Shearwater to Beales Bay

First order of business was to check the sea water pump on the 20kW generator for leaks now that the silicone gasket forming paste has cured.

Mike, the boatyard manager, showed up right after coffee as planned to test the repair. The good news: no leaks! So we are free to cast off for Beales Bay in Gunboat Pass. After dropping off the last of our trash and saying a fond farewell to harbourmasters Geoff and Mollie, we cast off. The weather was rather gray, but the forecast was for no rain.

For us, the main attraction of Beales Bay is to explore Beales Lagoon. We had been here once before, and remember really enjoying the exploration of the outer and inner lagoon behind the entrance rapids.

There was one sailboat in the anchorage when we arrived, so we anchored a little further out than we really wanted, with the lagoon entrance (and currents) in sight. Not long after our arrival, they departed for Shearwater, so we move into their more protected spot.

OceanFlyer in beales bay

Notes from our previous visit in 2019 said that we had 4’ under the dinghy in the entry rapids at a +12-foot tide. That was going to be about 5pm today. The good news was that the tide would continue rising until 6pm, so we would have plenty of time to explore both the outer and far more interesting inner lagoon.

entrance to beales lagoon is on the left

if you look close, ypu can see the rapids between the rock and the ilet

a look at the rapids from the other side a low water

We were headed into the lagoon entry at 5:06pm and had 15’ under the boat. It’s in the “inner narrows’ by the large rock that is where you need to pay attention. The flood current was still flowing strongly around the rock, and we were glad we were in the dinghy rather than kayaks, especially when there were some reasonably benign whirlpools downstream of the rock. We saw a low of 4.3’ and, as Karen tells me I called out, “a shit ton of rocks”.  Once past that area, depth went up to 17’.

the approach to the rapids

a closer look at the rapids entering bealses lagoon. Its here that i “mentioned” the rocks to karen as we crossed them passing the island

The lagoon really is gorgeous. You feel like you are in another world, and we were all alone. We went into all the nooks and crannies, and went as far towards the end as we could.  At about 5:40pm we stopped at a depth of 3.3’. The main pathway forward devolved into grassy channels that we know are quite shallow. We dropped the anchor and just sat there and enjoyed the solitude and the beauty for a while.

passed the spit and just at the junctioe where the lagoon branches to the right and left, is where we stopped in the dinghy. Kayaks cold go further. This image is a low tide.

the east branch at the head of the lagoon

We did notice that someone is building something in the woods on the left hand side at the end of the lagoon. It was hard to make out with binoculars, but we were able to see it in more detail from the drone. Not quite sure what it is going to be.

someone with a vision of a remote home

We retraced our steps and when we got back to the big rock in the inner narrows at 6:24, it was perfect slack, with 5.5’ under the dinghy.

We exited the inner lagoon and then toured the smaller and less impressive “outer lagoon”.  We did not see bears, but we did see a family of mergansers. Mom - sporting that distinctive cinnamon-colored head - and multiple chicks (maybe 7-10) were unnerved by the sound of our dinghy and sped across the lagoon to hide under some logs in the water. Once we turned around, they sped back to their original location, happy to continue with their day.

bright flowers on one of the ilets in the lagoon

We returned to OceanFlyer, thrilled to have such great exploring just 40 minutes from Shearwater. And we remained alone in the anchorage overnight, which was very peaceful and calm.