Sailing Adventures of s/v Talos IV: Port Harvey Doesn’t Disappoint

We arrived in Port Harvey after a long day of rain, cool temps and poor visibility. I believe we logged 53nm. We had several discussions about ducking into Port Neville or pushing on and finally decided that it was reasonable to push forward as the weather was holding and we had plenty of daylight left. The Strait was about as calm as could be.

We have been into Port Harvey twice and had an idea of the perfect spot for anchor. We were very lucky as we rounded the corner to find “our spot” open and waiting for us. The anchor set well and Paul had a crab trap out within a few minutes of arrival. We made a quick meal and evaluated our tides for transit thru Chatham Channel. Paul figured our departure time and we went to bed by 8:30….Hey, it was a long, long day.

The next morning we had over slept and were a bit rushed to get the crab trap in, cook up a big Dungeness and get the boat to Chatham Channel for slack. Chatham is a fun channel to work thru as it is very narrow and requires alignment of bow and stern against range markers on opposing shorelines approximately ¾ mile apart. With proper alignment you will not run aground. This time thru Paul took the helm and watched the bow alignment. I took the stern and watched the range marker behind. We were happy that our timing to the slack was perfect…but regretted that we did not get to stop by the dock at Port Hardy and say hello to George. George makes the best cinnamon rolls we have found and we had really looked forward to stocking up for the next several days.

Once thru Chatham Channel we ducked thru The Blow Hole, a shallow narrow cut that places you in Lagoon Cove off East Cracroft. We were not satisfied with the holding for anchoring so went around the island to the next inlet. We found it deserted, roomy and with very good holding. The chart does not give this spot a name, but Paul said he thought it might be known as Bones Bay. We had a 16 foot tidal swing which was fun to watch and had an opportunity to do some shore exploring. The sun came out for happy hour as we had our daily beer and feasted on fresh crab. This is the “Broughton Experience” I remembered and had been looking forward to the past 2 weeks.

We are now in Kwatsi Bay, a short 4 hour motor (there was no wind) from our cozy little anchorage. This is the first marina we've been in since Lund, yes, that means showers, water and wifi. The owners are hosting a 4th of July BBQ and potluck. It should be fun.

We stopped here last year, but it was so rainy and cold that we could hardly see the beautiful and majestic mountains surrounding the bay. It is an amazing place. There is a waterfall out back behind the marina (it would be very cool to own your own waterfall).

Tomorrow we are off to the heart of the Broughtons. We plan a stop at Pierres Marina in Echo Bay for fuel and a few groceries and then we'll seek out an anchorage in one of the many small coves nearby.