Handfield Bay

Happy Fourth of July! What a festive week it has been, starting with Canada Day on the 1st and now July 4th. However, due to our wilderness location and the extended drought conditions, there will be no fireworks to mark the holidays.

Today, our destination is Cameleon Harbour off Nadales Channel, with the option of tucking into Handfield Bay if space is available. available. And guess what? There's plenty of room! Surprisingly, the bay is empty. It's been quite a while since we last visited Handfield Bay in 2005 when we chartered the M/V Best of Times, a 4788 Bayliner.

Cameleon Harbour lower right, Handfield Bay Center Top

Handfield Bay is a charming, secluded bay surrounded by shallow areas near the shore. Typically, you'll find about 5 or 6 boats with a shore-tie, as we're alone, we decided to drop our Ultra 45kg — 99 lbs — anchor in the center, giving us ample swinging room.

oceanflyer enjoying handfield bay

View of handfield bay Chart showing where we anchored

Once we settled into our spot, a small single-handed sailboat anchored to our northeast. From my observations, I believe there's space for another anchored boat or even 4 stern-tie vessels. So, while Handfield Bay is small, it does offer room for the careful and creative mariner.

Yesterday, boats anchored in Cameleon Bay complained about the northwest winds and the fetch. However, even if the winds pick up this afternoon, we will be sheltered from most of the gusts and all of the fetch.

In fact, we enjoyed a steady breeze of 5-10 knots, which kept the temperatures on the boat reasonably comfortable as the air outside rose to around 80F. However, the sky is hazy with smoke from forest fires to the east.

Our plan for the afternoon was to explore Cameleon Harbour by dinghy to look at the two sailboats anchored at the head. Then we intended to proceed around the corner to Thurston’s Bay Anchorage Lagoon to scout it as a potential anchorage for the future.

The ride down to the head of Cameleon Bay was pleasant, but as we turned around to head back, the winds and fetch increased a lot. It became a slow ride against the weather, and we abandoned our plan to visit Anchorage Lagoon.

While the generator was running for meal preparation, we decided to test the portable backup air conditioner in the aft berth. Within an hour, it lowered the temperature from 77 to 67 degrees. That took the edge off. When we went to bed, we opened the aft hatch and let the now cool evening air in, ensuring a restful night.