July 29th

July 29th

Narrow Passages with Kelp

Pay up at Shearwater, say Goodbye to old friends and we are off on our way south on Hunter Channel on the west side of Hunter Island.  It’s a picture-perfect day and the scenery is perfect for the camera.

NERVOUS Goat

Earlier on I had called Penny a Nervous Nellie.  It is not so!

Many Small Islands & Rocks

 

We are heading to ‘going beyond’ Penny’s comfort ZONE again. Penny is a Capricorn (GOAT); I am a CANCER (crab). Goats root around on the grass, (earth) and Crabs root the bottom of the ocean.  For a goat to go to sea without land beneath its hooves has to be very brave or stubborn. Penny is booth.

I do not tell her that I have a wish to go to GOOSE ISLAND.

There are a group of islands called the McNaughton Group just across from the Goose Islands. By studying the chart there appears to be many secure anchorages nearby. The passages have the odd lump in them, but with prudent navigation we should arrive in close proximity to some excellent fishing and the GOLDEN GRAIL, GOOSE ISLAND (for me not Penny).

We wind our way to the moorage spot in the McNaughton Group called “BOMB PROOF”. The name alone is enough to convince PENNY this is the SPOT TO PUT THE HOOK DOWN. We have this little bay to ourselves, it is narrow entrance with a not too deep a bowl of a bay. At the extreme west end of the bay is a very narrow gut that allows passage in "Ravens" out into the broad Pacific swells.

There is good pee island for Chevy and a direct root out to prime fishing grounds. I have been dreaming about (in my real dreams) catching a salmon or maybe two.   We are joined by the vessel “Albanauch” in this anchorage.  Hugh has been here many times before and fills us in on the good fishing spots.