July 14 – 22 Esquimalt – Sooke – Port San Juan and around the corner into Barkley Sound

July 14 – 22 Esquimalt – Sooke – Port San Juan and around the corner into Barkley Sound

I find myself writing less often so longer looks at where we have been.  Relying on my cryptic notes in our boat log here is what we have been doing for the last week.

Having never explored the south tip of Vancouver Island we decide to continue as landed tourists.  We put in at Esquimalt Harbour, the home port of Her Majesty’s Navy.  To enter and move about the harbour all boats, dinghies included are to check in with the Queen’s Harbour Master (QHM) on the VHF radio, channel 10.  Duly checking in we call “QHM QHM ExTerra.  We are a 38’ sailing boat entering the harbour and proceeding to the Canadian Forces Sailing Association (CFSA) dock.”  “Roger ExTerra, thank you.”

We then tie up at the CFSA dock for two nights of free reciprocal moorage.  In talking with Pierre, who helps us tie up, we find that the CFSA is 90% active forces personnel and 10% retirees and or family members of service personnel.  The club is steeped in tradition and ceremony, yet nicely relaxed.  The visitors dock is very close to the ‘outside’ dock, a dock that floats freely away from all the others.  We were not sure how people got to and from their boats until we watched as one man ably demonstrated to us the use of the small swim float/ferry that they pull themselves to and from with.

We enter the club’s bar, the bartender Sam saying to Carl “Sir this is a military establishment so kindly remove your cover.”  Carl removes his hat and we settle in to chat with the locals over another glass of Hoyne Dark Matter.  While we are not there enough days to come away feeling like “everybody knows your name,” it does have that Cheers feeling with bartender Sam (short for Samantha) and the locals telling their stories and ribbing one another over their pints.

The next morning we walk to the bus stop and head into Victoria to the Maritime Museum, enjoying their local maritime history and their current presentation on whales.  

Then it is back on the bus and back across town to the Hatley Castle, reminiscent of the castles we toured in Scotland.  No expense was spared in the liberal use of beautiful exotic woods throughout and lavish gardens from the formal Japanese to the relaxed Italian gardens.  

Built for the Dunsmuir family in 1908 it served as family quarters until 1937.  It then went, in succession to the Naval Training Establishment, then Naval College, Joint Forces College and currently as the Royal Roads University.   

Then it was back to the bar where we visited with members who had just had a meeting about the upcoming physical move of the CFSA.  Next time we visit it will be somewhere across the harbour enabling the navy to expand their drydock graving facilities into the current location of the marina.

Thursday morning we checked in with Her Queen’s Harbour master and let them know we would be touring the harbour in our inflatable dinghy, portable VHF in hand. 

First stop was the National Historic sites of Fisgard Lighthouse and Fort Rodd Hill.  We landed the dinghy and were promptly approached by the resident host.  She wanted to make sure we understood that there was an entrance fee.  Very soon two more Park employees showed up with radios in hand.  The host assured them that we were OK to land and we found our way by foot to the entrance.  

Fort Rodd served from 1878 to 1956 as part of the defences for the British Empire.  The Fort displays are set up in three distinct representations, the Upper Battery (1895-97), Lower Battery (1940’s era) and the Belmont Battery (Second World War era).  The displays are well done and include the Cold War era plotting room for anti-aircraft strategizing. 

Fisgard Lighthouse is significant in that it was the first lighthouse on Canada’s rugged west coast.  Completed in 1860, and staffed through 1929 it has since been automated and is still in service today.

 

Checking in once again with the Queen’s Harbour Master we move our dinghy on up to Parrish bridge, our goal the Six Mile House, the earliest pub established in British Columbia, serving up cold brews since 1864 with a brief prohibition closure.  Lunch was excellent and we even enjoyed a glass of dark beer, not often done for lunch, at least by us.  Pam thoroughly enjoyed her “Ploughman’s Lunch” with its Scottish egg, pork pie, apple bacon chutney, marinated onion, fresh bread and blueberries, sharp cheese and balsamic mustard.  Yum!! 

One last check with QHM on the VHF and we returned to our slip.  Later that day we stop into “Cheers” one last time just to say goodbye to Sam and other members.  We hike a nice three mile round trip to the Four Mile House, another pub in the 4^th oldest house in the greater Victoria area.  Here we enjoy one of their own brewery’s “Hot Chocolate Porter,” at last, a porter has been found!  We enjoy our walk back through oak and maple woodlands.

Next stop – Sooke harbour.  We simply come inside the long Whiffen Spit and anchor for the night.  This is a busy harbour with fishing boats a plenty and people out enjoying walking the spit.  We turn in early since our day had been spent bashing current against the wind in fog, mentally and physically wearing us out.

After a fairly restful (yet short) night we depart into the Strait of Juan de Fuca for another day of motoring into the wind, through the fog and down the Strait.  For lunch we have nice hot split pea soup in keeping with the pea soup fog that has stayed with us.  We enter Port San Juan in 1/8 mile visibility.  Thankfully by the time we get to where we want to anchor the fog has lifted and we can see the crab floats on the approach to Port Renfrew at the end of the opening. 

We had planned on setting up in Port San Juan, which is kind of across the Strait from Neah Bay.  From there we could depart for Astoria.  Instead we have a pleasant surprise.  Our friends Walt and Odile who have been circumnavigating Vancouver Island on their sailboat B Mondo are in striking distance to Barkley Sound.  Can a rendezvous be accomplished?  Yes we say!  A fairly quick look at the total distances shows that it would only be an extra hour or two for our run down the Washington coast from either Port San Juan or Barkley Sound so the rendezvous is on!

We take the day to go the roughly 41 miles around the tip of Vancouver Island and up into Bamfield in Barkley Sound.  It is yet another day of fog but the wind and currents are not as much of a problem today.  After we fill with diesel in Bamfield we go out into the bay to anchor for a very quiet, peaceful night.  The loudest noise is the blue heron chiding the eagle which goes off and on throughout the evening. 

A very leisurely day is in store for us yet not so for Walt and Odile.  They are in the fog some 40 miles today, coming down the outside of Vancouver Island from their Vargas Island anchorage.  We see them trolling for salmon before they enter Dodger Channel to tie up with us.  What a pleasure it is for us to have to boats tied together once again.  They have been with us since the beginning with ExTerra, serving as our crew and mentors on our very first trip up the Washington coast in 2013. 

We reminisce and catch up over a dinner of steaks and green salad and Odile’s wonderful boat baked bread.  The steaks have been saved in our freezer for a special occasion and we feel the rendezvous meets that requirement.  As we chat over our evening beverages we watch whales in our ocean living room in between the rocks that shelter us from much of the ocean swell.

Walt pondering the stillness of the early morning 

We start more actively watching our weather window for a safe departure to Astoria.  It looks like the wind and sea state is not favorable for another day or two so we separate the boats and plan a meet-up in Tzartus Cove.  They head to Bamfield for a fresh supply of produce and chocolate and troll for salmon on the way back.  We fish a couple of shallows along the way and put four more very nice rockfish into our freezer, we are now just two short of our allowable possession limit.  Pam catches two more ling cod but unfortunately neither of them is of legal size. 

We enjoy an evening of fresh fish and bread (Odile) and crab (Carl) and more reminiscing and then a leisurely brunch the next day with a taste of the Corey’s elk breakfast sausage, eggs and Odile’s hashbrowns.  They loan us a very good read (according to Walt), “Chasing Clayoquot,” and we look forward to reading it after his description.  We each depart brunch for various activities, Swedish weaving (Odile), restorative nap (Walt), dinghy cleaning (Carl) and blogging (Pam.)   Pam’s goal is to get this chapter done before we take off down the coast early tomorrow morning.  The rest of our day is spent decommissioning the shrimp and crab pots and getting things in order for our early departure.