Monday, September 4, 2023

Desolation Sound 2023

 We've returned from our first trip to Desolation Sound since pre-COVID and the wait only made it more fantastic. We had both our boys with us, grown men now, and their choice to join us and be all together made it extra special. We traveled about 450 miles all told, from Friday Harbor as far north as Quadra Island and all around West Redonda and environs. 

This summer had little smoke, we are glad to say. Temps were generally warm and plenty of sunshine. And most noticeably, we had the most benign winds of any trip we've ever been on up there. Both crossings of the Straits of Georgia were in calm winds or less than 15 knots with us. 

To travel the immensity of the Straits of Georgia, so much larger and expansive and more wondrous than tiny Puget Sound, is to feel enormously small. And once up to the northern reaches of it, the maze of islands that tower out of the sea overwhelms your senses. 

We swam every day, in ocean and lakes, jumped off cliffs of all sizes. A highlight of this trip was that all of us mustered the courage to do backflips off the rail of Aeolus! Only the boys could execute a full rotation, but we all threw our heads backwards and did our best. 

Highlights: 

  • A huge pod of white sided dolphins came all the way into Tenedos Bay and were jumping like popcorn. Sometimes they would jump together. Just amazing to see so up close. 
  • Humpback whales all over the place
  • Newton Lake, Hague Lake, Lake Unwin, Cassel Lake-how we love you all. 
  • Walsh Cove and her many delights and jumps. 
  • Laura Cove and the rope swing. 
  • Family time and togetherness! 
Our world in my hand


No comments: