Saturday July 9 - Monday July 11: Kwatsi Bay

We ("Kasekuchen," "Mystic Moon," and "Koinonia") had a great cruise thru Knight Inlet with plenty of dolphins to welcome us into this majestic cove. Kwatsi Bay is a forested bowl of high mountins surrounded by waterfalls. We counted at least 20. The marina is a long float with pretty flowers in pots around the dock. Fresh water to fill our tanks came from the glacier waterfalls. The little store carried lots of great honey from the area and some beautiful local artist creations.

The welcoming committee which was made up of Anca, Max (parents) and Marieka (12) and Russell (10) was warm and welcoming. These people have been in Kwatsi Bay since 1998, carving out a place to live in the “bush” and offering services to passing boaters. We were so impressed by these children who spend the long dark winters here with no television but lots of books and home schooling. They are bright happy kids, extremely knowledgeable in every aspect of their enviroment and amazingly sociable and self sufficient. What a chance these beautiful people are taking in putting lots of money and hard work into this land owned by the crown. The reality is that they can be given 30 days notice to put the land back as it was and vacate. They have petitioned the crown to buy the land but have had no success.

We took their little dingy and hiked to the waterfall with bear and cougar deterrent pepper spray. The waterfall was amazing. The forest was dense with old growth trees, ferns and just enough hanging moss to create a primeval forest. Since it was raining rather heavily, the waterfall was a magnificent torrent of water and crescendo of sound. Mark rowed us back to the dock where Bob and John pulled out the fishing poles and started catching flounder as fast as they could pull them in. I joined them and we soon had plenty for dinner plus some for the freezer. What fun!!!

From left to right: Our friends (and traveling companians) John & Bonnie Jaquet, along with Kathy Youngblood and Max Knierim (proprietor of the floats at Kwatsi Bay)

Every night there is a get-together on the dock where we all bring a snack and meet other cruisers: amazing people from all over the world. We then moved to our boat where Bob made crab stuffed flounder for dinner. The Youngbloods and Tilden’s brought dishes to add to the feast.

Sunday morning was the most beautiful day we have had on this trip. The sun was shining after many days of clouds and rain. We took the dinghy for a tour of the surrounding bays. On our return we spotted our friends Beverly and Mike Anderson aboard “Outward Bound” who had caught up with our group. Bonnie and I took the dinghies down and set out to explore the bay and enjoy this beautiful day. We were joined by Kathy Youngblood, Mike and Beverly, and Mark Tilden.

From left to right: John Youngblood visits with Mike and Beverly aboard "Outward Bound"

It was so amazingly beautiful (see photo of the girl’s kayaking). We watched a bald eagle soar in front of us to pick up a salmon from the water and take it back to a tree to enjoy. What a sight!

From left to right: Beverly, Cheryl, Bonnie, and Kathy

That night was a potluck dinner on the dock with great food and lots of boaters. Bob and Marilyn Hale who write the Waggoner Cruising Guide (our Bible for this trip) had arrived that afternoon, so the conversation became lively on passage information and opinions (after all these are boaters).