After a couple of nights tucked into James bay the weather improved, so we took the opportunity to move down to Winter Cove off Saturna Island on Monday – another first for us.  It’s a pretty anchorage, but can be popular during summer months so we’ve always avoided it like the plague . . . until now.  The bay is large, but shallow, and backed by forested land...

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Yesterday we moved a whopping 2 nm from our anchorage off Portland Island to Russell Island . . . and out of the ferry wake.  Many of the Hawaiians who came to Canada as workers contracted by the Hudson Bay Company decided to stay once their employment was up.  Why leave the tropical paradise behind in favour of a much colder, maritime climate?  Good question (one I ask...

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Cambria at anchor behind Chads Island After Sunday’s lightning storm, we wanted a day off, so we took one and waited until Monday to leave Murder Bay.   At this stage in the season, we’re at a bit of a crossroads:  Our house batteries are extremely weak and we’re ready to call it quits.  BUT winter moorage doesn’t begin until the first of October, so we have  to find...

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The fog lifting in Port Renfrew. From Bamfield to Victoria it’s about 90 nm, a distance that’s easily attainable during the summer months when the days are much longer, but we’re fast approaching fall and only have about 11 hours of daylight.  At 6 or 7 knots an hour, we’d be arriving in a major city in the dark – not something we relish doing.  Besides, neither one...

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Bamfield's western shore. Bamfield, our final stop along the West Coast, is somewhat unique in that the town is divided into two sides – the east and the west – by Bamfield Inlet, also known as “Main Street”.  The east side is connected to the rest of Vancouver Island by a dirt road, giving access to tourists and hikers, but the west side isn’t and can only be...

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There’s not a lot written about Lucky Creek in the local cruising guides (Douglass only mentions it in passing); but if you happen to stumble across somebody who’s familiar with the area, the reaction is always the same: “it’s a must-see!”  We can now officially add ourselves to that group.  And for good reason. We left Effingham Bay late yesterday morning and made our way back toward Vacouver...

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Effingham Island needs more than a day to be fully explored, so we decided to stay four. It’s getting late in the season and most of the other boats have already made their way back up the Strait of Juan de Fuca, including  Linger Longer and Sarita. We’re anxious to get back on the inside as well but are reluctant to leave Barkley Sound before visiting a few anchorages while the weather continues...

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Our final day in Ucluelet was a busy one.  After walking Sally, David and I went into shore – me to take some pictures of the town and him to visit the chandlery for a new battery.  He found one (and only one) but they weren’t able to tell him how many amp hours it had.  An online search of the model number came up empty as well...

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The week started off with a bang . . . or a blow, rather . . . and 55 knot southeasterlies with 3 to 4 metre seas off Cape Scott and the bad weather continued from there.  We were more fortunate south of Brooks Peninsula and only saw winds in the 30 to 40 knot range, but it was a long week spent under the influence of a...

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