Warm Water Adventures
- Isobella Wiggins
- Aug 13, 2025
- 4 min read
Once again, Unwin Lake delivered! My memory of this big, freshwater lake tucked in near Tenedos Bay was one of low cloud cover, drizzly skies, but most importantly: warm water. It is the warmest fresh water lake I have ever experienced! We spent the afternoon bushwhacking to find a good spot on the shoreline to call our own, and finally settled on a big ol’ rock at the head of the lake, best accessed by traversing a massive log jam. Cinna impressed everyone with her mountain goat skills while Lhotse did the opposite, crashing into the water and simply swimming to the boulder we’d set ourselves up on. The afternoon flew by and we all enjoyed lots of water time and even some shampoo and soap. What a treat! Another fella swam by and remarked, “nothing like shaving your legs in front of your whole family!” Ha. He’s got that right!
The next day we left Tenedos Bay and headed to Pendrell Sound. Cheryl heard of it via a YouTube video and we decided it would be worth checking out! It was a short cruise over so we arrived reasonably early and snagged an awesome spot all to ourselves thanks to the big motor yacht leaving just as we arrived. We stern tied (with no less struggle than the previous three days) and after seeing that the water temperature was 26 degrees, declared this a WATER DAY! We SUPd, floated, and generally lazed the afternoon away. Well, at least that’s what the gals did. Eric’s drone went the way of Brad’s (RIP) and in a desperate attempt to rescue it, the boys spent an hour crashing through the shoreside woods, tossing countless rocks into the branches overhead in hopes of reclaiming it. The forest here is dense and almost impossible to scramble through but 4,564 minor scratches to the feet and legs later, the winning rock was tossed, connecting with the drone and sending it plummeting down into Eric’s awaiting grasp. Drone status: critical, might not survive. Thankfully we had just what Eric needed to drown his sorrows and the afternoon ebbed away with the tide, leaving a dusky sunset in its wake for us to savour yet again. The night wrapped up with another great meal, wine, and lots of lingering laughs. This, folks, is the good stuff.
Following the lead of another recommendation, we left Pendrell Sound to seek out the infamous Von Dunlop Inlet, also known as Hathayim Marine Provincial Park. Our guidebook raved about more warm water swimming, but better yet, some great hiking trails to stretch our sea legs!
After setting our anchor (no stern lines required, YES) we wasted no time hopping into Patch and setting our sights on land. The air was warm and muggy and we were ready… until we weren’t. After numerous cruises along the shoreline we couldn’t spot the trailhead and finally enlisted the help of a nearby paddle boarder to get us pointed in the right direction. With our wits finally about us, we trundled into the woods for an adventure. Signage suggested the trail to the lagoon was 5km, but the guidebook said it was longer. Meanwhile, the helpful paddle boarder insisted it was only a couple kilometres! We set off, and after enduring the first ten minutes waiting for our legs to adjust, we ‘enjoyed’ at least an hour walk on the crappiest trail around. Branches clawed at our legs the entire time and low lying shrubbery attempted to trip our toes at every opportunity. What was all the hype about?! Well, cold bevies were cracked when we finally reached the lagoon. At low tide it wasn’t particularly pretty and I won’t lie, it smelled a bit foul. The dogs were thrilled to cool off though and we felt better having burnt more than four calories in one day for the first time all week.
What we really wanted more than anything after our walk was a refreshing swim in the water. Unfortunately it was teeming with thousands of jellyfish. Thousands! More specifically, moon jellyfish. These little critters are nearly translucent and are most easily identified by their four horseshoe shaped gonads (LOL, great word) on the top of the bell. They don’t have long tentacles but rather hundreds of short, fine tentacles. Cheryl and I referenced the books we had on board (no cell service here) and they both alluded they may sting… well, after watching other people splash around in the water, we compromised for bucket showers off the transom and tucked in for yet another evening smelling like sophisticated sailors!
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