1 Aug 19
The weather was a bit damp this morning, so we decided to sit tight in our anchorage and enjoy some peace and quiet. Then, about 11:00, John announced that they were going into Lund for the night - they are picking up the boys and significant others tomorrow anyway. So, we decided to go on up to Roscoe Inlet today. Water depth at the bar was sufficient for us to get in at 16:00, so we picked up our anchor at 13:35, collected the prawn trap on the way out (23 good-sized prawns) and were underway toward Roscoe at 14:00. We sailed for half an hour with a light SE wind, but then, motored the rest of the way to the entrance, arriving as scheduled at 16:00. Before we went in, I set the prawn trap in 85 m of water outside the entrance, then in we crept, with never less than 2.5 m WD. Our favorite spot on the north side of the inlet was occupied, although we could have crowded in, so we picked a spot on the south side, immediately opposite “Spotlight Hill”, as we call it, and were anchored with a shore line to a chain at 16:42. After we were settled in, I ran the generator for an hour or so to charge up the batteries. It rained steadily all day long, but that is the PacNW for you; and they need the rain to reduce the risk of forest fires. Happy hour and shrimp curry dinner aboard. Ashley and I played guitar and worked on our song-list and harmonies after dinner.
50-09.560’N, 124-46.143’W; Log = 12.1, Sum (2019) = 651.5 N-m
2 Aug 19
The rain continued to fall hard all night long, finally slacking off a bit at 05:00. At 09:00, it stopped completely, it cleared off and the sun came out. I drained several gallons of water from the dinghy and rowed ashore to secure a campsite for Michael and J1 over near Black Lake. Then, I rowed out of Roscoe Bay to check the prawn trap; there were only 3 prawns in it but they were big ones - reset the trap in slightly deeper water. Ashley got the kayak down and went for a paddle around the inlet and eventually went for a long walk along the ridge-line trail that leads in the direction of Refuge Cove. In the afternoon, the Admiral and I walked up to Black Lake where I had a nice swim in the lovely, warm fresh water. We got back to the boat in time to take the rafting lines from “Massilia”, which had had to wait for 2.6 m of water over the bar at 16:40. Mike, J1, Matt, J2, dogs Sushi and Lucy, were all aboard, having been collected at Lund this morning. Happy hour and dinner aboard, followed by a good sing-along and several games of Obligato.
3 Aug 19
The dawn broke beautiful and clear, warm and calm. We breakfasted late, then Ashley and I rowed out to check the prawn trap; 10 prawns, most of which were good sized. We reset it a few hundred meters to the north. After lunch, we all went up to Black Lake for a nice swim. Back to the boat later for happy hour and dinner al fresco. We were down to 11.8 volts on the house battery, so I ran the generator for a half hour, starting at 17:30, much to John’s consternation. Matt and J2 went out to check both prawn traps (“Massilia” had deployed theirs earlier in the day), but could not find our trap; they collected only 1 prawn in their trap. The four “Massilia” kids all crashed early in their salon, so no sing-along or Obligato this evening.
4 Aug 19
The low battery charge alarm went off at 08:00, so we got up. After breakfast, I finally had to start the generator, as we were down to 11.7 volts. “Massilia” immediately let go mooring lines to get clean air, and to go check on the prawn traps and pump out their holding tank; they found our prawn trap floating in 450 ft of water (no prawns), so they reset it again in 80 m. We ran the generator for 2-1/2 hours and got the SOC back up to ~85%, 12.7 V. “Massilia” came back at noon and anchored with their own shore line, then rafted back up to us. After lunch, we went back up to Black Lake again for an afternoon swim. I swam across the lake and back today; it seemed a much longer swim than it was the last time I did it 9 years ago. Back to the boat about 16:00, so I rowed out to check on the prawn trap. It was set in about 60 m of water and there were no prawns, so I reset it in ~85 m of water. Happy hour and dinner aboard, followed by a few rounds of Bananagrams and Obligato.
5 Aug 19
Ashley and I sat up last night on the foredeck until nearly 01:00 looking at the stars and meteorites and pondering the meaning of life. No answers to these weighty questions, but we had a good time taking in the magnificence of the night sky void of light pollution. As a result, we were a bit slow getting up this morning. The Admiral prepared a sumptuous breakfast of scrambled eggs, blueberry muffins and cantaloupe. Afterward, we cast off from “Massilia” and took a short trip out of the inlet to pump out the HTs, charge up the house batteries and check on the prawn trap; no prawns this time, so we moved it over a couple hundred feet to try again. Just after we got back into Roscoe Inlet and anchored and rafted back to “Massilia”, John announced he needed to run his engine for a couple of hours. One might have reasonably asked why he did not do that while we were away in Waddington Channel for the last 3 hours. To avoid getting gassed, we all piled into the dinghy and went to Black Lake for a swim. Back to the boat in time for happy hour and dinner. After dinner, John proposed a midnight swim at Black Lake; Ashley and I went along with him to watch the stars, but did not participate in the swim. We got back to the boat again about 01:00.
Log = 8.8, Sum (2019) = 660.3 N-m