One of the many enthusiastic pirates in Pirate's Cove
Millennium beyond the dinghy dock
Cedar fence at south beach, where the swimming was refreshingly cool
The infamous reef marker, which is about 100 meters out of position. Some boaters tend to be oblivious about navigation around this little obstacle with predictable results...
Carting water from the public pump in the park to a little cottage outside the Marine Park
Smokey haze over the Park. Fires in BC interior send their clouds of smoke all the way westward over Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands
Stranded sailboat and shallow draft float plane around the rocks in the cove's entrance
Stuck fast
Low tide in Pirate's Cove....people actually try to anchor here, when all this mud is covered with a couple of inches of water
Left boat is stuck, right one sneaks by...
No Internet here in Pirate's Cove, where I am tied to the 'Host Dock' to volunteer for 14 days playing Marine Park Host. Ergo, this little posting may remain unpublished for a couple of weeks.
The Marine Park is as ever beautiful. To add to it's natural appeal, it now has two solidly constructed dinghy docks. A brand new set of wooden stairs connects the sandy, but driftwood covered south beach to the top of a high cliff. Meandering paths lead through old Douglas Fir, Arbutus Trees and Gary Oaks. 28 brightly coloured iron rings facilitate shore tying for boats at anchor.
I put on my uniform (a jacket that sports a Volunteer decal), ready oars and dinghy (outboard is still in the shop ready to be picked up) I gather my log books from the volunteer box and set out 'on duty'
Weather has been mostly glorious, warm, sunny and almost no wind. Many forest fires sent a smokey haze from the mainland as far as the Gulf Islands, and a few evenings with smoke screened fire red sunsets added a degree of eeriness to the peaceful ambiance.
So far - during the first week - four boats ran aground entering or leaving the Cove at almost zero tide. Not too good if a boat draws 7 feet, and the depth is only 5 feet. One boat lost transmission function in the entry, but managed to anchor before drifting into the forbidding reef. Another one got hung up on a boulder in an otherwise deep enough swinging circle. This one slipped of the offending rock on its own accord and the owner promptly re-anchored somewhere else. Another one had dropped his anchor onto the reef at high tide, and one of the crew had to wade out the next morning - knee deep along the now surfacing reef - to retrieve the anchor manually. Ah, the mysteries of tidal cycles. Grounding may be disconcerting but not too much drama, if the boat is not hung up cross-wise, when it blocks the cove entrance totally - even for the little float plane, drawing a few inches.
That happened yesterday to a lovely yawl, who came to a grinding halt just inside the cove. The tide was still falling for another hour, so this vessel would remain there for at last two hours before floating free. I hiked out to the barnacle, mussel, oyster covered reef and played secondary beacon, VHF radio at the ready. Promptly a few other boats approached the now impassable entrance, and my little early warning system worked quite fine. Even a boat full of Japanese boaters - not too familiar with radio procedures - turned away at the last minute, before joining the already stranded sailboat in its solid position on the rocks. No float plane, however a couple of power vessel squeezed into the cove without any trouble.
Being Pirate's Cove replete with treasure chest, quite a number of pirates take the opportunity to gather some of the booty, leaving behind messages sealed in plastic bottles, shells inscribed with dates and names, and other less savoury items - empty soft drink cans, dead crabs etc.
Oyster catchers, eagles, jays, junkos, turkey vultures, raccoons, deer, squirrel and even a four pointer buck keep the wild life watchers happy.
The cell phone works - occasionally - ergo: friends on nearby Gabriola Island have visited. Haven't seen them over a couple of years, when I visited them in Oakland, California, their 'regular' domicile. They arrived with fresh bread, corn, bananas an all kinds of other goodies. A perfect surprise, considering Pirates' Cove is rather far away from the next grocery store. Haven't opened a can of food yet - and may slip by on fresh supplies for the duration.
And so the world keeps turning. Groundings happen, party noise happens, kids do their mindless wheelies in roaring outboards, but the most annoying things happen with our dear dog-owners - love the dogs, but don't particularly love the owners. As soon as the boat is docked, out come the canine friends to be taken shore - brimming with pee and whatever, after a lenghty captivity aboard. Not a problem, but dear doggie lays his offerings as soon as he gets ashore, whilst the dear owner gazes off into the distance as not to see the dirty deed. The park is large, but the doggie toilet concentrates around the shore. And it is sometimes difficult to distinguish a doggie doo from a pine cone. So one tip toes through the pine cones/ and doggie doos, hoping not to connect with one of the latter and have it bury itself in the non skid boat shoe creased soles. It;s a veritable minefield out there. Park rules of course stipulate dogs on leashes and poop and scoop. But - dog's cant read, and people can't either it seems.
Great two weeks, certainly entertaining, certainly pleasant meeting many very friendly and interesting people, certainly summery with hot temperatures and cloudless skies. But - on to other things. Getting ready to cast off to Wallace Island, my next stint at 'hosting' as a parks volunteer.
