July 19 - Fancy Cove, Lama Passage

Today we headed for shelter in Fancy Cove.  We are picking up Jessica in Bella Bella in a few days and the weather between here and there will turn nasty tomorrow.  So today we needed to get as far as Fancy Cove (which is only a couple of hours from Bella Bella).  We will tuck ourselves in here for three days and wait for the weather to improve.

The trip to Fancy Cove took about five hours.  Rob and I each took a 30-minute nap (not at the same time) while underway.  The skies were grey and it has been raining all day.  The route here is something of a highway in these parts and during the journey, we encountered a cruise ship, a large BC ferry and a tug pulling timber. 

After you...

Cruise ship on its way back from Alaska

A tug's load

Fancy Cove is extremely secluded and we are the only two boats here.  We cannot go ashore because there are wolves here.  Blue and Casca are again restricted to short trips ashore on tiny islets. 

The islet where we take Blue three or four times a day

The wind is picking up and so we have let out over 200 feet of anchor chain and tied our stern to the shore.  We are getting low on vegetables but otherwise, have everything we need for the three days we will be here.  It is amazing to think how often we run to the store at home.  Theoretically, I could provision our home kitchen as well as I have provisioned the boat but the appeal of fresh groceries will always prevail in an urban environment.  Although we don’t need to go grocery shopping, the daily routine includes lots of time spent on food preparation and clean up.

Rob and I went out and dropped our crab trap before dinner.  We’ll check it tomorrow.  Bill went out fishing today and came back with a halibut.  I had never seen a halibut in full and regret that I didn’t get a photo; it is a very strange looking fish.  I hope to have another photo-op.   As usual, Bill shared his catch with us and we had the most wonderful dinner.  Using one of many fish recipes that I brought with us, I pan-fried the halibut in butter, garlic, white wine, Spanish onion, (dried) chives and capers.

Eileen and Bill stopped by after dinner.  Each of us has been listening to satellite BBC and CBC off and on throughout the day and we discuss the days events.  We are glad of their good company; it could get lonely out here…