5/31 – 6/4 Prideaux Haven

One of our guide books describes Prideaux Haven as “the quintessential Desolation Sound anchorage,” and they have it right. From this beautiful, sheltered spot, the white-tipped, glaciated mountains of the mainland east come into stunning relief. We stayed for foru nights and had the laziest of times. Our greatest excitement came from watching people anchor.

Anchoring, apparently, is stressful for most boaters. A select few have the experience and skills to put down the hook in a well-chosen spot with grace and poise. For the rest of us, it is either challenging or downright stressful, with one notable exception. There is an entire cadre of boaters who have never even considered the implications of anchoring. They are relaxed and at ease.

We watched one group of guys drop their hook and put down 100' of chain right next to us. I had assumed that they were going to stern tie until I saw the amount of chain they put out. They got lucky. With that amount of chain out, they could have easily swung directly into shore if the wind had changed. Likewise, their swing circle overlapped ours, and at one point we hung from our anchors with overlapping rodes. I wish I had spoken up, but still being new at anchoring, I think I let their utter sense of blithe confidence got the better of me. They jumped into kayaks and were off immediately.

After an older couple, on their second attempt, dropped their anchor only slightly less precariously close to ours, we finally moved our boat to the middle of deeper water, a less desirable spot for most boaters, We then watched boat after boat try to cram themselves into the same little nook we had just vacated, without the slightest recognition of where other anchors might be or how their boats might swing if the wind shifted. Each night we watched the drama unfold through binoculars thankful that we had chosen to leave.

Once more than one boat is in a spot, everyone wants that spot. On one day everyone was on the north side of that little nook. Two nights later, everyone was on the south. In the world of recreational, boating where most of us are ignorant and few of us are striving to outgrown our ignorance, monkey see monkey do is the order of the day.

Aside from these moments of evening entertainment (and education) we rowed the dinghy around, enjoyed the scenery, and gave birth to the laziest sourdough culture imaginable.

（翻譯）

旅遊指南之一形容Prideaux Haven「經典寧靜灣停泊點」，而這個形容一點也沒錯。從如畫的停泊處望去，美洲大陸被白雪、冰河覆蓋的高山令人嘆為觀止的歇息在東邊。我們在此慵懶的停留了四晚，其間最佳娛樂則是觀賞其他人的下錨秀。

顯然「下錨」對多數航行者都充滿壓力。技術精湛者具備足夠經驗與技術以幽雅姿態將錨下在精心挑選之處。生手如我們，下錨要不是深具挑戰就是極端緊張，除了一個顯著的例外──有一群航行者從未擔憂下錨這件事，他們毫不在意。

我們看著一群男子將他們的錨下在我們船旁，然後放出30公尺長的錨繩。他們真是走運，以他們放出錨繩的長度，風向若改變，他們輕易的就可能被吹上岸。他們船的安全旋轉範圍完全和我們重疊，且有一段時間，我相信他們的錨繩和我們相疊。現在回想，我希望當時能仗義直言。我讓他們無知的自信戰勝我仍生疏的下錨技術。他們跳進獨木舟，立刻下水四處探索去。

接下來，一對老夫婦在連番嘗試後在距我們不遠處下錨，我們終於決定把船移到大多航行者不偏愛的較深水域。然後，我們觀看一艘又一艘船嘗試擠入我們剛離開的小海灣，絲毫不知其他船的下錨點或需要的旋轉空間。每天晚上，我們拿著望遠鏡觀賞鬧劇，感謝我們決定提早離開。

一旦一艘船決定停泊一處，其他船就紛紛跟進。今天大家紛紛停在小海灣的北邊，二天之後，每艘船都停在南邊。在航行只是娛樂的氛圍裡，大多數的人漫不經心，很少人承諾精益求精，所以有樣學樣就成為不成文規則。

除了傍晚的娛樂節目（教育節目？）之外，我們也四處划著小艇，享受美景，以及嘗試我們第一次的酸麵包製作。