One of the great things about cruising is the people that you meet. In Killarney, when we were circling while waiting for a pump out, a dinghy stopped and said hello as they were old QCYC members and recognized the burgee. It turns out that Peter and Tracy Jones had told them to have a lookout for us so when they saw us they stopped to say hello. After docking in Little Current, we finally we able to meet up and chat with the former QCYC'ers, Sue and Peter from White Rabbits. Their son and his fiancee joined the club and are having their wedding reception at QCYC in August.
Peter gave us some recommendations are islands to visit. One was Matheson Island and after some considerations we decided to take the advice and go to Matheson. After a gruelling 15 mile sail and motor we dropped anchor in about 18' of water. Winds were supposed to be from the north so I thought that we would be well protected. Most of the day, it blew from the east so we were a little exposed.
Shortly after we anchored, Sue and Peter arrived and anchored further into the bay. They seemed to be much more sheltered by being only a few feet further in the bay. After a swim, we went over to white Rabbits for happy hour and found out that they had cruised with Wendy and Rick down south. Peter had noted that we seem to be a bit exposed and that we should move closer into shore. I thought that we would be OK, mostly because I did not want to move the boat. The winds clocked north but we kept getting hit with the residual waves from the east which made it a little rocky.
In the morning, we went ashore and walked around a bit. Great vistas.
We were trying to decide what to do. Move the boat and stay another night or go to another island. As we were deciding another boat arrived and went into the spot that we wanted. So we decided to haul anchor and go to Clapperton Island. As we were headed out we changed our minds and decided to go to Crocker Island. No particular reason. We arrive at Crocker and there is a small sheltered anchorage where the boats are tied to shore and then the big bay. The anchorage was pretty well full when we arrived so we checked out the bay.
The bay is 40' deep in the middle and stays deep right up to the edges, making anchoring and tying to shore difficult. The winds are expected out of the north and we located a little nook that would be facing north over night. We managed to get an anchor down in 20' of water and then run a stern line to shore to keep us from swinging in a west wind, which it did all afternoon at 10-15 kts. The stern line keep us out far enough but we could swim to shore very easily. We were good for the night as the winds blew from the north all night.
In the morning, one of the boats, which was anchored in a spot that I thought was ideal, pulled anchor and left. I rushed Belinda, disturbing her morning coffee, to get ready to move. I pulled the stern line and we hauled anchored and moved over. Our first drop put us too close to the shallow spot in the inner bay. The second drop didn't hold as it was sliding on a rock face, but the third drop grabbed sharply and we were set. We dropped in about 10-12' of water and we put out about 40' of chain, not the ideal amount of scope but we did not have much room behind us to let out more. The spot was between a sheer rock face and a small rock island, so if the wind was from the south we sat further out in the bay and if the wind blew from the north, we sat in the deep spot in front of the shallow bay. The wind changed directions several times in the day and we glided back and forth without incident. The winds were fairly strong so the anchor was well set in heavy clay so the scope should be fine.
Since I wanted to stay on the boat and watch how it moved in the winds, I worked on the port toe rail, sanding and then Cetol. After the first coat, we went for a dinghy ride, visited the inner basin, which by now was packed with boats tied up every 20' or so. No thanks. A bunch of boats were now anchored in the main bay in 35' of water. It was starting to get crowded as the boats needed more swing room. There is a reluctance on anchoring in deeper waters; several boats made several attempts at anchoring and trying to tie ashore.
Entertainment for the evenings is watching other boats anchor and watching the sunsets. Apparently there is one every night.
We dinghied over to South Benjamin Island, which is about 2 miles from Crocker Island. It is very popular with the power boats and boats with kids. The island is formed on a huge granite rock so holding is not very secure as there is not much clay on top of the rock. We walked up the rock and had a look out. The views here were like walking through a Group of Seven painting. Everywhere you look, its like an AY Jackson or Tom Thomson painting.
Looking out over North Benjamin Island.
Crocker Bay was pretty busy this evening. A couple of boats that we saw at south Benjamin came over to anchor in the bay. A power boat was trying to anchor in about 40' of water. After several attempts, the skipper yells at his wife to let everything out; and she did. She watched the bitter end zip out past the bow roller. The other boat graciously offered to let the power boat raft for the night. There did not seem to be any attempt to go and retrieve the lost anchor.
Another evening of sunset watching.
We had such a good anchorage spot that we decided to stay another night. South west winds were expected all day and building at night so the bay at Crocker emptied out; a little exposed to the south west. Our spot was secure so we had no worries.
The next day we climbed up the rock beside us. At the top Belinda can get cell coverage.
Great view of the North Channel.
Sansei at anchor with the ducklings.
That's a superb sunset picture, or maybe a picture of a superb sunset.
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