Video: Desolation Sound to Yuculta Rapids

2007 heading to Yuculta Rapids

In 2007, we had sunny skies and calm water as we headed from Desolation Sound toward Yuculta Rapids. This view always inspires us, as the Rapids mark the northern boundary of Desolation Sound and are the entry to North of Desolation Sound where the cruising becomes more remote—with magnificent scenery, more wildlife, colder and harsher weather, fewer services, and fewer cruising boats. It always represents adventure.

In June, we shot another short video during our morning cruise from Squirrel Cove, Cortes Island, to Dent Island Lodge. It was such a gorgeous morning and I was trying out a new camera, a Canon PowerShot N. It’s a cute little point-and-shoot with excellent optics and a generous zoom, and its small size makes it easy to have on hand for quick photos. Also, it is WiFi enabled, so it is easy to transfer photos from the camera to my iPhone so that I can email photos if I want. It uses a micro SD memory card, and it is easy to move photos from the camera to my computer from the SD card. I took many of the photos on our June-July cruise with the “N” to see how it works and also because I liked the results.

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Video: 2013 Cloudy Entry to Desolation Sound

2004 Entering Desolation Sound

When we entered Desolation Sound in 2004, we had this spectacular view of the B. C. mainland mountains that lie behind the waters of Desolation Sound. Sarah Point is on the right.

Getting to Desolation Sound is always a “feel-good” event for us. We’ve cruised in and through Desolation Sound numerous times since our first cruise there in 1980. Each time, we look forward to the spectacular views of snow-capped mountains as we enter the waters there.

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Still Varnishing

Alice varnishing stern cap rail

Alice stands on the swim step to apply a third coat of varnish to Phoenix’s stern cap rail.

Today we got a “final” coat of varnish on the aft part of the cap rail and on the eyebrow trim…despite the weather. It was dry and partly sunny when we got started this morning, but after we wiped down everything and started taping, the wind started to increase. We debated whether to go ahead, as the wind tends to blow all sorts of dust and dirt around…which ends up in the wet varnish and ruins the finish. But we wanted to get this project done, and everything was prepped and ready, so we decided to go ahead.

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Afternoon Shadows

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Afternoon Shadows

The late afternoon sun casts shadows from a sailboat’s masts on Phoenix’s port side, as she sits in our slip at Anacortes Marina. We spent today sanding the teak on the aft cap rail and the eyebrow and plan to apply a third coat of varnish tomorrow, weather permitting. We taped the eyebrow trim with blue masking tape to protect the gelcoat from the sanding, and left it in place for tomorrow’s varnishing.