August 19, 2004
Hot Springs Cove (N 49° 22' W 126° 16')
Today we made the long jump from Nuchatlitz Inlet to Hot Springs Cove. We had a good, if a little too long (53 nm) and a little too rough, sail all the way down the coast. The last few miles of it we sailed a mile or so away from Pacific Swift, the same square rigged schooner that we were tied up next to in Uclulet in 1997. We thought we might show them how it's done by sailing all the way into the anchorage but when the wind shifted at the entrance, we chickened out and motored the last half mile.
I'm sure at one time Hot Springs Cove was a really nice place, but now it simply is not. In addition to high speed tour boats that bring people in by the dozens, float planes fly in every few minutes dropping off and picking up passengers. The float planes take off and land within 50 yards of our boat. There are half a dozen fishing boats in the anchorage, all of them running generators constantly. And to top it all off there's a camp on shore where a dog is howling as though it's being murdered. Its owners left it while they went off to soak in the hot springs, no doubt, oblivious to the unpleasant setting they are leaving for their neighbors.
Linda says she wants to stay here two days, since we went through a long hard sail to get here. Personally I'd leave tonight if I thought I could navigate from here to the next anchorage in the dark...
|
|