The good news is the engine started. But the slow drag of the starter got our attention. Anchored out in remote Pott’s Lagoon in the Broughtons would be a very inconvenient place to end up with a dead battery.

We’ve been motoring only short distances the last four days as we dip into rustic marinas and quiet anchorages. Motoring a couple of hours a day along with help from our solar panels (and it’s been relatively sunny) should be enough to keep our batteries up. Our starter battery is brand new and isn’t it supposed to be isolated from our house batteries? Apparently it wasn’t, and of all the things we replaced and upgraded before this trip replacing our four house batteries wasn’t on the list. And, OF COURSE, they’ve decided not to hold an adequate charge. What were we thinking?

On top of it, the battery for our new Torqeedo outboard won’t charge. It’s a problem with the charger, not the battery. We experienced this problem once before and Torqeedo sent a replacement charger. Now it’s happened again after just a few charges—a definite design flaw that leaves us without a dingy motor. So, today was just a battery bummer day all around.

But everything else is pretty magical.

We navigated Chatham Channel at slack without a hitch and were able to get on the dock at Lagoon Cove Marina. Like most of the small marinas in this area Lagoon Cove is family run. Kelley and Dan lent a hand and extended warm welcome as we cozied up to the dock. Lagoon Cove is known for it’s potluck happy hour at their “workshop”. They provide the prawns—caught just that day—and boaters at the dock gather with their own appetizers to share. We met several delightful cruising couples—including one couple who live on the Hood Canal just south of the bridge! A small-world moment. And we were delighted to see our small yacht club’s (Pleasant Harbor Yacht Club) burgee hanging front and center among hundreds of others.

From Lagoon Cove we headed to Pott’s Lagoon—site of our battery woes. Homes, cabins, and entire fish and logging camps are built on floats in this region and have been for generations. We followed an entire fish camp—house, bunk house, out-buildings, docks with boats tied to them and even furniture on the decks—out of the cove as it was being moved by an old tug to presumably their next fishing location. Have float-house will travel. In Pott’s Lagoon there are several floating cabins in different degrees of decay or repair.

Yesterday, we wound through rock-strewn Beware Passage at low tide—David at the helm, me on the bow rock-spotting—to Mi’mkwamlis. Mi’mkwamlis is the site of an ancient First Nation village of the Mamalilakulla people. We received the necessary permisson to go ashore and were guided through the site by a welcoming tribal-member, David. He showed us the remains of his grandfather’s house, where his grandparents had raised 14 children. He’d lived at the village until age five or six, and his family was among the last to leave. Now a caretaker of the site with the remaining families, David guided us to the remains of ancient totem poles, the long house and orchards. And we stood beneath the first totem to be raised in over a century—carved by his uncle just last year. My heart swelled as I felt the power of the place and people who’d lived here.

Today, we will head west toward Port McNeil on Vancouver Island a bit earlier than planned. We have batteries to replace and we will buy a small gas outboard for our dingy—so frustrating, but a necessity. We will deal with Torqeedo when we return.

I leave you with a picture of David securing our anchor at sunset as we continue our journey and soak in the beauty.