Laura Cove Reminded Us of Cruising Ground Closer to Home, the North Channel, Ontario, Canada.

During our three days in Laura Cove, we swam next to the boat every day in the clear, warm water. We hiked a little, and took dinghy rides around Prideaux Haven to explore and visit with other boaters we knew who were also staying in one of the coves for the Canadian holiday weekend. We liked our spot. There were three other boats rafted off the narrower tip of the rock and a few more on the other side but there wasn’t any room for another boat to stern anchor in our vicinity.

We took a dinghy ride over to Melanie Cove, still lots of boats anchored there, as we said earlier it was a lot busier over in that cove than it was at Laura Cove.

On one dinghy excursion around Melanie Cove we came across fellow Ranger Tug owners, Tym and June, on Circle T (above left), and Fred and Diane, on Sunrise (above right). We had all met earlier when we joined the Ranger Tug Cruise to Desolation Sound. Now, a few of us are bumping into each other occasionally as we each take different routes to explore the Sound.

We weren’t the only ones that had a good time in Prideaux Haven. Milt Goodman, Goodship (see plaque above and below), had such a good time he, or a loved one, affixed a plaque to a huge rock in a channel, near Melanie Cove, in his memory. We understand the sentiment completely.

Lots of rocks are visible under the water in Prideaux Haven. This is a scary thought for some boaters but after cruising in Canada’s North Channel, and now Desolation Sound, we are used to the idea of that rock-hard surface just under the hull of our boat; it helps tremendously having a boat with a shallow draft, we can get into many places a bigger boat, or sailboat, with a deeper draft can’t.

We saw this unusual boat anchored in a channel between Melanie Cove and Laura cove. It appears to be homemade out of aluminum.

On our last night in Laura Cove, we had fun watching “Boo,” (below-the dog on the rock) defy ongoing commands that he come back to the boat as it grew dark. He was banished to the rock island earlier in the day by his family (in rafted boats to the right of the rock), It appeared his nose was a little out of joint at having been sent away for a time-out, or perhaps he just liked the peace and quiet the rock afforded him.

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We found a nice anchorage in Laura Cove, so we set the anchor and tied lines to the big rock. Lisa prepared lunch to take out on a dinghy exploration of the surrounding area. We ventured out of the cove into Homfrey Channel turned the outboard off and floated around while having lunch with a spectacular mountain view surrounding us off in the distance.

Afterward, I dropped Lisa off at the boat and continued on, by dinghy, to a hiking trail located off Melanie Cove. I’d read about this trail somewhere and how it leads up to Unwin Lake, the freshwater lake we’d hiked to and swam in the day before when staying in Tenedos Bay. As I neared the shore, I looked for a well-worn path leading into the brush and I fairly quickly found a homemade sign indicating the path to Unwin Lake.

As low tide had already passed (tide swings are around 10 feet) I knew I had to be careful where I landed and parked the dinghy, there wasn’t a sandy beach to rest the dinghy on and the rocks were covered with growth that was slippery and sharp. To keep the dinghy from washing ashore and risking puncturing a hole in the Hypalon, I didn’t raise the outboard like I usually do, instead, I let the skeg act as a stern anchor while running my extra long painter line up to shore to secure.

Another hike to Unwin Lake after securing our anchorage in Laura Cove.

Then I set off on my hike through the woods up and away, above the crowds of Melanie Cove on a narrow, well-traveled path. The further I got away from the busyness of the boat-strewn coves of Prideaux Haven the quieter my surroundings became. The woods were almost magical with cedar trees canopying the hillside as I made my way up to the lake. At various points, I’d climb under or over fallen trees as I followed the path lined with monstrous 5-foot-tall ferns. At more than one point I thought I’d been gone awhile and it was enough of a hike for one day, but I continued on rationalizing that I may not have this opportunity again.

Forty minutes later, after about a mile into my hike, I reached a divide in the path. One direction indicated it led down to the lake while the other, the one I chose, led to a cliff-side view of Unwin Lake. I chose the latter and less than 10 minutes later I had reached the summit and stood 300 to 400 feet above the unspoiled beauty of Unwin Lake and a spectacular view overlooking the northern arm. I’m glad I persevered and continued to the top. What I found up there was serenity – absolute quiet, no boats, no people or seaplanes, the only noise was that of a slight breeze ruffling through the forest. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of undisturbed nature, the aroma in the air seemed to come from the cedar trees that line all of the nearby hills and mountains. I clapped my hands and heard the clap return to me in the form of an echo off of the canyon walls. What can I say but how I am loving our cruise in Desolation Sound?

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Prideaux Haven is the area made up of Melanie and Laura Coves.

As you can see from the photos it was a spectacular day for cruising in Desolation Sound.

This area is a very popular anchorage in Desolation Sound and since we knew we were going during Canada’s Civic Holiday, a three-day weekend, we knew it would be a busy place. As we neared Prideaux Haven, we followed a few boats into Melanie Cove and found them quite large and filled with boats of all shapes and sizes, many rafted together. This seemed too much company for our tastes, so we decided to keep moving to check out the adjacent, and smaller, Laura Cove.

Floatplanes were busy all weekend bringing and taking people to and from boats. They landed out in the open water of Homfray Channel and if you had a ticket to fly you just dinghied out to the plane at a predetermined time.

We spent a lot of time investigating where we wanted to throw the hook for a few nights. There were a lot of places to choose from, so it was not an easy task.

This was the biggest yacht we saw during our stay in Prideaux Haven.

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