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We're in Melanie Cove tonight. Once again the anchorage area is suitable for dozens of boats. They pack 'em in like sardines during the summer months. Tonight there is just one boat in addition to Quijote and Opus. There are two good reasons for so many boat in this neighborhood in the summer. The terrain is stunning and the anchorages can handle large numbers of boats. So they do.

One thing I learned on this trip: this anchorage has a trailhead. Sam brought it to our attention. She lives in Sydney, north of Victoria, owns her own weekend sailer, so this area is her stomping grounds.

Matt and I rowed over to Opus, Sam jumped in, and then the three of us rowed over to the trailhead at the opposite end of the anchorage. Truthfully I did no rowing. Matt did most of it.

The trail was muddy in places, blocked by frequent blow downs, and ended at a large lake. It was quite a workout. We'll sleep well tonight. We dropped Sam off at the other boat in our way back, then took showers on the aft deck to wash mud and sweat off our bodies before dinner. (Matt slipped on a log and ended up on his backside in a shallow pool of muddy water. The verdict is still out on whether the move will make the highlight reels).

We've used about thirty gallons of fresh water since we left Shilshole a week ago yesterday. That's not bad. The tanks started with 110 gallons of fresh water. We've used a third of our fresh water then with only a couple of days remaining before we can fill up again in Campbell River.

We've used about a fourth of our ninety gallons of fuel, or roughly 25 gallons running the engine for fifty hours. That comes to half a gallon of fuel per hour and gives us about 5 knots (nautical miles per hour) at that rate of burn. That comes to ten nautical miles per gallon, or about 900 miles per tank. I can live with that. I also have about fifteen gallons of extra fuel in fuel jugs on the back deck - just in case. I have just in case stores of extra drinking water as well.

Opus, by comparison, is configured for racing more than cruising and has much smaller tankage - 25 gallons of fuel. That's why Kevin borrowed the fuel jugs I saved from my Pacific crossing. They're now lining the perimeter of his deck.

It keeps trying to rain. With the sweating, washing, and wet towels that were generated during and after the hike we have a lot of wet stuff in here. It's cold and damp outside though, so nothing is likely to dry very soon. That's a lot of arm waving intended to justify firing up the furnace to see if we can get things to dry out a bit. It'll feel good to have some warmth in here too.