Cruising the Desolation Sound

So, we've just got back from a fantastic 5 days cruising with Dave and Gil Alford on their yacht Aisling III.  They hosted us on their Beneteau Oceanis 40, a comfortable 40 ft yacht and we headed across to the islands on the east of the Georgia Strait with our main destination the beautiful Desolation Sound.  Dave and Gil had not only organised this amazing trip with excellent food and company, but they'd ordered us the most glorious weather that September in BC could offer!

Sunrise from the beach in Comox

Chilly early morning beach walk in the glorious weather

Aisling III is a comfortable 40fter

Aisling III has 2 double cabins and is very comfortable and roomy inside.  She's a stable boat with a center cockpit which is permanently covered - particularly for the usual rain, but we were very greatful for it in the hot sun!

We sailed across the Georgia Strait, unfortunately the only sailing we managed to get in, and then ended up motoring up to our first night's anchorage in the Copeland Islands which is part of a marine park.  We tucked our boat in to a little protected inlet and headed ashore to stretch our legs and to give Guinness (the Alford's Barbet dog) a chance to lift his leg. 

Loving the covered cockpit to escape the sun!

The views of all the little islands are stunning!

Amongst the conifers you find Arbutus trees growing with their smooth and peeling orange bark.  

We were amazed to find that many of the trees (often taller than 10m) are just growing in a very thin layer of soil over solid rock.

Looking down at our anchorage in the Copelands.

Stories around the dinner table.

Tea on deck in the very early morning before anyone else is up..... one of the joys of having a small child!

Geoff, Christopher and Guinness returning from their morning walk on the island.

Day 2 we headed up into the beautiful Desolation Sound which is a maze of little islands and fjords and we were glad that we not only had a skipper with good local knowledge, but that we had good charts.  It must have been frustrating for Captain George Vancouver and his crew in the 1792 to chart this area!

We borrowed a 'bumbo' (another fantastic South African invention!) which worked really well to restrain Christopher for meal times.

And into Desolation Sound we go... those are big mountains folks!

Gil at the helm

The peaks reached up to 2000m and the fjords supposedly go down almost that much as well!

Its pretty comfy in the big cockpit

We anchored in the beautiful Prideaux Haven where the water was glassy and it was warm! In fact, it got up to 34 degrees by late afternoon! - definitely not the usual September weather! We got out the inflatable kayaks in the afternoon which were really pretty neat and went to explore the little coves and islands.  Christopher quickly got the hang of it, even trying to help Dad to paddle!  At the head of one little bay was a trail that followed a small creek, so we headed up into the beautiful forest full of big trees, ferns, moss and spongy ground under our bare feet - bliss!

When one has been off the water for too long, you forget just how beautiful the beginning and end of the day are when viewed over the water and we just couldn't get enough of soaking it up.  It does wonders for one's soul and is a great way to speed up the relaxing effect of a good holiday!

The beautiful Aisling III

Testing out the kayak

The paddling was really lovely - clear warm water, beautiful scenery, interesting intertidal zones, ....

Log walking on Dad's shoulders.

Lovely mossy soft paths.

All good day's should end with an invigorating shower at the back of the boat. 

Aisling III in the evening light.

Its often hard to tell where the real world ends and the reflections begin.

The morning 'run' with Dad and Guinness.

Captain Dave

For night 3 we headed out to Squirrel Cove on Cortes Island, and on the way we picked up the prawn trap that we'd dropped off the previous day.  David has found a winner of a spot and we hauled in 56 prawns!

Hauling in 300 feet of line on the prawn trap!

Juicy prawns!

And off with their heads!

Squirrel Cove has a fantastic lagoon that is accessible at high tide and we took the kayaks into the clear water and enjoyed the tranquil scenery and kingfishers.  We rode the rapids out before the entrance of the lagoon closed up and joined up with David who was looking for a place to put Guinness ashore.  The little beach was the start of a trail through the forest and we headed up through more beautiful forest for some terra firma- time.

Idyllic paddling

Kayaking is hard work! (Love a child who can sleep anywhere!)

The Captain, his dog and a Maple Tree.

Lessons on lichen.... This is Old Mans Beard.

Guinness on his boat!

Steak on the braai for dinner!

Very welcome modern navigation aids.

From Squirrel Cove we had a long motor south to Henry Bay.  We had beautiful clear weather for our whole trip, but not much wind, so we ended up motoring quite a lot.  Luckily the view was really amazing and there was rich bird and seal life to entertain us.

The mountains faded into the background just like a Toni Onley painting.

We detoured past Mittlenatch Island which is a bird sanctuary and enjoyed seeing some massive sea lions.

Patiently waiting for the dinghy to return

Maples in lovely colors on the rim of the bay (with Geoff and Guinness)

Swim time after another hot day.

Driftwood on the sandy spit at Henry Bay

Helping to push the dinghy into the water.

Fun and games on our way home.

 All too soon we were back in the harbour and back to real life.  Just in time though as the weather started closing in with mist and drizzle.

Thank you Dave and Gil for a really fantastic holiday! - we'd love to be back!