In late November I purchased Swamp Angel, a Nicholson 32 sailboat, built in England more than 50 years ago. She is a full keel blue water boat that has seen a few adventures including a transit of the Panama Canal, sailing the Atlantic seaboard, and a trip to Mexico and back. By coincidence we had met the previous owners, Greg and Lorraine, in early 2009 when we arrived in Mazatlan Mexico on our first Ladybug.
Nicholson 32 Plans
Swamp Angel as we bought her
Rani returned from the UK in December after nearly a year away from home and after a bit of arm twisting agreed to accompany me to Powell River where Swamp Angel is currently moored. (We will keep the new boat in Powell River until we can sell our other boat, Drifter)
We brought along plenty of food, sleeping bags, and lots of reading material and headed north to Desolation Sound the day after we arrived. The winds were light and following for much of the trip north so we ran under diesel until we entered the sound where we had a light NW wind that allowed us to sail for an hour or two. The Unwin range at the head of the sound was wreathed in cloud but we were happy to catch glimpses of peaks as we sailed in.
Rani on the foredeck heading into Desolation Sound
Unwin Range
We had a weather forecast that promised reasonable weather for a day or so followed by a day of rain and near galeforce winds followed by calm weather. So we decided to find a well protected anchorage on day one and stay there for three nights. We selected Melanie Cove in Prideaux Haven because it is extremely protected and also offers some nice hiking. We were happy with our choice and saw almost no wind in the anchorage despite high winds in the Strait of Georgia outside. We saw no other boats for the three days we were there nor were there any visible from the places we hiked to.
Peaceful Melanie Cove
Lots of water in the creek at Laura Cove
On our second day we hiked the trail out to Melanie Point as well as the one to Laura Cove and beyond up another lightly used trail where we came across the remains of a squatter's camp. The trails were a bit wet and there were a lot of wind fallen logs, which have not been cleared probably because the trail is unofficial and not maintained by the parks people.
Interior of Swamp Angel showing the diesel heater - a great comfort on this trip.
View of the Unwin range from the end of our walk past Laura Cove
Melanie cove was also packed with jellyfish. I remember this was true also on the one other occasion I have been here (in May 2005) but this time there were much larger ones as well as the 2 to 4 inchers I remembered.
Moon Jellyfish - Aurelia Aurita - Not easy to photograph, but the video gives a better idea
The trip home was also done mostly under motor and we were treated to mountain views as well as sightings of a humpback mother and calf. The whales swam so close to the boat that their breathe spray settled on our faces. We were too busy enjoying the experience to take any photos!
Swamp Angel under sail. Note the wind generator and vintage solar panels.
