Pacific Swift Trip 4 2008

The last several days have been marvelous. The community has grown
tightly together and a lot of fun has happened as well. There has been
no end of smiles and great attitudes as the trip has wrapped up.
Yesterday we rowed ashore through thick fog to emerge in the sunlight at
Cougar Annie´s Garden. Its an old homestead carved out of the rainforest
that is home to an abundance of history, culture, wildlife, gigantic
trees, beautiful cedar boardwalks, lakes, handcrafted cabins and
buldings. It was a treat to stretch our legs and explore the wild beauty
of the place under a warm sun guided by Peter who has done much work to
restore, expand and protect the area. After lunch all hands turned to
testing and writing exams. The reward for finishing was a lovely sail
down to Hot Springs Cove. Hot Springs is a beautiful park with a
boardwalk winding through the trees along the coast concluding in a
natural hot springs that flow in cascading pools down to the sea. After
dinner we tromped our way there to lie in the hot pools. It was a great
oppurtunity to relax and enjoy conversation. This morning we slipped
away at 0700 to make our final run down towards Ucluelet. We headed
serval miles offshore to pick up the breeze. We were rewarded by seeing
breaching humpbacks, coming within 10 feet of catching a delicious
salmon and finally setting sail. It was grand to run down before a
freshing breeze with the squares billowing under a clear blue sky as
people finished orals, relaxed and prepared for tonights talent show. The
sail ended in dramatic fashion as with 1 mile to go the main was rapidly
hoisted with great vigour to reach up into the wind to make anchorage.
We rounded hard into the bay and everyone performed spectacularly to
handle the mass of canvas to bring us safely to anchor under sail alone.
Its a treat to lie now at anchor enjoying a diner and preparing for a
last night of talents and singing with a warm breeze blowing.