Circumnavigation Completed
Thursday, July 10th – Our plan is to spend the day exploring the islands in Barkley Sound, but our first objective is to find a good, sheltered anchorage. Effingham Bay is not it! After being awake for half the night as we monitored our position in howling winds, how the guide books could call these low-lying islands sheltering and the anchorage protected is beyond us. Effingham Bay – boy, can we make a play on that name!
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Winds are only 6 – 10 knots in the morning, but they are supposed to keep on increasing through the day just like yesterday. The first anchorage we try, after 1 1/2 hours of motoring into the island group, already has three good sized boats in it, and there is little room for Avante. We then head to Harbor Entrance, an area recommended for the fishing fleet in stormy conditions. It proves to be a large open bay area that feels anything but sheltered and is not very pretty. We decide to anchor, have lunch and study the charts.
The Captain decides to head back out into the main channel to check out conditions in Effingham Bay. The First Mate is not excited about this idea, and as we head south toward Effingham Island, the winds get progressively stronger. Effingham Bay is going to be every bit as dicey as it was the night before.
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We about face and head deeper into the island group. Shortly before 1600, we motor into an area called Pinkerton Islands. It’s a pretty area and so sheltered from the winds that the warmth of the sun shines through and down on us. The First Mate is delighted.
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Friday, July 11th – After the adventure of the previous day, The Captain allows The First Mate a full morning to relax, explore and to fish. We launch The Dingbat and head off. The Captain has his book, and The First Mate her fishing pole. She lowers that hook and jerks it up and down trying to imitate some kind of edible morsel for the fish below. Nothing happens. Not a bite that she can feel. The Captain, unable to watch this exhibition of ineptitude, takes over and within a minute of lowering and jerking the hook, he lands a fish. A nice rock cod, ugly but edible. How did he do that?
He patiently re-explains the finesse of this whole fishing exercise and hands the pole back to The First Mate. Down goes the hook. With straining effort, she concentrates on trying to feel something nibbling on that hook so many feet below her. She feels something. She pulls up sharply. There’s tension. Something is there. She reels it in. It’s another rock cod. Wow! With The Captain’s admonition not to swing the fish and hook wildly into the boat or anywhere toward his exposed body parts, she gets the fish into the dinghy. The Captain takes the fish off the hook and strings it with the other one. Two fish, but not yet enough for dinner.
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Three fish later, and we have dinner and lunch. Fantastic! The First Mate is now a fisherperson. She’s got the hang of this. Whatever took so long?
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We are now almost down the full length of the western coast of Vancouver Island. At 1430, we head out of the Pinkerton Islands to cross the Seachart Channel to the little town of Bamfield. This is the traditional holding or staging point for one’s return trip up the Strait of Juan de Fuga. With winds funneling in from the sea, the Strait often experiences gale force winds. Boats sit in Bamfield waiting for good winds or no winds to head down the Strait. Our weather for the following day is supposed to be relatively calm in the morning with good wind in the afternoon.
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Bamfield is a pretty town located on both sides of a narrow harbor entrance. We motor up and down the harbor enjoying the scenery, but we decide to anchor in nearby Port Desire.
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It is completely still in Port Desire. So still is it that all the boats anchored around us are swinging in all different directions. So used are we to seeing boats all pulling out on their anchors in the direction of the wind or current, it is disconcerting to see all of us haphazardly floating around. There is nothing any of us can do to hold our boats in one direction. To protect Avante from being bumped by another boat or from bumping another boat, we put out our fenders.
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We enjoy a quiet evening on Avante and head to bed early, for tomorrow we have a 0500 departure. This is not The First Mate’s ideal time to be up and about, but we have a 90-mile day ahead of us to reach Victoria Harbor. We need to arrive in the harbor prior to 1700, when the harbor office closes for the evening, if we want to obtain a berth.
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Saturday, July 12th – The rising sun and the early morning light just about make the getting out of bed at that hour worth the eye-opening effort.
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As we head out toward the open sea, the water is like glass.
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Expecting good winds and a great sail, our trip down the Strait of Juan de Fuga, this last leg of our circumnavigation of Vancouver Island, is a disappointment. We spend the whole day motoring up the Strait. It is not until we reach Race Rock, about an hour from Victoria, that winds pick up enough to sail, but by then we are boat weary and just want to get into the harbor.
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We arrive in Victoria Harbor at 1600 and are tied up by 1645 right below the Empress Hotel. The harbor is bright, shiny and alive with activity. There’s a bagpiper playing. The carillon is chiming. It is a wonderful show. What a welcome! We truly love Victoria Harbor.
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Looking around, The First Mate sees everyone in shorts and T-shirts. Looking down, she sees herself in layers of fleece and storm boots. Something is definitely amiss here. Quickly she descends to reemerge on deck in warm-weather attire. Then the brand-new “Designer Cushions” (as The Captain disparagingly calls them) are brought up on deck followed by the teak deck table. Two gin and tonics appear, and we toast ourselves for a grand trip around Vancouver Island – an undertaking in which we can take pride. We covered 1340nm in a month and a half. Compared to the prior year trip to Alaska, the sailing was more challenging this year. For The First Mate, it was a great learning opportunity that increased her sailing knowledge and experience and boosted her confidence in herself as a sailor.
We spend two delightful days in Victoria before returning to Canoe Cove Marina. With Avante secure and clean, we head back to Telluride for the rest of the summer. Friends and family, golf and hiking await us in the mountains.
In September, we will head back to Avante and turn her south to San Diego, returning to where we started out two years ago. At that time, we sailed north and found ourselves pounding into the wind and the waves for most of the way. It should be a much better sail heading south – or so we hope. From San Diego, we will head further south to Mexico in January, 2009.
We have thoroughly enjoyed our sojourn in the Pacific Northwest. The San Juan and Gulf Islands have been our playground. Our 3,000-mile voyage to and from Juneau, Alaska and our circumnavigation of Vancouver Island have been our challenges providing both of us with necessary learning opportunities. Though one can never be too confident on a boat, we feel more than ready and are eager to head south and take on new adventures, and it need not be said that both The Captain and The First Mate are eager to shed the fleece and sail into the warm weather of Mexico.