Ucluelet to Bamfield

I roll out of bed at the reasonable hour of 8am and immediately wake Carsen. 

After our experience of having a very hard time finding moorage in Ucluelet at 4pm a couple days previous, I am set on arriving in Bamfield before 2pm… So we will actually have a chance at getting moorage!

We both eat a simple breakfast of cream-of-wheat and a half of an orange each. 

Energized, I fire up our still trusty Universal 5424 diesel and motor out of the marina and off to the fuel dock to top off our tanks. As I approach the fuel dock, rather than switch our mooring lines and fenders to the starboard side, I decided to pull a U-turn in front of the dock and tie up on the port side. Simple.

As I pull the U-turn, I realize the current is sucking us quite quickly passed our planned tie up point. We are moving at nearly 2.5kts sideways! We soon reach the end of the fuel dock and are no were near ready to tie up… We are 8 feet from the dock and still sideways! No amount of reversing/prop walk can save us now!

Embarrassed, I spin back around so our bow is pointed into the current and motor back up to the fuel dock. Quickly, we switch over the fenders and mooring lines and tie up safe and sound. I chat with the dock boy for a bit and discover his best friend actually graduated high school in Campbell River! Small world!

I quickly top up our tanks, pay the ludicrous bill and prepare to motor off without too much of a worry. As Carsen begins to untie, I pop Themistocles in gear at idle and fight the 2.5kt current, making our departure swift and smooth!

As we motor out of Ucluelet, we marvel at the many rocks and reefs that dot the area. The sun is already out and the rays are beaming down upon our heads. I go below to use the head, and I slather on some sunscreen while I am at it.

I am excited for a fine day of sailing with predicted 15kt winds. I head back out into the cockpit and keep an eye on the windex. I watch for over half of an hour and never see it exceed 5kts true wind speed! 

Feeling a little down, I check the engine gauges and make sure that everything is well. 180F, 50PSI and 20AMPS at 2000rpm… Perfect. Our trusty Universal is ticking along just fine.

Once again, I head down below and this time I grab a magazine and a pillow. Today is going to be a hot day of doing nothing!

As we exit the protection of the reefs and rocks outside Ucluelet, the waves increase to sizeable 6-8ft rollers and the wind remains no higher than 5kts true!

I keep myself occupied with taking photos, whale watching and perusing 'Wooden Boat' magazines finest articles. I take the time to truly read every word. To think about and examine everything. I realize the art of creating a magnificent wooden boat is truly beautiful. From forest, to showboat or workboat… or somewhere in between. 8ft to 80ft. They are all amazing pieces of art.

As we near Bamfield, the swarms of fishing boats begin to dot the horizon. Zipping and buzzing about like the mosquitos that are eating me alive as I type this!

We motor into the harbour and tie up at the government wharf in 'West Bamfield'. We are soon turned away as the wharf is full and make our way over to the 'East Bamfield' dock. After searching high and low, we end up rafting up against an aluminum Herring skiff. The sun is still beaming down and the temperature is rising into the high twenties. 25. 26. 27. 28. They all go by as the sun heats the inlet on this day without a breath of wind.

I spend the afternoon reading and trying to stay cool. Both Carsen and I are unaccustomed to anything above 20 degrees! Nearly our whole trip up until this point has been below 20 degrees Celsius!

As 5pm rolls around, the aluminum Herring skiff leaves, and we are able to tie up directly to the dock.

I fire up the barbecue and we enjoy and decadent dinner of pork-chops and fresh veggies. 

After dinner, I make my way over to the local community school/library and manage to find free wifi! I am ecstatic! I quickly get ahold of Taylor and soon we are skyping! It is amazing how comforting it is to see the face of someone you love, even if it is just on an 11.4" macbook screen.

After skyping for over and hour, we say our goodnights and wander back on down to the boat and curl up into my bunk for an early bedtime. I enjoy the delights of 'Wooden Boat' one more time, but as soon as my cheek touches pillow… I am out for the count.

I awake at 8:30am to the sound of a fellow sailboat puttering by. I grab a quick breakfast of eggs and toast and leave Carsen to sleep as I hop off the boat to run for the showers! After waiting in a short line, I manage to get in the shower and find that it is free. A nice change from having to pay a dollar for every 2 to 3 minutes!

After my shower I notice I am late for my Skype session and I run uphill all the way back to the library to skype Taylor. We talk about life, careers, aspirations and our future together. I cant stop smiling at this beautiful, smart, driven girl gazing at me through a laptop while she is sitting hundreds of kilometres away.

After 45minutes we say our goodbyes and hang up. After quickly checking my emails, Facebook and route planning I leave the library and head back to the boat for lunch. 

I barbecue up some HUGE hotdogs for lunch. The sun beats down as the temperatures exceed 30 degrees, but I do my best to hide under the bimini cover.

After lunch, I hop in the "dingy dinghy" and row over to 'West Bamfield' to explore and walk the shoreside boardwalk.

I pass cute pastel coloured cabins, puppy dogs, beautiful wooden sailboats, an old seine boat from Victoria which had been lovingly converted to a motor yacht. It is like a fairly-tale. So beautiful, so serene and so colourful.

As I near the end of the boardwalk, I spy the police boat "Inkster" on the other side of the inlet in 'East Bamfield'. I quickly recognize the name as the boat my uncle Phil works on! Without missing a beat I send him a text and realize that he is indeed onboard!

He invites me over. I leap at the opportunity. I stroll back along the path, hop in the dinghy and row back to our mooring. As I walk along, I text Carsen and tell him that Phil is in town!

After finding Carsen at the library skyping, I convince him to come along. We wander down a gravel road and find Inkster… And Phil, who is buried deep within one of the engine rooms. After clambering up, Phil gives us a full tour of the amazing 65ft long aluminum vessel. We get a photo alongside and before we leave, Phil gives us two freezies each for the walk back. Much appreciated on this cooking hot day.

After quickly exploring the infamous 'Marine Sciences Centre' building. We wander back to the boat for a quick dinner and then back up to the library to use the wifi and type this blog! 

Mosquitos I killed whilst typing this blog: 27

Mosquitos I missed: ALOT

Check out this newspaper article, an excerpt from my blog made it in!

Over and out! Off to Port Renfrew tomorrow.

Tuff City to Ukee

I am slowly awaken from the depths of my dreams by the sound of a fishing boat rumbling by mere feet away from my head with only a thin layer of glass, fibreglass albeit, but glass nonetheless between us.

I roll over and gaze in the sleeping face of the most beautiful girl on the planet. A plant small kiss on her cheek and she slowly fights off the last of her sleepiness. We lay, half asleep, in each others embrace until I muster up enough energy to hop out of bed and round up something resembling a breakfast!

Today is the day we leave Tofino. We have been here for four nights, and every minute has been amazing. I know that as soon as 11am rolls around, I will have to leave this amazing town and leave my amazing girlfriend. I feel down, down to leave, but energized to keep moving, to keep exploring, to keep meeting new people.

As 11am rolls around, Taylor and I exchange our goodbyes… Actually our "see you laters" and she rides her cruiser bicycle off to her place where her dad is waiting to take her home to Campbell River. I wander up to Breakers Cafe to use the internet to do one last check of my emails, and the weather.

All looks good.

I wander back down to the boat, fire up the now repaired and hopefully trusty Universal 5424. Big thanks to my extended family for buying and bringing in the parts from Port Alberni along with some much appreciated groceries, a home cooked apple crisp (the crisp is already eaten!) and for delievering a banner made by the children in the park!

After warming up the engine, we cast off our lines and set sail onwards and outwards. Back onto the open Pacific for a few hour sail down to Ucluelet.

The sail is tedious, with only the occasional 12ft rogue wave hitting us abeam to spice things up. Within minutes of setting sail, Tofino is obscured by a haze or mist and Ucluelet is much the same.

I spend the day 'enjoying' the throws of teenage angst and dream of Taylor and our lives together. 

As we near Ucluelet, the waves die down and the sun start to peek out from behind the mist. The rays of ultraviolet light scorch our tender noses and ears before we smarten up and apply ample amounts of sunscreen! Entering Ucluelet is an experience to say the least! We have stellar timing and start entering the harbour right as EVERY fishing, tour and sailing boat is deciding to enter as well! We are passed by swarms of 20ft Trophy and Grady White's. They fly by us buzzing like packs of mosquitos. 

We call the Ucluelet Harbour over VHF, but we receive no response. We try again, but receive no response. We motor by the narrow entrance and it looks PACKED! We instead turn around and tie up the Island West Resort. I wander up to the office, and despite all my 'A' game sweet talking, we are turned away as the marina is full! We head back to the Ucluelet Harbour and I spy an empty spot on 'F' dock! I begin to beeline for the spot, but I am soon being yelled at by an angry harbour master.

Standing at the end of 'D' finger, he shouts to me "We are full! There is no room!" I begin to get worried and question him about 'F' dock and once again he tries to turn me away. I ask if there is a temporary spot to moor so I can ask around and see if we can raft up with someone. He yells back in a snappy tone nearly telling me to get lost.

Not deterred, I find an open spot on the 'derby dock' and tie up there temporarily while I run the docks trying to find someone to raft with. After ten minutes I spot a bright yellow 32ft long sailboat that looks perfect for us! As I run back to the 'derby dock' I nearly bump into the harbourmaster and he tells me "Hey kid, no worries. Just stay where you are. That'll work perfectly until noon tomorrow, we will move you then."

I feel as if a weight is lifted off my chest. I mosey back to the boat and settle down in the cockpit to have a nice cold drink after an hour of trying to find moorage.

Carsen and I wander up the local Co-op and gather up some groceries. After a decadent dinner of barbecued chicken and corn on the cob, I relax in my bunk. All alone. 

After a half hour of perusing a magazine while curled up beneath my covers, I manage to work up enough energy to go explore the washrooms and shower facilities. As I wander up to the door, I find I need a code… which I wasn't supplied. I ask some other folk if they know the code, but no one does, or they aren't willing to tell. 

I see the harbourmaster, Steve, and decide to test my luck and ask him. As I approach him, I can tell his mood is different. He is relaxed. I ask him about the showers and he gives me the code, along with the internet password! I tell him my story and that we are circumnavigating for juvenile diabetes and he is thrilled! He asks question after question and apologizes for his mood earlier. It had been a very busy and stressful afternoon for him. His wife joins us and she is also very intrigued and asks question after question. 

After a 20 minute long conversation, I say good evening and begin to head back down to the boat. I text Taylor, fire up Facebook and enjoy an evening of internet excellence. My macbook dies about an hour after I first started facebook'ing and without shore-power (since we are on a temporary dock) I cannot charge it. I text Taylor goodnight, roll over in my bunk and fall dead asleep.

Kyuquot, Hot Springs, Tofino!

After an amazing dinner, I slumped back, chatted with the Kyuquot locals and dreamt of the day ahead. As the sun begins to set and the Inn quiets down, I pack up my things and wander my way down the narrow winding path back towards the government dock.

I hop aboard and after a quick bedtime snack, I curl up into my bunk and as soon as my cheek touches pillow, I am out like a light.

I awake just before 6am as the sun is rising and cook up some hot porridge, tea and hot cocoa. I jostle Carsen awake and in the blink of an eye, we are both up, enjoying the sunrise while dinning on some hot oats and liquids.

After a short, but scrumptious meal I wander my way out into the cockpit and prepare to fire up the 'trusty' diesel after our fuel filter fix the day before. I position the throttle, insert the key, rotate it to fire up the fuel pump, flip the glowplug switch and wait for the solid 'click' of the solenoid… But nothing!

I try again. Nothing.

I go below, and remove the engine cover before checking the leads to the solenoid. 

They are all perfect. Just great.

It appears that although I managed to fix our scary fuel filter problem, yet another engine related item decided to call it quits.

Not one to be set back by something small, I manage to devise a jumper to re-route current around the solenoid so we can warm those darn glowplugs and start the engine! After 15 seconds of rerouting dangerous amounts of current through a jerry-rigged jumper, I fire up the starter and all 24 horsepower we have chuff to life with a satisfactory rumble.

We navigate the maze of buoys, rocks and reefs and hurry on out of Kyuquot and rocket towards Hot Springs Cove. We spend the 13 hours taking alternating cat naps and whale watching as we speed towards the sulphurous waters of Hot Springs Cove.

As we round Estevan Point, the winds begin to die and the whales begin to come out and play! We see hundred of orcas, grey whales and humpbacks! They swim all around us, sometimes coming so close you can feel the mist from their spout.

As we near Hot Springs Cove, the faint smell of sulphur permeates the air around us and makes us crinkle our noses in response. We near the dock and after an effortless maneuver into our side-tie moorage we tie up, grab our bathing suits and run the 2km trail towards the springs! As we round the corner, the smell of sulphur singes our noses.

After changing, we go to explore the small pools, ponds and waterfalls that Hot Springs Cove is famous for. As the sun sets, we hop out and begin to meander back to the dock, reading the infamous carved boardwalk as we go.

As we get back to the boat, the sun has set and beautiful Hot Springs Cove is dark, and silent. I climb in to my bunk and set off dreaming of tomorrow, of Tofino, of Taylor.

I awake at 8:30am sharp. I hop out of my bunk, boil some water and make some tea and hot cocoa for Carsen. He awakens to the smell of the cocoa being poured.

I fire up the stove, and within seconds I have some giant flapjacks grillin' away. 

As I go to flip the third pancake, I hear something above me, I glance up to find an inquisitive dog off of a fellow sailboat sticking his snout in the open port above my head! I shoo him off and finish cooking up some decadent pancakes.

After a quick meal I decide not to head back to the hot springs, and instead decide to set off ahead of schedule to Tofino!

I quickly use the head, but as I go to drain the toilet bowl into the holding tank the handle won't move! I've clogged the head! GREAT. Something else to fix.

I fire up the trusty diesel once again using the 'jerry-rigged jumper' and it chuffs to life, once again. We motor out and within minutes we are on a broad reach under full sail in 20kts of breeze surfing waves on route to Tofino. As we get within eyesight of Tofino, it is quite clear that it sure is a foggy day there! The whole area is obscured by a thick, heavy, white fog.

As we race towards Tofino, the fog burns off and we hit nearly 9.5kts for extended periods as we surf massive rollers!

We near Tofino, and the fog completely disappears. We are welcomed by a bright, warm, sunny day in the most beautiful town on the West coast of Vancouver Island. 

As we enter the Harbour, we see it is a hustling and bustling little place with whale, bear, salmon charters and hot springs tours zipping by in every direction!

I text Taylor and tell her to keep an eye out for us before I call up the Tofino Harbour Authority and arrange a spot on 'E' dock (ANOTHER ONE!) of the 4th street marina. As we near the marina, I spin around and line myself up for a simple and easy docking maneuverer. 

As we motor near the dock, we come to a stop and the boat begins to list over in the 20kts of breeze in the harbour. WE'VE RUN AGROUND! I glance over the side and I am greeted with the sight of seagrass everywhere.

I pop into reverse and after ample application of throttle I manage to power off of the shoal. 

Once again, I try, and this time we successfully make it in to our slip. As I am prop-walking into position, I glance up towards the dock and see an angel; my beautiful girlfriend, the most amazing girl in the world. Taylor.

My heart misses a few beats and I nearly take out a small aluminum fishing boat as the biggest butterflies form in my stomach.

As we snug up against the dock, I toss the mooring lines to Carsen and leap off of the boat. I run over to Taylor, my little heart flutters as I grasp her in my arms. I bear hug her so tightly I am scared I may squish her. I kiss her with the most passionate kiss the world has ever seen. The butterflies subside, but my heart still flutters franticly.

After tidying up, we head in to explore Tofino, grab lunch and grocery shop for dinner.

After an exciting afternoon exploring Tofino, we head back to the boat to cook up dinner and I try to sort out moorage. We are given a $60 'credit' but our moorage fees are still nearly $100! Slightly upset I wander back down to the boat, but I soon relax with a freshly bbq'd burger and a cold lemonade.

We spend the evening and the next days causing shenanigans, ordering MORE boat parts to fix the failed items, properly mount our replacement fuel filter and I get the ungodly task of fixing the clogged head… Which isn't pretty. (since when has pressurized fecal matter spraying everywhere been pretty)

Now try to erase that image from your memory with the following photos.

Over and out.

Kyuquot and the Coast Guard

I awoke at 6am sharp. I see the sun rising and I know its time to go.

I rustle from underneath my covers and awaken Carsen. We whip up some oatmeal and tea and fire up the trusty diesel.

Releasing the mooring lines, we set off at a quarter to seven with not a lick of wind, but a ferocious fog bank rolling in quickly. As we motor away from Winter Harbour, I realize I am happy to leave. As nice as Winter Harbour was, it is relieving to escape the swarms horse flies and get back in to this millennium.

As we motor out of Winter Harbour we experience 150ft of visibility and not a lick of wind under the thick fog! We round Brooks Peninsula around noon under motor with still not a breath of wind, but the fog has cleared and only a low lying cloud hangs around.

Motoring towards Kyuquot we see six whales! Everything from Orcas to BEHEMOTH humpbacks. We have a massive humpback breach less than 300 meters of our port bow! As we near Kyuquot, we are navigating our way through hundreds of rocks and reefs when our previously trusty Universal 5424 diesel begins to fluctuate in RPM from our cruising speed of 2000rpm. First it drops to 1700rpm and then after mere seconds it resumes to 2000. Another 15 seconds pass before it drops back to 1400rpm and stays there. I try to increase throttle, but after climbing back to 1500 the engine suddenly quits! We are only 3 miles from safety!

Worried, I try a restart, but after exhibiting the same symptoms the engine dies again! Thinking the culprit may be a clogged fuel pickup, I tear open the fuel tank and check, but it is clear!

I try to restart, but still no luck.

Realizing we are not going to have a running engine anytime soon, and not able to sail through the maze of rocks and reefs, I light up VHF channel 16 and send a PAN-PAN call to the Coast Guard based out of Kyuquot. They launch their inflatable and within a half hour we are tethered up and under tow to safety.

As we near the entrance to the cove, they switch us to an alongside tow and bring us to the government wharf where we see folks on 'True North' a Hallberg-Rassy 36 that we previously met in Winter Harbour.

We tie up safe and go explore all of what is Kyuquot/Walters Cove.

It is an amazing area. Everything and everyone has a purpose.

The town is linked by a series of trails and wooden boardwalks; it is simply beautiful.

As we wandered the paths, we stumbled upon the Kyuquot Inn and the owner Eric invited us in for an AMAZING fish and chips dinner - the best I've ever had! Make sure if you come out this way to come to the Kyuquot Inn!

After an amazing evening, we retired the to boat after a hectic day!

After a restful sleep, I awake to the sound of fishing boats leaving for the day and after a quick breakfast I set on taking our fuel system apart.

The culprit is a DISGUSTING fuel filter. I look all over for a replacement Racor R24S but to no avail. Luckily, a fellow sailboater has a spare fuel filter setup and when he offers it to us, I leap at the opportunity.

As of now, we are simply looking for the proper brass fittings to rig it up. We should be leaving Kyuquot tomorrow morning.

Culprit on the right, replacement on the left... But the barbs are too big.

Over and out.

Bull Harbour, and the WEST COAST!

After a late wakeup, a simple froot-loops breakfast and a quick stop to fill up our jerry cans at the Quarterdeck Marina fuel dock we set off into the thick fog enveloping Port Hardy.

After zig-zagging between a number of small fishing boats, we were in for a quick hop to Bull Harbour. As we passed 'God's Pocket' marine park, the eerie fog parted and we were greeted by the gleaming rays of the much anticipated sun!

Passage to bull harbour was fairly boring with nothing to note other than BEAUTIFUL geology and perfect weather. The majority of my free time was spent day dreaming and taking photos. As we turned in to Bull Harbour, we were greeted by protection from the building rollers and wind by sheer cliffs and ancient fir and cedar trees.

It is a strange feeling to be just twenty or thirty feet from 'shore' - a sheer cliff face, and have the depth sounder read over two hundred feet deep! As is the norm on the entrance to Bull Harbour.

As we entered the harbour we were amazed by the summer smell blowing off of the shore. Our noses were tingled by the aromas of grass fields, flowers, berry bushes and a warm breeze. After a quick spin around the dock, we found ourselves a 36ft long open side tie surrounded by fishing boats and yachts alike; without a second of hesitation, I leapt at the opportunity. 

We motored over, and with our Campbell Sailer propellor I prop-walked us perfectly in to the tight area. After tying up we were greeted by a young first nations man who collected our moorage payment. Once that was paid, we went and wandered towards the infamous "Roller Beach" which faces almost directly North and is pounded by massive rollers all day long. All of the rocks and pebbles on the beach are rounded and smooth from the relentless waves.

In addition to round and smooth pebbles, the beach was littered with Japanese trash. We discovered hundreds of Japanese water bottles, fishing floats and pieces of assorted garbage.

After a two hour long exploration of the beach, dinner time rolled around. I cooked up some eggs, bacon and toast slathered in jam! A perfect end to a great day.

We curled up into bed at 10:30pm and we were out like lights.

Seven hours later, I woke up startled to the sound of an iPod touch declaring it was 5:30am and time to get up!

I rolled out of bed, dressed myself and woke Carsen up in his bunk. I whipped up some coffee, while Carsen prepared some oatmeal.

Just as our oatmeal was ready and the sun was rising, I started up the engine and we began to motor out of Bull Harbour following a group of fishing boats. As we exited the protection of the sheer cliff faces, we were shocked to see the huge breakers over the bar on a slight ebb current. Massive rollers were passing over the shallow forty foot deep bar and were transformed into twelve to fifteen foot tall weapons of mass destruction.

Unfazed, we stashed all of the electronics below decks and powered onwards towards the menacing waves.

The water grew shallower and shallower until we found ourselves in forty feet of water, surrounded by huge breakers. We continued onward and were beaten for nearly forty minutes as everything below decks was sent flying. Still not fazed, we sped onwards to the well known Cape Scott.

As we rounded the Cape, we were met by a mixture of sizeable rollers and nasty breakers that chucked us about in the shallow waters just off of the point.

Finally, nearly five hours after we left Bull Harbour, we were back in water over two hundred feet deep and the waves had lessened to mild six to nine foot rollers that were evenly spaced far apart.

On the West coast, we were greeted by scorching sun, but a freezing Northwest breeze that kept us in heavy jackets.

After countless hours of daydreaming, thinking, soul searching and philosophizing we were less than an hour out from Winter Harbour! Rounding Kains Island, we were less than pleased to see over forty small fishing boats zigzagging around. It was overwhelming after ten hours of seeing only two other boats. 

We zigged, and they zagged. We dodged and they dived, and after fifteen minutes we were free of the fishing boats and we could almost see WInter Harbour. As we entered the inlet, we were immediately greeted by thirty degree breezes - a HUGE difference from the eight to ten degrees we had just spent the day in!

As we reached WInter Harbour, we tied up, were nearly eaten by horse flies and after slathering on some extra sunscreen, we went to get ourselves some freezies and settle down in the shade. It didn't take long to realize we must have entered some sort of time machine that sent us back twenty years - Picture the early 90's at a lake in the heartland of the United States… That is what we are currently living. It is sooooo eerie.

After a refreshing stick of frozen sugar water, I wandered back to the boat and tidied up everything that had turned into a projectile over Nahwitti Bar and set out on preparing some freshly bbq'd hamburgers. Carsen fired up the grill and cooked us up some flame broiled patties, while I prepped everything else.

I now lay in my bunk with a food coma from a burger with double beef patties for twice the goodness as Carsen fishes off of the dock.

I would like to tell everyone who has been supporting that I really appreciate it, and keep it up! I would like to tell my family that I miss them and I cant wait to see you guys again, and lastly, I would like to tell my beautiful girlfriend that she is AMAZING. She is the most supportive person I know, and I thank her for standing beside me in times of stress and anguish. I love you Taylor.

Please view the photos on our facebook page, as the internet is much too slow to upload them here as well.