The Sound of Desolation is a Swe

The Sound of Desolation is a Sweet Sound

By Caroline Lennox

Sept 13/05 - 0615 PDT Lionheart rests softly, anchored in Squirrel Cove, Cortes Island in Desolation Sound, a haven up mainland BC's Sunshine Coast. The silent waters are still, and we all rest with Lionheart, after two very long days motoring up from Vancouver to this serenity. Pendor Harbour, last night's retreat, was the only stop we've made to get to this place, with our sailboat's snappy new sails still furled, ready to sweep us away when the playful winds rise. Being a Beneteau 393, brand new this year, she is a delicate, balanced, luxurious and comfortable home.

Sept 14/05 - 0847 PDT We are going to sail today in the sound, although right now the water is smooth as glass. Just beautiful. My attempt at meditation was a bit tough due to noise on the boat, including vaccuuming! Oh well. Such is life when you cruise, and it is still far better than the hum of the city. I am experiencing a mosaic of feelings and dreams here and sense transformation is in the cards.

Sept 14/05 -1755 PDT. We are in Grace Harbour now. Today I drove a dinghy for the first time and it was much easier than I had expected. Being racing crew for the last 10 years has never provided an opportunity to helm or dock a boat myself, and dinghies are the best way to learn.

Sept 14/05 -2116 PDT. We had a decent day, stopping in Refugee Cove to fuel up, then sailing over to this harbour. Quite protected and peaceful, our anchorage provides a panoramic view, including small trees and hills. Somehow this is very reassuring, as the images about me are very like northern Ontario, where I used to find solace from busy life. Reassuring, with one exception. Jellies! Jellyfish are everywhere here, white ethereal ones, floating in Jelly Heaven. For so many years, I had read about the horrors of jellyfish stings, yet seeing them here, so innocuous, removes all that fear. They were so thick and dense in the water that you could look across the surface and see them there like slightly submerged stepping stones. Looking down into the deeps, I had the sensation of looking into a sky full of floating stars stirring around. White and blue-ringed glowing stars, expanding and contracting like breath. Mesmerizing.

Valma, the instructor, reports that I snore like a logger! Note to my boyfriend, Fil - "You snore a little" you kindly tell me? Ha! Ironically, darling, I am lying in bed right beside the mother-of-all-diesels, earplugs in, and she is roaring as mightily as you snore yourself! Lionheart holds the powerhouse in her belly. Lesson learned....when buying a boat, ensure key pieces of equipment are on separate systems so you can power one without the other. We almost drained our batteries today, due to some electrical issue that is causing a lot of drain from the fridge and freezer, which are tied together on the same cooling system. Consequently, the peace and sanctimony of Grace Harbour are broken by the growl of our engine we've powered on to get some charge. Our poor neighbours on the other boats! Without power, anchor windlass, cabin lights, navigation equipment and other critical cruising aids are gone, so it is critical to have a second power source ready, be it solar or generator, for long trips in remote places. Luckily we can plug in overnight soon at a marina to get a full dose.

There's another destination I've heard of along the way , that I want to explore in the future..."Chatterbox Falls". The challenge lies in getting through Malibu Rapids first, before discovering one British Columbia's most grand wildernesses. However, Desolation Sound is quite renowned; rumour has it that the name came from Captain Vancouver's troubled and depressed mind. He and his crew spent time here during a depressive episode of his, and the story goes that he was miserable while they were all exuberant. He couldn't stand the place, seeing it as 'desolate'. Hence a morose name for an incredible place that attracts hundreds of boaters every summer.

Well, it's time to go read for a while, as there will be no rest until the engine stops. I have been working with a 'mindfulness' exercise where I choose a cue and whenever it occurs during the day, I take a few seconds of mindfulness focusing on a sense such as sight, sound, sensation, taste, smell, or thought. I got this exercise out of a book called "Letting Go of the Person you used to be". It's perfect to do it out here -using a gull's cry as a cue one day. Each morning we meet and get grounded in a visualization exercise, and when I consciously remain present through the day, I find I am more capable, happier, and more alive.

Sept 15/05 -2100 PDT Moored in Gorge Harbour on the west side of Cortes Island tonight. Before leaving this morning, we went to shore and picked our way at low tide into a lagoon where a kingfisher and beaver happily live their lives. It was a bit of an off night earlier tonight, I see with great clarity that it is natural to have fluctuations in the vibration and energy between shipmates in close quarters. Frequently, I find myself revisiting this morning's precious moments pondering the jellies, entranced.

Sept 16/05 -1905 PDT Tenidos Bay, cooking dinner. It is isolated and enriching here. We took a trail up to Ulwin Lake and swam there off a frock platform. Mountains! Sun! Still Water! My first swim in BC - a baptism! It was completely rejuvenating and totally in the 'now'. There are also mosquitoes here in the now as well.

Sept 16/05 -2008 pm PDT We are stern-tied facing the rising near-full moon. Tonight, in the night, a wild cat growled in the woods, crackling the branches and moving closer. Sometimes silent, sometimes not, it approached us, although we naively thought we had merely heard a bear grumbling along. Seated cozily in the dark on deck, debriefing from the day, we were shocked out of our skins to hear a yowling hissing scream directed at us from closee astern. After our startled bouncing forward towards the companionway entrance settled, we flicked on flashlights brightly onto shore, a whisper of a second behind the snuffles and stones scattering as the creature disappeared. So perturbed were we that at first the plop-plop splash sounds we heard that we thought massive animals were swimming to attack, until Valma advised that they were only seals. Seals, the sweet little swimmy friends who we've seen hanging about in the water as we cruise by. Seals, I've learned since then, who will follow fishermen's lines and steal their catch as it is being reeled in. So keen and sensitive are their systems, that they have learned the sound of a line catching and feeding. Moonrise, seen from the bow, soothed me and I felt simply perfect in my place in the universe.

Sept 17/05 -0825 PDT Kingfishers, seals, bait fish all a-silver on the surface. Time is changing for me.

Sept 17/05 -2225 PDT Wildernest Resort at the start of Toba Inlet, is a very suitable spot for these rugged surroundings. Not too fancy, not too rough, and plenty of dock space allow for rest and sharing with the local experts on the news of the region. We exchanged stories with some local salts by lantern and moonlight on the deck of their cabin. A golden full moon graced us with shining moments through the clouds.

Sept 18/05 -2300 PDT Toba Inlet was our playground today, sailing in winds up to nineteen knots and mastering the art of broad reaching. There are no words for this experience. Simply none. Fjords, waterfalls thousands of feet up, perfect wind, easy navigating, towering rock cliffs, mountains with cloud wigs streaming off their heads, and blue blue blue everywhere. A perfect way to end this trip.

In the end, all we have is this moment, and the option to be fully present in it, or hide from it. I choose to be fully present. Plus, I choose to get my own boat soon and am confident that my life will present opportunities to share many experiences of this kind with others. Overall, the spiritual aspect of this trip, and the personal growth gained from working with others come close to outweighing the sailing skills I've gained, which means I am truly blessed with great abundance in both. Once-alien navigation concepts are very comfortable now.

One true fact about sailing into the wilderness is there are no real distractions. I can see myself and others clearly. My heart feels warm and full, and I feel capable of anything. Perhaps Captain Vancouver looked within, and saw something there with such clarity that he was overwhelmed. The sweet chiming sound of the internal awareness bell, which awakened me, could have been a gong of doom for him, locked in his own despair. To me, Desolation Sound is a sweet sound, and may it be so for others who are granted the gift of visiting there.

ps: From there - I got a ride with some great guys, and spent a night with their families in Powell River. Thanks so much to them!

Fil met me in Comox for a few days...What an amazing time. We spent one night at Mount Washington Resort (Deer Lodge), and one night camping in my Xtrail in Strathcona Provincial Park. Stood in the clouds. Felt really alive!