Fly Basin to Oliver Cove

Day 3                                    82.5 nm

Sea Otter keep their distance - just beyond camera range it seems

The 0400 weather reported lumpy water and 18 knot winds at Egg Island, with winds predicted to drop later in the morning. We went back to sleep. Our actual 0745 departure was a much better choice with rippled water and light winds for our travels. Oh, how I appreciate Environment Canada weather reporting!

   
Half a dozen fat sea otters floated around in Smith Sound, as wary as ever and keeping their distance from the boat. One lone killer whale surfaced inside False Egg Island and worked the shoreline of nearby islets. Wildlife watch certainly tops log watch for entertainment value.

A few tugs passed us today, heading south with unusual tows. One tug towed a single barge piled high with a jumbled stack of scrap metal. Occasional bits and pieces were recognizable, but mainly the cargo was a rusty, tangled mass. 

Near Bella Bella another tug pulled two barges piled high with a forest of stacked cedar logs, many still bristling with green-needled branches. An unusual sight; we’re used to seeing log barges carry stripped, de-branched logs. Where did each tug and tow come from? They were southbound, but I wondered where were they headed?

This Oliver Cove sign shows damage from vandals rather than weather.

We often run through Reid Passage, a more protected route inside of Ivory Island, but this is the first time Oliver Cove, a B.C. Marine Park, has been empty. The cove is fairly open to the channel but the anchorage was comfortable, with a good-holding bottom and no issue from passing boats' wakes. A well buoyed set-net floated off the south point at the cove’s entry and two more nets bobbed around along the far shore across the channel, but no one arrived to tend them during our stay.