Jul 5th and 6th

Tofino is a quaint little touristy town. It’s a combination of surfers who come to ride the waves off the big long beaches south of the town and the up market crowd who own a holiday house here with their SUVs. We were told that housing is expensive in town and there are many good restaurants.

We walked into town from the marina, and went to a restaurant named The Schooner to eat a late lunch/early dinner. We’d not had lunch yet. Had a lovely meal of wings, burger and ribs and Jim had a locally made beer. The trip may not have been bumpy but since I spent my afternoon cutting up fish, I smelled like one and didn’t feel like eating anything on the way up, so we had a big meal to make up for it.

After our meal we headed for the Co-op, their local grocery store and stocked up on some provisions as we were running low. We then walked to the playground and Jacintha went wild there. They had a little zip line that she enjoyed playing on.

At The Schooner
Whee! higher daddy!

After that we had ice cream and then we went back to the boat for hot showers! We were all fishy! Did it feel good to be clean! Since this was about the halfway mark of our trip and we have a little munchkin, I had to do laundry. The marina has a mixture of commercial fishing boats and recreational boats plus a lot of sports fishing boats. That means that the marina kind of smelled fishy! Despite the fact that I had a warm shower to wash the fishy smell off me from filleting the fish, I could still smell fish everywhere!

Jim did some boat chores and Jacintha watched “The Incredibles” which is a change from “The Sound of Music”. I’d introduced it to her at the beginning of the trip, during a long boring passage and all she does is play it on our portable DVD player over and over again, skipping forward to the songs she likes. Then when walking around she’ll burst out spontaneously into songs from the movie. It’s sweet when you hear her singing “I’m sixteen going on seventeen” as she’s only four! It’s funny that she doesn’t want to watch any of the Disney princess movies that I’ve gotten her since she’s obsessed wIth princesses and that she likes Julie Andrews and real live actors with great songs!

Woke up to a lovely sunny day. Watched a pair of bald eagles decide that the top of the mast was a great perching spot for fishing or perhaps they were scouting out a new place for a nest! They were a dock finger away!

Eagles on the mast.

After a leisurely breakfast of monster pancakes, Jacintha and I went for a walk into town. I had to go to the bank as I only had $5 Canadian left. Jim wanted to do some boat chores. We browsed the shops, went to the bank and were walking back to the boat when Jim found us. Got a new rainbow trout flag for the boat and then I took Jacintha to the park, while Jim went back to get some charts from the marine store and supplies from the boat. Jacintha whizzed down the zip line, swung on the swings and climbed the monkey bars to her hearts delight and even made a friend!

Monster pancake!

Jim met us and we had a light lunch of tacos before heading out on a walk to Tonquinn beach. It was a pleasant 20 minute walk to the beach through a forest reserve over a board walk and stairs. The beach had a large shallow tidal pool fed by a stream separated from the ocean by 100 feet of sand. A natural wading pool!! There were a bunch of kids swimming in the swimming hole having a ball. Jacintha got so excited and quickly put on her bathing suit and started to go berserk and running rings around the sand and rolling around in it, and making sand angels! She swam in the water which was much warmer than the cold ocean, and she made sand castles with her bucket and shovel. It was cloudy there but sheltered from the wind so we stayed there for a while. Jim and I had snacks on our picnic blanket. We finally had to call Jacintha to change as it was getting chilly.

We walked back into town and Jacintha managed to walk all the way to the bakery where we stopped to get hot chocolates and coffee. We then stopped at the co-op to get a few more supplies and we had a shopping cart with the car in front of it which Jacintha hopped into. When we finished at the checkout we looked in the car and she was fast asleep! So Jim carried her back to the boat! She woke up at the boat and was chirpier than ever!

That evening Jim decided to put our crab pot out to try and catch a few crabs. We have this lovely foldable crab pot that we got at the boat show one year. Our luck with crabbing has been dismal in the recent years – it’s too warm at Desolation Sound last year but Jim was feeling lucky! He took his fishing pole out to try and catch some small fish to use as bait. Jacintha went with him but got cold so came back. I baked salmon, broiled salmon collars and mashed potatoes for dinner. When dinner was ready, I rang our big ships bell to call Jim in. It’s new and was pretty loud and he heard it all the way out there in the middle of the Duffin Passage!

After dinner we had movie night. Jim had never watched The Sound of Music and he’d been hearing Jacintha singing all the songs. So this night we watched half of it! Jacintha was very excited that her daddy was going to watch her favorite movie with her and have popcorn!

July 5th

Looking at the wind and wave forecast the night before we decided that if we wanted to head north to Tofino that today was the best day for doing so as the days after this had strong northerly winds predicted. We did not want to repeat the mistake of our difficult first crossing!! In preparation I dosed Jacintha up with motion sickness medication. I used some pressure point bands that I had bought and Jim wanted to tough it out! We wanted to try the Pacific Ocean again!

As we headed down Loundoun Channel the wind started to whip up from the north and the waves started to get larger. We turned into Newcombe channel and then into Carolina channel passing many fishing boats in that area. It got choppy there but once we cleared the channel and were out into Pacific Ocean the swells settled down to an easy rhythm and the wind died down.

We motored our way there. It was sunny so we had a pleasant time sitting in the cockpit and enjoying the sun. We saw lots of whales but couldn’t tell what kind they were. Jim slowed the boat down and put out the trolling line. We caught two coho salmon that day and my afternoon was spent filleting the fish as we headed up the coast! This time we froze one salmon and kept the other to eat.

The Big One

br />
Our fishy cockpit!!!

We entered the rocky coast surrounding Tofino while I was still below. It wasn’t windy, but there was a lot of current in Duffin Passage where Tofino abuts, and getting into the dock was tricky. I had to hang off the side of the boat while Jim motored in and tie the dock lines off while avoiding three large pylons that were sticking out of the dock which could have damaged our paint! We handled it like pros!

The harbor master was a nice guy with a dog named Barney. He lived on the last finger of the wharf. We checked in, got rid of our garbage and took a walk into town.

Light at Lennard Island<

Jul 4th – Happy Independence Day!!!

When we up anchored this morning, the windlass was straining really hard. The windlass is the machine at the front of the boat the pulls up the chain and anchor. Our main anchor is a 70 lb CQR and we have 300 feet of 3/8inch chain attached to it. We usually put out 80-100 feet of chain in these waters so that’s a lot of weight to pull up by hand! Anyway, as the windlass pulls up the chain, she rattles away and today she was whining a lot especially the last 25 feet when the anchor was leaving the bottom of the sea bed. Low and behold when the anchor finally came up we found we had caught a prize. Part of an old net had been pulled up with the anchor and it was still attached to the bottom. We hooked it off and headed off. There is a fish farm in the same cove and when we read the guide book later on, it mentioned that anchoring was not recommended because of all the debris left by it! Oops!

Look what we caught!

We headed out for the pass where Jim so successfully caught his fish the other day and dropped the line. I went below to make blueberry scones. It was a lovely sunny day with little wind. Jim had a couple of bites but none that stayed on the line so he was very disappointed. Jacintha had a turn fishing as well.

Fishing with daddy

We saw some whales chasing fish, I’m sure they had a better day than Jim! We had our blueberry scones with fresh whipped cream, while looking at them frolicking away. There was a whale watching boat nearby as well and it made me think how lucky we didn’t have to pay $$$ to see whales playing. This area of Canada has been amazing for the number of whales and eagles we’ve seen!

Freshly baked blueberry scones!

That evening we anchored at Turtle Bay. It was windier and crowded with lots of boats. Jim and Jacintha went to the little beach for a play in the sand and a stretch of their legs. Jacintha came back a bit wet. I broiled the salmon collars and cooked the rest of the salmon up. I had to teach my American husband how to eat salmon collars! They were very tasty! We had a nice meal of it.

Jul 3rd

After apple pie for breakfast, we left Effingham Island and headed out of the Broken Group. We decided not to explore the island as it was a windy and cloudy day. The wind was blowing 10-15 knots so we decided to sail downwind and try out our wind vane.

A wind vane is a mechanical self steering system that you use to steer the boat along a particular course of wind, so you don’t have to be at the wheel all the time. It has a fin thing that acts like a sail and a rudder thing to turn the wheel. The beauty about the wind vane is that it is purely mechanical so you don’t have to juice it up with power. We have one that came with the boat that we had remounted but hadn’t used yet. It is a Fleming, from Australia and about 20 years old. Jessica Watson, an Australian girl who recently became the youngest person to sail solo around the world, used a Fleming wind vane to accomplish the feat, albeit a newer version.

Anyway we set the wind vane and hooked it up to the wheel and presto, it didn’t hold the wheel on the course. We adjusted it and tried again, and again and again. No joy! It did not want to move when the wind turned. So we got out the instruction book and found out that you need to adjust your sails just right before you can set it! No weather helm from too much sail being put up! Kudos to Jessica Watson for being able to do it as it’s not easy. We noticed that our vane was a little stiff, a product of being 20 years in storage. So we oiled it a bit and managed to loosen the fin up a little but I think it needs more grease on the rudder thing!

We had a fun afternoon sail and headed to Robbers Passage between Tzartus and Fleming Islands (how appropriate). They are in a group of islands known as the Deer group just east of the Broken Group. There is a small marina run by the Port Alberni Yacht Club that is very pleasant but we decided to be cheap and drop the anchor (free!).

Since it was early afternoon on a sunny day we hopped into the dinghy and landed at the dock. We took a walk through Fleming Island to the other side. There are nice trails through here maintained by the club. We found a nice little beach and some rocks in the setting sun to explore.
Then we headed back to the boat and Jim grilled the salmon on cedars planks. We had anchovies on one, and truffled salt on the other fillet. Jacintha has really been enjoying the salmon dinners we’ve been having! More apple pie for dessert!

Fleming Island

Robbers Passage

Jul 2nd

Had a relaxing morning, then up anchored and headed out of the park boundaries. Today was fishing day! Before we left Jim made a few trips to the bait and tackle shop to buy some more gear. He bought these special lures that look like squid, a long flashy thing that look like it came from the 80’s and a red diving thing that gets the lure down below the surface for trolling. He also borrowed a couple of rods and reels from his friend Steve. He was now excitedly getting his equipment ready, setting up the rod holder and working out where we were going to bring the fish aboard with a net so we could kill it.

Once he began trolling, I had to drive the boat as Jim was expectantly waiting for his fish to bite, while I was quite skeptical that we were going to catch one today. Jacintha was excited too! I was expecting hours and hours of waiting around!

Twenty minutes after he started trolling, the line on his reel got tangled up and we had to pull the line up! So he transferred the lures, flashy thing and diving weight onto his back up rod and reel while I tried to untangle the mess on the first reel. Fifteen minutes later the reel started clicking and Jim shouted “fish on”!!! He reeled in a salmon and I netted it although it didn’t put up much of a fight. It was a coho salmon, 27 inches long! We gutted it and I took it below to fillet. My filleting skills were very woeful and I left a lot of meat on the fish. I cut up some pieces to eat with soy sauce (no wasabi on the boat) but the fish was chewy and not so tasty as the sushi from the restaurants. Perhaps it was the way I cut it up – I need a sushi license!

The 27 incher

Yummy fish!

Fisher Jim at work

After that, there were no more fish, a couple of nibbles, enough to get Jim all excited and when he reeled in the line there wasn’t a fish to be seen! When it got dark, we headed for Effingham Island in the broken group. I baked one fillet with salt, dill and lemon and the other with a curry paste and a tomato salad. I also made an apple pie for dessert. We anchored in Effingham Island late in the evening and had a wonderful meal.

Apple pie

July 1st
Happy Canada Day!

Woke up to the smell of freshly baked bread. It was rainy and windy that morning. Had a light breakfast and then set off for The Broken Group Islands. Outside the shelter of Ucluelet inlet it was choppy with the swell of the ocean. There were a lot of fishing boats fishing in the channels that we crossed. Jim was salivating at the thought of fishing but he bought his license to start tomorrow.

The Broken Group Islands, in the middle of Barkley Sound, extends from the Pacific Ocean inwards, surrounded by the snow covered mountain peaks of Vancouver Island on three sides. They are part of the Pacific Rim National Park in Canada. There are many islands with coves and sheltered bays to anchor in.

Once we got to more open water, we put up our sails and headed down to Loudoun Channel towards the Islands. The winds were a gentle 10 knots and the rain had ceased, with the sun occasionally peeking out! We had a pleasant sail down to Peacock Channel where we had to turn on the engine (iron sail) as the wind had died down. We then wound our way through a series of narrow channels, avoiding many submerged but shallow rocks to get to Turtle Bay.

Turtle Bay is surrounded by Turtle, Willis, Dodd and Walsh islands. It’s very sheltered and pleasant. We were the only boat there so had the pick of where to anchor. There were groups of kayakers paddling around the bay and some on a little beach on Dodd Island. We hopped into the dinghy and headed for a quick walk ashore on Dodd Island. Jacintha could not get enough of the water but we finally got her to come on a short hike through the camp ground and forest, until the mossies started to buzz, then we headed back for the beach.

The rocky beach on Dodd Island

Climbing a big tree!

We had a small snack on the beach while Jacintha waded around in her dress. More kayakers came back into shore. They’d taken a boat from Port Alberni to a smaller whaling town and then hired the kayaks from there and were now exploring the many islands and camping on the camp grounds there. As the beach was now in shadows we walked to the rocks, at it’s tip where the last rays of sun were. Then we headed back for the boat for dinner of hot dogs and corn on the cob.

Resting on a log after our exploration of the rocks

Wed June 30th

I slept in this morning and Jim made bacon and eggs for breakfast! So good not to feel nauseated! Then we spent the morning doing boat chores and recovering from our big trip the night before.

After lunch we took the dinghy to the main marina, getting sprayed by a passing shower on the way. It wasn’t far, kinda like driving your car to get milk from the store a few blocks away!! It had a nicer set up with electricity and wifi access. The Canadian Princess is moored here permanently and is used as a restaurant plus they run whale watching and fishing tours off these smaller boats with various names ending with princess!

We walked up to the ice cream shop as the sun had come out and warmed the place up. Had some gelatos watching the traffic go by in this small town. It caters mainly to fishing both commercial and recreational and there were a lot of fishing boats around, some just little tinnies (aluminum dinghies) and some luxurious big boats. A Canadian told us he just bought a new Bayliner in Bellingham, they were practically giving them away! I decided to stock up on seasickness drugs – for Jacintha and us just in case the trip back is just as bad!

We then moved our boat to the main marina where we connected to mains power and had fresh water to fill up the tanks. It’s a luxury to have mains power! We can run the electric water heater, our little fan heater, watch a movie on the big television (yes we have a 36″ TV with surround sound on board), make microwave popcorn and I can run the bread machine to make fresh bread.

Since we bought new batteries for the boat last year, we don’t have to connect to mains power too often as our batteries last us more than a couple of days off the grid, especially since we also seem to motoring a lot more, due the the larger distances we’re traveling, hence charging the batteries with the alternator. Motoring also heats up our water so after a long day of motoring we can all have hot water showers on our boat.

Jim bought a 5 day fishing license while Jacintha had a nap and I had some quiet time to finish my book, “The Healer”. We had BBQ steaks with roast potatoes for dinner that night. Jim washed his boat after dinner.

Tuesday June 29th

Happy Anniversary!! It was 3 years ago on a hot sunny day that Jim and I tied the knot at our favorite sailing destination, Roche Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington (not to be confused with the other San Juan!)

What a contrast to the wet rainy morning we woke up to. We were both tired as Jacintha had crept into our bed at 2am and coughed and wiggled and kicked all night long. The weather report said winds northeast 15-20 knots increasing to 20-25 in the afternoon, seas 5-10 feet increasing to 10-15 feet. Gale warning in effect for the Straits of Juan the Fuca – where it was all glassy 2 days ago! It meant a very bumpy ride as we had strong wind coming from the front of our boat and a long distance to cover – 65 miles. If we put up the sails we would have had to sail perpendicular to the wind increasing the distance we had to travel by tacking (zig-zagging) all the way up the coast.

We up-anchored in trepidation of the unknown and motored out of the sheltered harbour. Outside the wind was blowing 15-20 knots from straight ahead and the swell was 10 feet. We hoisted the sails, with the main sail reefed in (shortened to reduce the sail area for a windy day). It’s a good thing Jim placed the jack line on the boat yesterday, as it made me feel safer knowing that we would be tethered to the boat, when we left the relative safety of the cockpit to go to forward to the main mast! We had trouble with our reefing line which had to get retied which took some time. Then I let Jim steer the boat and went down below.

In the cabin, it was bucking around like a wild horse and the boat was also heeled over around 15-20 degrees. It made preparing our hot oatmeal for breakfast tricky! Jacintha’s eyes were glued to the DVD player which kept her quiet and safe. But it was miserable down below as there is no horizon to see and help with your vestibular system (your balance center) and the boat would move up then pound down on each wave. The waves were not very regular as well and they would come from in front then to the sounds making the boat wallow in the troughs a little. I started to feel nauseated and so did Jacintha and soon we were both heaving up our breakfasts! Jacintha than lay down and fell asleep.

I went up above to see the horizon and started to feel better. The wind had died down so we were going a lot slower (3 kts) but still tacking up the coast and we’d calculated that we needed to be traveling around 6 kts to make it to Ucluelet before sunset. The last thing we wanted to be doing was entering that unfamiliar, rocky inlet after dark as there were a lot of submerged rocks around the harbor entrance. So we turned on the iron sail (motor) and took the sails down and started to motor up the coast of Vancouver Island. That made the trip faster but made it even more miserable as now we were pounding onto the 10 foot waves with speed. Not having any sails up also created more rolling motion with the swells which were about 9 seconds apart.

I took a turn at the wheel which made me feel better while Jim went below to warm up. He soon started heaving up his dinner. He scooted back up the ladder into the cockpit and didnt want to go down below again! I went below and had a refreshing nap. Then I made cup noodles for us to eat as we needed to eat to keep our warmth and energy up. I couldn’t persuade Jacintha to eat the noodles even though they’re her favorite, a sign that she was not well at all!

Jim and I took frequent turns at the wheel and we spotted a lot of whale spouts and whales, some of them were traveling in the same direction as us! They were having a much better trip than we were and I wished that I were a whale so many times that day. After we’d left the traffic zone of the Straits we didn’t see anymore boats out there on the water. Were the smart ones staying in because if the weather? Jacintha joined us up in the cockpit at one stage, with life jacket on and harnessed to the boat. She laughed at the “giant waves” and tried looking for Moby Dick. Then she went down below and was miserable again.

We reached the southern end of Barkley Sound around 5 pm and we felt elated as we were nearly there. The lighthouse at Cape Beale appeared enticingly on the horizon and that last 17 miles we travelled were the longest and ever. I was having fun steering the boat up and down the waves but poor Jacintha was absolutely miserable down below. Jim wasn’t feeling any better. At one point, Jim went down below to take a nap and lay on the settee with his life jacket, coat and boots still on, something he would have griped about if he saw anyone doing it when he was well! He heaved again and then refused to go below anymore, so was more tired than I. I would take cat naps when I wasn’t steering the boat, something I got good at by taking night call! We inched our way slowly up the coast and it took us 2 more hours, with the seas (10-15 ft) and wind (15kts) building up.

We finally turned for Felice Channel which was sheltered by reefs and small islets so the wind and waves were much more bearable. Winding our way through the rocks and islets in the fading light was stressful, so we were relieved to see the public dock, where we had to report into customs.

Jim gathered all the paperwork and made the phone call to the customs but when they asked him how much alcohol and what fruits we were carrying he was a little vague and must have sounded drunk to the border patrol, so they sent out a customs officer to inspect our boat! He was nice about it but I think we looked a little worn out. He rummaged through our boat and pulled out all the almost empty bottles of alcohol that we’d forgotten about. We’re such alcoholics, I’d forgotten about the open bottle of baileys we had stashed away from our trip last year! And the half bottle of gin that’s been sitting in a cupboard for two years! Anyway, after a reminder to take an inventory before making the phone call he left. We didn’t have the energy to move the boat to anchor so we just stayed moored to that dock that night. Jacintha didn’t want to eat anything that night as she was afraid she would throw up again so I had to explain to her that she wasn’t I’ll just had seasickness. After that she ate a whole bag of popcorn that night for dinner, her other favorite food!!

Photo of Jim post crossing!

Mon June 27th

Up-anchored early and went to the fuel dock to fill up on diesel. Had to wait for them to open up the store at 8am so we had oatmeal for brekkie. Then we headed out into Admiralty Inlet, turned to port (left for all you landlubbers) and headed up the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It is the body of water between Vancouver Island, Canada and the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA and leads from the Puget Sound out to the Pacific Ocean. When the winds blow hard down the Straits, it can be pretty nasty to be on a little boat out there, plus there is a lot of traffic with freighters, tankers and cruise ships headed into and away from Seattle and Vancouver.

On that Sunday there was no wind and no waves so we motored. The Strait was glassy and reflective, we’ve never seen it so calm before. The sky was cloudy but it didn’t rain. We spotted dolphins fishing in the water, the beautiful and majestic Olympic mountains in the background and we looked out for traffic. We passed Victoria on our starboard (right) and Port Angeles to port then we kept motoring and motoring. Our intention was to anchor at a place called Pillar Point which was 2/3 along the northern Washington coast but by the time we got there at 7pm we had a good current taking us out so we continued onto Neah Bay.

Glassy Strait

The most interesting thing along the way was a huge fire we spotted on land. At first we thought that it was a bonfire. When we looked through our binoculars, a building was being consumed by the flames which went up a couple of stories high. There was a larger structure next to it but the flames were starting to die down. I baked a raisin and pecan loaf in my bread machine and the recipe I downloaded off the Internet made the most perfect whole wheat raisin bread I’ve ever made! Definitely a keeper! We had a lovely spaghetti dinner and it occurred to me that cruising around is like traveling in a big ole RV except we don’t get to do the road stops and stretch our legs out or stop to eat greasy truck stop food! We arrived at Neah Bay in the setting sun, after 13 hours of motoring, dropped our anchor and went to sleep exhausted! I was woken occasionally to the locals lighting up their fireworks on the beach!

The burning garage

Tue June 28th

We got up early to check the weather and decided to spend a day checking out the town. Neah Bay is an Indian Reservation. There is limited cellphone access ie, AT&T don’t go out there and it’s a small town, mainly catering to fishing boats. We had pancakes for breakfast then we hopped into the dinghy and headed for town. It kinda reminded me of a small country town in Oz where its quiet and slow moving except for the lack of a pub! Its a dry town! We walked to the grocery store, which was well stocked and got some stuff that we inevitably had forgotten! Then we walked 10 mins down the street to the Makah tribal museum where we looked at the exhibits. The museum is a tribute to the Ozette indian community that was buried in a mudslide, preserved, and eventually discovered and excavated. I must admit that I didn’t get to read much of the placards as I found myself chasing Jacintha through the museum. She wanted to see everything and touch everything, including the big whaling canoes. She did enjoy the walk-in replica of the interior of a tribal longhouse, with fake fire pits and beds. When we finished the exhibit she decided she wanted to see everything again so around she went again! This time Jim chased her!

Picking daisies outside the tribal center

We walked back towards the marina and stopped at the Warm Cafe for lunch. It was run by a couple of ladies and when we walked it was busy so it took awhile to be served. The fish and chips were real good! Light crunchy batter and fresh cod that wasn’t overcooked. I asked our waitress if it was locally caught fish and chips. Nope! The fish get caught here but they all get flash frozen and sent to Seattle to get approved by the USDA. Then they get battered and shipped out to the restaurant! She would not be able to serve me fish caught off the boat and cooked there as it needs “approval” to be served in a restaurant. Kinda sad I thought. We only get to eat flash frozen days old fish! But it was good! Maybe I should have asked her what brand they used! She also told us that the fire the night before was a garage in the town before and it was probably a large one as they asked for help from the Neah Bay fire department! News travels fast in small towns.

After lunch we headed back for the boat and we did boat chores. Jim partially deflated the dinghy and hoisted it onto our foredeck where he lashed it down for our “ocean passage”. He also prepared the wind vane (a mechanical autopilot that steers the boat to the wind) to use in the forecasted 20 knot winds and tied on a jack line (a safety line that runs from the cockpit out to the front of the boat that you can harness onto).

I made chocolate chip cookies with Jacintha – ie I made them and she licked the bowl and spoon! Then I secured everything so that nothing could fall when the boat heels (when the boat is under sail the wind pushes it sideways so it can lean up to 20 degrees). That is a job in itself when traveling with a four year old. She gets things out and forgets to put them back – I think I have to train her a little bit more!

Saw lots of bald eagles!

Neah Bay

That night Jim and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary early! He gave me a pair of leather boat shoes, which coincidently is the gift for 3rd wedding anniversaries! Thanks for my new shoes!

My New Shoes!