#29 Winter Harbour and Pamphlet Cove

On Monday, once again it was the 6AM departure plan for the Wild Blue crew. The wind was blowing at 10 knots from the southeast as expected and once outside Sea Otter Cove the seas were 3 to 5 feet on the nose causing the boat to pitch fore and aft. Dick had secured the salon putting the coffee pot, knives and knife block, Pat's plants, kitchen utensils and the unwashed morning dishes into the sink to keep them in place. We easily endured Wild Blue's motions and once around Busby Rock, the seas began to subside. After another hour we approached the entrance to Quatsino Sound turning left at Cape Parkins and rounding Kains Island.

Kains Island with light station announces the entrance to Quatsino Sound.

It was just another 40 Minutes to the fishing community of Winter Harbour. Dick, who has been suffering with Alex's limited cooking skills, was eager to treat the crew to lunch at the local cafe. After securing Wild Blue to a float at Winter Harbour and with empty stomachs, we meandered ashore through the tiny town in search of a fresh cooked meal. After a short but futile search we came across the Canada Post mistress and inquired about the towns dining out options. The post woman, pondered this question and responded that 13 years ago there was a cafe. Oh boy!

Winter Harbour: a fishing town with a dining out problem.

It took Dick and Alex just a few moments to decide to move on further into Quatsino Sound. So after our 30-minute stop, we cast off and moved on.

Winter Harbour is a sport fisherman's paradise as long as the fisherman can cook! These two hungry looking fisherman are trolling for salmon.

We left Winter Harbour and turned east heading into Quatsino Sound. Except for a few sports fisher runabouts, we saw no other boats in these calm waters. Quatsino is the northern most sound of five that run east into the interior of Vancouver Island. Quatsino has the communities of Coal Harbour and Port Alice. We decided to anchor inside Pamphlet Cove on the north side of Drake Island. It's a splendid anchorage close to tomorrow's destination of Coal Harbour.

Pamphlet Cove should be included in Quatsino Sound's tourist pamphlet!