Day 14, July 13th. Tofino to Barkley Sound
1300 Hours,. Location: 49.02.155N, 125.50.800W. Back in the Pacific. Left Tofino a little late, but the coffee shop was good and had a good internet connection. Just went by 2 humpback whales. Needed to correct course to stay out of their way. You see the spout before you see them. When they blow, the steam goes about 15 to 20’ in the air. Then you see the backs as they roll. Impressive. Makes the origins of ‘Thar she blows’ very clear.
I’m just now noticing that my wind gauge is 90 degress off. We heard the eagles this morning very close and assumed they were landing on our next door neighbors mast head again. We heard a thump from our mast, but by the time we looked up nothing was there. I suspect the eagle tried to land and knocked the thing out of alignment. Nuts. A trip to the mast head. NOT what I want to do!!
1345 hours. Just saw 4 more whales. They are spouting all around now. They appear to be lazily feeding. No theatrics or jumping.
Just had a close encounter with one. Surfaced about 4 boat lengths ahead of us on our port side, but heading right in front of us. We throttled down and it surfaced right in front, 2 boat lengths away. This is a humpback whale, and they average over 50 feet long. 20% longer than this boat. It paralleled us for a bit then dove deep. Cool. We’ve been trying to give them wide berth, but this one came of the blue..
3 more came close, one was a mom with a calf. All just lazily swimming, presumably feeding.
Let the record state that up till this point in time I’ve only fished twice on this trip and each time it was successful. Not so the third time. Snagged one piece of seaweed. Nuts.
1800 hours. Arrived in Joe’s Bay, Barkely Sound. 4 other boats in the bay. Far too crowded, but it’ll have to do. It’s cold here. July 13th and we’re wearing down. Cold and damp, so we fired up the diesel heater. July 13. Hmmph!!
This morning, before we left Tofino, I talked to 3 other skippers who were going around Vancouver Island. I asked each about their timetable. One said “oh we’re taking a month”. Another said “We’re taking 6 weeks”. The last one said “We’re going real slow. We’re taking 2 months”.
This trip is winding down to the end and it’s gone entirely too fast. The Island, with all its complexity, requires more time. More time than we have. Will there be a next time? I hope so….
Day 15 July 14th, Joe’s Bay, Barkely Sound to Port Renfew.
Still raining, misty fog. The anchorage is a little bigger than what we’ve been used to and there was some wind last night. Which brings up the topic of anchoring and a droid smartphone. It’s wonderful combination. Whenever you anchor, there’s always some swinging on the hook. The boat moves around the anchor if the wind or current changes.
What I worry about is the dreaded ‘unanticipated nocturnal ground tackle relocation exercise’. If the wind is blowing, like it did last night, I’m awake several times throughout the night checking if we’re dragging anchor. Before GPS or Loran, you’d have to get out of your bunk, into the cockpit, and peer out into the inky blackness to try to identify the black shapes in the bay to see if you were dragging or not. That, and power up the depthfinder to ensure it made sense with where you dropped the anchor.
Once you had GPS, you could avoid looking out in the gloomy night, but you still had to power up your instruments to check your position.
Enter the droid smartphone. Full GPS, and has full nautical charts on it. It’s small. Lies right by the bunk. And, if you turn the thing on airplane mode and shut off the background data synching, it has a reasonable (by droid standards) battery life.
Wind blowing? Boat swinging? Reach over, check where you are. All from the comforts of a warm bunk. Technology is a wonderful thing.
Jodi peered out into the bay this morning and was looking side to side. I assumed she was looking for bears or something, but instead she said ‘I was trying to determine whether it was pretty here or not’. She then pegged it – there are no mountains as a backdrop. Up North there are steep hills and mountains in the background. Here it’s just low shoreline. Nice, but not majestic. We’re now spoiled. We’ve become scenery snobs.
Today’s adventure is going to Port San Juan. It’s a small indentation into Vancouver island with fair protection in moderate weather. It’s the terminus for the West Coast Trail, so while not many boats go there, it’s a hotspot for hikers. Perhaps we’ll pick up some info on the West Coast Trail – another item on the bucket list.
1144 hours. We’re in “Imperial Eagle Channel”, on the way out of Barkley Sound. Fishing pole is deployed, but I think we’re going too fast. Never hurts to try. Wind is 10 knots and building, right on the nose. Starting to pick up the Pacific swells, but motion isn’t too bad. We have the main up to stabilize, but we’re banging head on into a 2-3 foot chop. Occasional spray is coming over the bow. We plow on.
We did see a new bird yesterday and we think it may have been an Albatross. Huge wing span, probably 2-3 times as large as a seagull, but shaped like a sea bird. Definitely not an eagle. It almost had a pelican like head, but didn’t really look like a pelican. There were 2 or 3 of them and they were flying with the seagulls and the seagulls were in harassment mode – like they do with the eagles – flying close then breaking off.
1200 hours. Wind is 16 knots and right on the bow. We’re making miserable time, averaging between 4 and 5 knots. Lumpy seas on top of pacific swells. Going to be a long day.
1330 hours. Visibility is now less than 2 miles and we’re just over 3 miles off shore. Can’t see land. Seas lumpy. I’m grumpy. Our speed over land has increased to just under 6 knots. No blips on the radar, no other boats in sight.
We had a blip on the radar. Confirmed a passing on the port side. Target getting closer, 2 miles away, 1.5 miles, 1 mile. Still can’t see it. We pass roughly ¾ of a mile apart. A sailboat appears in the gray mist then vanishes. He headed North for adventure, us headed South for home.
345pm. Boredom. Navigating with nothing to see except fog.
5:00pm. We’ve picked up a little speed, the seas have moderated a bit and, for the moment, it’s not raining. The fog has become more of a low hanging mist. We are now finally in the straits of Juan de Fuca and can see across to the American side. We saw a container ship in the distance coming in from ports unknown.
1900 hours. Anchored at last in Port San Juan. Not much of a pleasure boat area. Other than fishing boats, there’s one other sailboat. No powerboat cruisers. We’re exposed to a slight swell, but it’s a straight shot out if need be. Going ashore for some much needed land time.
Found a great place. There are two establishments in Port Renfrew. One is primarily a bar and seems to be a local hangout. The other is a place called the ‘Coastal Kitchen. Both places have cold beer, they both look pretty good, but the Coastal Kitchen has that feeling that just invites you in. The guy running the tables is great and demonstrated his ability to multi task by changing a tire in the parking lot. The food was pretty good. It was great to get off the boat and have a good meal.
The trip is winding down. If all goes well, tomorrow we’ll either be at the home berth or very close to it. Neither one of us wants the trip to end. We’ve seen some great things and want to go back. In a way it’s invigorating. I’ll take some satisfaction in having ‘done’ the trip but there was so much more to see.
Day 16, July 15th. Port Renfrew to Henry Island
0345am If yesterday was the most un fun day of the trip and it was, last night was the most un fun night. Port San Juan is a wide indentation off of the strait and there is no real protected anchorage. There’s just enough protection to call it an anchorage and the holding is good, but there is just enough wave action off the strait to gently rock the boat. Motion equals noise, and it makes for a lousy nights sleep.
Port San Juan is actually cute and quiet. Not much going on, but if it weren’t for the chronic motion, it would be a nice stop. It’s nearly 4am, will try to get back to sleep for an hour. Need to leave around 6am to catch the afternoon flood just off Victoria. Another long day, but need to hit that current to get back to the US side before Customs closes. If we miss that current, then we won’t make it. Tide waits for no one..,,
0800 hours, July 15. Position: 48.29.288N, 124.22.380W. Today is a lesson in fluid dynamics and math. Frustrating math. From the mouth of the harbor to Roche Harbor, we’ve got nearly 68 miles to cover. My plan was to fight the ebb in the straits where the current is a bit weaker, then make hay as the flood builds around Victoria where currents can run 2-3 knots. What I don’t know is what time Roche Harbor customs closes. I’m hoping it’s 8. If so, we’ll make it.
This morning it was just me on deck to get the boat going. Navigation up and running, check oil, fire up the engine, raise the anchor, snag the crab pot (one large female, thru her back) and hoist the mainsail for steadying in the straits. Done and underway inside of 10 minutes. Jodi is snug as a bug in her bunk. (editorial note: I did give her a hall pass..)
Fog is sweeping in and out of straits. Visibility opens up for a couple of miles, then closes back in. I’m staying out of the shipping lanes, but will have to cross them later in the day. Radar blips come and go. Right now visibility is under one mile and I have a solid radar target on my starboard side, about 20 degrees off the bow. We’re clearly not going to cross courses, so everything is fine. Wish I could see what it is, all I have is a green blip on the screen.
1400 hours. Love it when a plan falls in place. Fought the Ebb in the morning, at times down to 5 knots or so which would have meant the current was about a knot and a half against us, but now headed towards Race Rocks, we’re hitting 9 knots and screamed by it at 10 knots.
Just past race rocks and still just under 10 knots.
The flood pushes an immense amount of water against San Juan Island and we’re still riding it. Not going in straight lines, we’ve taken a broad sweeping curve into the straits of de Haro, just like the current. Still doing 9.6 knots. It’s that same current that pushes all the salmon – both the Frasier River Canadian and the Puget Sound Salmon against San Juan and it’s why the Orca favor that spot for their feeding. We will let the current push us as well and nudge north, going about 3 knots faster than we could all by ourselves.
1830. Customs was a cinch and now tied up at Henry Island. The final lap will be a short one tomorrow. The trip is effectively over and now all that remains is the cleaning and packing.
Day 16, July 15th. Henry Island to Friday Harbor
Raining this morning. The only slip open was on the secondary dock close to the ramp. High tide, and we have 12 feet of water. Low tide isn’t till shortly after noon. We debated about whether to clean up the boat here or go to Friday Harbor. It’s foggy and rainy (what else is new?) so we decide to stay.
1000 hours. I turned on the depth finder and we have 5 feet under the keel. Or so I think. To be sure, I break out the lead line. 5 feet of water, period. 12 inches under the keel and 2 hours left till low tide. The depth finder is calibrated to compensate and provide true depth. The old one did read that way (and I’m just now figuring this out??). I have a choice. Stay and ensure that everyone knows I’m an idiot or move and risk getting stuck – and then I’d be a bigger idiot. Hmmm. If I’m successful getting out, then no spectacle of a healed over boat aground. In front of a very informed and critical audience.
So we decided to leave and relocate to a newly vacant spot on the other dock. We fired up and began to move away from the dock. 12 inches became something slightly less than that. I don’t think we actually touched (it’s a mud bottom), and we moved around to the other side of the dock. With 2 feet under the keel. No problem.
Fog still enshrouded Roche Harbor so we spent the day cleaning then around 1500 hours untied the dock lines and slipped away into the fog, headed for Friday Harbor to formally complete the trip. We didn’t see land for another 2 hours and at one point, looking into the gray mist I was moved to tell Jodi “Hey, this is just as pretty as our rounding of Cape Scott – only the water isn’t as rough”.
We docked back at Friday Harbor. Tied up and done.
Well, it’s over. We’ve done it. Around the island in 16 days. It’s been fun, frustrating, and alternatively too long and too short. I think we’re ready to go home and take on other challenges. Take care of business both done and undone.
We look forward to future cruises. Perhaps the very next one won’t have any timetable to it. Maybe we’ll leave the dock, maybe we won’t. If we do, it won’t be far….but after that…. Who knows?
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