Parker Harbor to Prideaux Haven July 22nd, 2008

We left Parker Harbor about 9am and headed for Prideaux Haven. The area is made up of three coves and is very popular for large yachts, since the coves are large and provide significant space to anchor and allow for swing without using a stern tie. (A stern tie is where you have your anchor let down in front and you take a line to shore and tie to a tree, rock or sometimes, there is a metal ring. You bring that back and tie off on both rear cleats. This keeps the boat from swinging 360 degrees around the anchor point. It allows more boats to anchor in small limited spaces.) Anyway, it was very crowed when we pulled into Prideaux, the most boats we had seen in some time. However, there is a smaller, but still good size cove through a narrow channel called Melanie Cove. We went through the little channel and Melanie Cove was much less crowded and so we anchored in the middle and did not stern tie the boat this time. The current was so minimal in the cove that we never moved more than 30 feet away from the anchor point. The tide was about a 15 foot difference from high to low and that was the only time the boat changed direction, from west to east, but did not move significantlyfrom the anchor point. The wind at about 5-6 knots was light and had little effect on our swing.

We have been towing the dinghy,”very Canadian” as you don’t encounter much sea and the distances between anchorages is short. So we went exploring to the other Cove that makes up Prideaux Haven, Laura Cove. In Laura Cove there was what appeared to be a yacht club outing and there were 9 boats rafted together and plenty of people. We had picked a good spot in Melanie Cove. The weather has finally been warm, 70 to 80 during the day and the water in Desolation Sound is about 65 to 70 degrees. So, Alexus decided to take a look at the anchor and donned all her dive equipment, wet suit, tank, gloves, hood, and down she went. We were anchored in about 20 feet of water and after about 10 feet again the water got significantly colder. She was attempting to free up the line we tie to the anchor with buoy at the end. The buoy marks the anchor spot, and the line was not as long as it should have been given the water depth. Most likely the line got wrapped around the chain as we let the anchor down. As she was diving, Alexus was able to see where the chain and the buoy line was wrapped, but because of the mud could not see where the anchor went into the mud bottom. That is a very good thing!!!! It means our anchor sets well and our chain also sets well on the bottom to hold our 40,000 to 50,000 pound boat.

A Note About Desolation Sound And The Numerous Coves.
It is all very pretty and again looks like a combination of Yosemite and the Grand Tetons with large bodies of salt water thrown in. Like everything else though, we have pretty much seen our fill of beautiful coves. We spent about four full days in Desolation Sound. There are other islands and channels to explore further north, out of Desolation Sound Marine Park, but we need to start heading south. It will be good to get back to a mix of towns, marinas, mooring balls and anchoring in less populated coves. The water won’t be as warm, but the scenery will change more frequently.