the broughtons: sullivan bay
Date: July18, 2019
Time Start: 2 p.m.
Time Finish: 3:10 p.m.
Cruise From: Turnbull Cove, mainland B.C.
Cruise To: Sullivan Bay, North Broughton Island
Engine Hours Start: 1037
Engine Hours Finish: 1038
Weather/sea conditions: Rain, cool, 50's
After a night and morning of low clouds, continual rain showers, and cool temperatures, we decide to leave Turnbull Cove when tide and current conditions are favorable this afternoon. We are disappointed that we didn't get views of the surrounding mountains, and we are missing seeing wildlife, too. There haven't even been any birds here.
For a brief time, we get a bit of a respite and hopefully a good omen, a rainbow over the cove! Is there a pot of gold on that lucky boat?
Time Start: 2 p.m.
Time Finish: 3:10 p.m.
Cruise From: Turnbull Cove, mainland B.C.
Cruise To: Sullivan Bay, North Broughton Island
Engine Hours Start: 1037
Engine Hours Finish: 1038
Weather/sea conditions: Rain, cool, 50's
After a night and morning of low clouds, continual rain showers, and cool temperatures, we decide to leave Turnbull Cove when tide and current conditions are favorable this afternoon. We are disappointed that we didn't get views of the surrounding mountains, and we are missing seeing wildlife, too. There haven't even been any birds here.
For a brief time, we get a bit of a respite and hopefully a good omen, a rainbow over the cove! Is there a pot of gold on that lucky boat?
We are on our way, retracing the last parts of the route that brought us here, riding the swirls once again and dodging logs.
After a short cruise, we are docked at Sullivan Bay, a little floating community. All checked in, we have opted for power (solar panels just don't quite do the job on these gray, wet days!). Our portable heater gets plugged in and feels so good on this chilly day. Some of our fellow boaters on the dock report having experienced hail in the last two days! This is the Broughtons version of summer . . .
Showers here are $7.50, a load of laundry is $11.70 (cold water only), and the water is non-potable. Yes to showers and laundry! We can walk the docks (aka streets, complete with names!), passing the floating homes, businesses, and boats. What an upscale place in the Broughtons!
Showers here are $7.50, a load of laundry is $11.70 (cold water only), and the water is non-potable. Yes to showers and laundry! We can walk the docks (aka streets, complete with names!), passing the floating homes, businesses, and boats. What an upscale place in the Broughtons!
As in all of the destination marinas in the Broughtons, happy hour is a special event, with boaters gathered to meet and share both food and stories. We have a really experienced group of boaters here, they have been everywhere - including a couple who have sailed to Penrhyn in the northern Cook Islands, where Dan and I spent some time. We start getting to know these people, not realizing that we will cross paths with many of them again and again in the days ahead.
And then it rains so hard that the raindrops are bouncing off of every surface, including the water. It's a night for a warm bowl of soup.
Sunset is a nice surprise.
Date: July 19, 2019
Sullivan Bay layover day
Weather: Sun! Low 70's
Sullivan Bay layover day
Weather: Sun! Low 70's
Fresh pastries from the store this morning, pre-ordered yesterday, get us off to a good start. And today, fresh produce is arriving, so we will do some provisioning. We're delighted to see Glen Wagner on his Ranger Tug again, and have a friendly day on the docks, visiting and getting to know people. Sean and Debbie on Wind Song (sailboat from Madiera in Pender Harbour, B.C.), Darlyne and Rob (the Penrhyn sailors on Saw-lee-ah), Fred and wife on Happy Days (Beneteau from Roach Harbor, previously had a Ranger Tug), the Gig Harbor crew on Sound Runner, Tom and Michelle on Paraiso, and the crew of the Camano Troll, Triton. The docks are a fun place to be, with continual action.
Happy hour gives us the chance to continue getting to know these boaters. Then, we have a reservation for the prime rib dinner in the restaurant, complete with yorkshire pudding. Nicely done, it is a buffet dinner. Guest are assigned tables with other boaters to further the socializing started on the docks and at happy hour. We are really disappointed when our table mates are a no show, but we have a good time with the rest of the group.
It's a perfect evening to walk the docks. We are told it is one and a half miles when you loop all of the docks. The skies are clear, and it is still light at 10 p.m.
Date: July 20, 2019
Sullivan Bay layover day
Weather: Gray, cool morning, clearing to mid 60's, breeze
What happened to those blue skies? This morning is gray and cool. Debbie, the manager at Sullivan Bay, tells us that the weather reminds her of April, and that we had almost two inches of rain in the two days of downpour while we were at Turnbull Cove. Hope we aren't in for a repeat!
What we will repeat is another night at Sullivan Bay. When you stay two nights, the third night is free, and we aren't quite ready to move on. Boats and seaplanes come and go. We say goodbye for now to Sean and Debbie on Wind Song and to Glen on Journey. Glen is leaving with a friend who arrived here on Kenmore Air from Seattle today. The sailboat "Passepartout" arrives. She is a racing boat, having both won and placed in the transpac race from Victoria to Maui. It is a mellow, friendly day, capped by another happy hour. And luckily the sun came out by afternoon, the return of Broughtons summer!
Sullivan Bay layover day
Weather: Gray, cool morning, clearing to mid 60's, breeze
What happened to those blue skies? This morning is gray and cool. Debbie, the manager at Sullivan Bay, tells us that the weather reminds her of April, and that we had almost two inches of rain in the two days of downpour while we were at Turnbull Cove. Hope we aren't in for a repeat!
What we will repeat is another night at Sullivan Bay. When you stay two nights, the third night is free, and we aren't quite ready to move on. Boats and seaplanes come and go. We say goodbye for now to Sean and Debbie on Wind Song and to Glen on Journey. Glen is leaving with a friend who arrived here on Kenmore Air from Seattle today. The sailboat "Passepartout" arrives. She is a racing boat, having both won and placed in the transpac race from Victoria to Maui. It is a mellow, friendly day, capped by another happy hour. And luckily the sun came out by afternoon, the return of Broughtons summer!