Still At Shoal Bay

OK, you might be bored reading about us staying here, but we’re having a great time. The little dock here is such a “family” and the Family that owns the place is sooo nice. We can’t bear to leave. Add to that the weather, although great here, is very rough up where we’re headed, so waiting here is very easy. Add more to that the fact that some really, really great folks that we’ve met along the way named Gordon and Glenda from S/V Rest Assured have been soooo much fun. We’ve forged one of those special bonds that you sometimes find with people. The folks up at the pub that we all have a beer with around 5PM told us today, “you guys seem like you’ve been friends for 30 years”. Yup, that happens sometimes and we feel very fortunate. The less fortunate is that we’re heading north and they are heading south at this point. We’re sure we will meet up with them again.

In the mean-time, we did the hike up to the overlook today with them, AND since we didn’t miss the trail and hike an extra hour through the bush this time, we weren’t too exhausted to go a little further up to the gold mine. Well, that was a treat! It took a little looking around, but after a bit we found it. Very cool! We brought a strong flashlight – good thing – and were able to confidently walk in not worrying about falling into a shaft, of which there were several. About 30 yards inside, there was a hole in the floor that dropped at least 20 feet to another shaft. Sidestepping verrrry carefully we went a bit further to another vertical shaft and could look down several layers below. You could see where the sides of the shaft were shored up with huge timbers and such, but we didn’t have ropes and such to explore safely, so retreated back to the light. But very cool to go inside an actual gold mine (decommissioned – nobody is actively working it)

Sooo, after a nice day, we had a few beers with all the locals, dinner aboard and then chatted with our friends Gordon and Glenda until 0130 – the sun sets late around here and you lose track of time – and we’re getting ready for bed and then a move to Blind Bay tomorrow. It’s only about 8 miles away, but should be a whole different type of experience.

Stay tuned…

3 thoughts on “Still At Shoal Bay

  1. A real gold mine, very cool! Did you look for flecks of gold or interesting rocks while in the shaft? Would the laws let you claim a mine that wasn’t being worked?

    Shoal Bay sounds like a civilized outpost on the edge of the wilderness. If they had gambling it would be perfect. And your extra day there was joyous. Too bad your new friends are headed in the opposite direction.

    Adventure on, adventure on sailors….

  2. Mostly Quartz. But I did find a very old, rusty spike that fell out of a wooden appliance of some type. Like a RR spike only smaller. I’m guessing it’s from the mining days, so around 170 years old.

  3. Hi,
    We miss you “Great Folks”! Finally got a chance to check out your Blog! So nice to hear all about your Broughton Adventure so far. We will follow along wishing we were there! So glad you made it safely to Lagoon Cove!

    We are now at Homfray Lodge dock in Desolation Sound.

    We will catch up with you if you come back on the inside…. or when you are heading to your fall/winter port.
    Glenda & Gord Anderson aboard Rest Assured
    P.S. We are creating a signature drink!

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