After a
leisurely start in the morning, we continued north, following the twists and turns of
Sulphur Passage.
Bob Hale, founder of
the Waggoner Cruising Guide, writes about landmarks he used when navigating
through this rock-strewn passage; but with today’s electronic charts and GPS
positioning, transiting through is no longer a difficult task; we proceeded through
slowly with a careful eye on the charts and emerged unscathed on the other side
in Shelter Inlet.
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| Approaching Bacchante Bay |
Continuing north we
entered Bacchante Bay at the head of the Inlet, this large bay is surrounded by
steep mountains and granite walls; anchoring depths are between 30 and 50 feet
with a mud bottom.
Both Sulphur Passage
and Bacchante Bay are quite scenic and serve as a nice side trip to or from Hot
Springs Cove.
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| Well-protected anchorage in beautiful Bacchante Bay |
It appears that few
boaters use this route or anchor among these beautiful mountains and coves; we
found ourselves alone in lovely solitude.
Heading back after viewing Bacchante Bay, we circled around Obstruction
Island and through Hayden Passage once again, turning south for Marktosis on
southeast Flores Island.
The Native
village of Marktosis is very near the Ahousat General Store in Matilda
Inlet.
We had been told that a new fuel
dock has been installed near the village and we wanted to confirm its location.
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| Entering Marktosis between the rocks and reefs |
Entering Marktosis harbour for the first
time, however, can be a little daunting.
The entrance is very narrow with rocks and reefs on each side.
After studying the charts, we proceeded
slowly with a bow-watch.
A Native
resident, who was standing on the new fuel dock near the entrance, assured us
that we would be fine continuing straight forward between the two rocks marking
the reefs.
Small fishing boats that
passed us also pointed the way, everyone seemed eager to help.
We received the same friendly welcome when
arriving at the docks, but space was very tight among the larger commercial
fishing boats; we found a temporary space to tie-up (with no room to spare),
while visiting the village.
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| Native children playing in the streets of Marktosis |
Children
were playing in the streets and along the beautiful sandy beach on the east
side of the village.
Adults stopped to
say hello and inquired as to where we were from.
The village reminds me of Mexico, where
everyone is friendly and values family, yet they live simple lives in humble
homes that are connected by dirt streets.
I remember the first time we came to Marktosis, a lady we met showed us
her salmon smoke house, of which she was so proud.
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| The Fuel Dock at Marktosis has gas and diesel |
While the fuel dock has both gas and diesel, we
don’t recommend taking a big boat into the fuel dock, the charted rocks and
reefs make the approach very risky.
After
a walk around the village, we made ready to leave; a Native resident came over
to help with our lines and others watched from the pier above, we felt like
celebrities.
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| Beautiful Sandy Beaches are found on the east side of Marktosis |
From Marktosis we traveled
southeast down Calmus Passage and then turned northward cruising along the
northwestern shore of Meares Island, the area was filled with crab pots;
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| Approaching Quait Bay anchorage off Cypress Bay |
we
wound our way through the mine field of floats marking crab pots and arrived at Cypress
Bay, where we anchored for the evening inside the smaller bay of Quait.
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