Abandoned Cove. June 30 - July 2

Abandoned Cove ( John Harper anchorage ) 

We left Swordfish Bay because there was a gale warning - winds to 35 knots expected from the south - south east - and Swordfish bay was pretty much open to the south. 

There was a very protected anchorage in the McNaughton Group that a fellow Krogenite recommended. It was also in the Hamilton's book - they called it Abandoned Cove. It was only a short distance away - 7 miles north.  

Once we left the Swordfish Bay the first 15 minutes or so were very VERY lumpy!  We were bouncing all over the place. Lilly went quickly from the crate to her spot and we were quite concerned she would barf. I felt a little woozy - but we got in the lee of some Islands and the seas settled quickly. 

We thought Abandoned Cove was a nice little spot. Very protected from almost any wind direction. 

There was a sailboat already anchored up when we arrived. 

Jim was able to find a place to take Jenny to shore. 

The first night we expected a lot of wind because of the gale warning but there was very little wind in the cove. Great! That's why we are here! 

The gale warning continue for three days. The second day we pulled the anchor and moved the boat because we were quite close to a rock wall and it was starting to blow harder. It was a fairly small anchorage for two boat because there were a number of rock hazards around.  Some of the rocks were uncharted. 

A very large rock in the channel coming into the cove. 

Now you see it ......

Now you don't .....

And the discussion was -- when does a rock become a reef?!! 

July 2nd it was really windy and raining - heavy at times!  Full wet gear day!  Jim was going to go fishing but it was gusting up to 19 knots! 

And then at 5 pm the rain stopped the wind died down we saw a bit of blue sky came out!  Gale warning ended!  

That was a bit of a teaser though it started pouring and blowing again around 9:30 pm. But the with the sun out the solar panels got a bit of time to solar!  

We spent 3 nights in Abandoned Cove because of the gale warning. The sailboat had been there for 7 nights!!  We were ready to go. They said they had been ready to leave a while ago! But we pulled up anchor and motored out around mid morning and they were still there. Another big boat was on its was in as we were leaving. 

We saw a big raft of sea otters just outside the anchorage.  We got a few photos but they weren't very good as we couldn't get that close.