Vancouver Island Circumnavigation - Summer 2018

[VicTrawler]

Captain's Log, July 5th, 2018:

We left our anchorage in Nanaimo on June 30th and headed to French Creek Marina (near Parksville) to visit with friends and Eden's family (that's where she grew up). Eden's brother-in-law's uncle has a nice chunk of land and threw a huge party for Canada Day, including a bonfire and an outdoor beer-pong table! Needless to say, we had a great time.

When I sent the last update via HF radio, the transmission went through Watsonville, CA (near San Francisco) and it took eight minutes to transmit, so it consumed quite a bit of power. The radio is wired to the same battery that supplies our bow thruster, so when we were in the process of docking in French Creek, we found out just how much charge was left in that battery (hint: not much). Docking Halcyon in the wind without a bow thruster is very tricky because she has significant windage due to her height, but I managed to figure it out and we tied up without a scratch.

French Creek Marina is "interesting" in that there are no individual slips assigned to transient boaters. When it's busy, which is most of the time, the boats can get two and three wide. In our case, we tied up to an aluminum fishing boat which was tied to a large sailboat.

On July 2nd, the owner of the fishing boat decided he wanted to go fishing, even though it was blowing 30 kts. I knew that if we untied Halcyon in 30 kts of wind, we'd have no control whatsoever. I told him that the only way we could do it is if we first put lines across to the sailboat. We could then untie from him and he could slip out from between us and the sailboat. He agreed to the plan and we got a couple of other guys to help with the lines.

So, fishing boat guy started his engine, and so did we. As we were in the process of organizing our lines, he just decided to start driving away! We had no lines to the sailboat and we were still partially tied to him! I managed to throw a line to a guy waiting on the sailboat and rapidly untied from the fishing boat while he politely shouted "sorry" and continued driving away. We ended up bouncing off of three boats but fortunately there was minimal damage as we had all of our fenders out and so did everyone else. The only casualty was a solar panel on a sailboat that was parked in front of us; our anchor caught the back of the solar panel and it cracked. At the end of the day, given what happened, losing a $100 solar panel was a pretty good outcome. I spoke with the fishing boat owner after the fact and he was apologetic but still had no good explanation for why he did what he did. The owner of the sailboat with the broken solar panel is going after the fishing boat owner for the cost of a new solar panel.

That evening, three sailboats showed up in the marina and had nowhere to park, so Eden and I jumped into action and moved a small sailboat over to make room for them. We would soon get to know all of them and ended up going to South Ballenas Island with them the next day (July 3rd). On the way out of the marina, one of them caught some salmon, and later a friend of theirs came out from Nanoose and a bunch of the guys went spear fishing. They came back with huge scallops and sea urchin, and they also had oysters and shrimp that were bought locally. Of course, one of the boat owners was also formerly a chef, so we ended up partaking in an incredible seafood feast of salmon sushi, bacon-wrapped scallops, breaded oysters, and so much more! Talk about meeting the right people. We finished off the evening with a bonfire on the beach.

Unfortunately two of the three sailboats are headed home (we'll get in touch in the future, they live in Victoria), but one of them is also circumnavigating the island, so we'll probably rendez-vous with him as we head further north.

Today we anchored in a quiet bay off of Lasqueti Island (Boho Bay), and, weather permitting, tomorrow we'll try for Tribune Bay on Hornby Island.

---

The only casualty of the French Creek fiasco:

The feast with new friends:

 

[VicTrawler]

Captain's Log, July 8th 2018:

We departed Boho Bay on July 5th and made some good progress toward the north. Before doing so, however, we made a small detour back to French Creek to pick up a crab trap for Eden's brother-in-law, Tony, who had to leave it behind a few days prior due to a mechanical problem with his boat.

We searched for about 10 minutes and eventually found a float that matched the description. The heavy trap came up with two good sized Dungeness crab (one of which I had for lunch today).

After landing the trap, we checked the forecast and decided to make a long run north, covering 55 nautical miles and arriving at Gowlland Harbour on Quadra Island just after sunset. We shared the large anchorage with a 120 foot yacht, "Scorpio," and another nice-sized older yacht whose name we didn't get.

Eden spent the next day visiting with Stacey (her sister) and the kids, while I caught up on some boat projects (getting the watermaker running, among other things). I joined them and Tony for a hot-dog roast at Rebecca Spit on the other side of Quadra, and we called it a night pretty early.

This morning we departed at 11:30 to catch the slack tide through Seymour Narrows. Though we got there a bit early, the flood wasn't very strong and we still made 4.5 knots through the Narrows, which eventually turned to an ebb and pushed us to our first destination in the Discovery Islands, Handfield Bay. We were actually here in 2016 and enjoyed the nearly landlocked calmness of the anchorage, so decided to come back a second time.

We're sharing the anchorage with one other boat, "Theory," from Seattle. We just had them over for a drink. Bob's an airline pilot with United (he was being modest, his business card says he's the Chief of Flight Operations), and his wife just retired after running her own finance business. You can probably guess that they have a nice boat. They might tag along with us tomorrow when we head just a few miles northeast to check out Frederick Arm.

This is the first time we have zero cell phone coverage or Internet, so this email is definitely going out over the HF radio. If the world's ending, please send a reply. Would like to know in case we should start conserving diesel! =)

---

Our crab haul:

New friends at Handfield Bay:

 

[VicTrawler]

Captain's Log, July 12th, 2018:

At the last update we were in Handfield Bay and had made some friends with "Theory," our neighbours in the anchorage. The next morning, we went our separate ways.

Eden and I went a couple miles north into Frederick Arm to attempt to dinghy up a river into a large lake that is apparently good for swimming. Unfortunately the tide wasn't in our favour and we couldn't get the dinghy up the river. Instead we had lunch on Halcyon while watching several bald eagles hang out on the beach.

When we weighed anchor, we pulled up an old logging cable in the process. Fortunately it wasn't firmly attached to anything or else we'd be down an anchor. Eden was able to get the cable off with a boat hook and we were on our way to a stop that was familiar to us from a couple years ago; Shoal Bay. The family runs a large homestead with cabins and a bar out of the kitchen in the main house. This year there happened to be a couple from Slovakia that was working there in exchange for room and board. They both spoke excellent English and we talked a lot about the differences between our cultures. They were mostly shocked about the homeless / drug situation that they'd seen in Vancouver, Seattle, Victoria, and Nanaimo. Apparently it's not as out in the open where they're from.

The next day we left Shoal Bay for Blind Channel Resort, which was just around the corner. Though we're trying to avoid marinas as much as possible, we needed to get our laundry done, so that was our excuse. Behind the resort are some hiking trails that take you to a huge cedar tree that managed to avoid being cut down along with all the others (thanks to a conservation effort). Unfortunately our lunch leaked out of our backpack so that made the hike a little less enjoyable. Nothing more pleasant than salad dressing running down your pants.

After leaving Blind Channel, we ran the last two rapids, going north, and pulled into Forward Harbour. We were going to head further north, to Port Neville, but the forecast called for 30 kts in Johnstone Strait, so we called it early and settled into the anchorage just before 10am. Fortunately we got there as early as we did, because by the time the sun had set, there were easily a dozen boats in the fairly small bay. We had a nice hike from the head of the anchorage to the channel on the other side, bear bells and all, but otherwise it was a pretty quiet day.

This morning we left Forward Habour at 7:30am to probe Johnstone Strait to get an idea of how bad the wind was getting. It seemed fairly calm, actually, so we detoured over to Yorke Island to tour an old military installation that was last used to guard against German ships coming south through the inside during WWII. Pretty neat place and we had it all to ourselves. Lots of buildings are still standing, as well as two huge gun turrets.

After leaving Yorke Island about an hour later, we pounded into some 2-4 foot waves and about 20 kts of wind, to Port Neville. Port Neville is basically a (free) government dock that leads to an old store/post office that was closed in 1960. Amazingly there's been nobody but us at the dock all day, but the wind has been relentless. It might simmer down to 20 kts (from 30) overnight, but they're calling for 40 kts tomorrow afternoon. We're going to make a quick 15 mile run to Port Harvey tomorrow morning and then we'll be done with Johnstone Strait and its notorious winds.

That's all for now. If all goes well, the next update will be from Blackfish Sound or the Broughton Islands.

---

Yours truly, admiring a large tree at Blind Channel:

Yorke Island:

Halcyon anchored across the dock at Port Neville (we later moved the boat to the dock):

A small cruise ship traveling the Inside Passage:

 

[VicTrawler]

Captain's Log, July 20th, 2018:

Apologies for the delay since the last update. I've tried to send one out a few times over the last little while but the HF radio wasn't working too well with the steep cliffs all around us in both the anchorages and marinas.

So we got an early start out of Port Neville and ducked out into the Johnstone Strait around 7 AM. Good thing we got the early start because it was already starting to blow, but the waves weren't too bad. After less than an hour, we were into Port Harvey where we anchored just outside the marina.

Port Harvey's not the most scenic place anymore. Just across from the marina, and about 200 yards from where we were anchored, a major construction project was underway to build a marine railway that will allow for barges to be pulled from the water and repaired. The marina, itself, suffered a blow last year when their floating restaurant/office sunk. They have since rebuilt but they're only partially operational and hoping to get everything back up and running next year. We dinghied in, hoping to grab some lunch at the new restaurant, but it was only open to customers that were actually moored at the marina, which happened to be occupied by nearly 20 boats from the Tacoma Yacht Club. Regardless, we were asked to pay $10 to tie up the dinghy and have access to the hiking trails, which we did. We spent only about 30 minutes walking a trail along the shoreline, but managed to collect a good number of huckleberries for Eden's muffin recipe (probably not $10 worth). When we got back, the staff asked us if we had seen the grizzly that had been roaming around lately; umm, no, but thanks for the heads up!

We slept that night to the drone of the generator at the construction site, and got an early start heading to Kwatsi Bay. We took the inside route, avoiding Johnstone Strait, but still felt nearly the full force of the forecasted 40 knots as we exited the west end of Chatham Channel (Chatham being one of the two ships in Vancouver's expedition). In the gusts, we lost some laundry overboard, as well as a couple of screens that were held onto our portlights with magnets. The laundry was a minor loss (a couple pairs of underwear) and I had made the screens myself, so we can rebuild.

Kwatsi Bay was the polar opposite of Port Harvey. It's an incredible floating dock at the end of a long inlet, surrounding by tall cliffs and no other hint of civilization outside of the marina. Max and Anka have run the place for several decades, and told stories of orca chasing seals right into the marina. Max was actually stuck in Port McNeill because of the winds, so Anka was our host for the night. A common theme among the marinas in the Broughtons is to hold either a pot luck dinner or happy hour in which all of the boaters are invited to participate. This night was a pot luck dinner and we made many friends, in particular two couples on sailboats, one from Oak Bay and the other from Cortes Island.

Some of the more experienced boaters described Kwatsi Bay as a "sticky dock," meaning it's hard to leave. We definitely felt the stickiness and decided to turn our planned one-night stay into two. We joined about 10 others and went for a short hike to a nearby waterfall, but otherwise had a lazy day. That night was a happy hour and we hung out with all the other boaters that were suffering from the Kwatsi Bay stickiness. We also learned, before leaving, that the owners had decided to put the marina up for sale. Asking price? Reportedly $200,000. Hard to believe, but the land is all leased, and we didn't get the details as to the status of the lease, or what other major work was required on the property. Still, what can you get for $200,000 these days?

The next day we left for Sullivan Bay, basically a floating village that, in the 1940's, had been towed in from a different bay. Back then, the floating homes were all towed from bay to bay as the logging sites changed location. Just as we were entering Sullivan Bay, we were passed by a beautiful 72-foot yacht named "Wishlist." I could have stayed in front of him and forced him to follow us into the marina, but decided to ease off and "let the bigger boat win," so to speak. I said to Eden that we would have to find a way to get invited aboard Wishlist for drinks, you know, to award us for our courteousness on the water.

As expected, Sullivan Bay held a happy hour gathering. This one was kind of special, in that it was one the boaters' birthdays. His wife organized an impromptu birthday party by planting gifts at every table, which we all presented to Gary, the birthday boy, though we had never met him before. It was pretty hilarious and Gary clearly enjoyed his moment in the spotlight, though I imagine he would've told his wife not to do it, if she had mentioned the idea to him. Conveniently, the crew of Wishlist grabbed a seat at our table.

Sullivan Bay's happy hours have a unique twist. During the festivities, they invite the guests to hit a golf ball off the end of a dock at a moored golf green which is about four feet wide, and at varying distances from the dock, depending on winds and currents. That day it was only about 30 yards away. Just about everyone took a shot at it, and we all missed, but the closest shot at least got a free apple turnover the next day. Eden actually missed it by only a couple of yards. One of the Wishlist crew took a few swings wearing six-inch platform shoes, and came pretty close to the green, herself. I don't know if you've ever seen someone swing a 7-iron in platform shoes, but it's a fine line between hitting a golf ball and breaking your ankle, or in this case, falling into 55 degree water.

Needless to say, after chatting over a couple more drinks and getting to know everyone, we ended up over on Wishlist and hung out until after midnight. I had to laugh when they had to run a second 50 Amp shore power cable because the outdoor electric heater popped the first 50 Amp shore power breaker. I don't know where Sullivan Bay gets its power from, but they must've had a large generator working overtime that night.

The next morning we got our pre-ordered apple turnover and cinnamon bun and headed out to a quiet anchorage at Turnbull Cove, about eight miles away. While there we hiked to a lake and picked salmon berries for the next round of muffins. The next night we anchored in Ladyboot Cove, on Eden Island, which had been a goal to visit since we first saw it on a chart two years ago.

After two nights of anchoring, it was back to "civilization" with a stop at Pierre's Echo Bay Marina. Unfortunately the aforementioned Tacoma Yacht Club was due in the same day, so we were relegated to the Cliffside Marina, which is part of the same complex but lacks shore power. We hiked around the property, checking out the old Echo Bay school (now closed), and Bill Proctor's museum, which had all sorts of artifacts that he had collected over the course of his life, including "meat tokens" from WWII, which his family didn't have to use because they hunted deer for meat. Bill Proctor was even there to answer questions.

That night we had fish and chips (the only thing on the menu) with everyone else at the marina. Honestly, it was some of the best fish and chips I'd ever had. Clearly Pierre had perfected his recipe. Great cole slaw and tartar sauce as well.

That brings us to today, where we motored to an anchorage at Mound Island, which was as far as we could go against the forecasted 20+ kts in Johnstone Strait. Tomorrow morning we'll leave early to cover the 12 miles to Telegraph Cove, which will finally put us back on Vancouver Island for the first time since we were in Parksville. The generator and water maker both require repairs, so we'll hopefully be able take care of that in Port McNeill and/or Port Hardy before we come around the top and start heading south down the outside.

---

Halcyon at Kwatsi Bay:

The golf "hole" at Sullivan Bay:

Moored at Echo Bay:

 

[VicTrawler]

Captain's Log, August 2nd, 2018:

As of the last update, we were anchored off of Mound Island, just south of Telegraph Cove (just south of Port McNeill).

We ended up spending two nights at the Mound Island anchorage, as the forecast in the Johnstone Strait was 30 kts+ out of the NW, which was the direction we were headed. On the second day, we dinghied over to a beach where we met a bunch of kayakers who were camping on the beach and also in the same situation, waiting for a weather window. That night we shared the anchorage with ten other boats, which was definitely evidence that the right move was to stay put.

On the morning of July 21st we departed Mound Island for Telegraph Cove. We gave them a call on the way there and unfortunately there was no room at the inn, so to speak. I believe the exact response I got on the phone was "haha, no." Fortunately the weather was good so we pressed on for Port McNeill. As luck would have it, a pod of orcas crossed our path, so we've finally now seen orcas from the boat, a first for us.

Though it's only a small town of ~2700, Port McNeill was kind of a shock to the system after being away from Vancouver Island for a couple of weeks. The marina is large and the town has everything you could need (a Thrifty's, Rona, several restaurants, a marine store, etc). The first order of business was to meet up with the UPS guy to get our replacement raw water pump for the generator. The timing worked out perfectly and he delivered it right to the marina office just a few minutes after we checked in.

Port McNeill was excellent to us, to say the least. I found a machine shop that was able to remove the drive gear off the old pump and press it onto the new one. That cost all of $20. The same shop also made us a new alternator tensioning arm. Carl, the owner, drew up a sketch based off my measurements and had it plasma cut out of steel 45 minutes later for $75.

The day before we left, I went to the Rona to swap an empty tank of propane for a full one, but they were all out. Not wanting to leave us without propane (though we do have a second tank), the owner drove me to the nearby Petro-Canada to swap out the tank. Needless to say, Port McNeill's hospitality was top notch.

When we took Halcyon to Mexico, almost nothing broke. This trip, however, has been a little less smooth in that regard. So far we've replaced the engine start battery and alternator, septic macerator, generator raw water pump, water maker boost pump, and had to disassemble and clean the vacuum pump for the head because it was leaking into the bilge (not a pleasant job).

After five nights in Port McNeill (and after visiting Alert Bay and Sointula by ferry), we headed north to one of our favourite anchorages of the trip so far, Beaver Harbour, which is just south of Port Hardy. It was a one-boat anchorage with access to a 4km trail out to a point where we had lunch. We bumped into another couple on the point, a guy from London and his wife who was from Argentina. They had been traveling all over the States and Canada in their van and were staying in nearby Fort Rupert. He bought a house in London in the 90's and basically lives off the rent from the house, while picking up the odd job here and there to pad his income. Good timing on his part.

The next morning we rounded the corner for Port Hardy, less than an hour away. The marina was full (once again) so we tied up at Seagate Pier, which was sheltered from absolutely nothing. Between 8pm, when the wind died down, and 6am, when the fishing fleet headed out, it was fine, though, but during the day, the boat got battered pretty hard. The highlight, though, was meeting up with our new friend Greg, who we met along with his buddy boating friends at French Creek, earlier in the month. He had his girlfriend, Elizabeth, with him and we went out for a great dinner together.

The next morning, Greg took off, and we spent the day exploring Port Hardy. Honestly, it was a little disappointing after the enjoyable time in Port McNeill, but I did manage to get a much needed haircut, and we were able to fuel up the boat in preparation for the trip down the west coast of the island.

We had always had trouble fuelling because the tank vents are quite small (and not blocked, I checked). This time I thought it would be a good idea to try disconnecting the tops of the fuel level indicating tubes in the engine room. Sure enough, it worked like a charm and we were able to fuel 675 litres in 15 minutes, versus the usual hour that it would take. That was very satisfying.

After fuelling, it was off to Bull Harbour, which is a popular staging point for rounding the northern tip of the island and Cape Scott. The next morning, we left at 6am and headed out to the notorious Cape Scott. First, a bar crossing is in order (a shallow patch of water where the ocean swell meets another body of water, usually a river), but it can be somewhat bypassed by navigating a reef to the south, which we did. Good thing, because the bar was lined with breakers, though the reef wasn't much better, and it was slow going. The rest of the passage toward and around Cape Scott was a confused mess of multi-directional swell and wind chop, some of the worst seas we'd seen, including the Mexico trip. It didn't help that the current at the Cape was flooding against the swell. We were trying to avoid this but the current appeared to switch from an ebb to a flood earlier than predicted. Nevertheless, we got through it, and latched onto a mooring buoy in the flat calm Sea Otter Cove.

In Sea Otter Cove, we hiked to a beautiful beach and also climbed to the top of Mt. St.Patrick, which is 1300 feet high. Unfortunately it was socked in with fog, so we didn't have a view. We spent two nights in Sea Otter Cove, and then this morning we left for Quatsino Sound. Tonight we're in Browning Inlet, and tomorrow we're going to try to get a spot at a marina in Winter Harbour. Friday's forecast is calling for a gale out of the SW, so we could be stuck in Quatsino Sound for a few days, but that's fine, as there's a lot to see here!

It's great to finally be on the outside of the island and we're looking forward to seeing all that there is to explore, but it's also nice to see that we're getting closer to home as we go.

---

Orca!

TMI in Sointula:

Halcyon in Port Hardy:

Socked in at Sea Otter Cove (welcome to Faugust!):

 

[VicTrawler]

Captain's Log, August 8th, 2018:

It's been almost three days without a cell phone signal or internet, can you believe it! I (Mark) have read more books in the last month than I have in the last five years, no exaggeration. I think my brain is finally re-wiring itself and I might actually have an attention span again.

As expected, we ended up exploring Quatsino Sound for a few days before we could proceed further south, thanks to the forecasted southerly winds.

We woke up on the morning of August 2nd and finally saw a black bear for the first time on our trip. It was wandering along a beach that we had explored with the dinghy the day before, but fortunately we were able to observe it from the safety of our boat, not that black bears have a reputation for attacking people...

We got underway fairly early and rounded the corner into Winter Harbour, which was only a couple of miles away. Interesting town, if you can call it that. Winter Harbour has a year-round population of five, but when we arrived, the place was teeming with fishermen/women that were living in RVs, small cottages, or camped out. One neat feature of the place is the surprisingly long boardwalk that runs along the water; unexpected for such a tiny town. Winter Harbour used to be made up of two separate camps, so the boardwalk was built in the 1950's to link the two camps, and it still exists to this day.

The next day we were off to a quiet anchorage (the Koskimo Islands) where we were entertained by sea otters chomping on clams, urchins, and other tasty treats that go *crunch* *crunch* *crunch* all night long (but not loud enough to keep you awake).

August 4th we ran the 20 nautical miles to the town of Port Alice, where we stayed at the Rumble Beach Marina. Port Alice felt like the first time we had seen actual civilization since leaving Port Hardy, with its grocery store, BC liquor store, Scotiabank, and most importantly, pizza joint. There was a huge algae bloom going on in the inlet where Port Alice is situated, so the water was a tropical turquoise. Unfortunately the Port Alice docks were yet another place where there was no shore power available, so we have yet to have an opportunity to plug in the boat since we left Port Hardy. Good thing we were able to fix the generator in Port McNeill, because it's been a critical piece of equipment over the last week, especially since it's been cloudy and foggy, which has made the solar panel kind of useless.

After visiting Port Alice, the next morning we headed back toward the western end of Quatsino Sound, getting ready to position ourselves for heading south. We anchored overnight in East Cove, which was uneventful except for the mass suicide of probably 1000 little flies on our fly bridge seats. We think they're attracted to the dew on the seats, but for some reason they don't end up surviving after they land.

On the morning of the 6th, in dense fog, we ran just over 20 miles to the Klaskino Anchorage, which is just south of Quatsino Sound. It's a popular spot for positioning yourself for the run southwest around Brooks Peninsula and Cape Cook, one of the more formidable challenges of navigating the west coast of Vancouver Island. Though the winds were calm, the seas were still over two metres from the previous few days of southerly winds, so we decided that the anchorage was a better choice than making an attempt at Brooks Peninsula.

This morning, the forecast looked great, and we departed at 6:30am to round Brooks Peninsula. The seas had definitely subsided, and we had no wind until we hit Cape Cook. At that point, wind and seas started building out of the northwest, but it was a following sea that pushed us around the Peninsula to the safety of the south side, where the wind quickly abated and the seas settled. After the relative seclusion of Quatsino Sound (we had four consecutive anchorages to ourselves), we pulled into the crowded anchorage of Columbia Cove, and actually had trouble finding room, though we did.

What a difference it makes, being on the south side of Brooks Peninsula. Boats everywhere, and it's very warm, still 25C at 10pm, temperatures we haven't had for the entire trip. For the first time, we need a fan in the cabin! I guess this is the weather that the south of the island has been having all summer.

Tomorrow morning we're heading to the village of Kuyquot and then to Rugged Pt for the night. We'll keep an eye on the forecast, but the plan for the rest of the week is to make our way to Nootka Sound and explore that part of the coast before heading further south.

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At the dock in Port Alice:

The turquoise waters of Port Alice:

Korean(?) garbage on the beach on the south side of Brooks Peninsula:

 

[VicTrawler]

Captain's Log, August 12th, 2018:

After one night in Columbia Cove, we were off to destinations further south.

It was too late to go over and say hello, but we noticed just before we left that a boat anchored next to us in Columbia Cove, "Tahsis", was the same boat that had been anchored next to us at Portland Island, just outside of Sidney, which was the first stop of this entire trip! Crazy.

The route we planned to the village of Kyuquot, our next stop, was on the outside of several reefs that run along the coast. We have really good charts that point out all the rocks but you never know if they've missed one or two, so it's always better to navigate outside the reefs. That being said, we noticed that "Tahsis" was running inside the reefs and we were able to track his course on the chart plotter because he was broadcasting an AIS signal (AIS is a transmission that shows a boat's name, type, size, and GPS location), so we decided to follow him. Turns out he knew was he was doing and we safely cut through the reefs and then through the Bunsby Islands on the way to our destination.

Kyuquot is a neat village in a very protected bay that is mostly native, and the locals all commute around town (both sides of the bay) by boat. We found a spot at the public wharf (free moorage!) and wandered along a scenic footpath to a cafe/restaurant called "Java the Hutt" which is open in the summer months. We both had burgers and a ridiculous amount of fries and waddled back to the boat. It was then just a short seven mile run to Rugged Point Marine Park.

Kind of an exposed anchorage (you can still feel the swells from the ocean, but nothing uncomfortable), Rugged Pt has a beautiful white sandy beach with a campsite for hikers or kayakers. We hiked a short trail to the other side of the peninsula to yet another white sandy beach, where we found fresh-looking cougar tracks in the sand, though no sign of any creatures about.

Back on the first beach, by the anchorage, we met a family of four from Vancouver that was traveling from beach to beach with an inflatable boat and seemed to be having a great time. For dinner, they went out in their boat and caught a salmon in about 15 minutes, which they cooked up for dinner on a driftwood-fueled campfire. After they were done dinner, we joined them for a fun beach fire and then retired for the night.

The next morning (August 9th) it was off to Tahsis. On the way we were called on the VHF radio by "Second Sun," a sailboat we had been moored next to in Port McNeill and had anchored next to us in Sea Otter Cove, our first stop south of Cape Scott. They mentioned they would be in Tahsis the next day so we told them our plans and arranged to meet the next day.

It's now the 11th of August and we're just wrapping up our time in Tahsis. The marina here was a pleasant surprise. It's quite large with a central floating patio/cafe/restaurant which is decorated with as much Margartiaville paraphernalia as you would find in a bar in Key West (or Vegas). Many, many, fishing charters run out of the marina, so it's quite touristy, with live music on Friday nights.

Anyway, it's been a fun, relaxing three days, and we're heading out tomorrow to Yuquot (Friendly Cove), just at the entrance of Nootka Sound. Friendly Cove has a lot of history, and we both finished reading "Slaves of Maquinna," so it'll be interesting to see where it all played out.

After Friendly Cove, we'll make the jump around Estevan Pt and head towards Hot Springs Cove and Tofino, with some other stops on the way.

We're still planning on being home in just over two weeks. Hard to believe that this trip is almost at an end!

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Cougar(?) tracks on the beach:

Our buddy boat, Second Sun, approaching Tahsis:

The docks at Tahsis (fishing charter clients getting their picture taken with their haul!):

Docks at Tahsis:

Halcyon at night, alongside the dock at Tahsis:

 

[VicTrawler]

Captain's Log, August 25th, 2018:

At the last update, we were departing Tahsis for Friendly Cove. It was an uneventful three-hour transit down the Tahsis inlet, and we anchored in Friendly Cove as planned. "Second Sun" was with us there, and we bumped into them just as they were finishing their tour of the Nootka lighthouse. Just as they went up to the lighthouse, a Coast Guard helicopter landed on the nearby helipad to drop off the new lighthouse keeper, so unfortunately there were no tours available because the current and replacement lighthouse keepers were busy doing their turnover. Eden and I popped up for a quick look around and then explored the rest of the area, where there's a church, campground, cemetery, cottages for rent, and a lake.

That evening we relaxed on the boat before heading out the next morning to round Estevan Pt, the last of the major headlands as you head south on the outside of Vancouver Island.

The day's weather forecast looked decent, but the swell was up, and we pulled another "Cape Scott," putting ourselves into a "swell against current" situation; it was rough. Though there was no wind, at one point the inclinometer measured a 24 degree roll. Fortunately everything was properly secured and nothing went flying! Finally we found ourselves abeam of the Estevan Pt lighthouse and everything started smoothing out on our way into Hesquiat Harbour and Rae Basin.

Before talking about Hesquiat Harbour, I would like to mention an interesting historical fact. Back in the day when "wireless" was all the rage (i.e. shortwave radio) for long-range communication, Estevan Pt station was noteworthy for its uncanny ability to send and receive clear signals over long distances. To be clear, we're talking about HF radio here, not VHF or higher frequencies which are merely line-of-sight (no further than the horizon). Well, just as we were off Estevan Pt, we heard VERY clear Japanese on the VHF radio. I'm sure it was just a coincidence - maybe some cargo ship crew talking to another Japanese ship, but we never heard Japanese spoken on the radio either before or after Estevan Pt. One other piece of history regarding Estevan Pt; it was attacked by a Japanese submarine in WWII! No damage though...

Back in the present day, we pulled into Rae Basin and headed off in our dinghy to take a tour we had booked a few days prior: Cougar Annie's gardens. Her and her husband(s) settled in the area and built a now-famous homestead that's been written about in a few different books that cover the history of Vancouver Island. The tour guide, Peter, bought the land from Cougar Annie and built a house, some incredible boardwalks, cottages, and other amazing structures and buildings while he restored her original gardens and preserved the history of the area as much as possible. It was a beautiful property and an interesting tour.

The following morning we were off to the famous Hot Springs Cove, only about 15 miles south. What's neat about going there in your own boat is that you can wait for the tour boats to finish up and get the hot springs to yourself! So that's what we did (with a few other boaters). The hot springs are made up of a waterfall that cascades into various pools that get closer and closer to the ocean, giving you different temperatures of water in which to soak. We hung out with the crew of "Second Sun" and also met a couple that were on their way to Mexico (ahh, memories).

The next day (August 15th), we made in a quick stop in Ahousat to check out another "hot spring" (it wasn't hot but it was an attractive little pool built out of rock) and the general store. Afterwards, we ran another 15 miles or so to Tofino. The fog rolled in just as we were arriving and we really weren't sure where we'd be parking the boat, so it was a little nerve-racking, but we managed to find a spot, rafted to a large American yacht named "Esencia," who we had seen on and off over the course of our trip. We actually went around Cape Scott with them, and hung out on adjacent mooring balls in Sea Otter Cove.

August 16th, a day later, we were assigned our own spot at the other end of the public marina, and that's where the last breakdown of the trip happened. We got settled in and plugged into shore power, only to discover that the battery charger wouldn't charge. I took the battery charger apart and found that a fuse had been blown - so I replaced it - but no luck, it still wouldn't work properly.

Eden had previously planned to head out to Parksville and Quadra Island to visit with family, so she left for the weekend while I tried to sort out the battery charger issue. To make a long story short, another nearby boater, who happened to be a marine electrician, looked at it for me but couldn't figure out the problem, other than it gave you a small shock when you touched it (not good)! To ensure we could keep the batteries charged while at the dock, we flipped the boat around so it faced southwest so the solar panel on the bow could keep everything going over the course of the five-day stay in Tofino.

Eden came back to Tofino on Sunday, August 19th. With the battery charger issue unresolved, and a nice weather window available, we agreed that it might be best to make a bee-line for home. It had already been over two months of traveling and I think we were both looking forward to getting back to "civilization" and the familiarity of home.

With that said, on Monday the 20th we plotted a course for Bamfield, about 42 miles to the south. It did end up being a decently smooth ride, and we made good time. Bamfield is a quaint little town, divided into east and west sides, where the west side is only accessible by ferry. We anchored out and had more than enough juice in our batteries after running the alternator for six hours.

Tuesday, August 21st, we departed our anchorage in Bamfield with a plan to run to Port Renfrew, again, about 40 miles away. The weather and current turned out to be so ideal, however, that we decided to carry on to Sooke, only about 20 miles west of Victoria. Sooke harbour has a tricky entrance that I always wondered about when looking at it on the chart, but it was high tide so there was plenty of room for error, so there were no issues. We spent two nights in Sooke, waiting for a gale to blow through, and spent one night in a nearby hotel (the first and only hotel room of the trip), as a sort of preemptive celebration of the completion of our circumnavigation.

Finally, on Thursday the 23rd, we set out on our last leg, catching a fantastic flood through Race Passage, by Race Rocks, into a smoky Victoria harbour. Our slip in our home marina of West Bay was sublet until our originally planned return date, so we're now spending a few nights in the Inner Habour, playing tourist for a little longer. We'll be back at West Bay on the 29th.

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Thanks to everyone for following along! Circumnavigating the island was a real lesson not only in navigation and marine weather, but in the history and geography of the west coast. We met lots of great people, made new friends, and learned how to fix even more things! Halcyon I once again kept us safe, even when we put her through less than ideal situations.

Take care everyone, and to those of you still out on your boats, fair winds and following seas.

Peter at Rae Basin:

The Hot Springs at Hot Springs Cove, in the smokey sunset light:

Fun fact: while we were at the Wharf St dock in Victoria, "Wishlist," the beautiful yacht we first met in Sullivan Bay, showed up!

 

[rsn48]

Concerning the French Creek incident, my money is on a boozed commercial fisherman. I hang out at French Creek a lot, frequently, often, mucho time and I am guessing the guy was drunk.

 

[VicTrawler]

Concerning the French Creek incident, my money is on a boozed commercial fisherman. I hang out at French Creek a lot, frequently, often, mucho time and I am guessing the guy was drunk.

Wouldn't shock me! That would explain a lot.