Hot Springs Cove after rain, rain, rain

After our afternoon on the river we moved to a more protected anchorage 3 miles further up the inlet called Bacchante Bay for the night. Bachhante Bay is surrounded by the towering peaks of Lone Wolf and Splendour Mountains that make for a very protected and breathtaking anchorage. We were surrounded by the two mountains on each side and were able to look up a long beautiful valley at the head of the bay. At the head of the bay is Watta creek that we set out to explore. At high tide the marsh was deep enough for us to use the dinghy to get about ¾ of a mile up the creek. Soon we came to shallow water where we beached the dinghy and continued on foot. After a short hike we came to a section of blown down trees that blocked all but the most determined. When you combined the large amount of bear tracks and bear scat with the blown down logs we decided we were not that determined. On the way back we stopped for a swim in the brackish water and then made our way back to Samadhi.

For the next two days we were socked in with rain. And I mean some serious rainforest rain. My estimate was about 4-5 inches in 36 hours. We spent the days playing games of Chess, Stratego, Risk and Tenzi. We took this time to add some extra science and penmanship to the kids’ school workload. When the sun came out we were surrounded by the enchanting sound of waterfalls. Many many waterfalls. After the rain stopped falling it began draining off the mountains all around us in the form of many waterfalls. The quiet creek we slowly motored up 2 days earlier was now a raging little river. The beautiful emerald green water that Samadhi was anchored in was turned brown from all of the runoff. I scooped some water from over the side of the boat in a bucket and it came up as fresh water. There was so much water coming out of the valley that the top few feet of the water that we were anchored in was fresh.

July 11th 2019
We left Bacchante Bay early in the morning making our way to the very popular tourist destination of Hot Springs Cove. There was little to no wind so we motored the whole 25ish miles. We anchored in the bay and immediately were welcomed by fellow Seattle cruisers Emily and Dominic who were on their own Vancouver Island Circumnavigation. We exchanged each of our favorite spots as we were going the opposite direction so we were able to learn from each other’s experiences. After a nice talk they were on their way and we made our way to the hike leading to the hot springs. The hike is 2km entirely on a beautifully made boardwalk. It meanders through ancient old growth forests as it makes its way to the hot springs. We spent about an hour moving between the three hot, hotter and hottest pools and then finishing off in the cold swimming tide-pool. It was nice to visit but there were so many people that you were not able truly relax and enjoy the 110 degree water for too long before we felt inclined to share our spot with others that were waiting. We hiked back to Samadhi and after talking about where we wanted to spend the night. We decided it was not here due to all of the float planes and tour boats coming and going. So we readied the boat for ocean sailing and headed out to sea. Hot Springs cove is right on the Pacific so as soon as we were out of the cove we were in the ocean swell. We turned northwest and raised the sails. We had a beautiful sail in light wind and fairly calm seas. We sailed right up to the entrance of our next anchorage. Victoria and Alexander read books, watched a movie and had spelling bees as we sailed up the coast to Nootka Sound.