Squirrel Cove to Bickley Cove - 5½ hours, 34.5 miles

Fred ran over and picked up our bakery order before we left Squirrel Cove. We have always used the same channels from up into the Broughton Islands. We decided, since we have time, to try something different. Instead of taking Hole in the Wall rapids we are heading up Calm Channel to Cordero Channel. In order to do this we need to pass through two areas of rapids. The first is Yuculta (Gillard Passage) and the second is Dent Rapids. They are only about 3 miles apart. They are known to be vicious unless taken at the proper time of slack water. The calculations for slack water at any of the rapids are a bit confusing. We have two electronic assists with this. The first is a program called “Tide Tool” which is on our Palm Pilot. The second is a program called “Aye Tides” on my iphone. We were further encouraged that our calculation was correct because we were in a group of ten boats waiting to make the passage. We encountered 3 knot current against us and many whirlpools and eddies at Yuculta Rapids. Fred did a fine job of piloting us through them. After Yuculta, Dent Rapids was a piece of cake. We had a very windy trip as well. The highest gust we had was 39 mph, which places it at Gale Force. We were hoping to stop at Shoal Bay Lodge, but it is a small marina and there was no room on the dock. The anchorage is quite small so we continued on to Bickley Bay. There is a fish farm at the mouth and numerous crab pots in the way. We managed to find a good spot up at the head of the bay. The wind continued to roar all night. However, we had warm pie and homemade ice cream for dessert!