Desolation with a Dear Friend

    We woke at a leisurely pace, went to the bakery for breakfast and got underway at about 11am. We sailed through the entrance to Thulen Pass but realized that it was safer to motor through such a narrow passage. The Copeland Islands are beautiful.
I would like to return here with a kayak someday. After we cleared the pass we set sail, a westerly picked up and pushed us north around Sarah Point.

 
It was then that I first saw the majesty of Desolation Sound.

The mountain range to the north with waterways leading right up to the foothills. The wind intensified as we watched a squall form far in the southwestern sky. It was moving toward us and I decided to find a protected cove where we could anchor and possibly explore Desolation Sound Marine Park. We were at anchor in Galley Bay by 4pm. All the other boats in the cove were moored with an anchor off the bow and a stern line attached to a tree. I am not equipped with a long stern line, and the little cove didn’t allow for much swinging around the anchor, so I set a stern anchor. Once firmly attached to the Earth, we clumsily piled into the dinghy and rowed to shore. We searched for a trail, but the forest was so dense that we could only walk along the shore. It seems that visitors to this park rarely leave their boats. We walked around the little spit and found ourselves on the rocky shores of a very warm deserted bay. There were structures like fragile docks throughout the bay and we realized later that it was an oyster cultivation "farm". There was a rock shelf with a deep pool and we went for a swim. We later returned to the boat made dinner and listened to music and launched a two-day discussion about religion and spirituality. 

Night fell, we sat outside and watched the bioluminescence flicker through the crystal clear water. Once our eyes adjusted, we could actually see fish moving through the water like birds flying below us. Large ones chasing small ones. Huge ones just flying by. At times the water becomes charged with energy as small fish dart by as they are chased. Then the excitement subsides and they again fly around the boat. Chris and I could not resist getting into the dinghy and rowing around in the lighted space. Once back on board I got the fishing rod and tried to catch one of the fish I could see flying around. I drifted to sleep. I woke in my bed with the fishing rod in my hand sticking out the hatch and the line still in the water. What a magical night.

Frank

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