After looking
after local chores and concerns and after preparations and provisioning, we set
sail approximately 09:30 hrs, Thursday August 8 2013 for a stop at Poets Cove at
Bedwell Harbour (South Pender) before heading the following morning for
Victoria. This was our first transit
through Active Pass. We entered Active
Pass at approximately 11:45 hrs with a 1.5 kt ebb favouring our transit southbound. The ferries, Spirit of Vancouver Island and the Spirit of British Columbia, were also transiting Active Pass (in
opposite directions) while we were there.
The AIS is particularly useful as it shows SOG and distance-speed
vectors indicating possible collisions concerns during transit. We established contact with the ferries over
Channel 16 to notify them of our intended course in case they had concerns. We had a leisurely cruise down Swanson
Channel along “Pender Bluffs”. There was
a lot of “Rec guys” fishing for pink salmon along the way. We arrived at Poets Cove approximately 13:30
hrs with a course length of 33 nm.
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| The 'Spirit of Vancouver Island' transiting Active Pass |
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| View of Poets Cove from the foredeck |
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| Pam enjoying happy hour in the cockpit at Poets Cove |
The
following morning at about 08:45 hrs, we departed Poets Cove Marina with a
strong ebb-tide push of about 3 kts. “Speed
over ground” (SOG) was over 10 kts for much of the ride to Victoria. It was a lovely day, with calm seas and warm
weather. We saw a flotilla of whale
boats that had spotted Killer Whales off Discovery Island. What a gong show! I’m not very impressed with
the so-called Eco Tourism Industry when it behaves that way. This sort of activity has to be disruptive to
the whales. As for ourselves, we always
maintain a respectable distance of about 4-500 metres, unless the whales for
some reason come our way. We often
stumble upon whales. They seem to come
out of nowhere sometimes. We arrived in
Victoria approximately 12:50 hrs and tied up right in front of the Empress
Hotel. Jenny got to poop on the lawns of
both the Empress and the Legislative Buildings—something that you or I would
have been hauled off to jail for doing!
Of course, I picked up after her!
I phoned up my friends Bill and Martha Gazey and we had a lovely visit
on the boat and brought in take-out from “Red Fish, Blue Fish” which BTW, is
the finest fish and chips I’ve had anywhere, including England. Mind you,
plaice and chips in Portree Scotland was also well up there! The next day we bought wandered about
Victoria and had dinner????
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| Looking west towards Sidney on the approach to pass Sidney Spit |
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| Victoria Harbour: Pam enjoying a 'wrap' in the cockpit, the Legislative Building in the background |
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| View towards the Empress Hotel, Victoria Harbour |
We left at
09:15 Sunday August 11 to spend a couple of nights at Sidney Spit. It was cloudy with some drizzle. I wanted to test the poles and paravanes
after experimenting with them at the dock in Victoria. They performed nicely, and it turned out they
were particularly useful off Trial Islands where a NW wind kicked up a swell
against a strong ebb tide. Phoenix
Hunter rode the water like a marble on a table.
The weather and wave state improved after rounding Ten Mile Pt. (Baynes
Channel) and I retrieved the paravanes.
I discovered one cannot raise the poles when the boat is underway! Anyways, disaster averted and we headed pretty
much against the tide to Sidney Spit, arriving about 13:00 hrs.
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| The poles and paravanes deployed off Victoria Harbour |
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| Pam and Jenny enjoying the sights while tied to the mooring bouy at Sidney Spit |
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| Jim on the foredeck at Sidney Spit |
We spent a
couple of nights at Sidney Spit, tying up to one of the mooring bouys. The weather was nice and why leave when you
are in such a lovely spot? This is part of
the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, the locations of which dot many of the
Gulf Islands. There were some very nice
walks ashore, including a visit to the site of the former Sidney Tile and Brick
Factory. There are tons of bricks and
some derelict equipment at the site. The
spit itself was too awkward for Pam to walk with her bad ankle but the rest of
the area was lovely. We caught one
legal-sized crab but let it go for someone else to catch later.
On Tuesday
August 13, we moved off for a bit of a cruise about, and went down Saanich
Inlet, almost opposite to IOS (DFO’s Institute of Oceanography), before we contacted
our friends Kathy and Carolyn as we knew they were in the area. We agreed to meet up with them in James Bay,
Prevost Island. We went ahead the night of the 13th and they came by
the following day. While waiting for
them we went for a cruise about by dinghy, exploring Selby Cove and Annette
Inlet on the NW side of Prevost Island.
These definitely look like nice spots to anchor and there is some good
shoreline in Annette Inlet for Jenny to explore. Kathy and Carolyn came by Wednesday August 14
and we had a nice visit with drinky-poos and appys, catching up on various
boating and retirement plans.
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| Looking toward the head of Selby Cove |
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| Looking toward the head of Annette Cove |
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| Carolyn and Kathy preparing to leave James Bay |
Kathy and
Carolyn left for another anchorage Thursday morning and with the weather
turning with stronger winds forecast for Friday and we decided as well to leave
James Bay and head back to Steveston, arriving later that afternoon.
