June 2: Shearwater to Rescue Cove

At anchor for the night, cove-water tinged with cedar pigment, pocked marked with millions of rain drops, I realize that there is no where else I would rather be.  Our salty boat is getting a natural wash from the sky!

The woods are not so dark here, the trees not so tall and the banks lower so that we need to beware of rocky shoals that lurk subsurface, unseen.  Rescue Cove is our sheltered harbor tonight.  We left Shearwater Marina at 10:00AM. Fearing the predicted gale force winds, we wound our way through mostly inside channels with only one opening to the ocean.  The swells there were about three feet.  No big deal.  However, last night was a wild one in the marina, winds howled through the riggings and a loose halyard distracted me from deep sleep.  It was too daunting to put on storm gear, open the canvas, and head out to the deck with a flashlight to better secure it so I just had to deal with it.  Needless to say, I had interesting dreams all night.  Tim slept deeply, unperturbed by stormy nocturnal sounds. 

The topography is changing as we sail north.  We see more snow on the not so distant peaks, the trees, still densely populating every patch of soil, are smaller, more hemlock and fewer cedars. We’re north of Vancouver Island by now.  Boat traffic is minimal except for the occasional shrimper.  All that will change in Alaska but this is an incredibly remote area, no homes, no roads, no seaplanes, tugboats, freighters and few other recreational boaters.  It would take many years of constant exploration to dive into each cove, travel up each channel and discover the many bays, inlets and islands.  I think I could easily step into the solitude of this wilderness for a season.

Exhultation is the going

Of the inland soul to sea-

Past the houses, past the headlands,

Into deep Eternity. 

 Emily Dickinson