Hisnet Inlet, Santa Gertrudis and Hotsprings Cove

We left Tahsis with no wind and ebb current so we could get down the inlet without pushing tide. We decided to head for Hisnet Inlet and maybe collect some oysters on the beach. Well be the time we got there, it was bucketing down rain so we hunkered down and stayed dry. We did end up watching a couple of black bears on the beach just before dinner. We left around 10:00 the next morning en-route to Santa Gertrudis Cove, just east of Friendly Cove in Nootka Inlet. We tucked up in the south part of the cove and went for a dinghy tour over to Friendly Cove. It was again bucketing down rain so we did not land and headed back to the boat to get dry and warm. We were waiting for Rolly Brown (VEOTI) off Tropic Isle. He had spent the past few weeks in Hotsprings Cove and was headed north to pick up his wife in Gold River. Rolly showed up around 18:00 and we had him over for dinner. Interesting to meet someone in person who you only have known through the ham net. We had a great meal of Swedish Meatballs (thanks Cathy) and a wonderful evening swapping lies. Rolly spends about 4 months a year on his boat and is on his 18th circumnavigation of Vancouver Island. We planned for an early departure on Saturday for Hotsprings to try and get the best of the S/SE winds. Well, we had a great 15 miles on a close reach and close hauled and then we had to turn SE and we ended up motor sailing into a gusty SE wind to try and get to Hotsprings. The distance on the chart was 30 odd NM and we ended up sailing 46 NM to get here. Oh well, we have to move south as we are running out time on the west coast. The winds topped out around 30 knots with consistent 25 knots on the nose. We ended up motor sailing with a single reef in the mizzen and about half a headsail. A reasonable combination that let us get where we were going. We rolled in to Hotsprings Cove around 16:00 and anchored east of the float. We were (and ARE both pretty tired so no visit to the Hotsprings tonight, Maybe tomorrow.

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