Thursday, August 13, 2020

Sail through the changing ocean tides…

July 23, 2020. Dodger Channel to Pacific Gateway Marina, Port San Juan. 42 NM.

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There was less swell in the anchorage overnight, and we both caught up on some sleep. We awoke reasonably early, and swung into action to get the boat moving, as we knew we had a longer day today. Outbreak had left already by the time we were up. The morning was grey, overcast, and cold, with the outside thermometer showing just over 12 degrees. We were once again bundled up in our full foul weather gear. Sitting outside in the ocean wind on the boat drops your body temperature very quickly, and we have found for most days this summer that we’ve needed to be dressed the same as if we were going skiing in the winter.

We were moving cautiously out of the anchorage by 0800, which was pretty close to low tide. We still had plenty of water to get out without incident, and we were soon raising the main in Hammond Passage as we motored out into increasing swells.

Turning south, we rounded Cape Beale, with the lighthouse clearly visible high above the rolling ocean. The wind and the surge seems to build up around these capes, and it was big and rolly as we carried on. It wasn’t as bad as it had been coming down from Tofino, though. Once we were around the Cape, things settled nicely, only to pick up for an hour or so around every small point we passed during the day.

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Cape Beale

We could see Outbreak about an hour ahead of us, and ahead of them was another boat called Soul Star. We followed them both all day on the AIS. Both of those boats were ones we had seen the other morning as we left Joe’s Bay. We were later to find out that the third boat we had seen that morning, Bare Necessity, was also just ahead of us, but they didn’t have AIS, so we couldn’t tell they were there. It underlines how few sailboats there are out here this year, though, in that the four of us made up almost all the sailboats we saw in Barkley Sound.

Given how cold it was outside, Sara and I started to take watches, with the off watch person going below for 30 or 40 minutes to warm up. Sara went down first, and I had an uneventful watch. Even though there were lots of boats visible on AIS, the only one close enough to be visible to the naked eye was Outbreak, and they were right at the limit of what we could see. Otherwise, not much was happening. I had the Bluetooth speaker with me in the cockpit, and I danced to keep warm, with Sara laughing at me from down in the cabin.

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Keeping warm on a rolly watch

After my watch was over, I went inside and huddled under a blanket to warm up. I read for a bit, and before long, it was time to head back top side. When I got back into the cockpit, Sara said “Oh, you missed a lot of whales! I saw two pods of orcas, and a humpback that was closer to the boat than any others we have seen!”

We were out on the water for about 7 or 8 hours today. I spent 30 minutes below, during which time Sara saw multiple whales. We didn’t see any other whales all day long!

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. We saw some big cargo ships coming out of the Juan De Fuca Strait. One was over 1000 feet long, according to the AIS. We also saw lots of small fishing boats as we got nearer to Port Renfrew.

Eventually we came to Port San Juan. The wind had died completely, and we lowered the main before turning into the Bay. We motored up to the end of the bay, with the ongoing ocean swell and wind behind us. Right at the head of the bay, we turned behind the large rip rap breakwater, and docked just past Soul Star and Bare Necessity. We managed the landing fine on our own, and realized that, in a lot of ways, it’s easier if no one offers to help.

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Pacific Gateway Marina, Port San Juan

After tying up, the owners of Soul Star and Bare Necessity came by, and we chatted for a while on the dock. They had all been watching us on AIS too, and realized they had seen us in Barkley Sound. It was good to compare notes as to how everyone had fared on the trip down. They had found the day very similar to us. Cold, rolly, and not much wind.

With lots of water available on the dock, and a fully heated hot water tank from running the engine, we both had showers to shake off the chill of day. Feeling warmer, we headed up to the restaurant at the head of the dock, and treated ourselves to a chicken burger, a veggie burger, and a shared piece of New York Cheese Cake for dessert.20200723_173727

Treating ourselves to a dinner off the boat

We hadn’t taking a single step off the boat for a couple of days, so after dinner, we went for a walk to stretch our legs. We headed down to the beach in Port Renfrew, and found ourselves in the land of the giant driftwood. Some of the stumps and trees washed up on shore looked like true old growth monsters. I’m glad we didn’t run into any of them out on the water. I’m also glad we weren’t around for any storm big enough to throw one of these behemoths up onto the beach.

Soundtrack: Landslide, Fleetwood Mac

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Land of the Giant Driftwood

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