Egmont to Powell River – Westview Harbor July 16th-17th, 2008

There are two stops before you enter the remote area of Desolation Sound, Powell River – Westview is one of them. We had learned from our experience at Princess Louisa and on entering Canadian waters, that they anchor in much deeper water than we are used to in California. So, we went to the local chandlery in order to buy more chain to add to our anchor rode. We currently have a 65 pound Ultra quick setting anchor, 65 feet of chain and 120 feet of line. We decided it would be much easier to have all chain. One reason is that our windlass has a gypsy (the windlass is the device you use to pull up anchor, just like a winch.) (the gypsy is on the windlass and it is what you feed either line or chain through and it grabs it to pull it aboard the boat.) has one side for chain and one side for line. It became evident that it was difficult for us singly and together to hold all the anchor and chain weight while we made the switch from right to left on the windlass. We had never been anchored in 80+ feet of water and had all that weight hanging straight down. So we ordered 200 feet of chain that was to come in the next day and we would have them bring it down to the boat. That way we would have additional weight and length and not have to make a switch from chain to line on the windlass. It would be much nicer.

While we were there, next door to the chandlery was an outboard motor shop. We had looked at a new outboard before we left, but they are quite expensive, 3 to 4 thousand, and we had paid $500 for our old 1984 two stroke Mercury. We were just looking, but in conversation the owner mention he had a used 1997 Yamaha four stoke for $1200. He showed it to us and we agreed it was time to upgrade our dinghy outboard. They brought the outboard down to the boat and installed it on the dinghy. This outboard is so much quieter and does not put out that grey smoke that a two stroke that you add oil to the fuel does. Yea!! The used outboard is quieter, cleaner and was less than half the price of a new outboard. We spent two days in West View and met some fantastic folks. Scotty, a musician who picks up his “Mexico beer money” driving a city provided free shuttle, that goes from the West View Marina to the town center mall. He told us about the area and that he was going to be playing at a restaurant, The Laughing Oyster over in Okeover Inlet on the east side of Malaspina Penisula. We did not know if we could make it, but he gave us the name of the owner, his good friend Dave and said they would send someone to the Marina in Lund if we needed a ride. We thought we might stop in Lund the next day, but were not sure, everything was dependent on when the chain we ordered would arrive.
West View is a great walking town and the shuttle is wonderful for boaters. We met John and Joyce and their wonderfully converted wooden fishing boat. They have so much open space, and beautiful colors in the interior and the owner even included a large amount of diesel fuel!!! John is a Captain and he had captained the Yacht that belonged to Melvin Belli, a famous San Francisco lawyer. Joyce is a teacher and they have three great dogs. So we exchanged sea stories, contacts and I know we will run into them again. They are simply lovely folks. Well, the chain did not come in the next day and the distributor was now unsure of when it would come in, so we decided to just continue with what we were doing. Also, the depths we would anchor in Desolation Sound were in the 15 -30 feet versus the 60-90 feet in Princess Louisa, so we would be OK.