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The Curve of Time - Sailing to Desolation Sound - Photo Essay

Posted 09-21-2008 at 08:26 PM by Robby in WA
Maurice Maeterlinck's book, The Fourth Dimension, argues that Time is the fourth dimension. It doesn't exist in itself, but rather is always relative to the individual's idea of time. He used a curve to illustrate this theory. Standing on the Present, on the highest point of the curve, you can look back and see the Past, or look forward and see the Future, all in the same instant. Or if you stand off to one side of the curve, your eye wanders from one to the other w/out any distinction.

We spent the last few weeks sailing the lower Inside Passage and on the voyage I read a book called The Curve of Time about a widowed mother who explores these waters in a 25 ft. boat w/her five children during the 20s and 30s. She used Maetlinck's theory as a basis for her writings and we tried to find many of the places she writes about. Because not much has changed in this area, the concept worked quite well.

I forgot a bigger card for the Canon The pics that are 900x600 are from the 350D and the 800x600 pics are from the point and shoot ( Nikon Coolpix L11 ).

We only stayed in a marina one night and that was tied up to a floating breakwater.

After clearing customs ( to get into Canada you simply dock and call in, I've never been boarded going up ), we spent the first night anchored off Prevost Island.

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Sunset
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The next day we went through Dodd Narrows, sailboats can only get through when it switches to slack tide. Doing 40-50 miles days at ~6 knots and only a small window of time to get through. We stocked up on more beer and ice in Nanaimo and anchored off Newcastle Island. This anchorage has a neat floating bar that you can dinghy over to ( I'll post a pic of it when I go through the small camera pics ).


Heading up Jervis Inlet
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In Deeper
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These inlets go for miles and miles and the mountains just keep getting bigger and bigger. It's over 2,000 ft deep in spots w/8,000 ft. mounatins towering over you.

To get into Princess Louisa Inlet, it's much worse than Dodd Narrows. No Cruise Ships here. To get through Malibu Rapids in a sailboat, you have an even smaller window of time, right when it switches to slack tide. People had talked me into being scared for this part, but it was cake as long as you timed it right.

After we made it through, up to the head waters.
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The Head of Princess Louisa Inlet
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On the way out of Jervis Inlet
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Anchored off the Harmony Islands
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We had a great family jam this night w/the music echoing of the rock walls. We brought an acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, trumpet ( w/mute ), and a little conga and shaker ( hope we didn't bug the boat around the corner).


The next night was the only night we didn't anchor. We tied up to the floating breakwater and restocked provisions in Lund - the end of HWY 101, the world's longest highway, also known as the Pan-American. It runs over 9,300 miles to Castro on Chile's south coast.

Lund Sunset
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Sailing into Desolation Sound
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The next anchorage is in Squirrel Cove on Cortes Island. When Vancouver's men discovered a "lake" that fed into it, they dove in thinking it was freshwater.

NOT- it's salt and fed at high tide. The tidal stream had some neat sealife in it.

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The next anchorage was Roscoe Inlet on Redonda Island. You can only get in and out at high tide. A sand bar blocks the entrance most of the time.

This anchorage IS fed by fresh water - Black Lake. This lake is bathtub warm and has excellent rocks for jumping/diving off at various heights. This was probably our favorite anchorage. We spent a good deal of time here, hiking and swimming both days.

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Because it's fed by freshwater, it's an excellent breeding ground for jellyfish.

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At the next anchorage, Prideaux Haven, we hiked and looked for the remains of the homesteads of two hermits "Capi," who wrote the book mentioned in the OP, would visit each year.

Prideaux Morning
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North up the Homfray Channel
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More of Desolation Sound
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Looking Towards Jervis and Princess Louisa Inlets from the South End of Texada Island
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Tod Inlet - Vancouver Island
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Tod Inlet is right behind Buchart Gardens. They have a back gate for boaters and float planes. The gate is open until 10pm and you can stay in the park until 11pm. Needless to say, there's nobody in there this late, we bumped into one group of drunken boaters. The gate just buzzes you in, so you can bring in whatever you want. We had a backpack full of goodies. We stumbled around for a couple hours. It's like Alice in Wonderland there at night. I didn't bring a tripod, so I had to balance the camera on various things. These are the only two pics that turned out halfway decent.

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Baker, almost home
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Sunset on Cypress, looking east...
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In the morning
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Back
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Pictures don't do it justice, but you get the idea.

A little movie I made of the trip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQqHKZCY5Oc

I can only embed the standard quality version, high quality is MUCH better.
Total Comments 2

Comments

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Porschefan's Avatar
Great....really enjoyed sharing the journey!
Posted 07-22-2009 at 10:41 PM by Porschefan Porschefan is offline
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Ray S's Avatar
Sounds like an amazing journey. Thanks for sharing.
Posted 03-09-2010 at 11:28 PM by Ray S Ray S is offline
 

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