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Prideaux Haven
This is paradise! Prideaux Haven is a bay in Desolation Sound Provincial Marine Park, surrounded by spectacular deep water fjords and mountains.
Time loops and folds in the waters and fjords of British Columbia’s Strait of Georgia.
As you turn into the deep channel of Desolation Sound – given it’s morose name by the dyspeptic Captain George Vancouver when he first explored the area in bad weather in 1792 – it is almost as if time ceases to exist. The surrounding mountains have stood forever and the towering trees are nearly as old. There are virtually no roads up here: access to trading stations and small First Nation communities is by boat only. Distance, rugged terrain, and swathes of Provincial Parks limit development to tumble-down traditional hamlets and very wealthy summer retreats.
On our motor/sail to Desolation Sound, my husband and I stopped into the charming town of Lund (see: Strait Sailing Part 2) where, among other things, I bought The Curve of Time, an account of visiting these same waters in the late 1920s and early 1930s in a twenty-five-foot diesel motor-boat, written by local woman Capi (M. Wylie Blanchet). A widow, she spent her summers exploring BC waters up and down the whole coast, accompanied by assorted children and sometimes a dog. The real “character” in the book, however, is the landscape: the moody, atmospheric West Coast British Columbia woods and waters.
I devoured the book in three days of calm waters as we sailed our boat Graystone into Squirrel Cove on Cortes Island for an overnight stop (Strait Sailing Part 2), and then crossed to West Redonda Island to top-up our supplies at the Refuge Cove Store, before cruising into the secluded Melanie Bay in the Desolation Sound Marine Provincial Park. Matching the places Capi visited over 80 years ago with the ones we were seeing in 2015 gave her poetic imagery extra poignancy.
Little had changed. Desolation Sound is a magic, enthralling, timeless place.
“Time did not exist; or if it did it did not matter… Our world then was both wide and narrow — wide in the immensity of the sea and mountain; narrow in that the boat was very small, and we lived and camped, explored and swam in a little realm of our own making…”
– M. Wylie Blanchet
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Desolation Sound
The rock at the entrance to Desolation Sound Provincial Marine Park features a small sign.
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Kayaks on the Sound
Kayakers are small against the rocks and trees, and quiet in the expanse of water.
Boats on Melanie Cove
The boats anchored on Melanie Cove come in all shapes and sizes. Later in the summer, when it gets really busy, companions often have to raft up together.
Jellyfish in the Waters
The waters all around our dinghy …
Jellyfish
… are alive with jellyfish.
Double-Masted Schooner
A lot of boats on Prideaux Haven have travelled north from American waters; we are about 100 nautical miles north of Vancouver, and Desolation Sound is a popular cruising destination.
Lunch in Prideaux Haven
Dinghies allow us to enjoy a picnic lunch with friends, overlooking the waters.
Dinghy on Prideaux Haven
Prideaux Haven
Boats in and out of Melanie Cove
Melanie Cove
At the head of Melanie Cove, we take our dinghy ashore …
“Loo with a View”
… and go for a walk into the woods.
Light in the Ferns
Few patches of light reach the forest floor …
Light Above
… through the tall Douglas firs and western red cedars, …
Spanish Moss
… and the Spanish moss that hangs from their branches.
Spanish Moss
Path in the Woods
Although this is a very popular place for boats, especially later in the season, I don’t think these paths are walked too often! There is a trail that leads across to Laura Cove; we never saw it.
Maple Leaves Above
Into the Woods
The trunks of the trees rise straight and tall.
Mosses
Mosses and fallen leaves adorn the forest floor.
Melanie Cove Below
From the top of Melanie Point, we can peer through the twisting arbutus (Arbutus menziesii – Pacific madrona) boughs and trunks to our boat, safely anchored for another night, below.
Moonrise – Stones Marina
Three nights later, with Graystone safely tucked into her home berth in Nanaimo, we sat in the evening quiet – surrounded by masts instead of trees – dreaming of a return to Desolation Sound.
It is a spectacularly beautiful place, and we’ll get back there one day…
Until then,
Safe Sailing!
Pictures: 25-29June2015
Hi Ursala,
Lovely photos! I’m writing a blog about one of my models that just turned 66 and I need a photo of some white moon jellyfish. May I please have permission to use one of your photos in my blog? The reference is a story about how we went kayaking and were swimming with the jellyfish. We did not get photos that day.
May I please?
Thank-you
Diane
Hi Diane,
Thanks for your visit to my Photo Blog.
That sounds like a lovely use for my photos (with attribution, of course!) and I would love it if you could send we the link when it goes “to air”.
I love bamboo clothing. 😉
All the best,
Ursula