The water was so still on the Grenville Channel that


Shadowfax appeared to glide upon the snowy reflections of the mountain peaks.


Dixon Entrance Passage By Jacquelyn Watt


was adjusted and re-adjusted, but the clonking noises continued as Shadow repeatedly made contact with the stern of Shadowfax. I had thought that Shadow would claim retribution, and she still might, but for now Shadow has taken a very expensive revenge. Our harbor for the night after


Poor Shadow, our dingy, has


been towed along behind the Shadowfax most of our voyage up the Inside Passage and has endured the humiliation of being a kite, a drogue and finally yesterday, a battering ram. The swells of the Pacific Ocean inundate the coastline around Cape Decision, and on a wing and wing boisterous sail, Shadow found itself surfing down such swells in a collision course with the larger vessel’s stern. The tow line


48° NORTH, NOVEMBER 2011 PAGE 32


12 hours of sailing, and much of the same clonking, was Warren Cove a few nautical miles past Cape Decision. Warren Cove is a large easterly facing open bay whose mouth welcomes the surf to pound on its expansive sand beaches. All night the sound of the surf pounding the beach was a constant noise, as was the rocking and rolling of Shadowfax in the ocean waves. In the morning a humpback whale visited our anchorage, it’s whooshing, spout clearing noise making its presence known, causing us to skyrocket out of the cabin where we had been eating


sourdough hotcakes. We emerged in time to see the last exhalation of his steamy breath, then his graceful glide downwards leaving just a ripple to show where his back had glistened in the early morning sun. His morning foraging was continued for a few more breaths beside us; then he made his way to deeper water. Later some sea otters peered at the Shadowfax from a safe distance, full of curiosity about what this big blue and white thing floating in their bay might be, lifting their heads and torsos out of the water to get a better peek, then sliding silently away. An exploratory cast with a buzz bomb resulted in a catch and release halibut, we have enough fish for our larder at the present time. With the snow of the previous


anchorages gone, we seem to have transitioned abruptly from winter


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