When we said we were going to be off the grid for several days we meant off the grid completely. The last eight days we have been at Bear Drop Harbour, Cleary Cove and the last couple of nights back in Gore Bay Marina waiting on parts.
We discovered in the middle of the second night that we were in Cleary Cove, that our house battery had reached the end of its serviceable life. We learned when we picked up the anchor the next morning that the anchor swivel was no longer swiveling.
We also discovered that we had miss calculated how many times we had used the head and had reached its capacity.
All those issues meant a trip into Gore Bay and we arrived just in time for Gore Bay Harbour Days which is their biggest celebration of the summer.
The new batteries were ordered - when you replace one you have to replace both of the batteries on the boat - has something to do the way the charging system works.
The batteries arrived Saturday morning from Sudbury but were the wrong ones so we'll sit in Gore Bay until Monday at least.
The swivel was load on the delivery truck but not dropped off and also made the return trip to the warehouse in Sudbury.
TRAVELOGUE
Bear Drop Harbour is a bay off the Whales Back Channel and right next to Bear Bottom Harbour.
The boating season is picking up here as many of those visiting the North Channel don't have "holiday" until the middle of July or after.
Bear Drop Harbour is a large but protected bay. The two nights we stayed there there were 20 boats or more anchored but room for at least twice that many.
I hopped in the water as soon as we were anchored. At the same time several others jumped in off their boats and we spent about an hour treading water and talking about all the places we had been. At some point one of the swimmers suggested that it would be easier to talk if we gathered on someones boat as we did.
Bear Drop Harbour rainbow
One of the afternoons we were at Bear Drop it rained just a little and suddenly this triple rainbow appeared. It was the most intense rainbow I think I have ever seen and it lasted for more than 15 minutes.
We used the time in Bear Drop to kayak and swim everyday and to use the dinghy to explore. Six weeks into the trip and we are starting to lose track of days and time.
Duncan finally decided that it was time to learn to swim. He started out swimming just a few feet off the boat and then back to the swim ladder with his life jacket on then the next day swam more without the jacket. He still doesn't know how to get in the water by himself but I suspect he will learn.
He also finally decided to allow me to put him on the kayak and go for a ride. Now that is all he wants to do!
Cleary Cove
Two miles south and across the Whales Back Channel is a very shallow 'hurricane hole" called Cleary Cove. located on Dewdney Island. The two entrances into the cove are both shallow and narrow - less that 10 feet of water and only 40-50 feet wide. Most boats our size wouldn't try to get in but we draft 4.5 feet and made it in without an issue.
The cove is protected from the wind from all directions and as the wind blew hard outside, we had calm water inside and anchored in 10 feet of water just 50 yards from a large beaver lodge.
The water was 75 degrees and wonderful for swimming and kayaking. Duncan loved the stony shoreline and spent hours climbing and exploring. The second night we were there Cindy kayaked near the beaver lodge and heard kits crying inside. A few minutes later we spotted the two adults swimming with their mouths full of small tree branches headed for the lodge.