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Spirit of
Freedom's Gunkhole Adventure 2009
June 12 - October 11, 2009 1,615.4 nautical miles
Part Twelve: The West
Coast of Vancouver Island August 8-28
The Sixth Leg Continues: Barkley Sound to Bamfield
August 25 We left Effington Bay and went to Turtle Bay aka Joe's Bay which is protected by Turtle Island, Walsh Island, Willis Island and Dodd Island, as well a a few scattered islets. It is another lovely anchorage, and a wonderful place to explore. We picked our way in carefully, as the entrances are strewn with reefs. The water had an algae bloom and was a dark murky brown, so a bow-watch wasn't much good! There were several kayak camps scattered throughout the group, but only one other sailboat came in; and they anchored across the bay from us. BJ and Tricia took off in the kayaks to explore; while Dad, Cliff, Angel, Scupper and myself set off in the dink. We tried to find the old homestead of Joe the hermit who settled here long ago, but there was great ambiguity in the different cruiser guides as to just where his homestead had been. Supposedly there were still remnants of his extensive ornamental gardens; we sure didn't find any! Again, this is another place we need to come back to for further exploration!
August 25 After spending just one night in Turtle Bay we headed out under power, picking our way carefully out of the bay. We then toured through the Pinkerton Island group--another incredible place! Very cool, we had to do a lot of very slowly picking our way through the rocks, little islets and reefs. I would love to haul Baby Hewie (my 20' HewesCraft fishing boat) up here to explore. Maybe someday Cliff and I will have to do that!
We left the Pinkerton group, and were finally able to raise our sails and head to Bamfield where we planned to get fuel and spend the night. Bamfield was not what I expected; though I really don't know what I expected. We found our that of just a month ago there is no longer any diesel in Bamfield, so no fueling up for us. The place is not really cruiser-friendly, being more set up for sport fisherman. We did a dink tour, and visited the store. The village is very funky, one side is not accessible by road, only by boat, so there are water taxi's, and everybody has their own boat to get to the other side of the little bay so that they can get in their cars and drive to other places on-island. The houses are connected by a boardwalk, and all are very interesting. We ate at the only Pub, which was in the only hotel. The food was good, the historical photos on the wall even better! There were several cruisers anchored in the bay for the night, as it is a safe secure anchorage. I remembered that Margo Wood had invited us to tie up to her dock for the night, unfortunately we couldn't do that. Her place is in the inner harbor, and to get back there we would have to go under power lines that have a clearance of 58 feet. Spirit's mast is 60. So no go! Maybe that is why she felt free to invite us?? Before we turned in for the night, BJ went up the mast as the anchor light had burned out and needed a new bulb. While he was up there he swapped out the Tri-color light as well as it appeared that several LED bulbs were not working. If it isn't one thing on a boat it is another!
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