The Journey: September 2015

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Bamfield to Seattle

Monday 7^th to Sunday 13^th September

1. Bamfield

2. Sooke

3. Victoria

4. Port Townsend

6. Port Ludlow

7. Seattle

The decision made, we left Bamfield at 7:15 a.m. on Monday, 7^th September, heading for Sooke Harbour 76 miles away. The coast line back into the Straights of Juan De Fuca used to be called the “Grave Yard of the Pacific” because of the number of boats that sunk in this area. This generated the construction of five lighthouses in this stretch of the Straights. It was difficult to get help to stranded sailors in the area and rescues were generally untimely. To aid rescue efforts, the West Coast Trail (WCT) was created in 1907 between Bamfield and Port Renfrew. This helped rescuers get to ships that had run aground and get medical aid to those in need. The rugged and legendary 48 mile WCT with its cliffs, ladders and beaches is today one of the top hikes to do.

Early departure from Bamfield

We passed dozens of this size of fishing boat during the day

Cape Beale on rout to the Pacific, the last of our capes

Sooke Harbour: Monday, September 7^th - Wednesday, September 9^th :

We had considered a stopover in Port Renfrew, but with its limited protection from wind should the weather turn bad, we decided to go all the way to Sooke Harbour. With little wind to sail, but a favorable tide, we covered the 76 miles in eleven and one-half hours, averaging 6.6 knots: very respectable for a sailboat.

The entrance into Sooke Harbour is very shallow in places and has lots of turns that require attention. We thought we would be able to tie up at the Sooke Resort & Marina, but found that they cater primarily to small sport fishing boats between 20’ - 25’ and there was no moorage for a 40’ boat. We were fortunate to find space at the government dock and power to plug in our small heater. The Espar central heating system failed a few days earlier at Effingham Bay so this gave me the opportunity to check it out.

Tied up, we took advantage of being ashore by taking some long walks, visiting the local coffee shop and just relaxing. We discovered a nice boardwalk through the Ed MacGregor Park that led down to the waterfront where we could look out on the harbor, and also found a nice bakery called Little Vienna which in addition to great soup, bread, and other bakery items had high-speed internet – a real treat since we’d been technology deprived for several weeks.

Ed MacGregor Park

Ian on the boardwalk

Pat on the boardwalk

Looking across Sooke Harbour with the Straights of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Peninsula in the back ground

Victoria: Wednesday, September 9^th – Friday morning, September 11^th :

The next morning we left Sooke Harbour around 8:30 a.m. for Victoria, 26 miles away. Leaving in very heavy fog, visibility was only 50’ – 100’ maximum. The shallow, twisting-turning exit from Sooke Harbour took on a whole new life in these conditions. I had to rely 100% on radar and the chart plotter for guidance. Channel markers were only visible when we were almost on top of them. Fishing boats could be seen on radar and sometimes heard passing us 200’ to a quarter-of-a-mile away but we never actually saw them. This was the only time during the entire trip that we’d encountered instrument-only conditions and the thick fog stayed with us to within three miles of Victoria’s harbor entrance.

We had a slip reserved at the marina in front of the Empress Hotel in the heart of downtown Victoria. We’d stayed here on other trips and it has always been fun to watch the street performers and stroll along Government Street and people watch.

Tuamotu tied up in front of the Empress Hotel, down town Victoria

Anxious to stretch our legs, we walked in front of the Parliament Building toward Fishermen’s Wharf where there are several small restaurants and 33 floating homes. We stopped for an ice cream cone and continued our walk past the cruise line terminal where ships heading to or returning from Alaska stop for the evening.

Victoria's floating homes

We followed Douglas Road around the outer headland and stayed on the sidewalk abutting the ocean. Near the largest totem pole in the world (about 137’), we entered Beacon Hill Park and meandered through the still blooming flower gardens.

On Yates Street, we walked uptown and then looped our way back to the marina where we had dinner and then did a night time stroll through town. When we returned to the boat and checked our Garmin watches, we discovered we’d walked around nine miles. No wonder we had tired feet!

Rose garden Beacon Hill

Peacocks Beacon Hill

After a leisurely breakfast of yogurt, fruit and muffins the next morning, we walked the other side of the bay. It was sunny, warm and inviting as we crossed the bridge and followed the walkway to Old Esquimalt in West Vancouver. There are several waterfront multi-story condominiums along the way, together with restaurants and pubs. Esquimalt is like a “little Victoria” loaded with history of the first settlers in Victoria.

Victoria from the Esquimalt footpath

Il Terrazzo Italian restaurant down town

Later that afternoon, Pat journeyed uptown to look through some of the stores, finding a great cookbook called Sea Salt written by some women who, with their families had done the Van Isle 360 Vancouver Island circumnavigation as a race. While we did it as a cruise, Pat thought it was a good representation of what it’s like cooking and eating on a boat. That night, we treated ourselves to outdoor dining at a nearby restaurant. It was a fantastic sunset that evening, and some relaxation after walking over nine miles that day felt good.

Departing Victoria you have to share the water with float planes. Lots of float planes.
There is a defined lane for boats to keep us out of the way.

Strait of Juan de Fuca and Port Townsend: Friday, September 11^th :

Friday morning we took a quick walk, and left the dock around 9:00 a.m. heading to Port Townsend. It was a crisp, blue-sky morning, with little to no wind. Have you noticed that the “no wind,” or “wind from the wrong direction” repeats in this narrative? Yes. Those have been the over-arching surprises on this voyage.

The trip across the Juan De Fuca Straight was uneventful weather-wise. We did see a U.S. Naval ship on maneuvers firing at underwater targets. We later learned they’re using live ammo! We also observed the Coast Guard escorting two nuclear submarines toward Bangor, the naval submarine base in Puget Sound. We gave wide clearance, not wanting to invite a Coast Guard inspection or boarding which can easily happen if a boater strays too close to military activity.

A US submarine in between two escort ships and surrounded by Coast Guard chase boats. When did the Coast Guard start carrying 50 caliber machine guns on inflatable chase boats?

With the return of good cell coverage by our U.S. carrier, we placed a call to the NEXUS-Pass people. We were painlessly cleared whilst underway and didn’t get rerouted to Port Angeles for a land-based appointment.

As we neared Port Townsend, we caught an inbound tide that gave us four knots of help. There was very turbulent water as we approached Fort Warden at the northern point of the town. It felt good to be in Port and a town that was familiar and back in the U.S.A.!

The 37^th Wooden Boat Show was underway when we arrived Friday afternoon in Port Townsend and all the marinas were full. There were at least a hundred sailboats anchored in the bay – more than we’d recalled seeing in the past. Late in the afternoon and tired, we were a bit overwhelmed by so many boaters and craziness. We ducked through the boats and dropped anchor in front of downtown and spent the night in a very rolley anchorage – worse than we’d experienced our entire trip!

Boats at anchor Port Townsend

Boats at anchor at Port Townsend

The next day we attended the Wooden Boat Show and visited some pretty spectacular wooden boats. We got to board Deer’s Leap, a beautiful wooden boat we’d shared anchorage with in Claydon Bay in The Broughtons. The owner lives in San Francisco but regularly comes north during the summer. It’s a stately, grand boat reminiscent of the grandeur of the 1930’s. We also attended a presentation by a woman who, with her husband, has done sixteen trips to the west side of Vancouver Island over the past 25 – 30 years. We enjoyed her talk, learned about a few places we missed, but felt pretty satisfied with what we DID see and do.

The Wooden Boat show

Wooden boats sailing in Port Townsend bay, sharing space with ferries.

Rather than stay another night with the town and harbor so packed, we pulled anchor headed to Port Ludlow. Quiet and beautiful! We arrived near sunset, set anchor and enjoyed a very calm quiet evening.

The next morning, we were feeling anxious to be home. Pulling the anchor and enjoying a cup of coffee, we motored out of Port Ludlow, heading for Shilshole Marina in Seattle.

Seattle Sunday 13^th – 15^th

We arrived at Shilshole Marina on Sunday, September 13^tharound 3:00. Our friends, Marchelle and Paul, met us around 4:00 p.m. at the Marina and transported us and Winslow, together with most of the food in the refrigerator and essential clothing back to our home in Sammamish. It was a happy reunion, but we had mixed feelings about leaving our boat life behind.

We’d spent 81 nights on the boat and visited 53 different locations covering over 1,200 miles. We had a tough “shakedown” at the beginning of the trip, but met each technical failure with a solution, not letting anything really slow down the trip. Luckily, I keep a pretty extensive toolkit on board and inventory of parts which proved invaluable.

The work our windlass did setting and pulling up usually 100’ and more of anchor chain almost daily, took our anchoring skills to a whole new level. We learned how to use our single sideband radio to receive Canadian weather reports, and send/receive email, keeping in touch with family and friends. Our navigation and sail planning skills are greatly improved and the trust and faith in our boat has grown even more.

We enjoyed our time kayaking, which we hadn’t done much of in the past, and had a great time discovering new and unusual places together. We also discovered – or Pat did – that she’s more adventurous than she previously thought.

Since retiring this was our first major trip of which the hardest part was making the decision to leave the house, knowing we were going to be gone nearly three months. To our surprise, we found that we COULD leave land and transport ourselves to a different way of living and do so pretty comfortably. All this in less than 400 sq ft of living space.

We also want to thank our friends, family and neighbor, Liz Tickman, who supported us on this trip by staying in contact with us, watching over the house and yard during a stressful summer of drought. Not seeing our family for such a long time was hard on both of us, so we’re looking forward to time with all five grandchildren and parents in October.

This circumnavigation was a great shakedown cruise which taught us what we need for future long-term travel on our boat. It’s taught us not to become stuck in the comfort of home, and that one’s living room can stretch to the horizon.

Back home in Seattle with Rainier in the back ground behind the sailboat masts

Tofino, Barkley Sound to Bamfield

Mon 31^st August – Mon 7^th Sept

Ucluelet
#1 Cataract Cove
Joes Bay
Effingham Bay
#2 Bamfield
(Note! Didnt realize the Spot battery needed changing till Bamfield)

Tofino: Monday, August, 31^st:

We departed Tofino on Monday, August 31^st after three great days in town, leaving in light fog, rain and low visibility. We travelled down Templar Channel on an Ebb tide (out-going) at 7.5 knots and into a predicted three meter (9’ approx.) Pacific swell moving south. This was one of the few times the weather forecast was close to correct.

As the trip south progressed our actual experience on the trip to Ucluelet (You-CLUE-let) was seas that grew to five meters (15-plus feet) and variable wind from no particular direction. It was the roughest trip to date. The boat, however, handled these conditions very well, although Winslow probably felt like he’d been thrown into a washing machine on the agitate cycle!

Early morning mist, departing Tofino at 7:00 am.

The Cruising Guide and our discussion with other boaters warned us to watch out for Jenny Reef as we rounded Amphitrite Point and entered Ucluelet Channel. As we came around, there was a three- to four- meter Pacific swells which caused large waves to crash over Jenny Reef. That, together with the heavy rain and low visibility made passage through the 200 yard wide channel challenging. We aligned ourselves with the center of the Channel, added some horsepower and frankly said a few prayers. This wasn’t “just another day at the office” type of sailing, and was one of the trickiest and perhaps most dangerous entries we made. We were both glad we weren’t doing it at night in these conditions.

Photos really flatten out the waves. It was a little tense travelling through this pass past Jenny Reef.

Ucluelet: Monday, August 31^st – Thursday morning, September 3^rd:

We arrived around 1:00 p.m. in Ucluelet (pronounced you-CLUE-let) which means “safe harbor” in the Nuu-chah-nulth language. The town has an ongoing population of about 1,800 people. After spending three nights at a marina in Tofino, we were anxious to head for Barkley Sound and were planning on one night in Ucluelet. That one-night stay turned into three as steady rain and fog continued. We wanted to enter Barkley Sound – the gem of the west side – with good weather not only to see it but do some kayaking in the Broken Group.

Entrance into Ucluelet Small Boat Harbour.

However, we adjusted to what was the current situation and decided to check out the area. Like most of the towns on the west side, Ucluelet is a primarily a fishing port. Like Tofino, it promotes eco-tourism with several venues available for whale watching. It’s also a drop-off point to catch the “U-Chuck” boat which serves many of the small towns on the west side not only delivering groceries and hard goods, but also fishermen and tourists to their fishing lodge or other resort destination. Ian came down with a bad cold and needed some down time to rest. We found a nearby pharmacy with some cold medicine to help him feel better.

Ucluelet has a large fully-stocked Co-Op grocery store (produce is very expensive); many coffee shops a couple nice bakeries, a large elementary and secondary school, and several hotels. In fact, a former Canadian hydrographic vessel, the Canadian Princess, was at “dry dock” in our marina, offering hotel-like services including breakfast, lunch and dinner. I enjoyed a Fisherman’s breakfast (three eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes and toast) and Pat splurged with eggs benedict great breakfast in the main galley stateroom. After breakfast, we made our way back to the marina and headed out with clear skies toward Barkley Sound and the famed Broken Group.

Ucluelet Marina

Canadian Princess resort and restaurant

Tuamotu out at the end of the dock

Cataract Cove, Pipestem Inlet, the Broken Group: Thursday, September 3^rd – Friday, September 4^th:

Leaving Ucluelet behind, we were happy the weather finally gave us a break and the high pressure system that was stalled over much of the west coast moved south toward Seattle and home. After three nights with my cold abating, we put out the sails and enjoyed 15 knots of wind. We sailed with a boat from Coupeville, Washington, to Pipestem Inlet, which is at the NW corner of Barkley sound. We entered the Cove and anchored in driving rain with low visibility.

At anchor in Cataract Cove

Culmination, the boat from Coupeville, raced us to the anchorage, quickly got into their dinghy to harvest mussels and clams in a nearby area. Apparently they thought that was our plan, but we were happy to just have our anchor down. I was suffering from low energy from my cold and enjoyed a cup of tea below deck. Later, the sun came out; delivering one of the most beautiful sunsets we’d seen. We relaxed and listed to the rushing waters of a nearby waterfall and later watched a huge orange moon rise over the distant horizon. All was well in the world and we just paused to realize it was now September and we’d spent over 70 nights on the boat. With some sadness we faced the fact that we were in the last weeks of our journ

Travelling by boat the dinghy is the pick up truck. Its used for all types of transportation. Picking up supplies, as a platform for cleaning and waxing the sides of the boat, for us it is used as a deck to get in and out of the kayaks. Its also used for sight seeing. Here we are on the way to Lucky Creek.

Skinny entrance to Lucky Creek. Getting the tide correct is key to a lot of the trips we took.

Lucky Creek Falls. The Cruising Guides refer to a Tinker Bell like experience. No Tinker Bell here.

The next morning, we woke up to a beautiful sunny, blue skied-morning. We noticed that the morning temperature was lower than we’d been experiencing: Fall was in the air!

After breakfast, we jumped into the dinghy and full-throttled it across the Cove to Refuge Island, the entryway to Lucky Creek to the waterfall we’d heard the day before. This trip, according to the Cruising Guides is one of the must does when at this anchorage.

As with most water ventures we’d faced, we had to enter Lucky Creek around high tide because some areas are very shallow. That meant we had no more than two hours to spend in this area. If we didn’t time it correctly, we’d be dragging our dinghy back out! We twisted and wound our way up the Creek to a very pretty waterfall. We were happy to see that with the recent rain, there actually was water coming over the fall! So many locations we visited hoping to see waterfalls and areas we wanted to kayak were dry due to the lack of rain this year.

We spent only a short time at the waterfall, not doing a nearby hike because we didn’t want to get trapped. There were some places we’d nearly run aground and water was going to be lower on our return trip. Remembering how to zigzag through the Creek on our return trip we got back on the boat and decided to head to a less sheltered anchorage, hoping for more sunshine and warmer weather.

Joe’s Bay & Effingham Bay: Friday, September 4^th – Sunday morning, September 6^th:

Barkley Sound is a twelve by twelve miles area of archipelagos within which The Broken Group; seven by five mile area lies. The islands are small and close together framed by Loudoun Channel to the NW and Imperial Eagle Channel and the Deer Group Islands to the SE. The numerous islets make it ideal for short kayak trips from the home base of the boat or “isle hopping” if kayaking and camping.

We had returned our inflatable kayaks to the lazarette during the rain and were anxious to get them back in the water in Joe’s Bay. After having Cataract Cove pretty much to ourselves, we were surprised to share the anchorage with two power boats. The weather was gorgeous, but listening to the weather report, more rain was expected by Sunday. Unfortunately, the kayaks stayed in the hold while we read books, enjoyed the sunshine and figured out what our next move was going to be given the weather forecast. The cold I’d had left me with a lingering cough, and unfortunately, Pat was getting sick with the same bug.

Rather than spend a week to ten days in Barkley Sound and the Broken Group, we decided to cut the stay short and start the trip home. With the three nights in Ucluelet and other anchorages we spent a total of seven nights in Barkley Sound.

The Broken Group is made up by a lot of very closely spaced islands.
This shows our two anchorages only two miles apart as the crow flies.

We left Joe’s Bay Saturday and reluctantly headed for Effingham Bay, a popular anchorage for boats entering the Broken Group. Traveling only about seven miles, we entered a wide bay surrounded by high mountains in the distance. It seemed like we could see forever, and with sunshine, our solar panels happily starting recharging our batteries as we turned the engine off. Saturday night’s sunset was at 7:55 p.m. We remembered at the start of our trip how we were able to see clearly until 10:45 p.m. just ten weeks earlier.

I planned how we were going to do the trip to Bamfield, while Pat made some muffins, keeping the entire boat up to fiberglass-melting temperatures, while we both drank some tea to help our colds.

Sunday morning we had sunny, blue skies and an amazing, panoramic view of Barkley Sound. It was magnificent and we regretted the decision to pull anchor and leave. Not only were we not 100% health-wise, the mainsail was jamming pretty regularly while deploying it. Our boat had performed beautifully, and we felt safe throughout every situation we’d encountered on this trip. She was, however, telling us she needed some down time for repairs to also be at 100% performance.

This was a place we wanted to return to and explore more fully. We agreed that Barkley Sound is a delightful gem of a place, different from the Gulf and San Juan Islands we’d thoroughly explored in the past. We left Effingham Bay around 10:00 to motor sail to Bamfield, about 12 miles away.

Late afternoon Effingham Bay

Effingham Bay

Bamfield: Sunday afternoon, September 6^th – Monday morning, September 7^th:

Bamfield inlet is called “Main Street” and the village is on both sides. The east side abuts Vancouver Island while the west side is on an island unconnected, except by boat to the other side. With the exception of fuel this isn’t a location you would consider for a major re provisioning stop.

We arrived late afternoon to a very busy harbor bustling with fishing boats coming and leaving the bay. We chose an anchorage deep in the bay, a bit away from some of the other boats. It was a bit shocking to see so much activity after our periods of quietude. We counted five other sailboats and too many powerboats to count.

Entering Bamfield

General store center Coast Guard station to the right. This is one of only two Coast Guard stations on the entire west coast

It is a town well worth the visit and a good jump off point back into the Juan De Fuca Straights toward home or travelling back to Barkley Sound. There is a local general store which has a decent selection but limited inventory. There is a great boardwalk along the west side of town which connects houses along “Main Street, and twines through a wooded area that features gnomes and “Cat Village,” a group of dollhouse-sized buildings with a cat theme. We knew our grandchildren would love to see it and we were missing them.

The "Main Street"

Pat on "The Street"

Enchanted small town for cats and children

Enchanted village

Public out house

Ian on "The Street"

Gnome town in the woods on "The Street"

Coast Guard Station. Brand new this year 2015

Looking towards the entrance to the bay

We also did a walk out to Brady Beach, about 1.5 miles away. The beach features lots of white sand and a beautiful open outlook. There’s also a sea cave and bench built atop a rocky outlook which we climbed up and admired the view.

Bamfield is known for its small cabin style houses so much so you can buy a book about them. The town has a certain level of cute and is a great protected anchorage with lots of fishing boat activity. We liked the town, found the people friendly, and homes charming. We could imagine the town attracts a huge number of people to a lovely resort on the east side as well as a fisherman’s support center to enter nearby Barkley Sound.