August 17, 2004
Rugged Point (N 49° 58' W 127° 15')
We left the security and beauty of the Bunsby Islands yesterday for the open sandy beaches of Rugged Point. During our short stay at the Bunsbys we saw a large diversity of wildlife including:
Bald eagle (an anchorage is not complete without at least one bald eagle)
Osprey
Blue heron
Kingfisher
Raven
Black oyster catcher
Black bear
Harbor seal
Sea otter
All in all, the Bunsbys were one of the best places we've been and we'll definitely go back.
On our way to Rugged Point, we stopped at the little town of Kyuquot (Ki-YOU-kit) to fill the water tanks, get a few provisions, and see if we could swap some books. By the way, you should always be suspicious when a sailor says "we needed a few provisions." Usually it means they needed beer and potato chips. In this case, Kyuquot doesn't have alcohol (by local Native ordinance) so 'provisions' meant potato chips and ice cream. Of course we also had to buy eggs and bread to make it look like we didn't go just for chips and ice cream.
Kyuquot is located in Walters Cove (N 50° 01' W 127° 22') and is actually two towns. The Native town, Walters Cove, is on the Vancouver Island side of the cove and the "white" town, Kyuquot, is on an island across the cove. The Natives seem to have most of the political power, but that doesn't seem to stop everyone from getting along very well. The twin towns of Kyuquot/Walters Cove seem to be better adjusted than any other place we've visited with a mixed Native/Anglo population.
The third population in Kyuquot/Walters Cove seems to be sea otters. The closer you get to town, the more sea otters there are, and in a smaller cove right outside the main cove there is a group of about 25 that lounge together in the kelp. They seem to be as well adjusted as the rest of the population and are very tolerant of people. We were able to cruise by their little kelp town and take pictures without disturbing them at all.
From Kyuquot it's a short hop to Rugged Point Marine Park, a granite peninsula wooded with old growth Douglas fir, which has several white sand beaches as its claim to fame. There are three beaches on the north "inside" of the point, and four beaches (one over a half mile long) on the south "outside" of the point. A trail leads between the north and south sides. Unfortunately the anchorage at Rugged Point is not particularly protected. We're anchored in a notch on the north side of the peninsula between two granite fingers that jut out to the north from the point. The southwest swell wraps around the point and makes it a little rolly. It's not that bad really, we've been in rollier anchorages. The real problem is if the wind comes out of the north (as it's doing at this moment), we are in one nasty lee shore and if the anchor drags at all we'll be on the rocks in seconds. Did I mention that it's three in the morning and I'm sitting up watching the radar making sure we don't drag? I think I forgot that part... Anyway the wind is dying down and it looks like I should be able to go back to bed soon. Later this morning we'll get up and take the dinghy ashore to explore the beaches. That is, after all why we came here.
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