As we left the narrow mouth of Smugglers Cove, a huge splash in the bay in front of us startled us both. My assumption as I dove into the cabin for my camera was that we had seen the splash of a humpback whale breaching. But by the time I had my lens cap off and zoomed in for a closer look it was clear we were seeing something even more rare - a pod of orcas.
I have lived in British Columbia for 28 years and in that time I have seen a pod of orcas twice - while I was on a ferry to Vancouver Island. The next sighting was last summer in Porlier Pass, but it was so brief I couldn't even get a picture. This day however, was a different story. The pod, consisting of what appeared to be 2 adults and 3 - 4 juveniles, was surfacing regularly in the same area, apparently unperturbed by the presence of our boat. When we reached a respectable distance we stopped the boat and took pictures.
A few days earlier I had given in to a lingering temptation and purchased a new Sony A6000 camera with a 10:200 zoom lens. At the time I was feeling a little guilty for the purchase as I'm not much of a photographer. Now I was thankful as I snapped away trying to get that perfect shot. As it happens, the perfect shot eluded me as I missed the few times the whales actually breached but I did manage some reasonably good shots of the adults surfacing and blowing.
After a while we left the whales to their business and we raised our sails. The wind was still blowing from the south but at this time of the morning the sea was quite calm. We set up the sails in a wing-on-wing configuration and had a wonderful sail northward towards the entrance to Agamemnon Channel. Wing-on-wing can be a fussy and even dangerous way to sail because following waves will often hit the stern quarter and push the boat off course. When this happens, one of the sails will lose the wind and collapse. At best this is irritating and requires constant input at the helm, at worst, the boom can fly over to the opposite side of the boat, potentially damaging the rig or injuring someone. As a precaution I had rigged a preventer. This is simply a line tied from the rail to the boom to prevent it from swinging if the wind shifts. Today however, it was largely unnecessary as the sea was calm and we ghosted along with the wind at 5 - 6kts. Under these conditions it often feels like the boat is hardly moving at all until one looks at the GPS for confirmation of how quickly you're actually moving.
Eventually we made our turn up Agamemnon Channel and lost the wind. We brought in the sails and motored up the channel toward Sechelt Inlet and our destination, the Backeddy Marina, near Egmont. The town of Egmont features two marinas, the Backeddy being the closest to the mouth of Jervis Inlet, where we wanted to go. Egmont is actually the last stop for fuel and provisions on the way to Princess Louisa. As a result it is a popular stopping place in the summer for everything from sailboats to mega-yachts on their way to PLI. The only challenge is that the Backeddy is positioned at the mouth of Sechelt Inlet and is subject to the significant tidal current flowing in and out of the inlet. Currents can reach an amazing 16kts at nearby Skookumchuk narrows. Contrary to what its name implies, the Backeddy is not really that well protected from these currents. The guest dock is on the outermost edge of the marina, extending well out into the current. All of this to say, arrival and departure from the Backeddy must be timed with slack tide. Ge'Mara can only steam at 6kts under full power so attempting to enter the channel with anything more than a couple of knots of current is foolhardy and at times downright impossible.
We had an hour or more to kill while waiting for slack tide so we passed the entrance to Sechelt Inlet and went on to explore nearby Goliath Bay. We had looked at this spot on the map as a possible alternative to tying up at a marina. On closer inspection we confirmed what others had reported: there are very few good anchoring spots in Jervis inlet and Goliath Bay wasn't much of an exception. Part of the problem is the steep terrain of the area. As one might expect, a steep mountainside continues to be steep as it enters the water and as a result the shore provides little or no opportunity to anchor. When we turned back towards Egmont we passed a small island and were surprised to find a large group of seals and sea lions lounging on the rocks. We made a couple of slow passes and took pictures while they barked away at us.
A short while later we arrived at the Backeddy, the current having finally been tamed for a while. David is familiar with this marina as he has a friend with a cottage in the area. The two of them have whiled away a few hours in the marina pub in years past while waiting for a ferry. And so it was that after tying up we checked in at the marina office and then checked in at the pub. Before long we were commiserating over a pints of a stunningly good beer by local brewer Townsite called Suncoast Ale. As we chatted with the marina office manager who had now made her way to the bar, one beer turned into several, followed by Irish whiskey. We ordered excellent cheeseburgers and more beers. Eventually we said our goodbyes and made our way back to the boat, whereupon David collapsed into his bunk and started snoring loudly. I wasn't feeling tired and after poking around the boat for a while I unwisely decided to head back up to the pub. And in the words of Forest Gump, "that's all I have to say about that."
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