We took our obligatory dip in the hot springs this morning. Wonderful. In the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, only a few visited the hot springs and clothing was optional. Now they fly and boat in tourists from Tofino. And it gets crowded. We took our dip with some older folks from Austria. Well into their 70’s and they had the giggles all morning. Through the language barrier we were able to understand that they saw a momma whale and her little one, as well as a ‘sea hound’. We weren’t sure if it was a sea lion, or a sea otter, but they were having a good time.
Now we’re going around Flores Island in Clayoquot Sound. We’ve seen quite a number of Sea Otters. Still trying to get ‘that shot’. They are curious, but from a distance.
We just got our first real whale sighting. A humpback, feeding in Shelter Inlet in West Clayoquot Sound. Per typical whale feeding procedure, he’d (she’d?) surface twice, then on the third time arch the back a bit more then the huge flukes would arc out of the water for a deep dive into the sound to feed. After 10 minutes or so, another 2 blows, then the third and down it would go. We killed the engine so you could hear the blowing. When they exhale, the sound is unmistakable.
So far, Jodi has had the sharper pair of eyes. She spotted the whale first, as well as the bears and most of the otters.
Well, just stopped in at the metropolis of Ahousat. Looking for a lemon to enhance tonights salmon dinner. This will be the 3rd general store we’ve stopped at and all seem to be run under the same rules. Their motto should be ‘Nothing you need, everything you don’t’. The word ‘basic’ just doesn’t quite capture the absurd variety of product on the shelves. Fortunately it wasn’t too far out of our way, but it reinforces the fact that this area, while beautiful, does require one to be self sufficient.
1700 hours. We just pulled into a small unnamed cove. There’s an outer cove, and a small inner cove. We again ‘felt’ our way through a small channel, Jodi on the bow scanning for hazards. We are greeted by a tranquil bay with two bears and a seal. No other boats in sight. Absolutely perfect.
Dinner, (sans lemon) was Salmon, prepared 3 different ways. Jodi experimented with seasoning salts. The result? Good, great and oh my god.
July 12, 2011, 0800 hours. It’s difficult to capture in words the tranquility of this unnamed bay. It is nearly 100% landlocked and protected. It’s shaped like a bowl and the water is glass smooth, mirroring the surrounding mountains. It’s absolutely beautiful. And as we sip coffee, we watch the bears on shore. No other boats in sight.
Today’s adventure is getting to Tofino. Not particularly long, but very tight in terms of navigation. For once, it looks like it’s well marked. The approaches are shallow and according to the book, even the slightest deviation will result in going aground. Great.
Tofino was ‘intricate’ to get into. ‘Deadman’s Pass’ was interesting. Current sweeping across the channel, needed to crab the boat (pointing the boat in a different direction than it’s actually going) to keep it in the channel. Probably exaggerating a bit, but it did take some concentration. Anyway, we’re here.
We’ve heard a lot of good things about Tofino. From our lens, little of it is true. It’s a tourist town. There are more ‘adventure’ and ‘safari’ companies than you can shake a stick at. Each promising the ‘adventure (or safari) of a life time’. We see hoards (at this point, any gathering of more than 10 people is a ‘hoard’) of people being ushered into small, fast, whale watching or bear watching boats and they zip out of the harbor in hot pursuit of some sanctioned mammal harassment. Other groups go out in kayaks en masse.
We do feel extraordinarily lucky at being able to sail and anchor in some quiet and remote areas without being herded around by some commercial outfit.
We were expecting ‘quaint’, and I’m sure that if you are escaping Seattle or Vancouver, Tofino may fit that billing. But we’ve been used to being alone in some fairly pristine country.
The docks at Tofino are interesting. It’s a mixture of old commercial fishing boats, some ‘adventure’ boats, a few liveaboards, a few derelict boats and some transient boats like ourselves. There’s also some floating communities around and many of the residents – mostly younger folks, zip in and out in small old speedboats going to and from work.
There haven’t been that many American flagged boats here this season yet. Apparently some make quite an impression, especially ‘the boys from Redmond’. The ‘boys from Redmond’ are known for buying boats bigger than they can handle and occasionally crash into the docks. One such occurrence was relayed to us a fellow from Redmond came in, full bore and crashed into another boat that had already tied up. The first thing the Microsoft guy did was to emerge from his yacht, checkbook in hand, saying “how much to I owe? How much do I owe?”
Mitch, if you are reading this you need to get a slightly bigger boat, trailer it to Tofino, and head out into Clayoquot sound. All the benefits of a backpacking trip, but you can bring better (and more) beer/wine and avoid all the sweating. The sound is beautiful – every place but Tofino.
There is an interesting boat next to us – an Aluminum 50’ sailboat that is built to go absolutely anywhere. It’s beautiful in a rugged / functional way. Like go around the horn functional. Or transit the Northwest Passage functional. The boat has a mast that’s flat on top – no antenna or wind gauge. Making a perfect spot for a bald eagle to sit and observe. At times two eagles who seem to spend most of the time arguing about something.
We did befriend Vince, the harbor guy. Who’s voice is not unlike the Estevan point lighthouse. When he’s 2 feet away, he’s talking as if you are 100 yards away. He’s a great guy and a wealth of information. He too has been around the island and shares a love of the area. His perspective on conservation vs commerce were pretty interesting and on point. Clayoquot Sound is in recovery mode. After being logged and mined during most of the last century, nature is slowly recovering.
One good thing about Tofino is a restaurant called ‘The Shelter’. One of the best burgers ever, great atmosphere and they serve a beer from a local brewery that is pretty good. As we were exiting the place we met the owner of the brewery who was going there for dinner. Great place – made better by the fact it was our first off boat dining experience since that 2nd night at April Point.
No comments:
Post a Comment