Maiden Arm
The night is very quiet without the 20 knots of wind as forecasted, at least not here in this sheltered anchorage. The shoreline is not high, though, so we did anticipate some wind. I get up at 5:30 for a little gander of our new surroundings. The sun is just rising with a hint of pink in the eastern sky. We are pointing opposite to when we anchored but the little bay is flat as glass. I take some photos and head back to bed until 8:30.
Breakfast will be late. We linger in the cockpit over our coffee, watching a harbour seal that keeps popping his head up, looking around at us, then quietly sinks back into the shallow water, only to resurface and repeat for the next few hours. He seems to disappear as our attention turns to two caribou on the shore ahead of us: a female and a calf. These two walk the entire perimeter of the small cove we are sitting in, splashing as they walk in the water to avoid the steep rocky areas. They stop and look our way but don’t seem afraid. Behind us, they take their time walking along the series of rocks that have formed a trail now at low tide.
Moments after they disappear around the little peninsula, I spot a moose grazing in the grassy area to the west. She too looks our way but doesn’t seemed frightened by the intrusion and continues to chew on the grasses on the far shore.
A third, and larger caribou appears and then later a fourth is seen on the shore to the west. These visits continue throughout the day, until dusk when the small rocky path joining the two shores is now covered in the high tide.
We spend a quiet day doing some sink laundry, sorting and doing an inventory of boat equipment in various storage lockers and then the same for the items in the chart table. We read, nap and play cards - all while keeping a watch onshore for any wildlife visits.
We had been told there are also black bears here, so we refrain from barbecuing and I prepare our chicken dinner in the galley after baking blueberry muffins.
The sunset lingers with each moment more beautiful than the last until it exits in a blaze of orange and mauve. The moon is full tonight, the last super moon of the summer, so we wait for it to rise knowing it is the last of today’s marvels.
