Chronicle 12 Heading for Cape Caution

Explores While Playing with the Weather. August 11-13

“I think our boats are a little close.”

When we anchored in Fury Cover on the afternoon of August 11, we were careful to leave a respectful distance between Shaman and the only other boat in the bay, a large yacht (two radomes) from Vancouver. (Anchoring etiquette and basic safety dictate that one boat generally should not anchor on top of another.) A sailboat entered the bay and anchored between the yacht and Shaman, leaving all the rest of the beautiful bay unoccupied. I was in the cockpit reading and watched in disbelief as the sailboat settled out Very Close to us. The skipper and his two adult sons set the anchor and got in their dinghy. They swung by Shaman and I assumed that they were coming over to ask if we were comfortable with where they had anchored (although they were so close, they could have just asked from the deck.)
Are you the “Shaman” from Shilshole?
No, we keep the boat in Poulsbo.
Oh. There’s a boat named “Shaman” that looks similar at Shilshole.
And away they went.

The parade of boats anxious to anchor near Shaman.

I looked up from my book, and the bow of Ocean Rover, (isn’t that a nice name?) our close neighbor, was almost in the cockpit with me. He looked like a puppy that wanted to play. (Large puppy; Rover is a 50-foot Beneteau.). He bobbed for a few minutes on one side of the stern and then meandered over to the other side to continue his attempts to become acquainted. Shortly, his skipper returned. As he approached the boats, I made the comment about the boats being a little close. (Doug suggested that I talk with the skipper, since he wasn’t too sure that he would be terribly diplomatic.) The skipper agreed and said that after he went ashore to get his sons, they would move the boat

We chattered for a few minutes. He recently purchased the boat; he may be new to boating and not understand about “swinging room”. Also, his depth sounder was not working, so he may have decided the depth was acceptable since there were already two boats in the space. We have no idea why everyone else gravitated to our little corner of the world; Fury Cove is one of the few bays in this part of the world where you can anchor anywhere in the bay. Ocean Rover relocated in the middle of the cove.

Now, you get another lie-down as you try to read the chart.

Fury Cove is the closest secure anchorage to Queen Charlotte Sound, which we need to cross to get back “inside”. (‘Have to find out who Queen Charlotte was. She has way too many things named after her: islands, straits, and a sound. It gets confusing.) Gale warnings in place and predicted for tomorrow. We don’t cross any body of water in gale warnings. The small lettering on the chart says Open waters; difficult for small craft. Queen Charlotte Sound is another way of saying “Pacific Ocean”. We think that qualifies as open waters. To help orient you: the bright pink line leads between mainland BC and Vancouver Island.

While we waited for the gale to pass, we went for a dinghy explore. The white beach is made up of shells, not sand.

Gardening on Fury Island.

We were surprised to see wild strawberries and “salt water ferns” growing among the rocks on the outside of the island. This area is directly open to the ocean….nice southern exposure as evidenced by the huge drift logs sitting high on the rocks..

I wanted Doug to bring this back to the boat to drag home for garden art. He said we couldn’t get it through customs.

Secluded vacation cabin for rent. Small one room cabin.

Sleeps 8. Bring own water, linens, and TP.

An arch marked a trail….

that led to.....

We commented on the lack of windows, and our curiosity got the better of us. (In keeping with our times, we deflected responsibility. It was not our fault. We were victims of our curiosity). The charge was only criminal trespass since there was not lock we did not need to break and enter.

The three tiny windows did not let in enough light to crate a cozy feeling . We were glad we did not need a place to stay.

BUT, is that TP in the blue container??? We didn’t check. We may have to reword the ad.

We left Fury Cove mid-morning the next day after listening to the weather forecast fifteen times, willing the winds and wave heights to abate. We had little wind, but fairly large seas rounding Cape Caution in the company of many whales and one sea lion. Shaman anchored in Allison Harbor, as she had on the way north. She searched the sunny harbor for El Buccanero, but we explained that he and his crew had passed through days, if not weeks before. She’ll continue her search in further south.