July 15th – 26th 7 Days in Nootka Sound and Esperanza Inlet furthest point north. Make that 11 days due to “gale wind warning in effect”

 July 15^th – 26^th  7 Days in Nootka Sound and Esperanza Inlet furthest point north. Make that 11 days due to “gale wind warning in effect”

With only weak cell coverage for my phone hotspot, I will have to add photos later for this post, maybe not for another week or so.

I feel like I have written a book for this segment given that we are here longer than planned. Meanwhile, I finished reading my book, “Voyage to Crusoe,” by Leif Beiley, his first novel.  We met Leif and Lisa years ago when we cruised from Mazatlán to Barra de Navidad off the coast of Mexico.  We befriended each other along the way.  When we got off “Captain Bligh’s” sailboat (another story into itself) they and another cruiser bought us rounds of drinks while having us explain how we had been able to survive on Captain Bligh’s boat for so long.  We stayed in touch, and they had us over for dinner when we were in Costa Mesa looking at sailboats.  We told them we thought we had found our next boat and proceeded to tell them about the 38 Islander Freeport that we were going to make an offer on.  Leif showed a slight, shy grin and said, “I had a little bit to do with that boat.”  It turns out the Leif was the engineer for Islander Yachts who worked with Robert Perry in the design of the Islander Freeport cruising model.  Our s/v ExTerra is officially an IF38C, 38’ Islander Yachts cruising design sloop.  Modest Leif did not expound on his expertise but it is fun for us to know that someone we know and have come to enjoy visiting with had a part in designing the boat we call home a couple of months a year.  Pam and Lisa stay in touch via Facebook and she will let Lisa know that, as planned, she enjoyed reading Leif’s first novel while swinging on the hook and looks forward to his next novel. They still enjoy boating, land cruising, design work and hopefully, writing. 

Leaving Santa Gertrudis we head on up Nootka Sound to our next stop, Bodega Bay just off Princesa Channel, above where the Tahsis Inlet comes into Nootka Sound.  We plan to hit the highlights of this northern area and then start our return to the south.  In this area we actually tie up at local docks to help support these distant areas and have a couple of favorite anchor spots.

We see the Uchuck III.  It is a converted mine sweeper that now serves as a critical link ferry service between Gold River, Nootka, Esperanza and Kyuquot Sound, bringing supplies, kayakers, sightseers, and others to very remote locations in this northern island area.  It even goes through the narrow, crooked Princesa Channel, something that would be interesting to see.  

 

We see our first bear, who manages to use its powerful paws to turn over gigantic rocks along the low tide shore, looking for all kinds of delicacies.  Bodega Bay is peaceful, easy to enter, and offers us a wonderful spot to simply sit, read and watch the tide ebb and flow.  Carl sets the crab pot and we will have crab in the pressure cooker in the next day or so.  We explore with the dinghy, doing a little fishing and using our phone “chart” to document an uncharted rock at the entrance to Bodega.  We will provide the lat and lon to appropriate folks so that hopefully it becomes common knowledge that it is there, guarding the entrance.  

 

A real treat today as well, we have Sun! and blue sky and Pam finds the Oreos finally!  She has been searching for them for days and unearths them when we decide to move our 3 containers of stainless-steel nuts, bolts, etc., to the port side to help balance the gimbaled stove.

After 8 nights on the hook, it is time to drop a little money at a few places further around the “circle.”  The West View Marina at the head of Tahsis Inlet is our first stop.  Once a booming logging town there are now very few residents and amenities.  With use of the complimentary car from the Marina we are able to stock up on some basic groceries and also take in the local museum that we missed the other times that we have been here.  Tahsis at one point, was a thriving town, proud of their young athletes be it the swimmers or the ball players.  They mix cultural history of the First Nations people along side the history of the white settlers and timber barons and the small museum is a very nice stop.  This was the summer home of Maquinna, Chief of the Nootka who met with Captain Cook when he ventured into the area.  As late as the late 1980’s the lumber mills put out 2 million board feet of lumber per day.  Today, no mills exist.  The last operator modernized the mill but then closed it completely due to lack of close timber, a casualty of their own practices.  

West View Marina is a bustling small fishing boat marina that hits all of our checkpoints.  Laundry, showers, a good burger, fresh water, book exchange, cell and WIFI, and of course, ice cream.  Alas, no dark beer but we make do.  Lunches both days are our fresh crab, cooked in the pressure cooker from memory, thankfully, since I don’t seem to have brought the right cookbook.

 We chat with staff from Paris, southern France and Mexico, all happy to be here.  We watch the fisherfolk come in with their boatloads of fish and the cleaning station along the café is a very busy place!  The bald eagles enjoy all of the fish entrails that are collected and placed at the far end of the breakwater.  Frustratingly, a crow has decided to snatch a fish carcass and use ExTerra’s deck to leisurely make quite a MESS!  We may never get the stains out of the nonskid.  We watch the Coastguard cutter “Cape Kuper” and the RIB search and rescue craft go in and out daily. We use the WIFI to update the blog and get in touch with Carl’s eye doctor as Carl is having trouble with his right eye.  Emails back and forth and a call to an advice nurse, all indicate that it would be better if Carl could check into urgent care and have his vision examined.  We explain our dilemma indicating that the closest urgent care is at least a week away and most likely longer, given the consistent, persistent gale force warnings between here and there.  We leave a message for the ophthalmology nurse but she does not call during our window of opportunity and we are now out of any cell range until the gales cease and allow us safe passage south.  After a couple of nights at Tahsis it is time to head out.

Next stop, Esperanza Mission fuel dock in Esperanza Channel.  Two folks from the docked research vessel help us tie up.  They are aquatic biologists researching a variety of aquatic related critters in the area.  We always get our diesel here as it is one of their fund-raising opportunities and they are very welcoming people. They still operate as a mission with overnight “camps.” This week they hosted young people who took off in canoes headed for Friendly Cove.  There is also ice cream and sometimes fresh produce.  No such luck this time on the produce.  Pam enquires about a photo print that we had purchased here years ago, called “Nootka Sunrise.”  The one on our boat has been misplaced and we had hoped to find a replacement.  They no longer have it available, but they are able to give us the name of the artist and it turns out he is in Portland so we will check in with him upon our return.

 

Tanks topped off and the nice ladies help us untie and we go down the Hecate Channel and up the Zeballos Inlet to Zeballos, another tiny burg.  Zeballos was also heavily timber dependent as well as mining, gold and iron ore through the 1930-1949s.  Each time we come here more and more of the small amenities are closed.  This time it is the restaurant closest to the dock.  Last time it was the second small grocery.  

The Cedars Inn and Restaurant is still a going concern and we opt for dinner there.  The same woman chef comes to our table as last we were here, and we order her lasagna and a chicken dinner.  Her homemade dinner rolls are to die for and we kindly ask for a second.  The Cedars is often used by kayakers and sport fisherfolks.  Tonight, is no different.  The table of people behind us are excited to be getting ready for their kayak adventure and the table inside the window from us are talking about their upcoming fishing adventure.  We visited with them on the dock.  They have been coming to Zeballos since the 1970’s and plan to take their small fishing boat down to Rosa Island to a fishing resort.  We dine on the deck, our backs to the setting sun.  Our view is the immediate steep mountain, rising dramatically, nearly straight up.  What looks like rock in the photo is actually the fire scar from the 2018 fire scare(!) when the raging fire came very close to burning through the town.  We only spend one night here.  As Pam goes up to try to find Connie, the Wharfinger, she sees that Connie has dropped a bill on the deck of ExTerra.  We gather together $36.10, put it in a Ziplock with our filled-out moorage slip and get underway. 

With an ear to the weather regularly we opt for the failsafe anchorage in Queen’s Cove.  Along the way, with Pam on the wheel she happens to spy out of the corner of her eye, whale spout with water spouting over our BOW!  A quick turn to starboard, boat shift to neutral but not before hitting the throttle the WRONG way.  Needless to say, Carl is up off the settee in a hurry and Pam is checking the depth finder to see if the whale is under us or not.  Thankfully we did not hit her as she skimmed across the top of the water, nothing showing but a tiny dorsal fin and thankfully, a spout at just the right moment.  Well, a spout 5 minutes earlier would have been much more appreciated!  Climbing back down off the ceiling now.

 We tie up in the tranquil, well sheltered, very large Queen Cove anchorage and settle in.  When last here we had a mama bear shoo her two cubs up into the tree while she spent considerable time foraging not far from our boat.  This time the mama bear comes in the form of an angry woman trying to defend their anchor spot.  We have been here about an hour when she and her captain pull into the anchorage, head for our boat and go in front of us.  Carl is off in the dinghy so Pam heads to the bow and waves and then points out where our anchor is.  With hand signals Pam indicates that they need to move their shallow draft power boat further in, plenty of room to do that.  They don’t heed the hand signals so I go down to the VHF radio and try to hail them.  They do not reply.  They basically turn broadside to us and hover and she finally comes out on their deck, hands on her hips and fuming.  “We were here last night!  We expected to anchor right here again tonight” (then perhaps you should not have left?).  I look around.  Nope, I don’t see any floating sign that says “anchorage reserved for the angry lady in the powerboat.”  “We like this spot.  We want to stay.”  Count to ten, well at least 5.  “We like this spot too,” I say.  “Maybe we should have left our dinghy anchored.” Well, maybe you should but it might have been moved….as my thought processes begin to deteriorate.  I finally tell her, “You are right over our anchor, you should move in further.”  They opt instead to huff off further into the (very ample) moorage and anchor 100 yards or so from us.  ExTerra occasionally swings us around to see their boat, one time showing dark brown liquid sluicing out of one of their discharge vents.  Lovely.  Next swing, she is shaking out a black garbage bag into the bay.  Wonderful.  To add insult to injury, Carl sees an Oregon tag in their window (not on the hull as required) and we are sorry to say that this poor excuse of a cruiser is from our home state.  They roar off fast and close making sure we get a good wake.  Hours later they roar back in and thankfully anchor much further away from us.  The drone of their generator will not be heard this evening.  Next morning, they roar out again, never to be seen again thankfully, hopefully.  

 

Again, listening to the weather, the gale warnings are still in effect with potential for 40-50 mile per hour winds.  We had hoped to actually try the Nuchatlitz anchorage but given the wind predictions we opt further in.  We decide to head for another storm hole, Mary Basin.  We pick our way through the reefs that line the entrance to Nuchatlitz Inlet in some pretty sloppy swell, glad when we make it through the rock entrance and move up into Mary Basin.  We see 7 kayaks as they come up the inlet and then transit over to Laurie Creek.  We visit briefly with them as they come back by.  They too have been listening to the weather.  They plan on leaving Monday, if the weather allows.  As we settle into our routine, off comes the dinghy, out goes the crab pot, Carl is happily paddling around the perimeter while I am here in the cockpit catching up on the blog.  

Having, thankfully, the gifts of patience and time we once again relax through many tide cycles.  We watch off and on, a group of at least 100 Tufted Puffins, a real treat.  We usually only see 1 or 2.  At any given time 20 or so disappear as they dive below to forage.  Up they pop en masse as another group dives.  This keeps us busy for a while.  We also do a short dinghy excursion up Lauri creek to the beautiful multi-tiered waterfall.  

As Pam lays in the chain Carl rinses the chain and anchor with the washdown pump system that he installed years ago.  It is a great addition to the boat.  We choose to “lay in the chain,” with Pam below at the chain locker neatly crisscrossing the chain until Carl thumps on the cabin top, “anchor up.”  Pam then returns to the helm.  This makes the anchor chain (we are all chain) sing out of the locker then it is time for Pam to drop the anchor next time.  This works well in all settings except if there is imminent danger of a nearby rock or we are in a crowded anchorage.  Hardly ever an issue.  Off we go to Port Langford.

 

Port Langford is simply the name of the body of water, no “port” to be had.  It is a decently protected anchorage closer to the mouth of Esperanza Inlet, setting us up for a departure two days hence, as Tuesday it looks like the gale will not be upon us for a brief time.  Here we watch bears at the head of the inlet and read.  Fishing is closed in this area and the crab trap has been empty for days, given the number of sea otters we continue to see.

 

Tuesday morning listening to the 4:00 AM weather report and glory be, NO GWIE (Pam’s acronym for Gale Warning in Effect).  We pull anchor and head out for our 10-hour journey outside, along Nootka Island, passing Estevan Point and then back into Baseball Cove, Sydney Inlet.  This northern chapter is closed!

Five days in Clayoquot Sound

 July 9^th – July 14^th Five Days in Clayoquot Sound

 

With weather predictions of variable winds 5-15 we decide to head north since the alternative is to wait for winds that would be NW 10-20, on the nose in the afternoon.  We untie from the 52 Steps Dock around 0800 and head out along the coast for an arrival around Hot Springs Cove in the early afternoon.  Along the way we dodge crab pots and salmon fishermen.  The wind is variable yet so minimal that we don’t even put the headsail out.  The seas are rough.  We begin to see sea otters and continue to see more and more of them as we head north.  Waggoner’s Guide indicates that the sea otters have moved into Sydney Inlet enough to decimate the crab population, which we confirm later after we anchor. 

As we near our turn into Clayoquot we are stunned to start seeing whales leisurely feeding along the surface.  We do not see enough of them to decide if they are Gray or Humpback.  Dousing the throttle and floating in neutral we count many of them, from small to gigantic!  We enjoy watching them gently move along, showing an occasional very small dorsal fin on their very large, often spotted backs.  One comes up within 30 yards of the stern putting Pam’s anxiety meter a little more towards the red zone.  Once nearly extinct, these whales have come back and this local population has been increasing in numbers as studied by a local group.  They actually have a library of over 600 “whale tale” photographs from this area, the method of identifying each whale individually.  We see no “tales” as the whales simply continue to feed along the surface. 

In the distance we have also spotted the largest Coast Guard vessel we have ever seen, the 242 foot long Canadian CG Vessel “Atlantic Raven” says the AIS.  She is anchored near the entrance to Sidney Inlet. 

 Next adventure is a hover over an underwater large rock, netting two large rockfish, one Copper and one Black, dinner for a couple of nights.  Carl will clean them on our fish cleaning station that Pam rigged up for him a few years back.  We then mosey into what we call “Baseball” cove, sometimes called Hootlah Kootlah, and on the charts the two are sometimes transposed, with “Baseball” showing as an unknown cove.  The CG vessel may well wonder that this US flagged sailing vessel has been doing as it approached, first hovering in one place for quite some time, then in another spot, and then slowly slinking past them into the anchorage.

 

Normally we would have gone straight into Hot Springs Cove, tossed out an anchor and walked the 1.2-mile boardwalk to the amazing ocean touching hot springs.  Alas, it is still closed to outsiders, perhaps due to covid, perhaps not.  Pam, in emailing back and forth with the group who administers the area and they confirm that, indeed, even the boardwalk is closed to anyone except the local First Nations Nuu Chah Nulth people.  We will not be able to add the year 2022 to “our” board on the boardwalk, like we have since first arriving here in 2014.  

Settling in on the hook in Baseball, Carl confirms that there are only tiny crabs with his exploratory use of his “crabhawk,” a small folding net that you use on the end of a fishing pole.  You dip the net down with bait (fish carcass in this case), let it sit on the bottom for a while, and then pull it up quickly.  He instead takes off in ET3, our dinghy, for an evening of fishing.  He is quite happy to return with a nice lingcod.  He says the big one got away but he does show Pam what the big one left behind, and approximately 12” octopus that was in the jaws of the ling when the ling spit out Carl’s hook.  Pam declined to cook up the octopus so it too became crab food.  

Watching the weather and not wanting to venture out in high NW winds again, we choose to go further into the sound to a nice quiet anchorage in Bottleneck Cove.  As we approach, we again fish a “rock pile” coming up with another nice lingcod to put in the freezer.  We see a dinghy approaching and have a nice visit with Dennis and Larae from s/v Sonata.  They are anchored across the inlet but will be moving in to Bottleneck later today.  They keep their boat in Anacortes and actually are full time live-a-boards.  They have been out about 2 months and lost their refrigeration along the way.  We hand them a boat card and a bag of fresh rockfish fillets and wish them well.  Later they return and anchor around the bend in this nice, roomy anchorage.  We see Larae on her paddle board the next day as we spend a leisurely morning in the dinghy, keeping enough rockfish for a meal or two over the next few days. 

On the morning of the 14^th, we listen to the 0400 weather and make a change of plans.  We had decided to go deeper into Clayoquot given the high NW winds predicted, and planned an 0700 departure so we could make a safe approach at slack water through Hayden passage.  However, the winds look just about right, and the seas have calmed a tad so we instead ride the rest of the ebb tide out and head north around Estevan in light 5-15 knot SE winds on “2 meter” seas.  We have enough wind to set the headsail and we make a decent six-hour motor sail up and around Estevan Point. 

We pass up Hesquiat Harbour and Cougar Annie’s Garden, having had a wonderful visit there in 2019 when we circumnavigated the island.  We have wonderful memories of spending a day with Peter, helping him cut cedar slabs by hand and touring the amazing architecture and gardens that he has so lovingly been overseeing for so many years.  There is no indication in internet reading that he is still doing that, and in fact, he had indicated in 2019 that there might have been a potential buyer for the operation.

We also pass by Friendly Cove.  It is not a kind anchorage and is often too full.  We have stayed in the past and thoroughly enjoyed touring the lighthouse and talking with the light keepers.  The local church/community center has wonderful cedar carving works, and stained-glass windows from its previous history, when the area passed from Spain to England back in the 1700’s.  Worth a stop if you have not been.

We opt instead for Santa Gertrudis cove, just past Friendly Cove, and anchor in the small anchorage.  Upon entering there is one very small fishing boat.  Soon another comes and then a decent sized sailboat.  We explain where our anchor is and they opt to go further in and stern tie as well as set anchor.  Another beautiful, canoe stern sailboat ventures in the next morning and Pam visits with them as she sips her morning coffee, telling them where our anchor is.  They too choose further in with stern tie so no one will be fouling each other’s anchors. 

 The 15^th is officially a rain day meaning lots of reading, sitting on the hook, and in my case, typing up this current blog entry.  We stay just out of the rain in the cockpit with the help of a couple of Pam’s “rain curtains,” sunbrella with zippers and tie downs that keep the rain out but still let the view in.  She had to re-stich the zippers by hand while on the hook in Baseball as the thread had worn out from constant UV exposure.  That is it for this entry, now, back to my book and a cup of hot tea while the rain gently continues.

Five Days to Ucluelet BC

 Five Days to Ucluelet

Saturday July 2^nd finds us at the Club’s annual 4^th of July “land cruise” where members gather together and BBQ and share laughter, a nice meal and beverages.  This year the land cruise serves two other purposes, handing out of the annual Club awards and commemorative items since we were unable to hold our Commodore’s Ball, and recognizing the hard work of members who constructed the most excellent patio “roof” that we are all enjoying today.  

Carl received his Commodore’s plaque from CJ and his Rear Commodore Flag, in honor of his year as Commodore.  Carl in turn provided the new Board their Flags.  Carl also awarded the Club’s prestigious Golden Hammer Award jointly to Ron and Pam for their dynamic duo approach over the past two years to find and purchase the roof kit, do battle with the city to obtain a permit, and work together, with Bob’s help, to shepherd 79 members over a 5-month period to construct the beautiful pavilion roof.  Ben worked his landscaping wonders for hanging pots and watering system and Matt wired up new speakers to complement the patio.  Ron made an intricate copper rose and mounted it on a small commemorative plaque to honor Pam’s work on the roof and her year as First Mate.  A treasure!  Carl presented Ron with his own unique gift, an actual hammer, painted gold, and inscribed thanking Ron for going above and beyond on the roof project. 

Sunday July 3^rd – July 7^th Up the Coast to Canada

Sunday dawns and we hop on the boat and depart the home dock for Canada.  On board are our son Jacob and our two youngest grandkids, Emily and Sam.  They have all joined us off and on over the years on the river on some leg of our trip.  It is a real treat.  Emily this year is amazed to recognize that we actually have things like a heater (wall mounted diesel heater), a refrigerator, freezer, stove and even an oven!  I explain that it truly is a tiny, fully self-contained house with solar panels to power what we need.  She points out that we can even sleep people in at least 3 beds!  Sam enjoys sitting out in the cockpit as long as he has someone to cuddle with and he is intrigued with Papa’s “computer,” the helm mounted GO9 chart plotter.  He pokes buttons and Carl explains the information.  He finds a boat on AIS and they talk about how big it is etc.  He spots a long beach full of people fishing and relaxing and happily waves to them all as many waves back. 

Jacob enjoys just getting to sit back and relax except when he helps dock and undock the boat or troubleshoot the “smokey oil smell”.  Livin the dream.  He also sets up and charges Pam’s new headlamp that he collaborated with his dad on purchasing, Carl’s special gift for Pam for her dedication to the Club for the year as well.  Everyone enjoys some time up on the bow, watching the ships and the water pass by.  We make it to the Longview Yacht Club in record time riding an outgoing tide on a still, fast current.  LYC has the welcome mat out as they always do.  Brittney soon arrives, providing the important service of a return ride for her family and Jacob, Emily and Sam depart. It was such a joy to have them all on board for the day.  We close out our evening enjoying wine from our new stainless steel RCYC wine mugs, another part of the Club’s gift that CJ presented to Carl.  

Happy 4^th of July! 

We depart LYC and head towards Tongue Point.  We have done the math, and given the tide cycle, we plan on going to Neah Bay instead of directly to Ucluelet BC.  We will anchor at Tongue Point, then cross the bar around noon, destination Neah, overnight there THEN head to Ucluelet.  We enjoy a nice phone call from Pam’s brother-in-law Craig as we motor along at 8 knots, no wind, just tide and current.  We set the hook in the quiet anchorage with just a couple other boats around.  We realize later that we are drifting so we reset the anchor and lay out more chain.   

July 5^th and 6^th on the ocean - In an odd twist of the tide schedule we actually get to leave the anchorage around 0830 instead of 0400, which is nice!  We ride the fast current out hoping to catch the slack before the flood to cross the bar.  We drift in neutral at 5+ knots to slow down, eventually making another uneventful (the best kind!) crossing of the Columbia River bar.  

Before we leave good cell coverage, I submit our covid information to the Canadian government via their app “ArriveCan.”  It goes smoothly except Ucluelet is not listed as a “check-in” location so I call their helpdesk.  He says I can email my question, since he cannot find the answer and he rattles off an email address that sounds like supercalifragilisticexpealidocious@akjf;jdaje.com.  After he painstakingly phonetically spells out the email address for me it actually comes out phac.emergencyorder-decretdurgencecovid19.aspc@phac-aspc.gc.ca.  I email them and receive a canned reply….so fingers crossed, when we check in in Ucluelet we hope it works! 

We raise the main, reefed already, to help balance the boat and slog uphill along the coast, into the ocean current.  The trip is long, bouncy, yet thankfully, there is not much fog.  The trip up the coast is not as advertised.  It was supposed to be wind waves 1’ and swell 3 feet at 10 second intervals.  It is more like 3’ waves and swell 5 feet at 6 seconds which makes for a very sloppy, bumpy ride.  We motor through the night taking our 3- hour shifts.  The sunset is beautiful.  The seas finally calm, and the last 8 or so hours are pleasant.  Noticeably this year, the ocean is a biological desert.  We do not see a single whale, dolphin or sun fish in our 32 hours at sea.

We get diesel at the Makah diesel dock.  They are open longer hours now and you can even pay at the dock rather than having to hike up to the store, a nice improvement although we forgo our ice cream bars this way. 

We anchor out in Neah and truly enjoy sitting in the cockpit watching the waves and sipping our beverages.  Carl cooks our customary “landfall” dinner, steaks, and we enjoy the evening. 

July 7^th - This morning finds us with another leisurely 0830 departure for Ucluelet.  The large ship traffic in the Strait of Juan de Fuca is non-stop and we parallel a number of container ships until we find a good window to cut straight across the Strait, on the stern of an 823-foot container ship doing 20 knots.  Time to find the local cell towers to make sure we have coverage to phone customs when we arrive.

We arrive Ucluelet around 1600 and tie up at the “52 Steps” dock, the customs dock.  We call Canada customs and Carl provides them our basic information.  On hold…..wait, wait, he then provides our ArriveCan covid “receipt” number.  On hold……wait, wait…..Wait!  Now she says that we are not able to clear customs in Ucluelet, but wait, the local officer will give us a one-time pass and she provides us our number, indicating that we cannot check into Ucluelet again.  “Ever,” we ask in unison.  She stutters, that at least until they are open for customs.  Yikes!  Pam sends and email to the good folks at Wagoner’s Guide, who, in their podcast had indicated that Ucluelet was open to clear customs and we head to town for our customary burger and brew at the Eagle’s Nest pub. 

July 8^th – Happy Birthday Carl!

We hike to town for a morning of breakfast, fishing license purchases, bank, grocery store, and putzing around in the local shops.  First stop breakfast which is excellent as usual at the Blue Moon Café.  She lets us know that the card system is down, pretty much all over town.  We move up in priority heading to the nearest bank to get local cash.  We later find out that this is nationwide in Canada so we are glad that we got our cash.  Next, seasonal fishing licenses and a trip to the Small Craft Harbour office to talk with Kevin Cortes, longtime Harbour Master.  We pay for 2 nights moorage and Carl talks with Kevin about the customs concern.  Kevin indicates that indeed, we are able to check in customs here and that others have but that there seems to be quite different information going out when people call in to report.  He is ”on it” and making phone calls before we leave.  He has always been so helpful when we stop in here. 

On the way back we go past Cam and Laura’s place.  We have known them for over 10 years going back to when we first discovered Ucluelet on a driving vacation.  Cam took us out on his “whale watching and Bamfield tour” and then fishing.  We returned again for another fishing trip, staying at their B&B, then we first journeyed up on our own boat.  We stayed in touch over the years, enjoying fresh berries from their garden and having them over to the boat for dinner.  When last we talked with them, they were considering doing something different.  It appears covid offered the opportunity for them to rethink their situation as their boat is no longer in the harbour and their home does not appear to be a B&B any longer, nor do they appear to live there.  Time goes on…. As do we! 

Tomorrow, we start our trip further up the coast, the goal being to get into Nootka Sound and then mosey back this way over the next month or so.  I will check back in when the cell coverage allows me to post.

Ucluelet BC Carl's Birthday July 8 2022