Roscoe Bay

Roscoe Bay

We arrived at Squirrel Cove Government dock at 9am after a slow but relaxing downwind sail from Rebecca spit. I went to the general store and O’Byrne, the very kind lady who owns the store, presented me with the two reconditioned propane tanks that I had ordered a week or so ago. I had them filled, said my goodbyes and went back to the boat. 

Roscoe bay entrance

On the dock we met up with Tony, a lovely 76 year old, ex Brit with beer in hand (at 9am) who was sailing around the area on his Hunter 42. It was great to have a chat to him and hear about his adventures. He was certainly making the most of his retirement, having mortgaged his house to buy the boat, following his wife’s death. he just decided to take off and have some fun. Good on him.

We waited around for an hour or so then headed across the channel to Roscoe bay which requires a high tide to cross a drying bar into the bay. This bay really looked secluded. You would hardly know it was there from the channel.    

There were only two boats in the bay when we arrived, one of which left shortly after. We set the anchor in a small cove on the north shore and settled down to some lunch. 

Later that evening we spotted a familiar boat arriving. One with Red Ensign (UK flag) on the stern. It was David, Stephanie and Sally (their dog) on Cambria. We had met David and Stephanie briefly early in the year whilst we were in Laura cove.

The following day the three of us went for a walk to Black lake to test the temperature of the water and see if it would be suitable for a swim and wash. It was! Great. In we went, Jude as well. It was actually quite warm and we spent a few hours languishing on the rocks and swimming. It is always good to have a freshwater swim and wash.

I baked another couple of loaves of bread and dropped one off to David and Stephanie and invited them to come over to supper.

We have now been in Roscoe bay for a week. How time flies by. We have been keeping ourselves busy by lots of walking, schoolwork with Katya, swimming and kayaking. Stephanie joined us on a walk up to Llanover mountain one day. The walk is about 8 miles there and back with an elevation climb of about 1900 feet. Katya did extremely well and not only completed the walk but won the slug finding competition with 2365 points. She also gained bonus points for finding a lizard with an orange stomach and a frog with green stripes (we need to find out what they are).  David won the game of Risk that we played over two nights and conquered the world by wiping us all out with his Black Army. We will have to have a rematch when we meet up again, who knows where and who knows when.

Katya's high scoring frog

Jude, Katya and Stephanie at the top of the mountain

A view over Desolation sound from the mountain

We are now drifting along at 5 knots with only the headsail up, sailing downwind towards Pender Harbour again as we make our way south. We enjoyed our time in Roscoe. Getting to know David and Stephanie, the freshwater swims and the secluded anchorage. We can feel autumn approaching. The evenings are drawing in and mornings are getting colder. We had the heating on for the first time this morning. My shorts have been packed away and our thoughts are now focused on heading back south, finding a place for the boat for the winter and getting ready for our trip (flights) to Australia to see Jude’s family.