.  At low tide the water flows out of the lagoon down hill forming rapids.  At high tide the opposite happens, with the rapids flowing into the lagoon.

Just outside of Squirrel Cove there is a small store and a restaurant.  Not wanting to cook another meal (its been 8 days of every meal on the boat) we took the dinghy to the restaurant for dinner.  It was fantastic food, way better than we expected.

After dinner we took the kayak down the rapids, into the lagoon.  Julie, Skylar and I all took our turn at floating down, then pulling the kayak back on the shoreline for another run. Skylar and I also just floated it in our lifejackets along with some other kids Skylar met. It was a blast!

There was a rope swing into the water right by our boat that at low tide was impossible but now was ready to go.  Skylar begged to go on it with the boy he met and we finally gave in.  It shot them really high in the air, made Julie and I sick every time they launched off it!

Day 13 – Having been out away from garbage, water and power for about a week now, it was time to dispose and replenish.  Our dirty laundry was really starting to stink in the bottom of the closet and the garbage bags in the lazarette (hatch in the stern of the boat) were piling up.  80-degree weather doesn’t help the situation.  There is not much in this area in the way of large marinas or grocery stores but the guidebook says Refuge Cove has what we need.

It was just a short 1.5-hour cruise away so we stayed at Laura Cove all morning swimming and sunning.  We tried another hike but the trail was too overgrown, Ava was up to her ears in ferns and branches and we were being eaten alive by mosquitos.  So we bailed on that trail real quick.

The swimming and warm water in Desolation are awesome but we sure do miss beaches and hiking.  There’s really not much of either, at least not in the area we were in.  With the kids it’s tough not being able to get out for a hike and explore beaches.

Refuge Cove does not take reservations so the drill is to wait your turn just off the docks until someone leaves, then you swoop in and grab the spot.  It took about 15 minutes of waiting but we were lucky enough to get a spot.  This place is old school, but they have just about everything you would need if you are willing to pay.  Ava wanted a small box of Cheerios for 8 bucks; she got them, little spoiled brat.

We were able to stock up on fruits and veggies, get gas for the dinghy, do laundry and most of all get rid of our garbage.  The garbage service there is kind of interesting.  It’s a barge in the water with a guy who lives on a boat tied to the barge.  The barge is piled high with garbage with a sign that says “Dave’s Garbage and Recycling”.  Dave was a very nice guy, although an interesting character.  He loved talking about many things, most of which I didn’t understand but it was mostly – The world will never be the same, it’s a borderless country, what has this country come to, things like that.  He was Awesome!

Another super hot day, 94 again in the boat.  Sleeping sucks!