Helen and Ian told us that the native town at Hartly Bay, just a couple miles up the coast from where we were anchored, was very nice when they stopped there heading north. The residents were reportedly very friendly and the village neat and tidy. We decided to have a look, so headed there after breakfast. From the harbor the town looked much like others we've visited though, so we just filled Thankful's water tank at the fuel dock and departed.
Our destination for the day was Weewanie Hot Spring, thirty miles away. The islands and channels here provided three different routes we could follow to get there, and there was much discussion aboard Thankful about the optimal route to take. One cruising guide said that Verney Passage "...must be one of the most beautiful places on earth...", so that's the way we went. It was very pretty, but the guide's author needs to get out more.
Thankful dropped the hook off of the hot springs right behind another boat, so we gave them an hour of privacy at the bath before we wandered up there. Our timing was perfect. The other crew was just finishing up when we arrived, and we had a nice hour long soak in the 100+ degree water.
The forecast called for the winds to shift to the northwest overnight making the hot springs anchorage a lee shore, so Thankful moved across Devastation Channel to a more protected anchorage on Loretta Island just before sunset.
The tide was low this morning when the Thankful crew awoke. We were alarmed to see a large exposed rock very close to our track into the anchorage that wasn't on the chart. We thanked our lucky stars to have missed the submerged obstruction on the way in, and criticized the Canadian authorities for their failure to chart the dangerous hazard. In the middle of our second cup of coffee I glanced over to have another look. I'll be damned, that rock has moved! Turns out it wasn't a rock, but a large log raft gone adrift. No wonder there wasn't any weed growing on top of it. I deleted the draft letter of admonition I was composing in my head to the Canadian Hydrographic Office, and turned my attention to the potato pancake breakfast that Matt had so expertly prepared.
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