August 1st – 3rd Zeballos and Bligh Island

August 1^st – 3^rd   Zeballos and Bligh Island

The inside route has few anchorages so we opt to tie up to the Zeballos Small Craft Harbour float.  Having endured an entire day of rain we don our second set of raincoats to hike to road “up town.”  We purchase a (very) few supplies at the small store then continue up the road.  Since last time we were here the second small store has closed as has the closest restaurant.  We do find a nice meal at the Cedars Inn, a small accommodations establishment full of mostly kayakers.  We chat at length with a couple from Sunriver Idaho, both teachers.  He thinks he saw us anchored in the Bunsby Islands.  They have traveled here by car to simply enjoy the spectacular kayaking areas found all over this side of the island.

We slog back through the rain and stop at the dock to pay moorage.  The sign says they will open at 7:00 P.M.  Sure enough a car drives up and a lady opens the office.  “I’m covering the harbour for my Uncle,” she says.  “He has gone to Quinault to fish.  We don’t take cards here but you can mail us a check for the moorage.”  I explain to her that we can do than in about a month and she is just fine with that.

We awake to the sound of new waterfalls that have sprung up overnight, passing many as we motor on down Esperanza Inlet.  We take on diesel at the Esperanza Mission and ice cream of course.  No fresh produce today.  We have a long conversation with the skipper of the local kayak ferry boat.  He is trying to make a go of it with this enterprise as many other options have closed over the years.  Off to Tahsis Inlet, passing through Tsowwin Narrows just in front of the Uchuck III, the 138 foot converted mine sweeper that has been the cargo and ferry ship for these parts for decades.

We anchor in Bligh Cove, with a wounded Eagle on shore and an oddball sea otter all around us.  The otter is either quite fond of somersaulting or his internal gyro is off kilter.  He happily somersaults for quite some time all the way around the cove, again and again.  The wounded eagle spends his time hopping from log to rock to shore, unable to sustain enough time in flight to go to the tree tops.

After our night at anchor we take off for what we plan to be an easy day.  Alas it is not to be.  Carl notices that the boat is not running quite right so we anchor again and begin to troubleshoot.  The raw water intake is not producing enough water for the engine.  We completely clean the filter, remove and replace the main hose, and even put in a new impeller.  We take off again, still not quite right but much better until…..

You know, we have had some nice “firsts” on this trip.  First time around Cape Scott and first time around Brooks Peninsula.  We had never hoped to add our first time hitting a rock!  But we have now added that to our list.  Exiting Bligh Cove we hit a rock.  “Bloody Hell,” I swear (reading too many Bourne books lately).  Next comment, “we’re on a rising tide correct?”, since I believe we are high centered.  Carl assures me we are still moving and we turn around again to anchor.  This time it is to settle our nerves and troubleshoot again, the water line. 

We thoroughly check all over the boat inside and out for any sign of incoming water from the rock.  Nothing seems to be amiss.

We take the raw water line off clear back to the thru hull.  When Carl removes the bronze elbow he finds that it is completely crammed full of seaweed pods.  We flush the thru hull, clean and reconnect everything and the engine is much happier.  Having regained some of our wits we take off again.

We hail a sailboat approaching the cove to give them the lat and lon of the uncharted rock.  After getting that out of the way we chat for awhile, recalling that we have encountered each other off and on for a few years up here.  They are “Tumbleweed” a Kent Ranger 26 sailboat.

Then we are off to Santa Gertrudis to set up for rounding Estevan Point in the morning.  Thankfully all goes well for the rest of the day.