Roscoe Bay, West Redonda Island, BC

We stayed in the Desolation Sound area for about 4 weeks and Roscoe Bay became our home base.  Every 3-5 days we would depart Roscoe on an errand or exploration only to find our new location was not as nice as Roscoe and we would come back.

We went to Roscoe based on a recommendation from my Dragonfly mentor Steve.  Last year, he and his wife Janet aboard Flexible Flyer went there, stayed a month and never moved.  They liked it that much!

Roscoe Bay and Black Lake via Google Earth

Roscoe essentially had it all.  A small, protected bay with a sticky mud bottom and multiple stern ties made for secure mooring.  The saltwater water temperature was not the warmest, but 68 was good enough for some of us.  Better was the easy access via a 10 minute walk from the head of the bay to the fresh water Black Lake.  The lake's water temp was in the low 70s...great!

Our initial anchorage was in the notch on the north side of the bay and turned out to be fortunate.  The notch's size limited the number of boats able to fit in, allowing privacy while the rest of the bay filled over the next couple days.  Turns out, our arrival was just before a long BC weekend and there were a lot of boats on the move.  By Wednesday, there were 53 boats moored in the bay, crowded as a Michigan State Park campground on Labor Day!  OK, not quite that bad, but comparatively packed.  By Friday, most of the boats had moved on and from then on, there were between 10 and 20 in the bay.

Just a small portion of the initial crowd

Easy days, easy living - a vacation!  We fell into a routine, a relaxing morning, breakfast and a cafe' followed by a boat check, a little reading and scoping out the neighbors.  Late morning, we'd row to the head of the bay and walk to Black Lake for the first swim of the day.  Back aboard for lunch and then boat chores: "Shaking out the rug," rigging adjustment, corroded solar panels, sheave greasing, minor repairs, laundry etc.  Mid afternoon found us back at the lake for our second swim.  Back aboard for supper, something grilled of course -  no need to heat up the boat!

We snorkeled the lake once.  The shore is steep and the lake gets deep and dark fast.  There were some interesting rock formations (cliffs down into the water) and a lot of fallen, sunken logs.  Else, just not a lot to see...a few minnows, weeds etc.  Snorkeled once in the saltwater.  Also, not much to see.  So, used the gear to clean Strider's bottom, which was easy with the new bottom paint.

As evening rolled around, the massive herring schools expanded their patrols, encircling Strider, and the moon jellies rose to the surface seeking love.  Off and on, we'd be entertained by someone on another boat, someone with a bagpipe or a mandolin or just singing.  One afternoon, there was a mom and a, I'm guessing, 4 year old, both padding their own SUP.  The little kid was singing O Sole Mio at the top of her(?) lungs.  Very cute, very entertaining.

Quiet, restful days

The water therapy worked for Kelly, loosening her hip.  "Gravity is not my friend" was a common refrain as she splashed and floated in Black Lake.  With Freestyle's arrival came a couple 13yr olds and their energy.  They were able to draw Kelly into the salt water and she was routinely seen jumping off the boat into the bay and playing with the kids.  She was...kinda outta control...but in a good way!

Kelly relaxing!

Freestyle arrived Monday, 3Aug, bringing water toys including a SUP.  Kelly and I both wanted to try one and had many opportunities to use this one.  The two pieces of advice worked:  1) Trust the SUP, it will feel tippy, but will not go over;  2) Don't look down, but look out at the horizon.  Great fun, but don't want to buy one at this point.

A word on the electrical system.  Two of the 25 watt solar panel internal wire connections had corroded.  I was able to lift the top plastic film and effect a repair.  Even with the repair, we were loosing about 9% per day, necessitating a 1hr engine run every 4 days.  We could have gone longer if I had kept the engine start battery.  Since I hadn't, I wanted the batteries to be above 50% all the time just to ensure there was enough cranking amps to turn the engine over.  The engine runs were usually accomplished with running our errands or exploring.  While a bit disappointing, it was perfectly in line with the design.  It does need to be noted though, we were running a refrigerator and a freezer, both big draws.  Further, there was a 120v CPAP machine in use.  Also, the orientation and narrowness of the bay and our mooring within the bay prevented optimal solar collection.  So, all in all, not bad.

On another note, I was really pleased to see, over the course of the time in Roscoe, several, less than 25ft boats with young couples or small families.  These boats do not have a lot of creature comforts, usually a porta potty, a coleman stove and perhaps an inflatable raft for a dinghy.  Some of of people slept in sleeping bags in the cockpit, others down below.  The point?  They were out there doing it.