Port Harvey & Lagoon Cove
From Big Bay, we had to traverse through three more rapids and timing was everything. Chris and Mary Anne were able to motor ahead and check out the conditions and confirm if we were all able to go through. That was a huge blessing and helped speed up our travel with no layovers waiting for slack tide. We safely made it through all three and several miles in Johnstone Strait, which can have rough seas with wind and current. This trek was 60 miles and took almost 7 hours and we finally arrived at Port Harvey, an industrial area, for the night. The next morning was a shorter run around to Lagoon Cove but we had another narrow passage with currents so we had to pay attention to our timing.
We are finally in the Broughtons at beautiful Lagoon Cove, nestled back in the trees, a beautiful site. We spent 2 nights at this amazing resort with crabbing and fishing just around the corner, great hikes right out of the marina, and a happy hour that can’t be beat.
The happy hour buffet - everyone brings an appetizer to share and the marina provides a huge bowl of cooked shrimp. There was no need for dinner, we were all stuffed. Our friends Craig and Billie were traveling south from Alaska and popped in for a few days to join us. It was warm and sunny and a great relief to have finally ‘landed’.
Chris’ boat was set up for fishing and we were pretty excited. We went out the next morning and were catching fish faster than we could process them - the bite was definitely on. We actually caught two more that we threw back, thinking they were illegal. We later found we could have kept them. We had so much we were giving slabs away.
It’s not very often if you dropped your line in the water, you caught fish, so Keith and Chris got out every chance they could and kept bringing back more fish. We all loaded our freezers with fresh Salmon. On our last day in port, these two went out again early in the morning and I left the dock without my hubby. I had to stop by and pick him off their boat so could continue north. Chris and Mary Anne caught up later.
Mary Anne gets the blue ribbon for the biggest and she got it in the boat by herself…. Rockstar!!! Chris also caught Rock fish. They look impressive but I’m not sure I’d want to filet one of those. I was ready for some white fish - we’ll have to see how the rest of the trip goes.
Keith continued to set out crab pots but there was just too much competition from the commercial crabbing. We’d get crab in the pot, but no keepers.
If you don’t have a fishing boat, make one cause where there’s a will, there’s a way.
This was such a magical place, we all just loved it. There was no fuel, but we were able to fill our water tanks with fresh spring water and we definitely filled our memory books.