September 15 – We left Port Renfrew at 6:30 a.m. for the last leg of the flotilla — the 50+ mile section from Port Renfrew to Victoria. We took advantage of the flood current we’d have for the first part of the day, with between 1 and 2 knots of…
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September 14 – We’d hoped to spend a couple nights in Effingham Bay, but today looked like a great day on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Rather than push our luck for one more night in the Broken Group, we decided to take advantage of the calm and head…
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September 13 – Effingham Island is the largest island in the outermost cluster of islands in the Broken Group, and the Effingham Bay anchorage is a great base from which to explore the many surrounding rocky islets, sea caves, and driftwood-strewn beaches by dinghy. We’d crossed paths a couple times…
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September 12 – We’re starting to analyze the weather for our run in the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Victoria. Based on the current models, it looks like we’ll have a good two days to make the run this weekend, September 15 and 16. With three more days in Barkley…
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September 11 – Barkley Sound is nearly deserted this time of year. We’ve only seen a couple other cruising boats, so we figured we’d likely be able to get at least a few spots at the dock at the Port Alberni Yacht Club outstation in Robbers Passage. This is a wonderful…
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September 10 – Since we arrived earlier than scheduled in Barkley Sound, we have some extra time to visit additional anchorages. Although the Broken Group is small—only about seven miles by five miles—there are many interesting anchorages. Today, we made the short run over to Nettle Island. This is another large…
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September 8 – The weather in Ucluelet was breezy and foggy, with pouring rain this morning. The forecast called for worsening conditions through tomorrow, when winds were predicted to climb to 30-40 knots with heavy rain. Might this be the first taste of fall? With a lousy forecast, we headed for…
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Sometimes, when on a flotilla, it’s fun to take a commercial fishing charter from a port where fishing is good and expert guides are available. You get to see what gear an expert professional fisher-person uses, what techniques they apply to maximize the catch for their clients, and some of…
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We’ve been spoiled by the weather this trip. Other than a few hours of beam seas around Cape Scott, and maybe 45 minutes of head seas north of Seymour Narrows, conditions have been pretty darn calm. What little wind we’ve had has been from behind us—northwesterlies are typical during summer—and…
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We left the anchorage at Friendly Cove around 7:00 a.m. The reported wind at Estevan Point was 5 knots at 6:00 a.m., and we felt very little swell as we got out of Nootka Sound and into the open Pacific. By the time we were abeam of Estevan Point, we…
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