Port Angeles to Whidbey July 7 (HOME)

We are home!

Bamfield to Port Angeles - July 6

Up at 4 am to listen to weather report and we both agree that today is the day to transit Juan de Fuca.  We wait for first light and have the anchor up and are underway a few minutes before 5. 
Our objective is Port Angeles which is 92 miles away.  When your boat speed is 7 knots, 92 miles is a long way to go.  We will start out pushing against an ebb tide until 1:30 this afternoon, so for the first 8 hours we hope to average at least 6 knots covering 42 nautical miles.  The last 50 miles will be with a significant flood current so our speed should increase substantially and with luck we might average 8 knots. 
We leave Bamfield in calm winds and calm seas.  There is an ocean swell from the west but it is well spaced and inside of an hour we have made a turn to the south that puts the swells on our stern.  As we enter the Strait, the water is like glass and we make better time than we had hoped.  In the late afternoon as we are approaching Port Angeles, we start to see whales!  These are humpbacks and we see 7 or 8 close by the boat.  By 5 pm, the wind has started to kick up and we are grateful to have had such a good run.
Port Angeles is a major shipping port and there are no good places to anchor.  We call the harbor master and are told that the guest dock is full but he has a space for us on another dock.  We work our way into the back of the marina past many old boat houses and old boats that seem a bit forlorn.  We have been assigned a space where we will be the only boat.  Given the strong winds, we are glad to have the extra room to get into the dock.  We are quickly tied up for the night. 
We will listen to weather again in the morning and with luck will make it to Whidbey tomorrow.

Bamfield July 5

Yes, the wind is still blowing.  Last night the local Fish & Game Constabulary pulled up along side our boat and made sure we had all the appropriate paperwork.  They noted the large fish net in the companionway and asked if we were fishing.  We explained that we are not (and we don't have a Canadian license) but Barrie explained that the net is really a CRD (Cat Rescue Device).  So far we have not had to use it.  Fish & Game said they were doing checks on the inside because it was blowing so hard on the outside.  We asked if they had any insight into when it might be safe for transit.  So far, everyone agrees that tomorrow is a strong possibility. 

I take time this morning to scrub the boat down a bit and wash windows.  I expect that won't last for long but it feels good to have a clean boat.  As the day progresses, we see more boats anchored in the harbor.  It looks like folks are positioning to tackle Juan de Fuca.  If the weather forecast holds, we will take off just after first light and perhaps go as far an Port Angeles - a long run of over 90 miles.  There are only a couple of places to duck out of the Strait but we will keep them in mind as we go. 

Now we are in town at the library using the internet and waiting for the Chamber Music rehearsal to start.  Then back to boat for dinner and early to bed.

Internet has been very hard to come by on this trip but we are once again caught up.

Bamfield July 4

According to the weather gods, the wind is still blowing.  According to the fishermen, it is too rough to fish and the fish aren't biting anyway.  According to us, it is a good day to hunker down with a good book! 

Barrie spends the entire day on the boat working on small projects and reading.  In the afternoon, I lower my kayak and first paddle to the east side of town (this side is connected by dirt road to the real world) and take a walk.  As I am tying up my kayak, I hear of two Coast Guard rescues in the Broken Islands.  One for a group of kayakers and one for a small private boat.  I walk first to along the road to Port Desire and stop at the local information to learn about Robert Bruce Scott - a Scott who worked the telegraph here for many years and ultimately had a large hand in creating the National Park that incorporates this area.  I then walk out to the Bamfield Marine Science Center - part of UVic.  The Rix Center is where the annual Music Festival is being held this week.  I would love to go, but the concerts don't start until 8:30 and getting to and from the boat in the wind and dark is not an appealing idea.  But there is a rehearsal tomorrow that we can attend.

I head back to my kayak and in a great deal of wind, paddle across the channel to the west side of town.  This is the side we docked on yesterday.  I tie up the kayak and again walk the boardwalk to the well-supplied General Store.  This time I have a bag of paperback novels we have read.  I use them as trading stock at the community book exchange and find several books that look interesting.  One titled Miss Savidge Moves Her House - now that could be interesting.  It is the first book I begin to read when I return to the boat and I am done by bedtime.

Today is the fourth of July.  No fireworks on this day in Canada!  But we do think about the meaning of independence and hope our country can survive this election cycle.

Nettle Island to Bamfield July 3

Woke up this morning to SUNSHINE.  Our night at anchor was much calmer than we expected and this morning the sea is glass, the clouds are puffy and we are enjoying a cup of coffee as listen to the weather.  As calm as it is in here, Environment Canada still says it is blowing a gale out there.  The forecast is for winds in excess of 35 knots tonight.

Our plan this morning it to move the boat just 9 miles to Bamfield Inlet.  This is the most common jumping off point for most boats headed around the point and down Juan de Fuca Strait.  The long range forecast says the front is moving and that by Tuesday the winds will be diminishing.  If conditions look good, we will make the leap on Tuesday.  Still undecided about our destination.  We could head to Port Angeles (92 nm) or Victoria (a little closer).  There are only a couple of spots in between to duck in off the Strait - so we will see.  If not Tuesday then maybe Wednesday.

That gives us a couple of days here to catch up on things that require internet and also to sort out the boat after a month aboard.  We arrived at Bamfield at about 10 am and were met on the dock by Jim Morrison who recognized our boat.  He knows Larry Determan and also Curtis Oswald (who sold us the boat.)  We docked in the first open spot (using a port tie) only to learn that it is reserved.  So we moved across the fairway to the next open spot (using a starboard tie).  Lots of moving of fenders and lines but Jim was on the dock to help and that was nice.

We walk the boardwalk (the only "road" on the west side of town) and have a salmon burger dockside.  We decide to anchor out (and save $40) just a few feet off the dock.  Our first try hits rocks but the second try sticks fast.  We will listen to the weather tonight and see if there is an opening for transiting the Strait.

Nettle Island to Nettle Island July 2

Our friends Neil and Lynn Parker from Navigator (KK 48) are cruising this summer in Alaska.  When I learned they were in Sitka, I sent them an email telling them not to miss dining at Ludwig’s Bistro.  In return, they sent me an email telling me not to miss Pipestem Inlet and Lucky Creek in Barkley Sound.

This morning we left Nettle Island and worked our way back into the narrow reaches of Pipestem Inlet.  It must be beautiful with tall steep cliffs – but we saw very little because of the low cloud ceiling.  On our way back, we stopped at Refuge Island and I put my kayak in the water while Barrie worked on projects on the boat.  We arrived near noon at high tide and the surface of the water was almost glass.  I paddled to the head of Lucky Creek and tied my kayak to a tree on shore.  The path to the waterfall at the head of the creek is well-worn with semi-permanent rope aids in the steep sections and easy to navigate.  At about the halfway point on the hike to the three-tiered falls, an Australian couple was admiring the view.   They have been sailing the world for nine years and we agreed that the west coast of Vancouver Island is lovely but not nearly as rugged as we both had imagined.  

Back at the boat, Barrie helped stow the kayak before we sat down to lunch.  The winds are expected to howl again tonight.  The forecast today started at 10 knots and by midnight could reach 30 knots.  We consider heading back to Joe’s Bay but tomorrow morning’s low tide is 0.6 feet and we don’t want to try and navigate that passage in water that shallow.  We head back to Nettle Island and find we have more company than last night.  We drop the anchor near the northwest shore and let out nearly 200 feet of chain in just over 50 feet of water.  We are at mid-tide so the water will go up several feet and down even more feet before we depart tomorrow. 

We spend time catching up on the blog and reading about how to survive transiting Juan de Fuca Strait.  According to all the books, we are headed in the best direction.  With the wind at our back and a flood current we could actually make average 10 knots or more.  Pretty good for a Knot-so Swift boat.

Joe’s Bay to Nettle Island July 1

This morning the sky is overcast with light rain falling.  We decide to work our way back to Effingham Bay and hike a small trail to an old Indian Village Site.  We arrive at Effingham Bay in much calmer waters and anchor securely.  It is still raining and we are reluctant to launch the dinghy and go to shore.  An hour or two later, the clouds have lifted a bit and we make good on our original plan.  We tie-up to a rock and wade through shallow water to find the start to the trail.  By the time we return, we will be walking on dry land.  A sneaker hanging from a tree marks the trail head.  Every few feet we find another trail marker, often an old plastic bottle with Japanese writing.  We wonder if these washed ashore after the tsunami.  The scenery is beautiful but the walk is challenging.  We have to negotiate getting over many large downed trees and lots of oozy mud.  The Village Site can only be imagined – there are no remnants of buildings and certainly nothing as precious as a totem pole.

 

We create a detailed route on our Rosepoint Coastal Explorer Software to get from Effingham Bay to Nettles Island.  The tide is going out and many rocks are beginning to come into view.  We are both in the pilothouse watching our progress while the Simrad autopilot steers the course.  We both notice that we have become dangerously close to the rocks and that is when we see that the software has stopped responding.  Barrie quickly engages the standby mode and steers us clear of the rocks while I try to figure out what might have happened.  I quickly grab the ipad that is running Navionics and give it to Barrie so he can continue to steer.  I am forced to restart the computer to get things functioning again.  We don’t know why this happened and until we can figure it out, we will need to be extra vigilant.  

Nettles Island is Pacific Rim Park Headquarters and in the southeast corner of the bay is a float home that serves the rangers.  There are already two boats in this cove when we arrive but there is plenty of swing room and drop the anchor in front of the ranger’s house.  A bit later another boat joins us.  It is clear that Barkley Sound has much more pleasure boat use than the other places we have visited on the West Coast.