We set out first thing, with only cereal in our bellies and our coffee in to-go cups. And a picnic lunch all packed up. We wanted to explore by dinghy as much as we could, and since the pattern we’ve clearly seen this trip seems to be wind (and, therefore, waves) increasing in the afternoon, our best chance of dinghy-ing on the Pacific side of an outside Broken Island was in the early morning. Plus, the tide was low, which would help us view the sea arches and sea caves. We were blessed with the calmest of oceans – our 3 hour dinghy exploration was on glassy waters, minimizing the splash factor and maximizing the comfort levels. And with waters that calm, we could get nice and close to some potentially gnarly coastline. As the sea pounds into the land, sometimes it creates holes in the rock, which become archways until they eventually erode into chasms, then into separate islands altogether. The steep rock face that stares back unrelentingly into the oncoming Pacific fury is majestic and noble, topped with equally strong trees pruned only by the winds. This is the kind of place that seems a perfect backdrop for the regal Bald Eagle, who pop into view just enough times to remind you that they are there too, watching.
A chiseled and raw coastline transitions into smoother rocks between the larger chunks of land, and sea lions a’ plenty have made at least 2 of these sea polished islets their rookeries. “Bark, bark, bark, bark, bark! Back off, this is my space! Bark, bark, bark, bark! Hey, I said Back off! Bark,bark!!”. All day long, a perpetual game of King of the Castle, who can stay on top of the rock, in the sun, the longest.
After puttering around a little while longer we headed back to the boat, until Erin got distracted by something on land and learned the reality of the Broken Group – there are lots of rocks to watch for, and if you hit one with your propeller the sheer pin will break so that the propeller itself does not break. When that happens, you have to row back to the boat, to get your supplies. Good thing we weren’t far from the boat, but too bad we didn’t have a spare sheer pin with us.
After a snack at the boat we headed off to explore Effingham Island on foot. A primitive path, marked only by strategically placed pieces of flotsam and jetsam collected from the beach, lead us to some clearings in the woods. The remnants of an ancient village. They appear suddenly as fields of ferns, former clearings where longhouses once stood. There were also middens – mounds composed mainly of shells, which were used as sites for domestic waste. An interesting spot, which was unfortunately also inhabited by stinging nettles, and our sandled feet were encouraging us to explore elsewhere. Back through the unpretentious path to the boat.
We decided to pull up the anchor and sleep in a different spot for the night – with only 2 days in the Broken Group, we wanted to see a little more. We had a nice, jib-only sail across Coaster Channel and Thiepval Channel and through a rocky pass to Peacock Channel, then motored to our anchorage near Nettle Island. We were alone in our bay, however there was an empty-but-still-used National Parks Board floating office nearby. A peaceful bay to spend the night in.
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