Pages

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Complete Circumnavigation of Vancouver Island ......only took two years.

It started with our landfall at Uclulet August 12, 2012. After a couple side trips to Seattle we pass Uclulet again on August 11, 2014.  Hurray!

OK, backing up:  we left glorious Nootka Sound headed for Hot Springs, Tofino and miscellaneous other anchorages in Clayuquot Sound.  The hot springs were OK, awfully hot and slippery rocks getting in.  [ph]  However, the boardwalk from the jetty to the springs was beautiful and it was fun to see lots of commemorative boards left by cruising friends in years past.  [ph]

After pleasant, quiet stops at Youngs Cove and White Pine Cove, we enjoyed the cosmopolitan attractions of Tofino.  There were lots of great restaurants and shopping.  The municipal marina was very welcoming.   Weather was warm and sunny as we cruised along the shoreline of renowned beaches en route to Barkeley Sound, where our string of sublime weather ended in rain and fog.  Ugh...

Hunkered down at Dodd &; Turtle Island, we sat through 2 long days and nights of rain before starting the long trek to Victoria...... motoring 80+ miles in fog and no wind.  ugh......  Our favorite and normally scenic stopover at Becher Bay was fogged in and challenging to manoeuver amongst the rocks and floating debris to anchor.  It was hard to tell really how far we were from shore and other boats even with radar and chart plotter, so we didn't tuck in quite where we usually have done.

Our transit became even more nerve wracking as we passed through the busy waters off Victoria, with all manner of boats in a hurry through the fog!  Yikes!  Eventually, we turned the corner around Trial Island into Oak Bay and Cadboro Bay, where the fog cleared, the clouds lifted, the RVYC bar beckoned and the angels began to sing.

No comments:

Post a Comment