Posted by It was not easy leaving Prideaux Haven. We had spent many days enjoying our temporary home in this lovely anchorage. However, the call to continue exploring as well as our lack of fresh vegetables spurred us into movement. We raised the anchor early with the rising sun and glided out of the narrow inlet on mirror smooth seas. We were headed to Gorge Harbor on Cortez Island. We had about 20 miles to cover and the forecast called for light winds. Soon we had the sails up and Samadhi was slowly making her way through Desolation Sound with the wind powering her sails and the sun filling her batteries. We entered the narrow “gorge” leading to Gorge Harbor early in the afternoon to find the main anchorage packed tight with all types of boats. Large mega yachts, weekend cruisers, extended cruisers, local live-aboard as well as what looked like derelict boats all filled the anchorage outside of the Gorge Harbor Resort. Gorge Harbor is a large harbor with many places to anchor so we explored the rest of the harbor and found a nice place about a mile from the resort. Soon we had three other neighbors who, like us, were willing to trade a slightly longer dinghy ride for a little more space to swing at anchor. After getting settled we loaded ourselves into the dinghy and headed to the resort. Gorge Harbor Resort is a beautiful place catering to boaters, RVers and tent campers. They have a small marina that can handle about 50 boats. There is a fuel dock at the marina with fresh water for a small fee. On shore they have a well stocked store, play area for kids, a swimming pool and lots of camping spots for RV’s or tents. There is also a very nice restaurant and beautiful grounds in which to picnic or just relax while enjoying the peaceful location. We took this opportunity to refill our pantry and top off on fresh fruits and vegetables. On our second day there we spent the day playing in the kid’s area. Alexander and Victoria beat me time and again at horseshoes. The three of us also practiced our bump, set, spike volleyball skills at the sand volleyball court. Ashley spent this time trying to up load a blog post to no avail as their wi-fi did not allow us an upload. She was, however, able to get some much needed digital chores done that we were unable to do while outside of an cell or wi-fi coverage areas.
On our third day in Gorge Harbor we took our dinghy over to a place called Mason Landing. It was a 5 mile dinghy ride to a community dock. The sun was shining and it looked to be a beautiful day. From the dock we hiked along the banks of a beautiful lagoon to a country road that led to a small community. We found an amazing hippy like restaurant and grocery store that offered all kinds of organic foods with many vegan and vegetarian options. So despite the lunches that we had packed and were in our bags with us, we decided to stop and have lunch at this wonderful little place. The food was amazing and we took this opportunity to again showcase to the kids how it is important to support the local economies that we visit, sometimes even when we do not need to, but always when our values align. Victoria was at first confused as to why we were not eating the sandwiches that she prepared for us but quickly understood why. After lunch we hiked to a large lake named Hague Lake that had an amazing sandy swimming beach. The kids and I went for a very refreshing fresh water swim while Ashley watched from the shore. Ashley did not swim because, while it was a sunny day, the wind had picked up and made being wet very chilly. After a few hours of swimming we hiked back to the dinghy and then made our way back to Samadhi. We planned to head north to a provincial park named Von Donop Inlet on the north end of Cortez Island.
Sailing Samadhi 