Day 12 was an early start to catch the high tide out of Roscoe Bay.  A short skip across the pond and we landed in Prideaux Haven.  This bay, or area consisting of Prideaux Haven, Laura Cove and Melanie Cove is what people say is the ultimate Desolation Sound destination.  They are all very close together connected by shallow (dinghy only) waterways and nice lagoons that fill up at high tide with warm water.  Problem is, it seems everyone thinks the same thing because it was jam packed with boats!  Prideaux Haven had so many boats in it (most over 60 feet) we couldn’t find a spot.  Same for Melanie Cove so we crawled into the tricky entrance of Laura Cove and found a great spot to stern tie right next to a fellow Tacoma Yacht Club member.

Exploration by dinghy in this area is super fun.  You can find some little cove, lagoon or waterway and just swim around, jump off rocks or go snorkeling.  That’s exactly what we did after lunch and the water was great.  Its still amazing to us how warm and clear the water is! It was a really hot day so lots of swimming to cool off.  94 degrees in the boat at 9pm!

Day 10 &11 we decided to go to Roscoe Bay.  This very well protected by has a drying shoal blocking the entrance at low tide.  You must enter at or near high tide or you will wind up on the hard.  We determined 4pm would give us enough water to cross. The short cruise got us out from the steep walls of our anchorage.  Under sunny skies the tall snow capped mountains were a beautiful sight!  Once inside we once again stern tied in a great little spot.

As we turned off the engine and looked into the water all we could see is jellyfish!  It was amazing how many there was throughout the whole bay.  Millions of them, it looked like it was raining on top of the water as they broke the surface.  I guess we would be swimming with the jellies, good thing they’re not the stinging type.

Skylar swam while we made dinner.  It was a very hot day, over 80 degrees.  After sunset Julie and I sat on top the boat in what should have been a very quiet evening.  Some yahoo right next to us thought it necessary to run their loud generator well past 10pm, echoing throughout the bay!  I think they had it on to run their AC, at least they were nice and cool while we enjoyed the noise.

One more full day at Roscoe so we could have time to enjoy the lake just a short hike away.  This was a beautiful, huge, warm, freshwater lake that everyone swims in.  Jumping off the rocks into the deep lake was so refreshing after some hot weather.  Lots of people had the same idea, and it was fun to hang out with everyone, talking boats while we all swam in the lake!

After dinner we all swam in the salt water/Jellyfish again.  Its so much fun swimming to the rocky shore form the boat.  The rocks jet down to deep water so quick you can leap from the rocks into the water.

Skyar and I took the dinghy out in open water for some fishing.  Skylar caught a bunch of rockfish but nothing real big.  It was a gorgeous evening floating around with the engine off.

Day 9 started out a little cloudy again but by midday the sun was out in full force.  Julie had a great early morning kayak around Grace Harbor before our 10am departure.  Our destination today was a short ride to Tenedos bay.  Tenedos is a great anchorage where once again we stern tie in a tight channel off the main bay.  Our stern tie skills are improving as we gain more experience, no issues this time!  Well maybe one.  The tree I chose to tie off to had some major branches and brush all the way down to the ground.  It looked Ok from the water but when ashore it took some serious bushwhacking to get in, loop the line around the tree and find my way back out.  When I got back Julie said I completely vanished for a while then emerged from the brush.

Every new anchorage usually starts off with some exploring with the dinghy and this one was no different.  Its always fun to check everything out by little boat, getting into all the nooks of the bay.  The chart showed a lake just a short hike away, so we set off for Lake Unwin.  Following a small stream flowing into the bay we reached the lake.  It was a great swimming lake, much larger than we expected, and Skylar swam for a long time.   Back at the boat we all went for a swim in the warm salt water.  Jumping off the top of the boat is a blast and Ava loves the big green raft.  We all still can’t believe the water is as warm or warmer than Hawaii.  It’s totally amazing!

I took a long evening kayak paddle just before dark that was awesome.  Totally calm, lots of small fish schools and a seal swimming under the kayak in shallow water scared the crap out of me!