Late Entry | Three Sheets Northwest

At anchor

by Scott Wilson on 14/08/10 at 3:29 pm

As much fun as sailing can be, it’s also pretty nice to take a few days off and just sit someplace, anchored out and watching the world go by.

It’s necessary, of course, to pick some place where the world actually goes by; sheltered anchorages with a small opening out into a well-trafficked channel are good, but rare. More common are those with a good view that are also exposed to wake and weather. In these parts, even that isn’t particularly uncomfortable, though. Another option is to find a place right in the middle of a busy harbor, something like False Creek in Vancouver or Mark Bay in Nanaimo.

To my surprise, Cortes Bay in Desolation Sound also seems to be something of an attractive crossroads, a place where the weary cruiser can toss out the hook and lounge idly in the cockpit watching the world come and go.

In all the guidebooks, Cortes Bay is reputed to have terrible holding ground but that doesn’t seem to stop people from coming in and anchoring there. Neither is it a major point for rendezvous or resupply: there is a public dock there that sees a lot of floatplane traffic, but it seems to be used mostly by locals, and there are no local services to speak of. Cortes Island is at least three ferry rides away from any mainland dwelling vehicle owners.

The counterpoints to this relative isolation are location and selection. The location, at the south tip of Cortes Island, makes it one of the first protected anchorages encountered by boats coming north into Desolation Sound, and so an attractive stopping place after a long day on the Strait of Georgia. The selection was made by the Seattle and Royal Vancouver yacht clubs, each of which has established an outstation in the bay. This combination brings a lot more traffic in than might otherwise be supposed, and it is satisfying to sit in the sun and watch the boats come and go.

Just sitting around anchored out is a bit of a novelty for us, but it’s one that I am rapidly getting used to. Previously, much of our cruising has been destination oriented and made on restrictive timelines. We weren’t completely inflexible, but most days were spent sailing, and an extra night in one spot was an unusual luxury. We had never just anchored some place and said “We’ll leave when we get bored.”

This year, in a variety of places, that’s exactly what we have done, and let me tell you, it takes a long time for me to get bored! Gorge Harbour, Cortes Bay, Grace Harbour… places with varying attractions, qualities, and shoreside amenities, but all spots where I have been happy to just hang around on the hook, soaking up the sun, reading, working, or puttering around in the dinghy.

An inukshuk standing watch at Grace Harbour

I have felt bad at some points in the past that I don’t seem to be one of those people who need to kayak to every corner of a bay or canvass every hiking trail leading inland to feel content. And I confess that I am no longer overawed at the wildlife and scenery. But I can spend forty-five minutes watching a school of fish hover beneath our rudder, or a family of mergansers fishing along the shoreline, or I can sit in the cockpit soaking in the pine scent and the view of distant mountains slowly lightening with the sunrise, or stand in mid-afternoon in a quiet, still stand of second growth timber watching bugs flashing in the sunlight, and be fulfilled. I feel like the inukshuk standing near the head of Grace Harbour; quiet, unmoving, looking out at the world.