Sea Otter Cove

     Two of the major obstacles in my course fell in a single day; Nahwitti Bar is famous for dangerous seas as the ocean swell breaks on a seriously shallow bar, and Cape Scott is famous for conflicting current streams further conflicting with ocean swell making an effect some have described as a “washing machine”. I left Bull Harbour a bit before 6 AM to make the low water slack at Nahwitti Bar and crossed the bar without any trouble, though the seas were a bit over 2 meters and quite steep at about 5 seconds. I motored slowly (~4 knots) so as to arrive at Cape Scott, the westernmost point on Vancouver Island, at high water slack. The seas were very confused here (just as advertised) but no problem to cross at high water slack. I stopped at the first protected anchorage on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Sea Otter Cove. This is a very pretty cove with lots of interesting places to explore. Regrettably, it is not very well protected from NW winds, which howled through the cove the entire time I was there.

     There was a serious issue when it came time to pull the anchor; it wouldn’t budge. Even running the engine at high speed would not break the anchor free from whatever was it was fouled on. I think it may have fouled on the anchor or chain for a mooring buoy that is no longer there (but shown in the cruising guides). The water was too murky to see anything, so swimming to the anchor would have been useless and extremely cold. The end result was I left a 44 pound Bruce anchor and 25 feet of chain on the bottom of the cove. It was disappointing to cut the chain, but there was no real choice. Now I am down to one anchor, a 45 pound CQR. This is the anchor I used all the way to Glacier Bay and back a few years ago so it should not be a problem. Still, I need to buy a new spare at my earliest convenience. If you know of anyone selling a 40-45 pound anchor…

 

Cape Scott