Moving along the fresh water fjord of Baie Fine (pronounced Bay Fin)
Maryanne Cove is also pretty, but not as roomy as The Pool. The main attraction there is the trail to the viewpoint at the top of Frazer Bay Hill, on which we were looking forward to stretching our legs a bit.
Since the bay is small, and the middle quite deep, there is only room for one or two boats to swing at anchor. Because of this, most boats med-moor by lowering a bow anchor and then tying a stern line ashore. That was our plan when we arrived and found two other boats already moored together in that way.
We dropped our anchor, but it wouldn't hold. We set it out further go give it more scope, but it still wouldn't hold. We tried a third time – same thing. We tried a second spot three times with the same result. Maryanne reported clay when she retrieved the anchor each time, but said it was so watery, it was basically just ooze. As we were heading for a third spot, a power boat came in, stopped at the spot we were going to drop the anchor, dropped theirs, plus five more feet, and then broke out the beers and started relaxing.
The wind wasn't forecast to be anything at all, so we probably would have been fine doing the same in our corner of the bay. Unless we are staying aboard and we not staying long, I just can't get past the idea that the anchor has to be well-set every time we drop it. If the wind pipes up unexpectedly, I like to know that everything is secure, especially if we're going to sleep or leaving the boat to go ashore.
With no suitable space left, we reluctantly left the bay and went around the corner to what looked like a suitable spot. The anchor just skittered across bare rock there. We did get it to hold eventually, but I wasn't convinced it wasn't barely caught in some crack. When I said I wasn't happy with it, Maryanne pulled it up with almost no resistance at all.
Okay, Plan C: Directly across from what the chart calls Mary Ann Cove is an unnamed bay. Okay, we'll call this one Maryanne Cove. Never mind the last one.
This bay is even smaller. Our first attempt at anchoring also didn't hold. That was my fault for not putting out enough scope. Once I realized there was no way there was going to be enough room in the little bay for anyone other than us, I felt no compunction about taking up the whole thing with our ground tackle. That solved the problem. We went out further, put out plenty of chain, and backed in. The anchor was holding like it was a ring in a concrete seabed. (Actually, a subsequent swim revealed that it was just really buried in the sand) That was great, but now we had no swinging room. Maryanne fixed that by taking one end of our 150m nylon stern strap and swimming ashore, where she tied it to a sturdy tree. Now Begonia wasn't going anywhere, but what a kerfuffle the day had been. It was nice to know we had the flexibility in our schedule to stay more than one night.
In the morning we paddled the kayak across Baie Fine to the trailhead at Mary Ann Cove. Based on the spider webs, we were the first hikers of the day. We had the same experience with the bugs as at Topaz Lake, but quickly seemed to climb out of their altitude range. The hike wasn't too long, but it was steep enough that we were both glad to get to the summit, where a gentle breeze cooled us off again. We had sweeping views of the whole area, including Begonia, which we would not have been able to see if we had stayed on this side.
We kayaked across the fjord to the true Mary Ann Cove, to access the trail to Casson Peak (also called Frazer Bay Hill) for the views
We were also surprised to spot a big cruise ship anchored just outside Baie Fine. We could see their tenders zipping about. Once I realized I had a phone signal, I checked Marine Traffic and noticed that two of their tenders were tied up at the trailhead. Well, of course they are. I mean, looking around, climbing the hill to this view is obviously one of the best things to do around here.
The timing worked out pretty well. About the time we had lingered long enough to get our fill of the view and then finished our summit snack of Gatorade and granola bars, we could hear voices approaching from below. We ceded our perch to the first of them and then exchanged greetings as we waited for them to pass and clear the trail for our descent. There seemed to be an unusually high proportion of staff in attendance, the majority wearing matching monogramed shirts. Most seemed to be in their twenties and all were brimming with lots of over-the-top enthusiasm about everything. They must have some strong coffee on that ship. They did helpfully point out the fresh blueberries we had missed.
A chipmunk and plenty of blueberries (once they'd been pointed out to us, we spotted them EVERYWHERE
While we were waiting, we met a rather dour Norwegian man. He said he used to be a sailmaker, but Covid screwed up his business, so now he is out travelling. He worked for the cruise ship (but wasn't part of the tour team), so he wasn't wearing the shirt, so we weren't sure. When we told him we had been to Norway, he said the Sognefjord was okay and all, but we really should have gone way further north. Up there, it's really beautiful.
Yeah, we know, but there were time constraints and we were still working. We liked Sognefjord very much.
"Oh, yes, but you have to go further north. It is the most beautiful area in the world."
"We're sure it is, but we're here now, and this is pretty nice. We are enjoying it."
He looked around without expression. "Yes this place is very beautiful, but the north of Norway is better."
"Yeah, well, it's already Summer now, so…"
"The sailing in Northern Norway is good all year. November is one of the best months for sailing there."
I don't think he would have been happy unless we gave him a big hug and said, "Thank you, Svien! Thank you for your great advice! We will now leave for Northern Norway at once so that we can be there by November! We will not neglect a nanosecond!" When we parted, he gave us a look of pity, for we were condemned persons - condemned to not just now, but never know the nirvana of Northern Norway in November. I'm surprised he didn't mention anything about the nice, nearly never-ending nights.
He did allow that Greenland was probably fine, too, but who can get there?
Our Maryanne Cove turned out to be a pretty good deal, compared to Mary Ann Cove. Since any boat approaching would know there was no way they could fit in alongside us, nobody tried. That kept our stay free of jet skis, generator noise or meeting people who tell us we've ruined our lives by not being somewhere else. We were just far enough away and Begonia was permanently oriented such that we had complete privacy when going for our afternoon swims. That spared us having to go through the calisthenics of stripping off the swim gear, toweling off, and getting dressed in dry clothes simultaneously in one overly-modest step, while assuming that we are under the prying eyes of neighbors with good binoculars.
There is lots of interesting shoreline as well as a few islands to explore in this end of Baie Fine, so we spent the rest of our time there kayaking until the seats started to get a little too uncomfortable. Then we would swim, or lounge, or go out kayaking again, depending on our mood.
We spent the rest of our time Kakaking about in Mary Ann Cove and along the shores of Baie Fine.
Maryanne even did a bit of snorkelling (but there isn't too much to see)
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