(click on photos to enlarge)
This is the story of our trip around Vancouver Island. If you are a Pacific Northwest cruiser it might be of interest. Otherwise, this is pretty boring material. We jumped off in Campbell River and tied up in Sidney five weeks later.
The Boat: 53 foot custom steel trawler
Monday, July 17, 2006 – San Jose to Campbell River
Took the 9:00 a.m. flight from San Jose to Seattle and connected to the Kenmore Air out of Boeing Field to Campbell River. It was sort of a strange flight because we were the only passengers. Arrived Campbell River to find that the Customs/Immigration office was closed. After a few phone calls the agent showed up and cleared us into Canada. Spent the rest of the day provisioning and getting the boat ready to head north.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006 – Campbell River to Small Inlet
More provisioning and preparing for a 1730 departure. Over Ripple Rock and Seymour Narrows. Anchored in Small Inlet where there were two pairs of boats rafted together.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006 – Small Inlet to Port Harvey
Originally planned to motor to Port Neville but decided to go a bit farther and overnight in Port Harvey. Fairly gray day with a bit of rain that settled into a calm, quiet evening.
Thursday, July 20, 2006 – Port Harvey to Port McNeil
Encountered a large pod of Orcas in Johnstone Strait as we approached Robson Bight. John Ford, a Canadian whale expert was studying them close in. Though we kept our distance the local fish cop approached and told us we had to be 100 to 300 meters away from the whales. We pointed out that we were well over 100 meters away and had no intention of harassing the whales. She gave us a brochure on whale trivia and left. Spent 15 minutes or so photographing the pod that included two or three youngsters. Arrived Port McNeil early afternoon and somehow managed to get a spot on the dock (while others circled and were on the waiting list). Filled one propane tank, provisioned, David installed his new (analog) compass, and had a relaxed dinner of tasty ribeye on board and watched as people walked the docks and admired Mystic.
Friday, July 21, 2006 – Port McNeil to Clam Cove
Last minute errands in the morning before taking on 1200 liters of fuel and starting our big adventure just before noon. Seas fell into the dead calm category for the first couple of hours and then became rambunctious as we approached Port Hardy. Even so, we didn’t need the stabilizers.
Worked on whatever needlework letter it is that Kathy gave me. David had a short rest down below. Rather than go on into Bull Harbor we took a short detour to Clam Cove on Nigei (sounds like some kind of sushi) Island and spend the night. We were the only boat in the anchorage though there was a cluster of “float houses” and a dock and ramp leading to someone’s homestead in the woods. Lots of little islets to be explored here. David and I had a dinghy ride and fished for a bit. Caught some perch-like fish. There are a couple of bald eagles, one a juvenile, hanging about fishing.
Chicken Marsala for dinner and we called it an early night.
Saturday, July 22, 2006 – Clam Cove to Bull Harbor
Went around the top side of Nigei Island in the some lumpy water that the boat handled well. Arrived in Bull Harbor to find several boats already at anchor. Among them: Scooter, a J130; C’est le Vie, Beneteau 46, Ed Nelson, a converted fishing boat, Pilgrim, a Nonsuch, and Malachi.
Passing the harbor entrance we went out to take a look at the Nahwitti Bar. The moment we reached it the seas lumped up and rather than risk it we turned back to Bull Harbor.
Dinghied to the Gov’t Dock and were greeted with “The Tlatalsikwala Native Band Welcomes You. Enter at your own risk.” All vessels are subject to moorage fees here whether they are on the float ($20) or anchored ($15) in the bay. Since navigable waters are Crown property, anchoring charges aren’t valid and this amounts to a local racket. Additionally, we learned that the band tried to charge one boating couple a $5 per person landing fee to walk on the island. They returned to their boat. That said, we weren’t charged for anchoring or for walking on the island. Our walk was about a mile to Roller Bay on the north side of Hope Island. What an amazing sight. The sandy beach was littered with piles of stone, some tiny and others melon size. All were worn smooth as could be by the constant rolling of the sea into the bay. Many were perfectly round! With the sun shining through a little bit of mist it was a beautiful sight. I collected as many stones as I could carry back to the dinghy.
Sunday, July 23, 2006 – Bull Harbor to Sea Otter Cove
The converted fishing boat was already gone when we raised anchor at 6:00 a.m. We headed straight for the bar and the moment we reached it this time the seas were so bad that the frig swung open spilling its contents all over the galley. As I tried to hold the galley together David turned us around and headed for the other route around Tatnalls Reef. That turned out to be a smoother ride though still uncomfortable. I downed half a Stugeron and prepared for Cape Scott at the fog set in. The seas picked up as we approached Cape Scott but fortunately the wind stayed around 15 knots. Next we dodged logs that seemed to pop up everywhere. While horizontal, they were so waterlogged that they rode low in the water making them really hard to see. David did a great job of driving through the log maze. As we approached Sea Otter Cove we could see the kelp beds and the breaking seas at the entrance. Given what we’d just been through this was an easy one for David. He took us through and carefully navigated the very shallow waters of the cove. I released my white knuckles and started to breath again.
There was only one other boat in the anchorage, Woody Point, a fishing boat out of Powell River with a young couple on board. We picked up a mooring buoy, launched the dinghy, had a bite of lunch and fell into an exhausted asleep!
After our little nap (two hours) we dinghied around the broad, windy cove. It was a beautiful spot with lots of little islets. Going round the entire bay we were surprised at how shallow it was. Dinghied up the Woody Point and chatted with Larry and Caroline. They were pleasure boaters, not commercial fishermen, as we’d thought and had been there five days waiting for the weather to calm enough to round Cape Cook. Invited them by for drinks.
Around 8 p.m. a trimaran came into the cove and took the mooring next to us. Turned out that it was skippered by Silas, a single-hander who rowed over after he took his dog to the beach. Silas was an unbelievably colorful character who’d come down from Juneau alone. He told us how he’d bought the boat in Oregon three years before when he decided to take up sailing. Since then he’s been up and down the inside passage, and on the outside of Vancouver Island. Silas came 'round with a big coffee mug of whiskey and the odor of one who hadn’t bathed in several days. He told us how he’d run a health food restaurant in Missoula, MT for many years and continued to "eat healthy" while sailing. Every week or so he would chop up cabbages, carrots, onions, broccoli and cauliflower and dump the whole mess into a big black garbage bag. Then he would live on that and perhaps a can of heated corn for a special treat. When the bag was empty he would start chopping vegetables again. We guessed Silas to be about 70 and in good health.
Monday, July 24, 2006 – Sea Otter Cove to Browning Inlet, Winter Harbour
Warm, sunny day.
Had a nice run to Winter Harbour. Lots of fishing boats hunting halibut at the entrance to Quatsino sound. Went just north of Winter Harbour and got the hook down after several attempts at freeing chain that had bounced around during our previous day’s adventure. Winter Harbor consists of almost nothing. A little post office, a store similar to Refuge Cove, a fish company, a few houses and a couple of funky fishing lodges. Bought some herring and moved the boat around the corner to Browning inlet.
Put out the crab pot, did a few jobs and prepared to catch some halibut. On the way out I checked the crab pot and found several baby Dungeness. Tossed them back, moved the pot and raced out the entrance of the sound. I’d missed the tide change, and most of the other boats had already gone in. Even so, I scouted around using the depth sounder and picked my lucky spot. When I reached for the bait my heart sank --- my herring bait was in the freezer on the big boat!. I’d just spent twenty minutes getting out there and didn’t want to spend another forty going back and forth, so I decided to make do. First, I used metal/rubber lures: no luck. Next, I tried the scented rubber anchovies that had been popular in Bull Harbor: no luck. Finally, I caught some rockfish and tried using them rigged like herring: no luck. The wind came up and I decided to bag it and head back to the boat! I checked the crab pot again and this time it was full of baby red rocks. Enough! Not having caught our dinner and with all our meat frozen solid I was hard pressed to produce a meal. Finally settled on some spaghetti sauce I’d from the freezer. A quick defrost and we had our supper. One last check of the crab pot a bit later: one nice Dungeness and one giant Star. In getting rid of the star I lost the Dungeness! Bad end to a bad day of fishing!
It rained a bit overnight which helped wash some of the salt off the boat.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 – Browning Inlet to Klashkish Basin.
Sunny on the water, foggy and overcast inside.
Had an uneventful ride over rolling seas. Mystic is handling the various sea angles quite well.
As we approached the Klashkish channel Hale Kai (Nordhavn 40) announced itself coming southbound. Chatted with them a bit before passing through the narrow little channel and taking a hurricane buoy next to Miss American Pie, a 45’ fish boat with four guys aboard.
We put out the baited the crab pot with turkey necks but didn’t catch a thing. Time to use some fish heads.
Fished in the little channel and caught pretty big rock fish and some good size greenlings. The fished jumped on the hook just as fast as I put it down!
The men on American Pie were on a five week salmon trip that started in Seattle. They were mooching for salmon and only kept as much fish as they could eat. The rest were released. They came aboard Mystic in the evening with some fresh salmon and wasabi. A couple of minutes on our BBQ and it was sushi time!
Wednesday, July 26, 2006- Klaskish Basin to Columbia Cove
Sunny and hot
We left Klaskish in fog and quiet seas that built up quickly as we approached Cape Cook. Rounding the Cape and then Solander Island we again got to feel the power of the sea but were again pleased at how well the boat handled it. Even so, David and I were relieved when we eventually turned the last corner on Brooks. As soon as we were in the lee of the peninsula the sun sparkled on calmer water and we relaxed. In the shallow anchorage there were two fishing skiffs, two sailboats and one free hurricane buoy. We did our little side-on routine to pick up the buoy and tied off. There were a bunch of people on the beach -- first nations natives who’d set up a fish camp?
With our dinghy back in the water we investigated the anchorage while looking for a reasonable place to go ashore for the little hike to the surfer beach. The books warned us about going off on a falling tide and we soon learned why. The landing spot was on the other side of a very long shallow area. We crossed several hundred yards with only two feet of water under us and decided to visit the beach the next day rather than risk having to drag the dinghy across mud, mud, and more mud. Instead we checked out another little area nerby. Tying up and scrambling ashore we spotted some colorful buoys hanging in the trees. They marked the path to a sandy little “secret” beach bounded by huge rocks. We poked around on it for a while, enjoying the quietness and protection from the seas that the rocks afforded. Going back to the big boat David spotted a hurricane buoy among the rocks. It had apparently broken free…
While David tended to boat jobs, i.e. reading and napping, I went out for a little fishing. Lots of nice sized greenlings, rockies, and even a reasonable lingcod, which I took back to show David before releasing it. In the evening the campers on the beach started at campfire so I went ashore after dinner to say hello. The “natives” were two families: Dale and Pam Beattie, Isabel (16), Taylor (14), Emma (11), from Pemberton, BC, near Whistler; and Ray and Deborah Evans, Shane (10) and Michelle (8) from Langley, BC. This was their annual fishing/camping trip. They'd hired a water taxi to bring in their supplies, including 1000 pounds of ice, a dozen or more huge coolers to hold provisions and the fish they catch, and countless big Rubbermaid tubs filled with all the necessities to keep two families comfortable for a week or more. They were a friendly group full of tales of their adventures. I mentioned the free floating mooring buoy and learned that it had broken loose the day before. It wasn’t until 11:30 that my head hit the pillow in a cloud of campfire smoke. I didn’t get much sleep because the wind had come up, and I was afraid that Mystic would tear our buoy free and we'd end up on the rocks, I spent the entire night jumping out of bed to check on the boat. At dawn I finally fell into an exhausted sleep and didn’t wake up until 10:00.
Thursday, Just 27, 2006 Columbia Cove
Sunny.
Just to be safe we cast off the supposed "hurricane" buoy and moved onto our own anchor.
With the rising tide we left the dinghy on the shore of the shallow cove and found the trail to the surfer beach. The “trail” was actually a ¼ mile uphill trek over, around and under fallen trees and massive root systems. Emerging out of the jungle we were greeted by a very long expanse of white sand beach littered with logs and other debris. There were dozens of floats lost by fishing boats, many of them had Japanese characters on them. There was also a huge white ball about four feet in diameter with massive amount of stainless steel plating and bolts fixed on one end of it. Much as we tried neither of us could figure out what it was.
Hiking back over the trail David spotted fresh bear and cougar tracks. In no time at all I was whistling as many tunes as I knew as loudly as I could. We visited a bit with the campers and invited them aboard Mystic. A nasty, howling wind suddenly came down off the nearby hills, and just like that, we were dragging anchor. At the same time the bimini was torn out of its fasteners and began flogging around on the flybridge. The guys managed to get the shredded bimini down and below deck while David and I re-anchored. Aren’t we just good the hosts!
The winds continued to sneak up on us and this time it was David who had the sleepless night.
Friday, July 28, 2006, Columbia Cove to Scow Cove (Bunsby Islands)
Sunny and bright.
Woke to find a black bear snuffling on the beach at low tide. Guess those tracks we saw yesterday really did belong to a bear! The winds calmed in the night making for a comfortable night’s rest. Went ashore to say goodbye to the campers who had packed up their camp and had moved several giant fish-filled coolers and Rubbermaid bins of supplies and equipment
Had a short little eight mile run to the Bunsbys.
Took a look at the bimini, it will be a trick to get it redeployed as most all of the fasteners on the aft end were torn out.
Windy again but went out for a little fishing anyway. Other than one very big rockfish I didn’t have much luck. Returned to the boat to find David looking rather concerned. Somehow we had lost most of our hydraulic fluid in the last day or so. The hoist, bowthruster and stabilizers are all hydraulic which meant we had a problem. We decided to mop up as much of the fluid as we could and look in the morning for any obvious leaks .
Saturday, July 29, 2006, Bunsby Islands to Walters Cove
Sunny.
Yet another bright and sunny day. After breakfast we took a dinghy ride around some of the many Bunsby islets. With so many nooks and crannies it’s easy to see how someone can get lost in there. The water was crystal clear and we enjoyed watching the bottom with all it’s fish and stars and underwater gardens of kelp.
Decided to scoot over to Walters Cove and look into the hydraulic leak. As it turned out we had no trouble bringing up the dinghy and when we tried the stabilizers they seemed just fine and didn’t lose any fluid.
Tied up at the Gov’t float and checked out the store at the top of the dock. They actually had a very good selection but their produce was limited as the provision boat Uchuck III hadn’t shown up this week. Walters Cove had the first phone we had seen since Port McNeil so I checked messages at home. The first message was from El Paseo Limo saying they had my wallet. I thought I’d forgotten it at home but it must have fallen out of my purse on the way to the airport. The next message was from Western Union regarding an order to send money out of the country and after that we from a cell phone company questioning a phone order. Next came BofA calling about suspicious activity on my visa. It appears that our limo driver found my wallet and copied down all the information from my driver’s license and visa card and started shopping online. There were tens of thousands of dollars run up in a very short time. Curiously, David had commented when we reached the airport that our limo driver had a New York mafia look. I guess he was right.
Jack and Judy on Scooter, from Bull Harbor, came in along with Chris and Jim on Heron. They were hoping to have dinner out but the restaurant was shut down. We decided to invite them all aboard Mystic for a dinner of pork tenderloin, risotto, and spinach salad. It was a lively evening that ended about 11:00.
Sunday, July 30, 2006, Walters Cove to Queen Cove
Gray and rainy.
Had a smooth, calm ride to Queen Cove. Launched the dinghy, put out the crab pot and jigged a bit off the cove entrance. Caught one fair sized rock cod and that was it. We are far enough south now and our satellite TV is working again – just in time to watch the Bank of the West final. (Clisters won handily)
Monday, July 31, 2006, Queen Cove to Critter Cove
Cloudy and foggy.
Pulled up the crab pot that had only baby Dungeness in it (again)! David raised the anchor only to find that we had hooked a very heavy old cable on one fluke. He was able to release it by running a line through the loop in the cable and then lowering the anchor enough to put the weight of the cable on the line. Then he freed the line and the cable dropped back to the bottom of the sea. Let’s hope no other boat hooks it!
As we passed Cove Creek in Hecate Channel we came on a youth summer camp. An aluminum boat towing a large inner-tube piled high with kids in brightly colored life jackets was zigzagging around the channel giving the kids an exciting ride. For extra fun the driver cut back and forth over our wake and one unlucky camper bounced out into the 61 degree water. The boat turned around, retrieved the swimmer, and they were off again.
Critter Cove turned out to be a large sport fishing operation. This mostly floating lodge offers rooms on the docks and a few cabins on land for rent, and instead of an assigned parking spot they have assigned moorage. Just step from your room into your fish boat – an interesting concept.
We anchored in a snug little cove behind the marina. On one side of us was a rickety old floating cabin with fish boats tied to it and on the other side was a smart looking brand new floating cabin We worked on getting the bimini back on top of the fly bridge. David had put grommets into the aft edge of the canvas and I tied a piece of line through each one, fastening it to whatever piece of steel was available.
I tried to line up a fishing charter but would have to pay $400 for a five hour trip when all I wanted was an hour or two to show me how to fish for salmon. One guy did give me some pointers though and after losing my camera in the drink while getting out of the dinghy (!) I went out for the late afternoon fish. Of the dozens of fish boats trolling in Tlupana Inlet mine was the smallest, and it was the only one without downriggers or a man on board. I must have been a spectacle. They stared at me so much that I really wanted the satisfaction of catching a fish, but the salmon gods weren’t smiling on me. I don’t think they were smiling on the other boats either as there were few fish caught that night.
We had dinner at the Critter Cove restaurant. David enjoyed chicken fajitas while I had a tasty burger in a soggy bun. Can’t recommend the apple blueberry crisp as it was made with applesauce and was downright miserable. Our first meal in a while and we really preferred eating on board.
Critter Cove has an internet connection, $3 for 15 minutes (text only, no pictures please), so I took my notebook ashore and grabbed our first email in nearly two weeks.
Tuesday, August 1, 2006, Critter Cove to Friendly Cove
Fog and Rain. 
Finished getting the bimini reattached just before a brief rain set in. It’s not the most elegant solution but it works. Back into the marina to send off emails and up came the anchor for a short nine-mile run to Friendly Cove. Scooter was already there, having arrived the night before from Tahsis. Jack and Judy had been halibut fishing in the morning and managed to hook a salmon just as they were headed back to the boat. We enjoyed a delicious salmon dinner aboard Scooter that night.
We went ashore with Jack and Judy for a tour of the Nootka lighthouse and the Indian-owned and operated Catholic Church. Coast guardsman Kip greeted up as we tied up to their little float. Kip then pulled the whole works to some concrete steps built on the rocks and we stepped off. He led up a very long and fairly steep ramp to the station. Kip and the other light keeper, Mark, briefed us on the operation. In addition to the light station, there were two fairly large residences for the keepers and their families. After twenty years of light houses Kip’s wife had given up and divorced him. Mark’s wife on the other hand loved the life. She had managed to put in a small vegetable garden and was proud of the one small pepper it had produced so far. All supplies for the station come in by helicopter that landed on a smallish wooden landing pad close by. DishTV and high-speed internet makes light-keeping life comfortable. Kip said his wifi network was open and we were welcome to use it if we had wifi on the boat. What a treat for us to go online later that day.
On to the church: Jack had a broken bone in his foot, so rather than make the trek from the light house to the church he moved his dingy around to the native float and joined us on the beach. Sanford, the local native carver, charged him ten dollars to tie to his float which was really just a bunch of logs tied together with a few boards over them here and there. Getting back to the dinghy from the beach was a cross between walking the plank and a log rolling contest. Sanford told us where we could see a nearby totem (carved in 1919) so we took a look. The totem had fallen down and was about 24 feet long, half its original length, but beautifully carved. There were still signs of paint here and there. The blackberry brambles had closed in on one end and would take over completely were it not for tourists like us. The Catholic church was on the top of a hill and as we approached we were met by another native who charged us $10 each to visit it. The insides were in a state of disrepair and as one woman said, “For $10 you’d think they could sweep the floor.” Even so, the whole experience was interesting.
Wednesday, August 2, 2006, Friendly Cove to Hot Springs Cove.
Sunny Day 
Hot Springs Cove turned out to be a busy little place. Opposite the anchorage was a small native community of about 100 people. They had no services whatsoever and had to take the water taxi Tofino just to buy a can of peas. The government dock on the other side provided access to the marine park and the hot springs. Water taxis and sea planes loaded with tourists wanting a warm soak arrived continuously. The planes landed right next to the boat and the first time one came in we thought we were about to be run down.
Scooter and Heron both appeared and we made a plan to walk to the hot springs in the evening after most of the tourists were gone. The path to the springs was absolutely fantastic as BC Parks had built a two kilometer boardwalk that was a masterpiece. The foundation so well built that there were no hills to climb – just a few steps. There were no sharp angles – only “soldier and sailor” curves. Here and there along the boardwalk were name-boards customized by visiting yachts. Some were simple and carved on- the-spot, but most were works of art created at home in workshops, perhaps over the long winter. The boat’s names was inscribed on the board with the same typeface and treatment that appeared on the boat. The RVYC had a millennium cruise to Hot Springs Cove and had brought a name board for each participating boat, perhaps two dozen in all. We will be making our own Mystic board to add to the boardwalk on our next visit.
The hot springs were pleasant, not quite like the ones we experienced in Alaska, and still quite busy at 8 p.m. We all enjoyed our outing.
Thursday, August 3, 2006, Hot Springs Cove to Young Bay
Another warm day.
We went back to the boardwalk to take photos before heading for a lunch hook at Hootla Kootla just around the corner. HK was a windy spot so we moved on to Young Bay. I spent the afternoon fishing while David “read” and did some boat jobs. Heron came in to show off a giant Red Snapper Jim had caught. They invited us to share it but we already had a Raclette meal organized and invited them to join us. Another pleasant evening.
Friday, August 4, 2006, Young Bay to West Whitepine Cove
Sunshine.
We anchored in the outer cove and a good thing we did since the inner cove was really shallow and open to lots of wind. Our little nook was perfect for us and within minutes of setting the anchor we spotted a black bear on the beach really close to us. David started snapping away and when the bear began to wander off he jumped into the dinghy and with a push-off from me drifted towards the bear. Can’t wait to see his photos. Grilled beef tenderloin for dinner and had a nice evening -- just the two of us.
Saturday, August 5, 2006 West Whitepine to Tofino
Arrived in Tofino to find there was no room at the inn. Anchored in a very swirly, currenty area. Piepot tried to help with moorage and hydraulic info.
Sunday, August 06, 2006, Tofino to Kennedy Cove
Kennedy river, water slide, no fishing, sockeye starting to run.
Monday, August 07, 2006, Kennedy Cove to Tranquilito Cove
Snug little spot, big enough for one boat. Steep rock walls. Head of inlet went from sixty feet to four feet with nothing in between. For some reason this was the eeriest anchorage thus far.
Tuesday, August 8, 2006, Tranquilito Cove to Tofino
Before Piepot plunged into the 53 degree sea he stood looking at the water for about the length of time it takes to say three Hail Mary’s which is what I assumed he was doing. David later said that he was doing some breathing exercise that divers normally do. Anyway, one quick look at the prop and Piepot surfaced announcing it was a “piece of cake”. What is it about the French and cake…Marie Antoinette… Before long Piepot had the offending rope in hand along with another float that had wedged between the rudder post and hull. Since he was already in the water he did a quick survey of the bottom and let us know that the stabilizers were fine, the zincs looked good and so did the bottom paint.
Back on board Mystic David offered our diver a glass of wine. He asked if we had rum and settled for a shot of whiskey. Luckily for him, he didn’t ask for a refill as it was an airplane size freebie that we just happened to have on board . Luckily for us, Piepot only charged us $50. David gave him $75 in appreciation for his help.
Went to dinner at The Shelter and finally had an excellent meal out. Back on Mystic, David was musing about where we had anchored and how well the hook would hold given the full-moon spring tides that night. With a glance at the fuel dock he got an idea and buzzed over to inquire about overnight moorage. With a wink the woman working the cash register said that they closed at 9:00 and wouldn’t know if a boat came in after they’d left. She also said they opened at 6:30 a.m. but the first person to arrive came at 6:15. We upped the anchor and were tied to the fuel dock at 8:45, just in time to buy $160 worth of diesel before they closed. After 9:00 I used the huge gushing fresh water hose on the dock to give Mystic a quick, well-needed rinse before going to bed.
Wednesday, August 9, 6006 Tofino to Ucluelet
David’s alarm went off at 5:45. We were showered and dressed and off the fuel dock at 6:14. It was a lumpy ride to Ucluelet. I finally bought a sturdy new crab pot at the Co-Op to replace old ratty one that was held together with cable ties and office binder clips. As I was checking out the guy behind me commented that someone had stolen his pot just the day before. He guessed that the locals could spot a “gringo” pot by it’s shiny float and would just helped themselves. With that in mind, I stopped at The Wreckage, a shop cum museum that specialized in nautical junk. I found a ratty old float and took it to the check out counter. The woman behind the counter must have been nearly ninety years old and looked like a genuine sea hag. She said she sells the floats for ten dollars and that mine was missing a short piece of rope which she includes in the deal. I told her I didn’t need the rope and that ten dollars was way too much. She insisted that she always sells the floats with the rope, and so the conversation went. I eventually left The Wreckage with the float, and minus the rope and two dollars.
Back at the dock, our neighbors who were about to jump off for Mexico gave us a big bag of crab bait that looked like dog food. I scooped some out and went round the corner to set the pot.
Thursday, August 10, Ucluelet
Spent the day cleaning the boat, doing laundry, and other boat jobs. After leaving a message for the Lopp’s at their B&B we went to dinner at Roman’s. Larry and Nancy showed up and had dinner with us.
Friday, August 11, 2006 Ucluelet to Effingham Bay
Provisioned and took off at noon. Nancy brought one of her old Sony cameras for me to use and gave me a quick lesson on its operation. How nice to be able to photograph again.
Saturday, August 12, 2006 Effingham Bay to Nettle Island
Fished the evening fish just outside the Pac Rim Park. Caught a huge big rockfish on the first plunk. The second time my line went down I had the biggest hit of the entire trip. As my luck has been, I lost the fish before even seeing what had taken the bait. Perhaps a big lingcod or halibut! I was sorry to lose the fish (and lure) but excited by the strike and made plans to go out for the morning fish.
Sunday, August 13, 2006 Nettle Island to Refuge Island
Today I got a full Darwin Award for trying to collect mussels on the islets outside Nettle Island and slipping on the rocks. I was so determined to keep Nancy’s camera from going in the drink as I slid that I lost my good sunglasses. Darn it all anyway! Getting back into the dinghy I noticed that one knee of my jeans was bloody. Somehow I managed to cut my knee without damaging the denim. Closer inspection back at the boat revealed a deep gash that had turned back a vary large flap of flesh, yet not a bit of pain. The wound was a good candidate for stitches but the nearest clinic was hours away. As I was cleaning the wound the warden came by in his launch. His had steri-strips in his sizeable first aid kit and I was able to close the flap fairly well.The four of us went up Lucky Creek at high tide and climbed up the rocks to a pretty series of waterfalls. The setting was beautiful, took lots of photos while enjoying the scenery. Getting back into the dinghy I stupidly put weight on my bum knee that resulted in a very bloody mess. I re-bandaged and noted I’d earned a additional half-Darwin.
Monday, August 14, 2006, Refuge Island to The Pinkertons, The Broken Group
Sunny
We spotted bears on the beach at low tide this morning! Also saw a huge seal feeding on salmon. He actually seemed to toy with them by tossing the fish into the air once or twice before downing it whole in one big gulp!
Made a big one hour (!) trip to the Pinkertons, a very shallow area punctuated by lots of dangerous rocks. Nosed around in the dinghy into areas that almost seemed to be swampy bayous. Put out the crap trap but the dry spell continued. Much the same with fishing!
Crab cakes for dinner made from the crab retrieved from the Tofino prop-pot.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006 The Pinkertons to Joe’s Bay, Turtle Island, The Broken Group
Sunny
Joe’s Bay is a big anchorage surrounded by several of islands and islets with lots of room. There were several boats anchored as well as fifteen or twenty kayaks. We had a dinghy ride around Willis Island and stretched our legs on the beach at Dodd Island. Joe’s Bay was calm and pleasantWatched “While You Were Sleeping”, the first movie we’ve seen in weeks.
Wednesday, August 16,2006, Joe’s Bay to Ucluelet
Foggy and cool
Back to the dock. Tidied up a bit while the Lopps had a little driving tour of Ucluelet. A new American Tug came in, and finding no open dock space, rafted to us. I had to chuckle because the boat had both bow and stern thrusters on 41 feet. Big overkill. That said, she came in sideways.
Nancy and I had laughed as we did the TP test to determine which brand of toilet paper was best suited to boat heads! In a nutshell: one sheet of paper in a jar of water, shake five times. If it disintegrates it passes the test. Findings: all these years of very expensive and very rough “third world” marine paper was a waste, so to speak. The high-quality, non-marine paper broke down much faster. NancyJo documented the experiment in her watercolor journal. We must have been a little bored to conduct such a test!
The Lopps took us to dinner at Mattersons.
Thursday, August 17, Ucluelet to Dodger Channel, Diana Island (Bamfield)
Foggy a.m. Sunny p.m.
We said good bye to the Lopps and were about to head out when David noticed that we were again losing steering fluid at the pressure relief valve in the lazerette. He had already talked to the guys at the factory who said that they would have to replace the seal but that hw could bypass the valve. So there we were, both of us on our bellies in the lazarette, bypassing the failed valve. It actually turned out to be a fairly simple job.
Before we cast off we had a tour of the new American Tug that had rafted to us. She was only a week old and smelled it – so fresh and new. It was a spacious little boat with lots of features and excellent use of space for her size.
Ran the seventeen miles to Dodger Channel and were pleasantly surprised at the anchorage. Calm, nice beaches, lots of nooks and crannies. Having given up on salmon I went bottom fishing (again!). Every time I my lure to the bottom it came up with a big rockfish, a greenling or the occasional, slightly undersized, but fun-to-catch, lingcod.
Friday, August 18, 2006, Dodger Channel to Sooke
Foggy, Sunny
Early 6:30 start. Lots of salmon boats trolling back and forth. Pea soup the whole way with fog so thick that we couldn’t see a thing. Coming on watch took a quick adjustment because there was no horizon. Had a couple of close calls as we approached Port Renfrew. Small runabouts racing flat out came up on radar and even though we changed course they came right at us. No radar, no radio, no nada. One guy was so surprised when he saw us come out of the fog that he came to a crash stop. He probably had to change his lucky brown pants. The small fish boats don't realize that we can’t turn on a moment’s notice.(We weigh nearly 100,000 pounds. Hello!)This was a good day for marine life. First, we saw some dolphins, something we hadn’t seen in a while. Then, as the fog began to lift, David spotted a baby seal in the water not far from the boat. At first we thought it was dead but as we passed it began flipping its fins and eventually swam a few feet below the surface. Lastly, we came on a pod of ten to twelve rambunctious Orcas and slowed the boat to watch. The whales gave a delightful display of spy-hopping, tail slapping and even leaping right out of the water.
Arrived in Sooke Harbour after an 8.5 hour, 75 mile run, tired and weary from the stress of hand-steering more than six hours in heavy fog.
Sunny and warm
Leaving Sooke our radar screen was speckled with little green dots for several miles as we wove our way through a sea of more than two hundred boats filled weekend fisherman hoping to bring home supper.
