Moving on north

Cortes Bay was a nice spot but we picked a bad place to anchor.  And we either anchored a little too close to the RVYC dock or else we dragged a bit overnight.  Either way, we were just too close to the dock for comfort and the SE wind was still blowing a bit of chop across the north side of the bay, right into where we were anchored.  So our options were to move to a different spot in the bay or move to a different bay altogether and we opted for the latter. 

Yesterday afternoon the wind settled down and we took the opportunity to move further north to Squirrel Cove, still on Cortes Island.  This time we’re deep in a well sheltered bay with a dogleg turn and a couple of islands sheltering us from whatever may be happening outside.  Our big concern on this trip is maintaining internet access because we both have some ongoing work.  I found an app that purports to tell me where the cell phone towers are.  I’m not 100% convinced that it is working but we do have coverage here.  The coverage just isn’t as good as I think it should be based on how close the app thinks the tower is.  We do however have coverage, such as it is. 

The combination of cell coverage and shelter likely means that we will be here all week. 

As the GRIB shows, the current nastiness is minor compared the great big low which is starting to churn its way up the gulf.  Right now its a really slow moving system with some wicked winds.  The worst wind is always in the SE quadrant of a northern hemisphere low and that looks to be the portion of the low that will hit us.  Its still too far out for accurate predictions but we’re comfortable here so we’ll just sit it out and see what happens.

After a few anchoring sessions I have to report that I’m not 100% happy with my bow roller bracket.  It works but its still not a completely hands free retrieve.  I put the pivot point exactly in the middle of the pivoting bracket and it now appears that I should have  put it closer to the inboard end.  That would have given the anchor more “leverage” when it is coming up which (I now believe) would allow the bracket to tilt closer to vertical at the critical moments when the anchor needs to make its 90 degree turn.  The current configuration works but I think I can make it better so I will definitely be taking it east with us when we return to the prairies in the spring.

This is a pretty nice spot – Squirrel Cove on Cortes Island.