In the Broughtons at Last!

Yesterday we made our way up to the Broughtons, at long last. The Johnstone Strait was finally quiet and we made an easy passage with a helpful current, arriving in record time at our first Broughtons destination, Lagoon Cove. We enjoyed the great cocktail hour Lagoon is known for, with a generous platter of freshly caught shrimp provided by the marina owners. Every day Bill Barber, the owner, goes out to retrieve several shrimp pots and brings in a huge bucket-full of shrimp. This morning we watched him cook them in salt water, scooping them out as they floated to the top of the boiling water. They cook very quickly – just 2-3 minutes--and are absolutely delicious, as is the sauce he makes to go with them.

This afternoon we moved to Kwatsi Bay. I couldn't get my picture to load so you will have to imagine our lovely setting in a quiet bay surrounding by high mountains. It's one of the most lovely settings in the Broughtons. We are the only sailboat on the dock, in company with several 50" foot power boats, almost all from the US. This evening we enjoyed another shared hour of appetizers on the dock—everyone brings a appetizer contribution and their own drinks, and we meet the other boaters. It’s the tradition up here in the Broughtons, and a very nice one.

Tomorrow we’ll move to a place where we can swing at anchor for a couple days. We’ve been at a dock for the last six nights—unusual for us. Our new solar panels are doing a great job of keeping our batteries sufficiently charged that we don’t need dock power. And lucky us, we arrived in the Broughtons with some sun—the first they’ve seen in over a month. That’s helping the solar power production as well. So far we’ve had really great weather.

Enoyed crab cakes tonight, finishing off the crab I got in Pender. Got one more crab at Lagoon so we have more, plus some shrimp. We’ll take a break from seafood tomorrow night to have spaghetti with hamburger. After eating seafood for a week, one actually gets a yearning for a little meat!