Desolation Sound

We left the Sunshine Coast and entered the Desolation Sound area. Desolation Sound is a major cruising destination. It is easy to understand why when we rounded the corner past Lund to see amazing snow capped peaks and beautiful scenery.

We anchored in Prideaux Haven for three nights and were not disappointed. It was a nice anchorage and we were greeted by cool jellies in the water.

The Desolation Sound area is unique in that the water temperatures are warm enough to swim. Apparently, the currents in this area do not move the water far, allowing for the water in shallow areas to warm up. This is a stark contrast to the dangerously cold waters that are year round where we live, as well as to the north of Desolation Sound. We had a heat wave while we were there and were all sweltering in the mid 70’s temperatures. Miami friends, it is ok to laugh at this point. We jumped in for a swim off our boat. The water was 65 degrees are we were amused that we found it comfortable and refreshing. The jellies were quite friendly and didn’t sting.

There was a nice hike from the anchorage to a fresh water lake. We did the hike, had a picnic lunch, then went for a swim.

The anchorage was quite nice and protected and was a popular place.

We left after three nights and stopped at Refuge Cove for supplies, then proceeded for two nights to Cortes Bay for two nights to wait out high winds. Then it was on to Von Donop anchorage. We did more hiking at Von Donop. Dan found a great spot with a fire ring and we took the dinghies over for a campfire and roasted sausages.

Proceeding north, we headed to the Octopus Islands. One the way, we saw a whale. We don’t know what type of whale but it was way cool regardless. Unfortunately, it was tough to get a picture, but if you look closely you can see the spout when the whale came up.

The Octopus Islands were really nice as well. We were there during “Canada Day” which is a Canadian Holiday on July 1st. We rode the dinghy around exploring the islands and went on a hike to another nice fresh water lake for a swim.

We enjoyed our time in the Desolation Sound area and only saw a small sampling of what was there. Given the distances we needed to cover for the trip however, we decided to keep heading north to the Broughtons. Stay tuned for more!