August 11th – 21st Bamfield to our Home Dock in Portland

We planned on 2 nights max in Bamfield but ended up staying 4.  On the short hop from Marble Cove the alternator belt snapped so we took the time to change that belt.  We carry quite a supply of spare parts having learned that it just makes sense to do that.  

We then took ETIII ashore so we could walk the boardwalk/trail that runs all along the east edge of the Bamfield Inlet.  The inlet is considered “main street” and has at least 2 water taxis that go back and forth.  There are no roads into the east side of Bamfield and a rather rough road into the west side.  At the small eastside store we stock up on fresh produce, exchange a book or two and enjoy ice cream cones.  Carl eyes a bill cap on the top shelf and has the proprietress take it down.  Sure enough, it is the same hat that was here a few years back.  The patch and logo show Vancouver Island with the name “Islander” on it.  It is a great keepsake for him and treated canvass to boot.  Islander manufactured our Islander Freeport IF38C and we both truly enjoy exploring Vancouver Island.  Leave it to Carl to keep in his brain that that particular hat may still be available in Bamfield.  Of course, he can buy it off the internet but this is more fun.

Returning to ExTerra we are hailed by a kayaker, Sarah, from s/v Mandolyn.  Her family (2 kids) and their friends on Harmattan (1 child and parents) are headed to Mexico and beyond and wanted pointers from folks who most likely had crossed the Columbia River Bar.  We invited her into the cockpit and had a nice discussion.  They are from Salt Spring Island, in the Gulf Islands of BC.  They had so far gone north to Alaska, then south to Haida Gwaii, and around the outside of Vancouver Island.  We enjoy seeing them and their buddy boat loading dinghies and venturing about in Bamfield.

The next day Carl decides that we should also change the timing belt, his thought being that if the alternator belt could simply snap in two it might be time to replace the timing belt instead of waiting until we get home.  We are at roughly 850 hours on the current belt. 

This is a daunting task and takes both of us working a solid 5 hours.  On our boat it entails removing the raw water pump, engine water pump, belts, pulleys, valve cover and gasket, etc. so that you can then work the timing belt off all the remaining pulleys, all while laying on your belly.  From the spares tub we pull new belts, valve gasket and a “pulley tensioner” which is a round metal wheel type item.  After we remove everything, we use our small tub of engine tools and lots of pondering to remember how to freeze the valves and flywheel in the correct location.  Then start installing all the new belts, pumps and gasket, crank the flywheel until things are aligned and pray.  Everything tested out well after running the engine for a while, so well-done crew!  

A hike to the local camping/mooring Centennial campground nets us a nice hot shower for a donation and a decent dinner at the recently re-opened Malsit Public House, owned and operated by the Huu-ay-aht First Nations.  Again, no dark beer but a decent lager. 

We chat again with Mandolyn and Harmattan people who are looking at a Monday/Tuesday run down the coast.  We decide to head to Dodger Channel, one of our preferred departure points.  

Carl sets the crab pot, netting 4 nice red rocks.  His fishing is not very successful but we enjoy a nice pasta dish for dinner with some of our elk summer sausage thrown in.  Our son Zach handed us a stick as we left his house in late June “to enjoy on the trip.”  He had it made up at his local butcher, the Meating Place.  

The next morning after lazing about over coffee we decide to look at the weather.  We had planned on Friday/Saturday NW winds run down the Washington coast.  Unfortunately, F/S had changed to SW winds and that would make for a horrible trip.  We decided to hastily pack up and head out that day, Wednesday, instead.  Our plan was to take the dinghy and explore Dodger but that was not meant to be.  While Pam does our routine “getting ready” steps Carl rechecks all the nuts, bolts, and belts from our changing of the timing belt.

 We turn on the engine at 9:55 AM on the 17^th and turn it off at 31.5 hours later, late afternoon on the 18^th, at the Lois Island anchorage on the Columbia River.

As we motor sail south, Carl cleans the 4 red rocks and Pam cooks them in the pressure cooker on the gimbled stove in the “pot holder” arms.  The nice thing about a pressure cooker is that if it was to fly off the cook top, the lid is locked in place and you would not have hot crab and liquids flying about the cabin.

The Strait of Juan de Fuca has the normal high traffic and our course from Dodger takes us right across the exit.  We have outgoing traffic headed south and west and incoming traffic from the north.  Oddly, we also have a huge container ship, the “One Parana” who has been adrift well off to our starboard for hours.

On our AIS we see that Mandolyn and Harmattan are a few hours ahead of us.  We track them and others through the night.  Thankfully, the ride is “OK”, just quite bouncy as far as trying to get any sleep on our 3 hours shifts.  With only one mishap we are glad to see the sun come back up.  At about 11:00 PM Pam hit something minor that made a loud thump, but in checking the engine and compartment we seem none the worse for wear so we motor/sail on into the night.  The milky way is in full display and the blood red ¾ moonrise is spectacular.  Our night of “small craft warning” on the ocean turned out OK. 

We hail Harmattan letting them know we are behind them since our radio does not transmit an AIS signal.  As we get closer to the Columbia River bar Mandolyn asks if they can tuck in behind us and follow us through, with some comfort knowing that we have “been there done that.”  Sarah asks if we are concerned about the fog and we chat a bit on channel 68 about the fog, buoy 10 fisheries and visibility.  Cape Disappointment Coast Guard has closed the bar to boats 20’ or less and the visibility is listed at 150 yards in the fog.  We let her know that these are typical conditions at this location.  Another helpful boater, m/v True North also chimes in that given our crossing time, some of the conditions will settle down as we get closer, mainly the chop and waves from the ebb tide since we are crossing about 2 hours after the low tide. 

We all pull in our sails while we have lots of sea room and begin the crossing, making it just fine, within ½ hour of what we had predicted we would cross when we departed the day before.

 We hail Mandolyn and welcome them across the Columbia River bar.  They beat us to the Lois Island anchorage behind Tongue Point.  Soon, all three sailboats are anchored and I am guessing they, like us, went to bed and slept quite soundly…. well, at least until the alarm clock for the 3:00 am shift went off! 

Sarah shows up at our boat in her dinghy and hands us a jar of “Spicy Tomato Savoury Spred,” handmade on their home town Salt Spring Island, thanking us for our kind helpfulness along the way.  We wish them all well in their southerly travels.  When last we saw them all 7 of them were in their 12’ porta boat slowly motoring up the very short John Day River to explore.

We do short days on the river, staying 2 nights instead of our normal 1.  We try to motor sail up to Westport, taking what we thought would be a rising tide.  It ended up still being a strong ebb in the sloppy Harrington Point area so we pulled the sail and powered through on our short trip up to Westport. 

Along the way we hailed “First Light,” Mike and Cindy, as they were headed down river on the very first leg of their journey to the Marquesas Islands and perhaps beyond.  We wish them well and will perhaps see them when they return to retrieve a vehicle at the RCYC parking lot. 

We then turn into Westport Slough where the small ferry, the “Oscar B” crosses from Cathlamet to Westport.  Pam starts to set fenders and lines so they can tie up the nice new Westport County boat ramp.  Wait, we are not moving.  We have gone pretty hard aground, so close yet so far, from the dock.  We ponder and Carl tries motoring off to no avail.  We ponder some more and Pam rummages for rope while Carl unties the dinghy, our thought being to set an anchor and kedge off, like Cliff had mentioned years ago in a class.  “Carl, she’s moving,” Pam gleefully says as the bow swings down the channel, on just enough of a rising tide.  Carl quickly reverses and we power off and mosey up to the dock. 

 The dock is new, and quite nice with plenty of room.  Carl’s brother Jim joins us for a night on the boat and it is nice to catch up with him.  We have a bit of crab and lingcod plus the potato salad Jim brought.  In the morning we explore the small park, wondering what the massive concrete remnants are from.  Jim bids us farewell and we take off on the tiny bit of rising tide hoping to get a little boost as we motor up river to Rainier. 

We tie up at Rainier to use the pump out since it is an easy stop.  The plan was to then travel to Carrol’s Channel and try a new anchor spot recommended by Ron.  Once tied to the dock though the appeal for a burger and brew took hold and we decided to stay the night on the dock.  We finally found that dark beer, even if it was just a Black Butte Porter in a bottle.

When we got up, we noticed the s/v Messenger is also tied to the dock.  Years ago, we took a river cruising class from Cliff with “Messenger Sails” with our two sons Jacob and Zach.  We see him on the dock and have a nice visit.  As usual he always asks how the boys are doing and we let him know we now enjoy having 4 grandkids with the “boys” and that they all spend some time with us on the boat.  We tell Cliff about our recent grounding and our memory of grounding with him during the class in the Cathlamet channel.  We have always felt it was an intentional grounding to see how we can get ungrounded.  

We untie the lines and head for home making the slow motor up the river, into the current and tie to the house by 5:00.

We enjoy a wonderful evening on our front porch, in the shade.  Mike and Cindy come down the ramp, here to retrieve their car.  We get to visit more about their plan for the Marquesas Island journey.  Then we are hailed by Karen who just got in from the river on s/v Nelly.  Karen comes over and we throw a small table and chair out so the 3 of us can visit over dinner.  What a treat!  As she leaves, a spectacular sunset has settled in over the moorage, a fitting end to our 7-week journey for the year.