2025-05-02 Shelter Cove Trip

I probably wouldn't have made this trip under "normal" circumstances, due to the weather forecast. But I was feeling pressure to get out there because I will be grounded for most of the month of May due to maintenance issues on the main engines.

The forecast on Friday was for about 3/4" of rain, and then a little less rain on Saturday. But the winds were not bad in the area I wanted to go so I made the decision to go for it.

When I got down to the boat early on Friday morning the winds down at the harbor were much higher than expected so I did something I don't think I've ever done before. I loaded Nova and all the gear and food on board, and then I lay down and took a nap for about an hour!

When I got up, I convinced myself that the winds had indeed abated at least somewhat so I made final preparations for departure.

Here is a map snippet of my route one-way to Shelter Cove. It is in Carroll Inlet and any readers of this blog will recognize it because I go there frequently. My last trip was to a location where there was no dock so for this trip I wanted to be at a dock. It is so much easier to walk Nova when I am at a dock as compared to being on the anchor. And this location has the added benefit of having a logging road where I can let Nova run off-leash. There are only a very few USFS docks within my cruising range; I wish there were more.

I also made the decision not to drop my shrimp pots on this trip. I still have some shrimp from my last trip and the weather was kind of nasty on the run out there, so I just skipped the shrimping for this trip.

Nova was my crew once again for this trip. When we are close enough to shore to see anything she really likes to look out the window.

I made it to the dock without any problems. I was not surprised to see no one else there. It is still very early in the cruising season here and not many recreational boats are out and about, especially when the weather is a bit sketchy.

I have mentioned in previous posts that the logging road here connects back to town, although I don't know exactly how you access it from the town side. I have also heard that at least part of it is on native corporation owned land so it is gated and locked. But that means that at least theoretically, people from town can drive here. That saddens me because we have so few docks in the area already and now, I may have to contend with people in vehicles from town. Oh well, I guess that's progress and I cannot fight it.

The weather during my brief stay here was on and off. Sometimes it was torrential rain, and at other times the sun would come out, at least briefly. When the sun did come out, I would run out and try to get some photos before the rains returned.

I think Carroll Inlet is one of the most beautiful areas in which I cruise. Here are several scenic shots of the area. Some of these were taken with my wide-angle lens.

During one of the brief periods of sunshine I grabbed my tripod, ran outside on the dock and took some selfies.

In 2011 I came here and there was an overturned porta-potty on the dock. I was horsing around with it and having fun in good weather.

I took Nova on many off leash walks up on the logging road. When I unhook her leash, she takes off like a rocket and doesn't stop to look back until she's run about 200 yards. About 80% of the time, she stays on the road, but like all dogs she follows her nose. So occasionally she will take off up into the brush and I have a few minutes of stress worrying until she reappears.

I recently made a friend who works at the Forest Service building near where I tie up. She frequently walks her dog along the harbor. She likes to be kept aware if I see anything that needs repair. These docks are maintained by the USFS, and they have priority for moorage. At this dock the bull rail along the front has been damaged for quite some time so I sent her some photos of it.

While I was here, I did set a couple of crab pots out in front of the dock. I have done well on crabs here in the past. But this time I only got 2 legal males. I got everything set up to cook them but when I butchered the first one it was very soft and was filled with a blue-green gelatinous substance which I had never seen before. I didn't want to risk it, so I tossed it. Then it wasn't really worth the effort to cook just one crab, so he got a reprieve to live another day.

We left at about 12:30 PM on Saturday and had an uneventful run back to town.

I logged 51 nm on this trip.