Kwatsi Bay
This morning we left Burial Cove early to catch the slack through Chatham Channel. It is about a mile and a half long (guesstimate) and there are range markers at each end to help you stay in position when going through the channel. It would not be a good to run aground. After the channel we crossed Knight Inlet and then up Tribune Channel around Gilford Island. Kwatsi Bay is on the mainland side of the channel opposite Wahkana Bay on the north side of the island.
A couple and their two children run a small marina in the bay which is very popular in this area. We usually anchor at the far end of the bay and we plan to stop at the marina tomorrow for water and to buy some jam and honey at their small store.
Everyone who has a boat has various experiences anchoring, some good, some not so good. It is also something that you can't help but watch others when they do it as well. Since we have anchored in this bay before we are a little bit familiar with the conditions, namely that it averages 29 meters in depth and that it shallows very fast when you are almost on shore. Since the bay is fairly roomy we don't worry about a stern tie since there is plenty of room for everyone to anchor and swing without one. After we had set our hook and got relaxed another sailboat entered the harbor to anchor. They tried three different places to anchor. Similar to Goldilocks, one spot was too near another boat, one spot was too deep and the third spot, well it was better but not quite right. In an attempt to improve the third location, they decided to add a stern tie. Typically, you set your anchor, then run a line from your stern to something strong on shore, in this case a large boulder and then adjust the anchor rode and the stern tie to keep your boat in position. Sounds easy enough. Well, in this case the stern tie was stretching over a distance, twice as long as the sailboat itself, to the shore. Instead of letting out more rode to move the boat closer to shore, they tighten the stern tie. As I was sitting in the cockpit reading, I heard this sound that was at a 1 hertz frequency. I knew if was not from something on our boat. I looked over and the stern tie of the sailboat was oscillating and the sound was reverberating across the water.
I think they were tied a little too tight.
Tomorrow we are off to Pierre's at Echo Bay.
No worries,
SV Windarra
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