Booker Lagoon to Lady Boot Cove

At the risk of sounding redundant, we awoke to cloudy but dry skies. The new news is that by the time we got ready to go Kayaking, the sun actually broke through. With sunglasses donned, we took to the water to see what we could see at low water.

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The views from the Kayak are always the best

After exploring the little cove where we anchored, we headed across the Lagoon to see if the islet where we spotted seals yesterday still had them in residence. Alas, the seals were not there, but the birds we also saw yesterday were all present and accounted for.

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Karen takes the lead

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Karen looking for more critters

 

  

 

 

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Lots of gulls

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The aerial aerobatics are always fun to watch  

Mostly gulls inhabited the islets, but we did manage to spot some Sanderlings, small birds that are perfectly camouflaged for the drying rocks they forage upon. In fact, they are almost invisible in most of the photos I took.

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Sanderlings line up on the rocks

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Now you know why this area is so popular with Kayakers

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Kayaks allow us to go places you could never explore otherwise

_rem3647 Karen enjoys the sun while we have it

 

_rem3744 "Home" again

After returning to the boat, we secured the Kayaks on board and enjoyed some lunch. We have a few hours to wait until we can go back through Booker Lagoon passage, so Karen dove into her books and I worked on my pictures. Of course there was also some napping mixed in for good measure.

About 5:15 we lift anchor and made our way to Booker Passage. Again at high slack water, the passage was uneventful and we quickly rounded the point marked by the stone man navigation aid or “inukshuk”.

As we made our way over to Lady Boot Cove, I spotted some water spouts off in the distance followed by a breaching humpback whale. He put on a show for a minute that included more breaching and many consecutive tail slaps. Then he was gone, and we proceeded on course, buoyed by the first Humpback sighting of the trip.

It was a short trip over to Lady Boot and an easy entrance. With no other boats in the Cove, we set our anchor in the center of the cove and enjoyed a beer while swinging gently to the current.

The fog continued to roll in from Queen Charlotte Strait and by the time we went to bed, we were encased in a cold mist.

 

Laura Cove to Booker Lagoon

Low clouds greeted us this morning. Not too cold and an occasional mist and light rain. We made the most of the morning by doing nothing. About 11AM we begin to muster for a Kayak around Laura Cove at low tide.  

While not the best Kayaking grounds, we nevertheless made the most of it by exploring the shallows and taking a few pictures. Karen made certain she got one photo of me in the Kayak to quench the cries of “where are the pictures of Bob?!?” that typically accompany our vacation photos. 

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Bob poses for a picture  

Our neighbor returned from one of his fishing expeditions and was busying himself on the stern swim step of his Uniflite Cruiser named Rockfish. Karen and I paddled to his boat to investigate. He was busy cleaning a 25lb Ling Cod. An ugly fish for certain that hangs about on rocky ledges. What it lacks in looks it makes up for in taste. We hung around the stern of the boat getting a lesson in fish filleting – then low and behold, we were offered a filet of our own. Lacking any fresh seafood on board, we did not turn down the generous offer. 

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What a big Ling Cod! 

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Heading back to Arctic Star 

 Our departure to Booker Lagoon was dependent on the proper time to enter the lagoon through Booker Passage. This narrow passageway has currents that run strong and is best traversed at slack water. Therefore, we set the power low and had a leisurely cruise off to Booker Lagoon. As we departed, we radioed the vessel Rubenesque, offering up our just-vacated prime anchorage. 

As we approached close to Cullen Harbour and Booker Lagoon, we started to feel some swells from Queen Charlotte Strait. The Lagoon itself is massive, and a favorite spot to wait before crossing this oft-windy and swelly Strait. We waited for “slack”, and although the guidebooks told us to wait for 30 minutes after slack at Alert Bay, it was clear that we could enter sooner, which we did. The passage is narrow but fairly deep. As we moved into the passage, we saw a large group of porpoises chasing baitfish inside the Lagoon. 

Booker Lagoon is so massive that it took us a while to find a spot to anchor that was cozy enough for our taste. We poked our bow into a couple of coves but they were just too open and ordinary. Finally, we found the perfect spot in a cove on the North side. 

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The views don't get any better than this 

Anchor set and beer in hand, I’m off to determine how I’m going to prepare that fresh Ling Cod.