In 1792, Captain George Vancouver was exploring the Westcoast of Canada and came upon what he named Desolation Sound because, "there was not a single prospect that was pleasing to the eye". He was, apparently, an idiot!
Desolation Sound is a deep watersound at the northern end of the Salish Sea and Sunshine Coast. It is spectacular collection of fjords, mountains, forested mountains, warm waters, aquatic life and wildlife make it a global boating, sea kayaking and ecotourism destination.
Located just north of Lund, BC, Desolation Sound has become very popular in the summers.
Back to our Adventure...
Our day would not feel right without a little time under the hood, per se. Some lingering concerns with new electronic systems were identified by the trusty team at 101 Marine Repair in Gibsons.
They were able to log on remotely and run remote diagnostics over night and identified a faulty seven year old "relay" connected to the fuel polisher. Imagine....we are in the middle of nowhere, without cell service and somehow these guys could log on to the boat systems and figure out what was wrong. Cheers to them.....we just had to find this relay that was installed 7 years ago!
After the Captain's unsuccessful morning yoga replacing contortions, the relay was finally found in the exact spot where our irrepressable Captain was adament it would not be. Once found (by someone other than the Captain) all safety precautions were taken as the Captain assigned his first mate to access the problem area with his all metal Leatherman while standing in a pool of water without turning the power off.
Once this pesky relay was identified, disabled and the wires were taped apart to prevent a short, all the electronic issues seemed to disappear. We are mindful however this is boating and "sometimes" other issues arise. But for now, everything was great.
Our first visit was to the bustling metropolis of Refuge Cove. This is the only place in Desolation Sound where you could, hypothetically, procure some fuel, junk food and most importantly get rid of a little garbage.
From here we slipped over to Prideaux Haven and anchored in Laura Cove. The kayaks were launched to allow the Captain and his bride a little private time in the afternoon. It was hardly a sacrifice for the paddlers....
We have yet to rendez-vous with Captain Eric and his first mate. They are doing a little sightseeing in Campbell River before meeting up but some significant winds in Johnson Strait are slowing their pace. We have, as expected, been followed by the paparazzi that is omni present in Sue's life and they provided us with an advance photo of Buttercup. We hope we can provide more of these soon...
As is our custom, we ended our day with a goumet meal, some spectacular vino (even 2 buck chuck tastes spectacular in the wilderness) and a few hands of Bridge or Euchre then early to bed for anchor up at 7 am.
For those interested, you can see our actual route by clicking the link below. It is updated every time we move locations and tracks our progress. If you find that you are following this regularly, you likely need more to do in your life. Have you tried volunteering?
That's all for today.