Pruth Bay Layday

The predicted good weather window materialized right on time. So, we launched the dinghy and tied up at the designated dinghy dock area on the Hakai Institute dock and made our way to the West Beach.

The trail was slightly overgrown in places but remains an easy 15-minute walk to the beach, with boardwalk in many boggy places. Because of the recent rains, there were large puddles to skirt on the non-boardwalk part of the trail, the first time we have seen this in our visits.

**recent rains made for some muddy patches, but the soil drains quickly**

**the path to the beach has all the comforts**

**plenty of directional and informational signage**

When we came out of the woods we were greeted by sunshine, blue skies, white, puffy clouds and no rain. The weather seldom cooperates so well, but we’re not going to question it and just enjoy one of our favorite beaches on the West Coast. As PNW cruisers know, there are not a lot of amazing sandy beaches to be found, and this is one of the best.

We knew that one other group of 2 from the small sailboat Endurance had come to the beach before us, but we only knew that from their inflatable kayak tied to the dock and footprints in the sand. West Beach is so large, you never feel crowded even with people in view.

**even the smallest details on this beach are beautiful**

Karen walked the beach looking for “treasures” and tried to capture some of the magnificence of this location with her iphone camera while I flew the drone to get a new viewpoint of West Beach. We walked around for a long while, jumping over small “runoff rivers” and climbing over large driftwood logs and between rock crevasses. It was just amazing to be in the sun after all the recent dreary days.

**there is great exploring past the souith end rocks at low tide**

**at low tide you can walk into these eroded rock formations**

**low tide reveal colors of the various organisms that make their home here**

**west beach is one of many, there are six more if you walk the path to the south**

Later, back at the boat, we continued to be amazed at the anchoring habits of our neighbors. First, Purth bay is large and, being this early in the season, there is an abundance of space to anchor. Nevertheless, the incoming boats tend to crowd the boats already at anchor. To add insult to injury, so many boaters drop the anchor over the side and never back down on the ground tackle to make certain it is set.

In fact, this morning, after a couple of boats left, we moved to the south side of the anchorage to distance ourselves from two that anchored well within our anchor circle late yesterday. Just as we dropped anchor in our new spot, a large sailboat dropped its anchor maybe 100 feet off our bow and then went below. We called to them that their spot was not going to work. Their reply? “Oh we thought you were leaving.” Really? Karen shook her head and said we were anchored and planned to stay that way. So up came their anchor and down it went, this time just slightly astern of us. As more boats arrived, they continued to make a bee line over to our location, leaving acres of open possible anchor spots in their wake. Typically, this type of behavior is more pervasive when summer is in full swing – but not this year. This phenomenon actually seems to be on the increase and is not limited to sail or power – both types of vessels display this behavior.

Nevertheless, were were entertained by all the anchoring antics and had a great evening, even as the rain reappeared not long after we returned from our sunny beach excursion.

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