July 26th – August 1st 7 days in East Clayoquot Sound

 July 26^th – August 1^st 7 days in East Clayoquot Sound

The morning proves to be a challenge with very high, sloppy waves, SE wind against SW swell but no fog thankfully.  We have found that exiting these sounds often makes for a rough yeehaw! Ride.  Pam dives into her ginger stash.  She has swapped ginger with Karen F. before departure, giving Karen a piece of candied ginger to try and Karen giving Pam some ginger chews.  Ginger is my preferred way to stave off the potential seasickness.  Knock on wood, it seems to work well, and the ginger chews are a nice addition to the ginger tea, ginger root, ginger-ale, you get the picture.  I did away with the ginger beer after the first year as it seemed to be a conflict of interest with the goal.  

We see perhaps an Orca fin briefly but that is the extent of it for wildlife on our 10 hour and 15-minute day trip.  The seas eventually calm down a bit and hoisting the main early helped to stabilize the boat.  We pull in to anchor again in Baseball AKA Ling Slot cove. 

We have good cell coverage here and Carl is able to chat on the phone with the eyecare advice nurse about his ongoing eye issue.  She says she has enjoyed exploring Vancouver Island on the internet and confirms what we have told her, there really is no “urgent eye care” to be had within days or even weeks of us.  She says, “Oh! Tofino has an eye specialist,” realizing rather quickly that “they only come in once a month.”  She sets an eye appointment for September 1^st and suggests one interim remedy.  Carl’s glasses now sport blue painter’s tape over one lens to allow him to stop squinting so much and hopefully put less strain on the eyes.

 

We share the anchorage with one other sailboat, a family of six people with all kinds of “water toys.”  That evening we see them head out, 4 in the dinghy, pulling 1 each on 2 paddle boards, we are certain in an effort to travel across the inlet and take a dip in the hot springs that you can reach via the ocean but not via the trail currently. 

Carl fishes the ling slot a couple of times but for whatever reason, what was a real hot spot coming up the coast now produces no ling.  We chat with 3 kayakers passing through.  Pam asks “is that a dog?”  “No, just a very large cat!  He is my ‘cattain’ of the kayak.” 

After dinner we determine that our boat cabin is 3 somersaults long.  While backing down the companionway steps Carl misses the last steps and does a double backward somersault landing fanny up after the mid cabin “step down.”  Thankfully we can laugh about it after Pam determines that he is OK and he has not broken anything.  One more somersault and he would have been in the V of the boat.  Pam only heard the loud clatter but Carl assures her he vividly was calculating as he rolled along that he was one somersault in but remembering that he still had plenty of momentum to make a 2^nd somersault down and over the “step down” mid-ship.  Such a cool character under stress!

   

We leave the fog enshrouded anchorage with a close watch for the crab pot in the entrance.  Passing Dixon Cove, we see one of the very typical, numerous fish farms that are placed strategically through all these west coast waters.  Then we enter the very narrow entrance to beautiful Bacchante Bay, a recommendation by our friends Walt and Odile and a place that we have enjoyed in the past.  The very large bay is at the end of Shelter Inlet and has steep to sides with high mountains all around.  A sailing ketch is anchored and we see the sailors returning from a kayak and dinghy ride up the creek at high tide.  We will not be able to do that given our arrival time but enjoy seeing them come out and then the dinghy sails for quite some time on the large calm bay.

 Staying only one night we exit the narrow entry and the tiny berg of Ahousat.  We have two options, scenic yet rock strewn Sulphur Passage or the more open Hayden passage.  We time it so we can get to Hayden on a slack tide given the 4-knot current in the area.  As we pass Sulpher we decide to go ahead to Hayden.  Sulpher is pea soup thick fog which would be quite a challenge avoiding the rocks and definitely not allow us to enjoy the “scenic route” at all. 

   

Along the way we fish an underwater rock pile and come away with a very nice, 68 cm ling.  As you can see from the photos you do not want to grab these teethed creatures by the mouth!  Dinner and another fillet for the freezer.  We tie up at the Ahousaht General Store dock knowing that we will not get to see Hugh this trip, but hoping to meet more of his family.  Hugh had been a fixture at this stop since he bought the store in 1958 and we have truly enjoyed visiting with him every time we stop.  He passed away 2 years ago now, at age 83.  We enter the very well stocked store and gather items on our shopping list.  They still have one of the best selections of groceries, hardware, some clothing, books and of course ice cream, of any of the small grocery stores we have found over the years. 

As we pile our treasures on the counter we ask the woman behind the counter, are you related to Hugh? “I am his daughter” she says.  “Oh, the one who was Post Mistress in Tofino for so many years,” Pam asks.  “Yes”!   

We then have quite a conversation with Iris, letting her know that we had learned quite a lot about her as her dad proudly talked about her every time, we saw him.  We knew she was Post Mistress, that she lived close to the post office in Tofino and that Hugh was going to go to live with her at some point.  She sadly talks about his passing, the family frustrations over the will, and her resolve to do what it took to keep the store in the family.  I told her to simply know and understand that her dad was very proud of her and keep that thought close to her heart.  She proudly shows us his headstone that still waits for a family gathering so that it can be placed in the family plot over in Marktosis, just across the way. “It has his logo,” she says, a tear in her eye.  And it does…..the mermaid so intricately carved in the large sign over the door of the general store.  We also meet Tom, Iris’s husband and chat at length with him about the whole situation. 

 As we sit in our cockpit that evening, enjoying a ling cod dinner Pam reflects that for her, this trip has shown that somethings never change and some things are forever changed.  We wish Iris and Tom the best in their endeavor to slowly work on the Ahousaht General Store, docks and hopefully, eventually, the restaurant, shower and laundry. 

We chat with others as they pass the boat on their way up the walk to pay for their fuel.  Two Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a “rich lawyer” (per Tom), and a single dad who has his 4-year-old daughter out for a day of learning how to swim.  “Her mom would be with us, but she passed a year ago,” he says, sadness in his eyes.  “Your daughter is lucky to have you and be learning to swim,” Pam tells him.  As the day winds down we see Iris sitting in the chair, just like her dad did, watching the inlet as boats come and go.

We take this opportunity while tied up at a calm dock, to change the engine oil.  Carl is meticulous about this; every 100 miles and he comes well prepared to do this as needed.  While he lays on his belly to fish the hose down Pam pumps the siphon container.  We upgraded to this very efficient oil pump after having one of the less expensive ones literally blow apart on Carl one time.  Pam can still see his oil covered face, having taken a few photos for posterity before she handed him a rag to clean up with.

The next morning, we head out to Ritchie Bay in hopes of finding crab.  We considered Quate Bay, another favorite of ours and Walt and Odile’s.  It is another lovely bay at the end of the Cypress Inlet.  Back in 2014 we had been without cell coverage for days and in pops a text message from Pam’s sister, Barb. “Your boys are worried about you.  How are things?”  Interesting Pam says to Carl, the worry shoe is on the other foot now, but it is nice to know that others worry about us when we are out in the wilds.  After that trip, we decided to get a Garmin inReach satellite communicator so we can keep friends and family aware of our location whether we have cell coverage or not.  Quait also is the home to loons who sing woefully in the evening and try to land in your spreaders, and a very large, private residence that was once quite the fancy lodge, restaurant and conference center. 

Approaching Ritchie, we start to see commercial crab pots so this is a good sign.  We also see kayakers in search of the Ritchie Bay beaches.  Carl points them in the other direction and they head off, making “beachfall” with maybe just enough twilight to pitch their tents.  

Carl deploys our trap and we end up keeping 6 decent red rock crab, our favorite.  They go into our 5 gallon “live well” that we hang over the side of the boat to keep such critters in salt water until such time as we are ready to clean and cook them.  Carl cleans them and breaks them in half.  Pam cooks them up in the pressure cooker, 6 minutes total and you are done.  The fridge has two large stainless-steel bowls full of fresh cooked crab, enough for 3 meals at least.  We enjoy a leisurely dinner of fresh crab and biscuits baked in our stove top oven, a nice way to pass the evening.

Listening to the weather we decide that tomorrow we will make the 7 plus hour run to Ucluelet as we continue our southward trip.