Cordero Lodge and Marina

On August 13th as we were getting fuel in Sointula our daughter had a beautiful baby boy. 

Jackson Leo 

We left Port Harvey a little later in the morning. We got a couple of Port Harvey cinnamon buns, enjoyed our coffee and didn't leave until close to 10 AM. 

I think we are getting ready to go home for a rest.  We are getting a little worn out. But then I think once we are home we will miss the boat. 

We had a lovely mostly flat calm trip down Johnstone straight - as we heard one boater report to another boater on the radio -- "the seas are just slightly less than rippled" 

When we got to a small passage called Whirlpool rapids the current was running around 7 knots. It is a short run through there but we decided to go into Forward Harbour and anchor up for a bit and go through around 5 knots. 

We don't really like Forward Harbour. It was the place we went to anchor last year and the winch to put down the skiff wouldn't work and we had to pull anchor and go to Port Harvey. And then the wind came up as we were pulling the anchor. And it was windy and blowing us around. So we would never spend the night there, although many boater like that anchorage. 

We stayed in Forward Harbour for about an hour and half. Then we pulled the anchor and carried on through Whirlpool rapids. It was fine - the boat speed increased by only 3-4 knots. 

We were thinking of going to the dock at Shoal Bay but as we were heading south in Cordero Channel we saw the docks of the Cordero lodge were empty - and it was close to Happy Hour - so we radioed in and did a quick little U-turn and put down the fenders and spend the night at the Cordero Lodge and Marina. 

We arrived during slack water so tying up to the dock was pretty easy. A current can run pretty strong around there. The marina has recently been purchased and the new owners are doing a lovely job of maintaining the docks and buildings.  They are friendly and helpful. We would certainly stop there again. 

Lilly decided she needed to jump from the cockpit rail - across 5 feet of water running at a pretty good clip - to the dock!  Good thing she didn't fall in the current would have carried her halfway to China before we got to her!  That Darn Cat!!

The next morning we planned our departure to travel through the series of rapids - Dents, Gillard, and Yuculta at slack water.  There were a lot of boats heading south along with us.  

It was a lovely sunny day. The trip south was uneventful and we seemed to be back into summer weather. We motored into Squirrel Cove about 3 PM.