July 13th

Woke up early, but not as early as the fisherman. All their boats were already out, we didn’t even hear them leave the marina! We put the dinghy on the foredeck of our boat and lashed it down. Then we headed out of Bamfield, south for the Straits of Juan de Fuca. It was a wet rainy morning and Jim had on his foul weather gear. There was no wind, the sea was glassy smooth with only a small swell. We had a long way to go.

Oatmeal is the breakfast of choice when we’ve got a long passage. We were aiming for Sooke in southwest Vancouver island, just 20 miles west of Victoria. We got up early to take advantage of the slack tide and later a flood tide going into the straits. Jim didn’t even think about fishing today as we had a long passage ahead of us. I stayed in the galley and sent up a lot of hot food and drinks for Jim! The weather did clear up and I took over the wheel for a spell.

I love my Seattle sombrero

Jacintha getting some fresh air

Jim was checking the gauges and noticed that one diesel tank was nearly empty and the other one was full. Apropos has two 65 gallon tanks, and we usually draw on both tanks at the same time. We turned off the motor and put up the sails which meant we were traveling a lot slower, then Jim began troubleshooting the fuel thing. He decided that the fuel valve to the starboard tank had accidentally been shut off during a fuel filter change a few months ago. Thankfully that solved the dilemma and we restarted the engine as there really wasn’t enough wind to move the boat!

As we were between Port Renfrew and Sooke, I suddenly heard an announcement over the radio regarding an active military zone where they were firing live ammunition http://lab.woodward.edu/bus/Mail/viagra_india.html. I didn’t know where that was but didn’t think too much of it until I saw a military helicopter fly by our boat, with their door open and two guys sitting in the doorway looking out! I checked the charts and sure enough we were in an area reserved for military activity called whiskey hilo (WH). They will announce when they use the area and advise mariners to stay out of the zone. So instead of hugging the coastline, we had to divert into the center of the Straits of Juan de Fuca right into the shipping lane. This added an hour onto our travel time, as the area that it covers is large.

An aircraft carrier

Another aircraft carrier

I saw a cargo ship just skirt inside area WH and the helicopter buzzed out there to check them out as well! These guys were serious and I didn’t want to get shot at! Since it was a long way to go, we had dinner on the move. I got Jim to grill steaks on the cockpit bbq while we were underway. They tasted so good after a diet of fish!!

We ended up at a cove called Campbell cove south of Sooke. It was early evening and there were a lot of boats fishing! So as we entered the cove, we put the fishing line out for a pass. No luck! We then anchored in the cove. The anchor seemed to not take but we put out a lot of chain and the weather was going to be calm the next few days! Jim tossed the crab pot over the stern using salmon heads as bait. Then we tightened the alternator belt to see if that would solve our battery charge issue.