Friday July 19th 2019 – We had to wait a while to leave Lund because of all the boats they packed in front us. Everyone was asking each other when the other was leaving but it didn’t matter much for us, everyone had to leave before we could.

Finally, away from the dock we felt freed. Today we are meeting up with some friends in Desolation Sound. But first we took the scenic route out by the Twin Islands where we anchored all alone in Echo Bay. Anchored in the peaceful cove we relaxed in the now little bit of sun and cleaned the boat up. Skylar went fishing in the dinghy and we watched as a pod of Orca whales cruised by the bay.

Then we pulled anchor and continued on to Prideaux Haven where our friends Todd and Tami, and Todd’s parents Bruce and Gloria were already anchored. We just rafted to them and had a great night meeting up with friends.

Saturday July 20th – Everyone wanted some delicious lunch from Refuge Cove, so we all dinghied the 8nm across Homfray Channel to what’s really the only place to get groceries in the area. They even have a restaurant with surprisingly great food. The Kiwi Burger is my favorite. A hamburger with pickled beets and a fried egg, mmmmm… good. Bellies full and dinghies fueled, we headed back to Prideaux Haven where we pulled anchor and moved north to Pendrell Sound. The weather was warming up a little and Pendrell is the place to be when its warm. It is home to some of the warmest water on the coast. Last year we clocked 79 degrees, great for swimming.

We spent the next 2 nights in Pendrell. Julie and I went fishing without those pesky kids, which was a very nice relaxing time even though we didn’t catch a thing. We dropped the shrimp pots and to our surprise actually caught a fair amount. 48 in one pot, a record for us (we’ve never done well). That was a great dinner!

Sadly, some of the Pendrell shoreline has been scorched with fire. We figure it must have been a lightning strike. We decided to try a hike that Skylar had done with his friends in the past. Skylar is famous for getting everyone all excited about a hike or some sort of adventure. He researches where to go, what to do, how far it will be. Then tells everyone his findings but he always seems to omit some details to make it sound more appealing. Only after we commit to some adventure somewhere do the true details unfold. Instead of being 2 miles its 10, or “I thought I knew where to go but I guess I don’t”, which was the case in this circumstance.

Granted, the trail was pretty destroyed from the fire, but Skylar kept saying he knew where he was going as he forged through the burned forest. We all blindly followed until he could hide it no longer. He was lost. Being that his frontal lobe is not fully developed, he suggested that we just continue on in the general direction he thought we should go. That idea was squashed by the adults and we turned around to find our way back. It took some hunting and wrong turns, but we managed to make it. Even though we didn’t make it to the other side, it was still a fun adventure, which I guess was Skylar’s goal all along.

Thursday July 18th 2019 – We departed Princess Louisa at 6am to catch the 6:30am hopefully slack water at Malibu Rapids. The rain had slowed but the inlet was full of debris. This time we had calm water and zipped through the narrow passage no problem.

Just outside the rapids we spotted a fin in the distance, a shark fin! It wasn’t big enough to be a whale so of course it must be a shark. Pushing forward nothing came back up until all of the sudden off our starboard side there they were. Two or 3 baby Orcas playing in the water and a couple adults watching their kids play. They were so much fun to watch as they jumped out of the water and rolled around.

Long day of travel today. We just kept going all the way to Lund, a journey of 70nm. The Lund marina got us in, but it was packed. We didn’t have much choice, we needed groceries and to get rid of garbage. They had us stern in to the dock while rafting to another boat then jammed in another 5 or 6 sailboats in front of us. There was no way we were getting out anytime early in the morning, lots of boats would need to leave first.

After stocking up on groceries and treats from Nancy’s Bakery, we had dinner at the pub as the rain started to fall again. All night the rain dumped. Very weird weather this trip, so much rain.

Tuesday Juy 16th – We were happy to be headed into some new to us cruising grounds. Everyone talks about Princess Louisa Inlet, but we have never gone, at least not on our own boat. Today is the day. The entrance to the inlet is home to the Young Life camp Malibu, where Julie and I went while in high school. It was an amazing place then, so we were excited to go back on our own boat.

The topography of the entrance also makes it a little tricky to get in. First of all, it’s really narrow, and secondly there is only one way for the water to get in or out as the tide rises and falls. This creates very fast flowing water in the narrow channel. It can be very dangerous to try and go through at any other time than slack water (a period in the tide cycle where the current starts to change direction). We calculated slack using multiple sources, but these particular rapids don’t have slack tables, you have to calculate it using other sources. I was confident in my calculation but in these situations there’s always a tiny thing in your head that nags at you, did I do it right?

A few other boats in the area were lining up ready to go through which mostly confirmed my calculation. Ahead of us a fellow American Tugger entered the passage and we followed behind. The tide was low, very low and the current was still running pretty fast against us, but we made it through without any problems.

We were lucky enough to get space at the dock and tied up right behind the other American Tug. After talking with them they were also very surprised at how fast the water was still running. They said they clocked it at 4.2 knots.

The weather was really weird, super muggy and hot, overcast sky with the occasional sunbreak. The falls and mountains above were beautiful! It really is one of the most beautiful settings we have ever seen.

Then that night things started to change. Heavy clouds came in, but it stayed really warm, 70 degrees in fact at 2am. The rain started to come down and not just a little, it dumped all night long and into the morning. Just when you thought it couldn’t possibly keep it up it rained even harder. The falls got bigger and bigger as it continued to rain all day. Just afternoon the falls turned a dark muddy color and that’s when the bay started filling up with a whole lot of debris and cloudy water. We watched in amazement as the falls kept getting bigger and many new falls formed above. A guy was there on his sailboat who said he was a park ranger here for 4 years and he never saw the falls this big. It was pretty cool!

At the slightest break in the weather, Skylar and I dinghied to the Malibu camp to check it out. We got a private tour of the grounds that has seen major improvements since Julie and I were there as kids.

When we got back the falls just continued to grow. We all walked up as close as we could. Skylar took his shirt off and got completely drenched from the spray which was so erratic you had no idea where you were going to get soaked or stay dry.

As the sun set the rain came down harder. We watched the water in the bay get darker and the sound of the falls seemed to get louder in the night.