Spirits 2009 Part Thirteen

^The Family Yacht Club

All photos in this website are copyrighted; we ask that you not copy them in any form without permission.
Please contact webmaster@familyyachtclub.com for any additional information.

Spirit of Freedom's Gunkhole Adventure 2009
June 12 - October 11, 2009 1,615.4 nautical miles

Part Thirteen: The West Coast of Vancouver Island August 8-28
The Seventh Leg: Bamfield to Port San Juan/Port Renfrew

August 27 We left Bamfield in the pre-dawn, along with a virtual parade of sport fishing boats and other cruisers; officially starting the final portion of our trip down the west coast of Vancouver Island. There was no wind, and it looked like it was going to be a clear, calm day. We said goodbye to Barkley Sound as we rounded Cape Beale, which marks the eastern entrance to Barkley Sound, again another calm rounding in potentially heavy waters. The Strait was calm, with a very low swell. We were able to do a lot of "sight-seeing" along the coastline, using our binoculars as we stayed well offshore; we spotted only one whale on this stretch, a lone transient Orca hunting for seals along the shoreline; too far away for photos. It was a good day, we fished and Cliff caught his first salmon ever! Mainly it was BJ and me fishing, with Cliff netting. It got crazy for a while as we were in a pod and the fish were hitting hard! We kept 2, brought to the boat and released 10 or 12 and lost more. It was a lot of fun, it was warm, calm and sunny! Because Neah Bay (US) no longer has customs, we were going to have to check into Port Angeles, as we had to do it in person rather than a phone-in. Which is too bad, because we would have liked to pop across the Strait of Juan de Fuca and anchor at Pillar Point for the night. Our only option, other than a really, really long run was to put into Port of San Juan/Port Renfrew. BJ and Tricia had been in there some years ago; spending the most miserable night they ever had at anchor due to high winds, waves and breakers. Sounds like fun, eh? As we crossed the bar into Port San Juan, which is a large rectangular bay, the wind funneled in from the Strait, the waves increased in the shallow water and the ride became bumpy, very bumpy. We toured a bit and then went to the eastern shore, near the head of the bay to Port Renfrew, where we anchored in swells, wind, choppy, lumpy and rolly. Not the least bit comfortable! It took several three tries to get a set, we kept finding lots of kelp. We finally moved out into slightly deeper water, with a little less shelter (such as it was in the first place!) and got a good solid set. Oh, but an uncomfortable anchorage! It was interesting though, listening to the breakers hit the shore behind and beside us. We were anchored right off the sport fishing docks, and the fish processing dock that unloads the commercial boats. BJ and Tricia opted to go ashore for dinner, while I stayed with the boat, not trusting the situation. Cliff and Dad stayed with me and we had a rolly dinner aboard. While we were eating a commercial boat came in and was unloaded. Interesting to watch, as they vacuumed the fish out of the hold with large hoses! Then the boat anchored off of us a ways. A large powerboat came in just before dark and started to drop their anchor way too close to us; we spoke to them and they moved away a bit. I felt sorry for them, they were obviously very tired and very uncomfortable in the rolly anchorage. We fell asleep listening to the breakers on the beach crash as the wind and waves built. Uncomfortable, but doable. Not like when BJ and Tricia had been here before.