Maltipi to Kwatsi Bay

August 2 – Cutter Cove

The morning began with light rain and calm winds.  After stowing the tender we pulled the anchor at 1010 and headed to Chatham Channel where we misjudged the tidal currents.  We should have waited an hour or more.  We had currents of more than 5 knots against us.  It is still only a short distance to Cutter Cove, our destination for the evening.  By 1120 we were anchored and by noon the crab pots were set.  Shortly we set the prawn pots, but the current in Chatham Channel led us to retrieve one and add more lead weights to keep it in position.  Cutter Cove is good anchorage, but totally exposed to the afternoon westerlies, which hit 24 knots by 1900.

An evening check of the prawn pots came up with one measly spot prawn, which was released.  The crab pot had one nice sized crab, but soft shell, so he was released also.  The guides warn about the exposure to westerlies in Cutter Cove and they are correct.  Although excellent holding we sailed back and forth in the gusts more than 110 degrees all night.

August 3 – Wahkana Bay

The skies were overcast when we arose, and the west wind is still blowing, just not as hard.  It has not rained, but with the temperature only 59 degrees and the low clouds, rain is predicted.  The morning check of the single crab pot we left out overnight gave us four legal hard-shell Dungeness crab, all of them over 7 inches in measurement across the shell.  By 0930 they were in the cooker being steamed for lunch and dinner.  At 1130 we pulled the anchor under still overcast skies and headed across Knight Inlet and up Tribune Channel.  Knight Inlet was choppy due to the wind blowing against the current, but Tribune Channel was glassy smooth until we turned the corner at Irvine Point where the west wind peaked up to 18 knots on the nose and the seas got a little choppy.  By now, the skies had cleared and we entered Wahkana Inlet.  As soon as we entered the inlet, the wind died.  The head of the inlet is almost totally landlocked and about 115 feet deep in the center with steep sides around most of the inlet; making stern ties a good choice.  We tucked into a little cove on the west side and put a stern line ashore.  The water was deep to within 10 feet of the shoreline.  Except for a few gusts to 12 knots the wind stayed between 0 – 4 knots from the west, sheltered by the trees close to shore.  Later in the evening two sailboats also entered and anchored elsewhere in the inlet.

The hills surrounding the inlet are so steep that the TV satellite does not work, and we lose the GPS occasionally, so the anchor alarm may not work

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The crab we caught in the morning became pasta with Alfredo sauce later, along with the last of the kale salad from the Costco in Vancouver.

We have now travelled 281 nautical miles since leaving Anacortes.

August 4 – Kwatsi Bay

At 0130 we started losing lock on the GPS, with alarms going off, so we finally just shut down the navigation system entirely, except for the wind and depth sounder.  We are so well anchored that it is not much of a risk to not have the anchor alarm.

Getting up a little after 0800 we enjoyed calm water and no wind, tucked back into our cove.  The skies are overcast and the temperature is about 64 degrees.

By 1100, the skies had cleared so we began the process of releasing the stern line and recovering the tender, all accomplished without incident.  At 1200 the anchor was up and we idled out the bay for the short trip to Kwatsi Bay.  We arrived at 1250 and tied up.  There is a potluck dinner at 1800, so we first placed three prawn pots and then cooked both a crab and artichoke dip and a penne pasta dish with meatballs to share.  The dinner was good, but by the time we finished we had to leave the prawn pots until the morning to see what we had gathered  since it was now dark!