Boating New Zealand — December 2017

| subscribe | magstore.nz/boatingnewzealand Boating New Zealand 39

The area hums

with 10,000 years

of history, but

is now more

deserted than it

ever was...

FAR LEFT A magnificent bird – the bald eagle.

LEFT A black bear came to visit.

BELOW The crew with the supersacks of collected rubbish.

a sudden lurch to port, drawing a collective ‘woah’

from the crew. Steady hands and nerves saw Harry

steer us through the rapids and past ‘Devil’s Hole’,

and into safety on the other side.

By this stage we’d made a serious dent in our

treat supply, and unanimously decided to pay a

visit to the floating pub and store in the bay of Port

Harvey. There wasn’t much activity as we pulled up.

We were tying up when a bearded captain informed

us that we were two years too late – the pub had

been maliciously sunk. Just how a pub sinks, I’m not

quite sure, but let that be a lesson against pinning

your hopes on a guidebook printed in 2013.

The Braughton Archipelago has an ancient

feeling to it. We anchored between Harbledown

Island and Mound Island, near the tiny First

Nations village of New Vancouver and the old

village site of Mamalilacula.

Numerous shell middens and ash layers were

visible in the area, and the broken shell beach

above where we camped was pure white from the

thousands of meals eaten at this spot. The area

hums with 10,000 years of history, now more

deserted than it ever was in the past.

We decided to build a beach sauna, and went

to work on a square frame structure on the shell

beach and covering it with a tarp. We tucked the

edges of the tarp into the shells and sand to seal it.

Later that evening, when the granite boulders had

been heating in a fire for many hours, we carefully

moved them into the sauna with a metal grill. We

all climbed inside and scooped water onto the hot

rocks. When the heat became unbearable, we threw

ourselves into the cold sea water under a full moon.

Two weeks later we arrived in Port Hardy and the

relaxing cruise along the inside passage of Vancouver

Island was over. Jelski headed home, and we took

eight days off to hike the gruelling North Coast Trail.

Not all sails are created

equal, especially for the

cruiser.

Heavy displacement or light,

Stratis GPX- the sail for every cruiser.

Stratis sails = perfect shape.

Perfect shape = more power, less heel.

More power = a faster passage.

Less heel = more comfort.

The perfect equation, a happy skipper...

and a happy crew.

Call our technical team

0800 472 457

or visit http://www.doylesails.co.nz

CRUISING