Fox Island Provided a Beautiful Rocky Hiking Trail Lined with Berries

When we left South Benjamin Island we headed for Fox Island, located only about four miles from South Benjamin. We had anchored here once before with our Silverton and remembered how beautiful it was. The landscape is rocky all around the anchorage’s perimeter, offering good hiking and photo opportunities. When we anchored here previously, we were the only boat on the hook in the channel, this time there were several boats already at anchor. Our boat has a very shallow draft, about 2.5 feet, so we can usually get a spot where bigger boats don’t dare. In this case, it was way up almost to the reeds at the tip of the inlet.

We were looking forward to our afternoon hike on the island. Some parts are just challenging enough, we had to figure out how we could continue along without wading through water or climbing up the steep side of a smooth rock. Just over the crest of the rocky shoreline, we were surprised by this little landlocked natural pond (below). It looks like it is home to some very lucky birds, animals, and aquatic life.

Next, we followed the eastern shoreline around the anchorage to see how far we could get before turning back.

We found lots of berries on the island, so we picked handfuls of blueberries and raspberries and ate them while we walked.

When we were anchored off South Benjamin with Mike and Jess, we all took a walk on the outer island, the one that protects the anchorage from the open channel. One thing we noticed while there was an abundance of spiders clinging to the evergreen trees, EVERYWHERE. That is where Mike and Jim procured a few aptly coined “spider sticks” to forge ahead while swiping the air in-between trees for spider webs. Even though we noticed the absence of spiders and webs on the trees, Jim found a spider stick anyways, saying he was protecting his “woman.”

We ended our stay with a dinghy ride through some reeds and rocks, the little channel opened up into a little well that we decided we’d keep in mind for a future anchorage.

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What’s nice about Spencer Spit is that one can choose which side of the spit to anchor or catch a mooring ball on.

Spencer Spit, situated on the eastern side of Lopez Island in the San Juan Island chain, is a Washington State Marine Park, which means the area has mooring buoys, beach campsites, and hiking. We’ve never anchored or moored here, so we choose this spot as our days’ end destination after we departed our yacht club friends at Garrison Bay. What’s nice about Spencer Spit is that one can choose which side of the spit to anchor or catch a mooring ball on, depending on the expected wind direction. We had no concerns about the wind that day and spent a calm night on the hook, we never got off of the boat. The next morning it was extremely foggy, but I figured with the aid of our radar, and only eight miles to travel that, it would not be a problem. Boy, was I wrong!

The next morning, I got up a little earlier than usual, while Lisa was still sleeping, pulled anchor, and headed towards Thatcher Pass, where I noticed one of the large island ferries off to my port side. I looked away momentarily at the chart plotter and looked back up, the ferry had disappeared into the blanket of fog – scary, as it was not that far away from us. I decided to return to the anchorage and drop the anchor back down. After waiting a couple of hours the fog finally lifted, and we could see our way through Thatcher Pass and Rosario Strait making for an uneventful and smooth cruise over to Anacortes, WA, where we would attend the Ranger Tugs 2013 Summer Rendezvous.

In an almost surreal moment, amidst the lifting fog, we came upon this little sailboat (below) making its way boldly through Thatcher Pass.

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As Our Cruise in Desolation winds close to the end, Black Lake Was a Real Treat!

One of the activities we came to enjoy while cruising Desolation Sound was hiking to the many inland freshwater lakes. Black Lake was one such lake located not far from our anchorage in Roscoe Cove. After a short dinghy ride, it was easily accessed by hiking a fairly short woodsy remnant of a logging trail. The trail continued along the lake for a while before heading up a big hill. Lush vegetation and huge ferns surrounded us as we explored the trail further up the hill. With the big trees and lush vegetation, we felt like we had been plopped down in the middle of a Jurassic Park movie set.

On two separate occasions, we landed our dinghy at the base of the trail and hiked up to the lake to cool off and freshen up. There are no beaches at the edge of the lake instead large outcroppings of boulders line the shoreline. We’d ease ourselves out onto the slippery tops and slowly walk into the crystal-clear fresh water. What a treat for us on a hot august afternoon. The water temp was pretty much the same as the other lakes we hiked to earlier in our trip, quite warm.

All in all, Roscoe Bay provided an excellent last stop for the crew of Kismet while cruising Canada’s beautiful Desolation Sound.

Next up… Cruising the Sunshine Coast to
Princess Louisa Inlet and Chatterbox Falls.

The family (below) was carrying jugs of water, all the way from Black Lake, to their boat anchored in the harbor.

We made another trip to the lake on our last full day in Roscoe Cove; it was crowded. A bunch of kayakers descended upon the bay and, like all the other boaters in the anchorage, they wanted cool off by taking a dip in the lake.

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Rendezvous with Freedom’s Turn in Covered Portage Cove!

Doubling our pleasure comes to mind when we think of our visit to Covered Portage Cove in the North Channel. Not only was it our first time anchoring in this cove, but we also had the pleasure of rendezvousing with friends Charlie and Linda on Freedom’s Turn (above). We met them in 2008 while doing our second Great Loop boat trip and cruised several times together, including a trip to Chattanooga and even the Bahamas. With a lot of shared cruising experiences in common, we were excited for the reunion in Covered Portage Cove. We got there one day earlier, so we were ready to enjoy their company once they got there.

With the picturesque backdrop of our shared anchorage, it felt like old times having happy hour together and eating dinner on the upper deck of Freedom’s Turn. We got to laughing about all the good times we’ve shared during our Loops. The conversation was so easy, almost as if the time we cruised together was just yesterday.

We got in our dingys during cocktail hour to visit some of the neighboring boats in the cove before we met for dinner on Freedom’s Turn. Making the rounds in a harbor like this by dinghy is a great way to meet other boaters.

As you can see Charlie is a big Michigan State fan.

We had a delicious dinner on board Freedom’s Turn along with one of those “Million Dollar Views.” Good friends, good food in a little bit of paradise.

We spent the final morning together hiking up an almost sheer rocky bluff to an incredible spot overlooking the entire cove and Killarney off in the distance.

Can you see Kismet anchored in Covered Portage Cove (above)?

Sitting pretty with Covered Portage Cove as a backdrop to the photo.

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