Port Harvey

Port Harvey, where we pulled into after the passage up Johnstone turned out to be an amazing place, and perfect for after a hard, cold, wet, if very fun (at least for me) slog as we had just had. The first thing we noticed as the location, which was unlike everywhere we had been so far, maybe with the exception of Cordero Lodge, the communities had all been of the upper end of society and we always stuck out like a sore thumb among the immaculate yachts and large summer homes of the very rich. Port Harvey on the other hand, tucked way up at the head of a sheltered inlet is another story altogether. Logging and fishing seemed to be the main purposes of the few scattered buildings, and there was even an apartment building built out of an old barge just across from the marina.

            The marina itself is probably one of the nicest we have been to so far, with just over a thousand feet of dock space and very quiet; we were the only transient boat at the dock for a while, arriving just as a larger sailboat was leaving. And being the first boat we got to know the owner and operator George really well. He is amazingly nice, in his torn insulated flannel shirt and long grey ponytail. Even though his restaurant and facilities, which were on a barge, sank last year, and he bakes fresh pizza and cinnamon roles for all of the boats. (in fact, the pizza was probably the deciding factor that made us choose Port Harvey over some of the other spots a little bit farther along)

            As the day progressed and after a much needed midday nap, two forty-some foot power boats, one of which, Sea Badger, had been at Cordero Lodge with us, and a sailboat we had seen and talked to in Lochborough inlet and Forward Harbor arrived, all having made pretty much the same passage up Johnstone Strait. We had some nice chats with the other boats, and as the sun came out a short while later, mom had the idea to lay out all of the bedding, which turned out to be a very good idea as we found that after less than two weeks, the cushions were already starting to mold. So there we were, as usual, sticking out like a sore thumb among some very nice, neat boats, with all our sails un folded and drying on deck, the cushions taking up what little space was left, and what’s more, we decided that now would be a good time to take apart the bin of spare lines, so they were laid out on the dock to dry as well. And, on top of everything else, I had to take off the engine cowling and clean out all of the salt from the dunkings it had received on the way up Johnstone. At first I was doing this with only a toothbrush and some fresh water, but it was made much easier by Dave from Tarani, the sailboat we had seen before, who lent me a spray bottle.

            After all of the projects were completed and the pizzas started coming out one at a time, everyone started to congregate at the big tent that served as the “restaurant” and everyone instantly started talking, going over the day’s passage, comparing plans for the next few days, exchanging stories and anecdotes, talking about past voyages, and just falling into the kind of fellowship that can only form between cruisers. At one point John, from the motor cruiser Pairadice noted that ‘I’m only friends with about two of my neighbors back home, but here we just met and are already good friends’. That just about sums it up, you really can’t get much more of a close-knit and open community. Hopefully we will be running into Tarani, Sea Badger, and Pairadice many more times as we make our way northward.

            The pizzas and cinnamon rolls were amazing, and I wish we could have spent much more time at Port Harvey, eating pizzas and socializing, making friends and maybe giving George a hand here and there as he rebuilds the restaurant and facilities.

Tied up with Pairadice and Sea Badger in the background

Beginning to move after the sun came out

Everything laid out to dry