Van Donop Inlet

Jellies!!

Boat baked cookies and mint tea (wild caught). 

Rapids between inlets at Van Donop (Vikki and Ian choose not to run them with the kayaks - chickens that we are)

Ian and Jeff investigating the wreck at Squirrel Cove

Skipper on Gumweed

The hamlet of Squirrel Cove

Ian and Vikki on the bridge of Patriot

Patriot settled into the cove at the end of Van Donop Inlet

Patriot working through Hole in the Wall narrows. 

Hole in the Wall and Van Donop Inlet

We headed out of Wyaitt Bay on the 14^th timed with the slack tide to get through “Hole in the Wall” just across the next channel. Hole in the Wall is another of the narrow passages that is notorious for strong eddies and fast currents. We dutifully waited to enter the passage until just a bit before the recorded slack and had an uneventful trip through and enjoyed the steep side slopes and forest on the side. We headed south from there down Calm Channel (which was not with the outgoing currents). We followed our charts to the entrance to Van Donop Inlet on Cortes Island. The Inlet is 3 miles long and full of nooks and crannies. We nestled down at the very end within a quiet cove.  Once we got settled we noticed the bay was full of jellyfish! There were millions ranging from 50 cent sized to cantaloupe sized. We tried to look them up and the closest we could come was common water jelly. Once the sun set the all moved to the surface and it looked the world like it was raining. The jellies were bumping the surface and making dents on the top of the water that looked like rain. Once it was dark we discovered that if you bump them they glow in the dark (along with the normal phosphorescent diatoms). It made for a great light show!

Today we headed out for a 3 km hike across the island to Squirrel Cove. We must have missed a turn because it was a good 6 km to get there. We found a little general store and government dock. We had a snack, went through a local gallery, investigated a ship wreck. It was a fun place. Then we made the long trek back to the boat. We’ll probably stay here a couple more days and then move on to Campbell River for supplies.