We almost got here 3 years ago. But that day, only a couple miles away from Tod Inlet, the engine room was heating up past 190. Pat, laser thermometer in hand, found one of the Stuffing boxes overheating. The stuffing box is the hole where the drive shaft exits the engine room through the hull of the boat. In the old days, this hole was stuffed with greased rags to keep water from leaking in from around the rotating shaft, thus the name Stuffing box. We stopped the boat, floated for awhile, reached a mechanic in Mill Bay who advised us to back up the boat to force water towards the shaft to cool it down. It worked! We payed him a visit, made it home & aborted the rest of the trip.
So we decided to give Tod Inlet a second try. Only a few hours from Sydney, the inlet snakes off of Saanich Inlet within walking distance of Buchart Garden and abuts a Provincial Park.
The lower marker is close to our anchorage.
This was Monday, the last day of Labor Day weekend, celebrated by Canadians on the same day as in the US. Encouraged by boats exiting the inlet, heading for home, we dared to imagine a quiet peaceful cove….hahaha! NOT!
Abuzz with fun and energy! Kayakers, paddleboarders, kids jumping off their boats, swimming, parties on several sets of rafted boats, sun bathers, dogs splashing for balls, grandparents with the little ones driving the dinghies, one big last summer hurrah on a warm sunny day, a gift.
The Park Host on a dock is on the left. She was as surprised as we at the number of boats.
Arcturos, to the left overlooking the beach & dinghy dock.
We were lucky to find a great anchoring spot in the middle of it all.
A trail led us through the woods along the inlet & creek to a road, past Buchart Gardens and back to the park. 1.6 miles or so.
Pretty woods with creek down there somewhere!
A bit late to go to Buchart Gardens but it’s a quick walk from the beach for future trips.
I had not slept well the night before worrying about a chore Pat asked me to do: swim under the boat to see if there was any kelp wrapped around one of the props. No time like the present. We returned to Arcturos, got ready for a swim with my new underwater camera. Water temp was 5 degrees warmer than in the Sound and Pacific! At 1st glance I thought there was a bunch of bright green kelp and seaweed stuck to the bottom of the boat.
Those green things are the Port Propeller!
But there is a bit of kelp wrapped around the Starboard Prop! It took about 5 dives but was able to unwrap and remove most of it, at least 4 feet of the stuff.
The inlet had become less active by then, so had a very nice swim up and down the shoreline to celebrate having that chore over and done with. It was a quiet night. Still many boats. Everyone slept well.
Holeinthewater 