Monday, October 5, 1992 - Umpqua River, OR

Leaving Vancouver, Schooner with replica of Indian Canoe
Clear, sunny, and breezy. We took the boat over to the fuel dock and filled the tank and eight jerry cans. Then we took the boat around the corner to Winchester Marina. Got a good end-tie on Dock 5.
This is a good, well-made marina. We have electricity and water. The showers are excellent.
I wanted to paddle up a little stream we'd seen. What I didn't realize was that there was no way to reach the stream from Winchester Bay; I had to paddle over to Salem Harbor. This meant going a short distance on the Umpqua River, where the wind was blowing strong against me and there were white-capped waves. I hugged the shore and made it, but when I reached the stream, I found I couldn't paddle up it at all; it narrowed to almost nothing and became impassable in less than 100 yards. So I blew back to the boat.
We enjoyed long, hot showers and shampoos. We could use all the water we wanted. Cost $1, but it was worth it.
In the evening, we carted the dirty clothes over to the laundromat. It was a nice, clean, new-looking laundromat. So now everything's clean, including us.
Roy talked with a man who watched us crossing the bar yesterday. He said the waves sometimes lifted the boat completely out of the water!

Sunday, October 4, 1992 - Umpqua River, OR

Replica of 19th Century "Lady Washington"
I was on watch around five a.m. when I saw a small light in the distance ahead. I thought it was a small boat two or three miles away. Tried to find it on radar. Finally located it on the 12-mile range. It was a huge freighter 11 miles away! And it was headed directly for us, going 90 to nothing. I immediately altered our course to avoid it, but it still seemed to be coming at us. In no time, it was on the 8-mile range, then the 4, and then the 2. Its lights were glaring right at me. I turned off the auto-pilot, grabbed the wheel, and swung hard to starboard, but the monster seemed to be coming right towards us no matter what I did. There's no feeling quite like being on a sailboat in pitch darkness, going as fast as you can, watching a humungous freighter bearing down on you. But after a few tense minutes, the freighter glided silently by, 3/4 of a mile away. It was going so fast, it had no sooner gone by than it disappeared. And I started breathing again.
The day was sunny, with a northeast breeze. We put out the headsail but used the engine, too. The wind was almost directly in back of us, which made the sail flop around. In the afternoon, the wind kicked up to twenty or more knots, and the waves started getting bigger and topped with whitecaps. We had hoped to make Coos Bay, but it would have been getting dark by the time we got there, so we decided to go into the mouth of the Umpqua River. Ha ha ha. That's like deciding to climb the face of a cliff instead of taking the road around the base. We'd thought the entrance to Gray's Harbor was wild, but it was a picnic compared with the entrance to the Umpqua River. Usually, as soon as you're inside the breakwater, the water flattens out, but here huge waves were breaking inside the breakwater! The wind was up to 30 knots, and 15-foot waves were tossing the Jofian this way and that, up and down, back and forth, side to side. A couple of times we heeled 50 degrees, first one side, then the other. We were very thankful for the solid lead keel; many boats would have flipped completely over. Roy was hanging onto the wheel for dear life, trying to avoid the breakers on our left and the rocks on the right. There wasn't much distance between them. We had range finders to guide us, but it was a real feat of seamanship to keep on course when the boat was sliding this way and that off the tops of the waves. If anything at all had gone wrong -- if the engine had quit or the steering mechanism had failed -- we'd have been smashed helplessly against the rocks. But everything worked perfectly. Jofian took it all in stride; it was all in the day's work for her. After an eternity, we passed the ends of the breakwaters and entered the river. The wind was still howling, but there were no waves to speak of. What a relief! Our mouths were so dry, we both had to drink a glass of water.
There are two marinas here: Winchester Bay and Salmon Harbor. The information we had said sailboats should use Salmon Harbor, so that's where we went. We soon realized we should have gone to Winchester Bay, but at the moment we didn't care. There was plenty of available dock space, so Roy put the engine in neutral and we blew over to the first dock. Boy, did it feel good to walk on solid ground again! We're glad we had the experience of crossing the Umpqua River bar in 30-knot winds, but we wouldn't want to do it again!
We walked around a while and bought a few groceries. As we were passing a small shopping center, a woman hailed us and asked if we knew anything about fixing cars. Her solenoid had hung up and was cranking away. She had phoned her mechanic, and he had advised her to cut the battery cable, so she was out there trying to cut it with a pair of plastic scissors that would have a hard time cutting paper. Roy pulled the cable off with a pair of pliers. The woman was very grateful.

Saturday, October 3, 1992 - On way to Oregon

Totem Pole in Sitka, AK
Movin' right along. By noon, we were abreast the mouth of the Columbia River (but way out). We're out of Washington and into Oregon!
In the morning, we turned off the engine so Roy could change the oil and empty two or three jerry cans into the diesel tank. He did all this with the boat rocking back and forth on the waves. And he didn't make a mess!
Yesterday, near Cape Flattery, two little land birds landed on the boat. They kept trying to fly back to shore, but the wind was too strong. After we rounded the cape, they were able to ride the west wind back.

Friday, October 2, 1992 - on way to Oregon

Finally got away from Neah Bay. We led the parade, but the motor yacht soon passed us.
Completely overcast most of the day. Somewhat foggy in the morning.
Had no problem rounding Cape Flattery, and as soon as we were headed south, we had a good sailing breeze. Put out the headsail, main, and mizzen. For a while, we were able to sail without the engine. That was so neat! No sound but the wind and waves and rush of the bow wake. But then the wind died and we had to turn the engine back on.
Around noon, the engine abruptly quit. We thought the valve had clogged again, but no, this time it was a leaking fuel line. We'd been smelling diesel fumes for a couple of days, but thought they were coming from the jerry cans. As soon as Roy fixed the leak, the engine started right up.
We're just going to keep truckin', day and night, as long as the weather's favorable.

Thursday, October 1, 1992 - Neah Bay, WA

Well, here it is October and we still haven't rounded the cape. But tomorrow, the wind's supposed to change in our favor.
This morning was overcast, damp, and windy. Our anchor was dragging, so we moved forward and lowered the second anchor. Several other boats dragged, too.
The Lady Washington's in here now. In fact, there are a whole bunch of boats waiting to go south.
Forgot to mention yesterday, when we got off the bus, the driver asked if we were senior citizens. When we told him our ages, he was surprised. He said, "You both look a lot younger." That really made our day!
Roy spent most of today working on the generator. Finally got it started at 3:30 in the afternoon. He had to disconnect the stop button, but we can stop it easily by taking the wire off the sparkplug. Sure nice to have microwave-cooked meals again.
I spent most of the day trying to tune the shortwave radio. Finally decided the antenna needs adjusting. Lowest standing wave ratio I could get was 2:1, and that was only on one or two bands. Most of the bands were around 5:1. The standing wave ratio is supposed to be 1.5:1 or lower.
After finishing repairing the generator, Roy went to town to buy a few things. He ran into the husband of the woman we were talking with yesterday and got the rest of the story, or at least the husband's version of the story. They did pay; the husband left a twenty-dollar
bill, which was more than enough to pay for their food, most of which they didn't eat. His wife had ordered a meat dip with cheese. It was brought without cheese, so she complained. The waitress went back and got a cold piece of cheese with the paper still on it and put it on the plate. The woman refused to eat it. Apparently, some heated words were exchanged. Her husband had eaten a bite or two of his hamburger, and the crew member had eaten two or three French fries. The woman had eaten nothing. The husband said, "Let's get out of here." He slammed a twenty-dollar bill down on the table, and the three of them left.
The non-uniformed police captain caught up with them in the grocery store and told the woman she was under arrest. She asked, "What for?" and he said, "For disturbing the peace." Her husband came over and told the captain he was not going to arrest his wife. He's an aeronautical engineer with a million-dollar yacht, so he had no qualms about standing up to a small-town cop. The captain threatened to arrest him for interfering with the duties of a police officer. The engineer told the captain if he wanted to keep his job, he'd better leave them alone. The argument went on and on. The woman was in tears, and a crowd of shoppers had gathered to watch. The captain got nervous and called for backup. Seven officers responded! I didn't know there were that many policemen in the entire area. The captain, who was about 25 years old, looked frightened and ridiculous. One of the officers fetched the waitress from the restaurant, and she admitted they had paid. No one was arrested. The captain told the three to get out of town and stay out, which was fine with them, since they were planning on leaving anyway. The woman took the bus to Seattle, and the two men will take the boat south tomorrow.
There should be a mass exodus out of here in the morning; a dozen or more boats are waiting for the wind to change.

Wednesday, September 30, 1992 - Neah Bay, WA

First thing we discovered this morning was that the bilge pumps weren't working, so Roy spent the morning cleaning the bilge. For-
tunately, that was all that was needed; the pumps were just clogged. They work fine now.
While Roy was doing that, I paddled ashore and bought a few groceries and a book of stamps. Then I paddled around the bay. Went over to the remains of the bridge but got chased away.
We had tried to listen for Ken at ten a.m., but the reception was very poor, and we kept hearing the loud ticking. After lunch, I noticed that the depth sounder was on, and it occurred to me that might be what was causing the ticking. Roy agreed that was a good idea. He turned on the radio and turned off the DC circuit breakers one by one. The ticking wasn't caused by the depth sounder; it was caused by the radar. That makes sense; the radar has to time the beams it sends out, probably by a crystal oscillator, and it's located close to the radio antenna. So now we know how to eliminate the ticking.
We paddled ashore to take the bus to Forks. In spite of my reminder, Roy forgot the chain, lock, and key, so he had to zoom back to the boat and get them.
While we were waiting for the bus, two men and a woman came up and started a conversation. The woman said she had been treated very rudely in the restaurant across the street. They hadn't brought her what she had ordered, so she had refused to pay for it.
When Roy and I got on the bus, we saw the Police Captain's car in front of the restaurant. The captain (?), in jeans and sports shirt, was talking with two waitresses. We surmised the waitresses were complaining about the woman who didn't pay. They looked at me on the bus as if they thought I was the one. (There was a slight resemblance.) Sure enough, the bus had gone a very short distance when it was stopped by the police captain. He got on the bus and asked about the people who had got on at the motel. Another man who had gotten on with us immediately spoke up and said he'd gotten on there and had heard about someone who hadn't paid in the restaurant. We told the captain that the woman and two men had headed towards the general store. He thanked us and left. Methinks that's going to turn out to be an expensive meal.
Enjoyed a pleasant, free ride to Forks. It's about 45 miles each way, the first ten alongside the strait, the rest through woods. It was an unusually warm, almost hot, day. We strolled around Forks for a couple of hours and bought a few things we couldn't get in Neah Bay, including a little camping toaster (non-electric) to use on the propane stove.

Tuesday, September 29, 1992 - Neah Bay, WA

Now that we have nothing to do but wait for the wind to change, we can take care of some of the things we've been putting off.
This morning, we finally checked into the problem with the short-
wave radio. We haven't heard a sound out of it for months. We removed the radio and the tuner from their cubbyholes and saw that the wire that was supposed to connect the two was disconnected! We plugged it in, expecting that to take care of the problem, but to our dismay, we still couldn't hear anything. We checked all the other connections, and they seemed to be fine. Then Roy had the brilliant idea of listening with his earphones. He could hear perfectly! Thinking the speaker wasn't functioning, he pulled out the plug for the earphones. Lo! We could hear the radio loud and clear. Such a simple little thing!
Before the day was over, we had listened to the Voice of America in New York, Family Radio in North Carolina, the BBC in London, the Voice of Italy in Rome, and the Voice of Cuba in Havana. How neat to have a shortwave radio that works!
Of course, all those stations have very powerful transmitters. Communicating with other hams is another matter. At five o'clock, we listened to 3868.5 to see if we could hear Roy's brother Ken, but reception was poor. We kept hearing a loud ticking. Can't figure out what's causing it.
Besides playing with the radio, Roy made some repairs to the boat and we read. We also finally found out what those huge concrete things are at the end of the bay. They're just what they look like: approaches to a bridge. A bridge on I-85 collapsed a few years ago, and the remains were brought here. They'll eventually be used as a breakwater.

Monday, September 28, 1992 - Neah Bay, WA

We couldn't have had a better day for going to Neah Bay. Both the wind and the tidal current were with us, and it was sunny and fairly warm. There wasn't much wind, so we had to use the engine, but we zoomed along at close to eight knots over the ground. Left Port Angeles at 7 a.m. and arrived at Neah Bay around 3:30 p.m.
The only floats appeared to belong to a seafood company, but a man on a fishing boat said they were public floats and we could tie there. He also said there was a space on the other side of the wharf, so we went around there. Had a little difficulty docking, because the wind was blowing, and I was rushing around as usual, changing lines and fenders from port to starboard, so I wasn't ready when the boat reached the dock, and we had to make a second pass. That time, I threw the small grappling anchor and caught the dock on the first try. Also, the man who had told us we could tie up there came down and tied the bow line. We put out a lot of fenders and lines and soon were secure, but after all that work, when we went to the office, the woman said the floats were only for commercial fishing boats and we couldn't stay there. Roy asked her if we could stay for an hour or so, and she said that would be all right, so we walked to the general store and bought a few groceries. Then we moved the boat to an anchorage.
So now we're only six miles from Cape Flattery, but it looks as if we'll be stuck here for several days, as gale-force winds out of the southeast are predicted for tomorrow and Wednesday. When we were heading north, the wind was out of the north, and now that we want to go south, it's out of the south.
Neah Bay is a small village. There isn't much here, but the harbor is well-protected. All we need is patience -- and we want it right now !
By the way, the entrance to Neah Bay is between Waadah Island and Baadah Point. No kidding. If you don't believe me, look on a chart.

Sunday, September 27, 1992 - Port Angeles, WA

Another change in the weather. Today was totally calm, clear, sunny. We could have made it to Neah Bay, but Roy wanted to finish working on the generator, and we wanted to attend the Aquafair events. Most of them were canceled yesterday due to the wind, but today all signals were go.
At ten o'clock, we watched the Coast Guard Search and Rescue demonstration. A helicopter lifted a man out of the water. (The blast from the rotors nearly drowned him first!) Then the oil skimmer "Shearwater" and the tall ship "Lady Washington" came in and we watched them dock. At noon, we toured the Coast Guard cutter "Active"
and the "Shearwater". Both very interesting. However, when the guide on the "Active" was asked how fast ten knots is, he didn't have a clue, so I explained it.
After lunch, we toured the "Lady Washington", which is a replica of an old square-rigger. Watched a guy climb the rope ladder to the first spar. Found out the poop deck got its name from the "pupi", or images of saints, that the Genoese put on the aft railing.
At two o'clock, there was a kayak demonstration. We considered taking our Royaks, but when we saw that it was being put on by a store trying to sell its kayaks, we decided not to.
Roy figured out that the generator problem was caused by a faulty igniter, so we'll be cooking with propane until we get somewhere where we can have it fixed.

Saturday, September 26, 1992 - Port Angeles, WA

What changeable weather! Yesterday, it was clear and sunny with a 15-knot northwest wind. This morning, it was cloudy and rainy with a southeast gale, 30 to 40 knots. This afternoon, it was clear and sunny with a northwest gale. Weird. We were very glad we were tied securely to a dock, even if the dock does jump around. The harbor was full of waves and whitecaps. If this wind keeps up, we might never get away from here.
In the morning, Roy worked on the generator and almost got it running. I walked over to Safeway and bought a few groceries. Then I packed a picnic lunch and we caught the free bus to Lake Crescent. Roy would have rather finished the work on the generator, but he very sweetly acceded to my wishes.
We walked on a very nice trail to Marymere Falls. The forest and the falls were really beautiful. We ate our lunch next to the falls and then walked back to the lodge. Strolled along the lovely lake until it was time to catch the bus back to Port Angeles.
There's a marine lab on the city pier near where we're docked. They held an Open House this afternoon, so we went to that. Saw a lot of starfish, crabs, anemones, etc.
The local Indian tribe held a salmon-bake fundraiser right outside the lab, so we bought supper there and ate it on the boat. The corn on the cob was good, but the salmon was overcooked.

Friday, September 25, 1992 - Port Angeles, WA

The rain finally stopped. Glorious day today! Clear and sunny, but windy and brisk. Fall is in the air, and leaves are turning colors.
I wanted to ride the bus out to Lake Crescent, but the generator isn't working again, so Roy wanted to stay on the boat and fix it. He also wanted to change the impeller, lubricate the anchor winch, replace the manual bilge pump, etc.
I told Roy I'd go price oil for him. To my amazement, I hadn't been on the bus five minutes until I saw Roy waiting at a bus stop. When he got on, he was as surprised to see me as I had been to see him. So we went to Payless together, and he bought a new watch to replace the one that broke a few weeks ago. He also bought a case of oil. There was a minor dispute over how many 20's Roy had laid on the counter. The clerk gave him change for $40, but Roy was certain he'd put down three 20's. The manager came over and counted the cash. Sure enough, it was $20 over, so the extra 20 was returned to Roy.
After we returned to the boat, Roy began working on the impeller, and I went for a walk. It was an absolutely perfect day for walking. I went out Ediz Head as far as I could go, about 4 1/2 miles. The wind was really blowing, and the surf was crashing against the rocks and throwing spray way up in the air.
When I got back to the boat, Roy was gone, so I read. He came back with a fresh haircut. He had replaced the impeller, lubricated the winch, and installed the new bilge pump, but the generator still doesn't work.
In the evening, we went to a "Campfire Talk" at the marine lab. It was somewhat disappointing. It was about testing water quality.

Thursday, September 24, 1992 - Port Angeles,WA

It's a good thing we hauled out this morning; all three blades of the propeller were bent, the zinc was missing, and the nut was broken. If we'd tried to wait until we got to Richmond to haul out, we'd have had major problems. We were also lucky that a guy came by who just happened to have the right-sized nut. I'd already checked every marine-supply store in town without finding it and was thinking I'd have to rent a car and drive into Seattle to get one. So Roy was able to replace the prop and the zinc and the nut, and we were back in the water in two hours. And they only charged $127 for the haulout.
Our timing was perfect, too. We went over early in the morning when it was calm and got back just as the wind was starting to pick up. By evening, it was really blowing, and these docks were jumping all over the place, but we had plenty of lines and fenders out.
In the afternoon, we took another free bus ride about 20 miles to Lyre River Park. We thought it would be a State or County park, but it turned out to be a private RV park and campground. We strolled around for a couple of hours anyway.
When we were in Victoria, someone told us the people in Port Angeles aren't friendly to boaters. Ha! Everyone we've met so far has been as friendly and nice as can be, even the bus drivers. They couldn't be any nicer.

Wednesday, September 23, 1992 - Port Angeles, WA

In the morning, we walked over to the marina where the travel-lift is located to arrange for a "hanging haulout", so Roy can replace the damaged propeller. (The boat is lifted out of the water and held dangling but not placed on land.) We were going to have it done today at one o'clock, but by the time we got back to the boat, the wind was starting to blow and rain was sprinkling, so Roy phoned them and postponed the haulout until 8:30 tomorrow morning. Then we walked over to the Post Office and mailed some postcards.
The bus fare here is unbelievable -- it's FREE! For people over 65, that is. And the buses don't just run around Port Angeles; they go 30-40 or more miles out in the country, to places like Sequim and Neah Bay and even La Push! So we hopped on the first bus that came along, rode around Port Angeles, and then took the bus to Sequim (pronounced "Swim"), about 20 miles east of here. We ate a delicious lunch at a pleasant little restaurant, walked around a while, and then rode the shuttle bus around Sequim. Next, we rode out to Dungeness Bay and back. Then we took a bus to Diamond Head Point, a very scenic ride. Went past the John Wayne Marina, where he used to keep his boat. Passed Sequim Bay and went to Discovery Bay. A hundred years ago, Diamond Head was a quarantine station for immigrants from the Orient. Now it's a pleasant little community.
When we returned to Port Angeles, we stopped at Safeway for a few groceries. By then it was really pouring, so we were glad we could take the bus instead of having to walk.

Tuesday, September 22, 1992 - Port Angeles, WA

Another warm day, but a little cooler and cloudier than yesterday.
Went over to the British Columbia Records and Archives Services to see what we could find out about Swanson Bay and Butedale. There had been a pulp mill at Swanson Bay. It had been built in 1918, changed hands several times in the 20's, started going out of business in the 30's, and shut down completely in the early 40's. Didn't find out much about Butedale, except than in addition to the cannery, there had been mining and logging activities there.
After lunch, we chugged 17 miles across the strait to Port Angeles. Couldn't have had a much nicer day for it.
As soon as Roy got Customs clearance (by phone), we walked over to Safeway and restocked our grocery supply. What a difference in the vegetables and the prices!

Monday, September 21, 1992 - Victoria, BC

What a perfect day! Bright blue sky, warm sun, clear air, calm water. Couldn't be nicer.
In the morning, Roy visited the maritime museum while I did the laundry. After lunch, we got out our bikes and went for a ride. Crossed the bridge to Esquimalt. Found park after park after park, each one lovely. Explored a lot of little coves. It was a perfect day for bike riding. Saw the replica of Anne Hathaway's cottage. Saw some old fortifications from World War II. Watched some people climbing a rock cliff right next to a sign that said, "Rock Climbing Prohibited". One kid didn't have a rope or anything except a bag of chalk for his fingers; he zoomed all over the face of the cliff like a human fly.
After supper, Roy strolled around and listened to the street singers. I got out the charts for Washington, Oregon, and California, and put them in order. Tomorrow, we leave for Port Angeles.

Sunday, September 20, 1992 - Victoria, BC

Bought bus day passes for $3 each. Rode the bus to the world-
famous Butchart Gardens and spent a couple of hours strolling among the myriad beautiful flowers. Ate a delicious, healthful lunch in the cafeteria, with green plants all around us.
Rode the bus to the small town of Sidney and walked around. They were having inline-skate races for kids and young adults, so we watched that for a while. Boy, did those kids have lots of energy!
We were on our way back to the bus when lo and behold! Roy saw a couple of guys he knew from Marina Bay! They used to have their boat near his. Now they've retired and sailed up here. They're very nice guys. Drove us around in their car. Showed us a lot of beautiful places we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. Also showed us some other marinas. Then they took us back to the boat.
After they had left, we took a bus to the Gorge. It's so narrow there that the water sometimes rushes through at 10 knots and creates a lot turbulence, but it wasn't doing much when we were there. Walked around the park a while and then returned to Victoria.
Just as we got off the bus, a couple of young guys started fighting on the sidewalk. They were really going at it hammer and tongs. A crowd gathered around to watch, but nobody tried to break them up.

Saturday, September 19, 1992 - Victoria, BC

Victoria! Such a clean, attractive city! Flowers everywhere. At night, the entire outline of the Parliament Building is lit with thousands of light bulbs. Looks like a fairyland palace.
We arrived around noon and tried to find a place to tie up at the city floats in front of the Empress Hotel. Fortunately, there weren't any vacancies. I say "fortunately" because we found out there were better floats a block away at half the price! We arrived at exactly the right moment; a sailboat was just pulling away from the outermost dock, so we zipped into the vacated spot. Later in the day, the entire marina filled up, so we were very glad we got here when we did.
Walked around town, ate lunch, and bought a few groceries. After supper, we strolled some more. Wandered around the impressive lobby of the Empress Hotel. On the waterfront, we watched an artist producing pictures with great rapidity and heard a street musician singing and playing a guitar. This is a very pleasant place to be.

Friday, September 18, 1992 - Arbutus Cove, BC

Well, the day got off to a great start. We got up bright and early, ready to make tracks for Victoria. All was well; we headed out of the harbor shortly after seven. All of a sudden, THUMP! It sounded as if we'd hit a piece of wood. Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple. A piece of very heavy, submerged rope (hawser) had caught in the prop and twisted around it. The engine was laboring and the whole boat shaking. Roy turned off the engine and we dropped anchor -- in 116 feet of water! Actually, we were lucky; it could have happened in much deeper water or in heavy wind and waves. Fortunately, it was totally calm and fairly warm.
I got in Roy's Royak and tried to pull the rope off with the boathook, but it wouldn't budge. Roy had to suit up, dive, and cut it off with a sharp knife. The actual cutting took a few seconds, but the whole process, including pulling up 250 feet of anchor chain, took about 3 hours. Jofian is very lucky to have an expert SCUBA diver on board.
There might have been some damage to the propeller; we weren't able to get quite up to full speed.
Due to the delay, we didn't quite make it to downtown Victoria, but we made it to the suburbs. Dropped anchor in Arbutus Cove. In the morning, all we have to do is bop around the peninsula and we'll be in downtown Victoria.
Most of the afternoon, we had straddled the boundary. Our left feet were in the U.S. and our right feet were in Canada.
We were dismayed to see a pall of sickly, yellow-green smog hanging over the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound. It probably came from Bellingham and Everett. First smog we've seen in weeks.

Thursday, September 17, 1992 - Gabriola Island, BC

The sun came out! Warmest day yet, and we even had a following sea, so we zoomed along. Had the sails up most of the afternoon and were even able to turn the engine off for a couple of hours.
We could see the naval planes over Whiskey Golf. Of course, we were at a safe distance.
Arrived at the south end of Gabriola Island in the early evening. There was a whole cluster of small islands, so it was difficult to figure out which was which, but we finally caught a glimpse of a marina and headed towards it. The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club has a branch marina here. We tied up there, thinking we could get reciprocal privileges, but it turned out that only RVYC members can use the out-stations, so we left the dock and anchored in 25 feet of water.

Wednesday, September 16, 1992 - Shelter Point, BC

As we get farther south, the days get warmer, but the nights are still cold. There must be a 40 degree Fahrenheit difference between the highest daytime temperature and the lowest nighttime temperature. On the radio this morning, the temperature in Campbell River was given as zero degrees centigrade! AAAARGH! That's FREEZING! If it was zero in Campbell River, it was zero where we were, just a few miles away. The highest temperature was 5 degrees centigrade in Vancouver.
Roy seems to be just about over his cold, thank goodness. It sure hung on a long time. We're both in excellent health, despite the weather.
Lost our warm sunshine today. It was cloudy, windy, and raw, with a light sprinkle (very light) in the evening. And of course, the wind was out of the southeast.
We heard an ongoing drama on the VHF. A 38-foot fishing boat had gone aground on Shingle Spit, Hornby Island. Two other boats and the Coast Guard were trying to render aid. The skipper, of course, did not want to abandon ship; he wanted to have the boat pulled off the reef, but apparently that wasn't feasible at the time. The last we heard, a Coast Guard hovercraft was on its way to take the men off the boat. I hope the skipper was later able to return with a tug and salvage his boat.
We had planned on going around Lasqueti Island to avoid Whiskey Golf, but we were making so little headway against the wind that we decided to go to Texada Island and hide behind Dick Island. Made one more attempt to reach Lasqueti but soon turned back and dropped anchor just off Shelter Point Campground.
Dick Island is privately owned and has a little cabin on it. At low tide, a shoal connects it to Texada, but at high tide, it's isolated again. There's a big "Absolutely No Trespassing" sign.
Paddled ashore at Shelter Point and walked around. This is a beautiful campground with lots of tall trees and a great view of the water. The place was practically deserted.
Bought ice cream cones at the concession stand. Met a very pleasant couple, who told us about flower stones. Flower stones are small gray rocks with white patterns that resemble flowers. They're considered semi-precious and are made into jewelry. Remarkably, they're found in only two parts of the world: Japan and Shelter Point! The couple gave us one that they had found on the beach. Roy later found one on his own.
Walked along a lovely trail through the woods and beside the water. The sound of little waves splashing on the beach was so pleasant.
When we got back to the Royaks, the woman we had met earlier was there. She gave us two doughnuts and her address. (Earlier, she had given us a home-grown tomato.) Roy gave her a Royak brochure. If the photos they took of the Jofian come out well, they'll mail us copies.

Tuesday, September 15, 1992 - Oyster River, BC

Last night, Roy paddled around, trolling his fishing line, but didn't get a nibble, so he tied the pole to the boat and let the line dangle all night. This morning, there was a fish on it! It was a little baby shark, about two feet long. It will make a couple of meals.
Another glorious day! Not a cloud in the sky, sunny and warm, no wind.
Around 9:30, I came up to the cockpit, looked out the front window, and saw what looked like a huge barge being pulled by a tugboat several miles ahead of us. When I told Roy, he looked at it through his binoculars and thought it was a small island with tall trees growing on it. I looked through my binoculars and thought it was a very large ship -- either a naval vessel or a freighter, but when I told Roy, he thought I was kidding, so he kidded me back. He was sure it was an island, but I finally convinced him I was serious. He looked through his binoculars again and agreed with me. Then it got closer, and we saw it was a huge barge being pulled by a tugboat. It was bearing down on a small sailboat that seemed completely oblivious to its presence. Fortunately, the guy on the sailboat woke up just in time to get out of its way.
We heard a Coast Guard announcement on the VHF that naval maneuvers were being held in "Area Whiskey Golf". Live torpedoes were being fired, so it was extremely dangerous. All vessels were warned to stay well clear of the area. We had no idea where "Area Whiskey Golf" was, but we assumed it must be out in the ocean; they certainly wouldn't be firing live torpedoes in the Inside Passage, with so many boats roaming around. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, I contacted the Coast Guard at Comox and asked them where "Area Whiskey Golf" was. They said it was 15 miles east of Ballenas Island. We knew we'd seen Ballenas Island on a chart, but we couldn't remember which one. We assumed it was north in Queen Charlotte Sound. Finally we found the chart. Ballenas Island was SOUTH -- right where we were planning on going tomorrow! What a stupid place for target practice! It's in Georgia Strait, between Nanaimo and Vancouver! That's almost as bad as having it in San Francisco Bay. So now we have to make a big detour. Thank goodness we heard that announcement!
Our timing for the Seymour Narrows was just right -- slack turning to flood, so we had the current with us. This time, I got to take her through. Big deal; it couldn't have been calmer. But the current pushed us through at 9.2 knots (over the ground), which was fun, and we went through some eddies and rips.
Our next problem was where to spend the night. It was around four when we passed Campbell River. The next harbor was at Comox, 25 miles away. We could make it before dark if we kept going at 9 knots, but we wouldn't, because the current from the south would soon meet the current from the north. We didn't want to cross to the other side of the strait, so we decided to anchor near Oyster River. It didn't provide much protection, but there wasn't much wind anyway. There's a private marina here, but the channel into it is very narrow and is only two feet deep at low tide, so we decided to stay outside. Paddled around the marina and only saw a couple of large sailboats. Most of the boats were little motorboats.
We were going to pull our Royaks up the ramp and walk around, but there was a sign saying, "Launch Fee $6". Roy went over to the store and asked if that included kayaks. He was told, "If you use the ramp, you pay," so we didn't use the ramp.
We went around to the river and started to paddle up it but didn't get very far, as it got shallow very fast. A couple of guys were fishing for cutthroat trout and pink salmon.
Pulled our Royaks up on the bank and walked around. In addition to the marina, the resort had a big RV park and some cabins. Biggest, fanciest RV park we've ever seen. There was room for hundreds of RV's. Each place had electricity, water, and a picnic table. There was plenty of room and lots of grass and trees. There was also a laundromat, swimming pool, tennis courts, golf driving range, soccer field, playground, etc. The place was huge! We walked around until nearly dark and then returned to the boat.
We'd been on the boat only a few minutes when a little motorboat without lights pulled up and asked the way to the marina. It was too dark to see. I pointed out the general direction, and Roy shined the spotlight on the channel markers, which helped tremendously. When last seen, they were headed in the right direction. (The channel markers had no lights.)
The shark made a good supper. Tender and tasty. Somewhat reminiscent of scallops in both texture and taste.

Monday, September 14, 1992 - West Thurlow Island, BC

The temperature in the main cabin this morning was 48 degrees Fahrenheit. And the heater doesn't work. But the day was sunny and soon warmed up. In fact, it was a totally beautiful day!
We covered 48 miles and even got to sail for a couple of hours with the engine off. Went down Johnstone Strait and through Race Passage. Anchored in Vere Cove at the tip of West Thurlow Island. Tomorrow, Discovery Passage and Seymour Narrows!

Sunday, September 13, 1992 - Alert Bay, BC

Roy talked on the phone with his daughter Carol and found out his sister-in-law Marge has died, which is a blessing, as she's been in great pain with incurable cancer. Also, his younger brother Paul died, his grandson broke his arm, and his granddaughter is going back into the hospital to have her tumor drained, so the news was far from cheerful.
Roy put the generator back together, and it worked fine, so we left Port Hardy around eleven. Lovely sunny day. Motored easily to Alert Bay. Had the headsail out, too.
We were going to go to the marina, but it was packed, so then we went over to the mooring buoys, but they didn't have rings. Right in front of us was a nearly empty government float, so we zoomed over there and tied up. Perfect! Easy to get in and out. Only $8 a night. No electricity, but the generator works perfectly now, so that's ok. No protection, so we bounce occasionally, but no big deal. We've got a good place to spend the night, and we got here early enough to take a little walk before supper.
Roy tried to catch a fish, with his usual success. Fortunately, I bought fish at the grocery store in Port Hardy.
After supper, we walked up the hill to 'Gator Gardens. Can you believe a Florida swamp on top of a mountain on an island in British Columbia? It was very interesting. Didn't see any alligators, though.
Walked over to the ferry dock and watched the Port MacNeill ferry come in. Very few passengers.

Saturday, September 12, 1992 - Port Hardy, BC

Very calm, sunny morning, so we turned the boat around, and Roy scrubbed the tire marks off the hull. (No, we weren't run over. Many docks have old tires hanging on the sides to keep boats from banging the dock. They make a great mess of a white hull.)
Loaded the dirty clothes in our little cart and took them to the laundromat. The blue sky disappeared behind gray clouds and the rain started coming down, so Roy brought a raincoat, umbrella, and canvas cover to the laundromat, but before the clothes were through drying, the sun came out again.
After lunch, Roy began taking the generator apart, and I bought a bunch of groceries. He found a lot of carbon on the valves, so he ground it off. I got a much-needed haircut.

Friday, September 11, 1992 - Port Hardy, BC

Left Safety Cove shortly before dawn. Interesting trip across the strait. The weather was sunny, with very little breeze. The ocean swells rocked us a bit, but that was no problem. We were motoring along blissfully when all of a sudden the engine started acting strangely. It would rev up and down spontaneously. At first, we thought it was the same problem we had had last February outside the Gate. That time, it turned out the fuel shutoff valve had vibrated shut, so that was the first thing Roy checked today, but this time the valve was open. The engine settled down for a while, but then it started acting up again and eventually quit altogether. We had the headsail out, but there wasn't much breeze, so we crawled along at one knot, but at least we were able to stay on course and off the rocks. Roy put on his diesel mechanic's hat and descended to the engine compartment. Within an hour he'd located the problem: the fuel shutoff valve was clogged. By noon, the engine was running again, in time to avoid a big cruise ship.
The rest of the trip was uneventful and pleasant. Arrived at Port Hardy about four p.m. Tied to the Esso dock. Filled the tank and 8 or 9 jerry cans. One of the spouts fell into a can, but the store at the dock had extra caps, so that problem was quickly solved.
We walked over to the marina and were lucky enough to find a berth. It looked plenty big enough when we were standing on the dock, but when we brought the boat over, there was barely enough room to squeeze in. Fortunately, a man standing on the dock helped us tie up.

Thursday, September 10, 1992 - Safety Cove, BC

SUNSHINE! Sometime during the night the rain stopped. The day was clear, sunny, warm, and calm. What a contrast to yesterday!
Roy made a feeble attempt to retrieve the crab trap with his fishing line but soon gave up. Time is more valuable than the trap; we don't want to waste any of this beautiful day.
Enjoyed a delightful cruise south. In Fitzhugh Sound, there was enough of a breeze to raise the mainsail and headsail, but we continued running the engine, too. Zoomed along at 6 1/2 to 7 knots.
Covered 54 miles today. Anchored in Safety Cove just before dark. About a dozen other boats were there, but there was plenty of room. If this good weather holds out, we'll cross Queen Charlotte Strait tomorrow and reach Port Hardy.
Beautiful full moon tonight.

Wednesday, September 9, 1992 - Oliver Cove, BC

It rained steadily all day and will probably continue raining all night. We were certainly lucky to have had that break in the weather yesterday when we explored Butedale.
Had a fairly strong head-wind today but still made good time.
Towards the end of my 10-12 watch, I was congratulating myself on not encountering any big ships. Suddenly, I had a strange feeling there was a big ship nearby. I turned on the radar, and sure enough, there was a big blob in back of us. I turned around and looked out the back window. Yikes! There was a huge cruise ship coming right at us! Boy, did I change course in a hurry! I made a bee-line for the right bank. Five minutes later, the Nieuw Amsterdam zoomed by down the center of the channel, right where we had been.
A little while later, a northbound cruise ship hailed us on the VHF to warn us the wind was blowing 32 knots in Milbanke Sound. That was very, very considerate of him, and I thanked him, even though we weren't planning on going to Milbanke Sound; we were going to duck behind an island, out of the wind.
Earlier in the day, a guy on a northbound sailboat had talked with us on the VHF for several minutes. He was headed to Haines to spend the (brrr) winter.
The only untoward incident of the day occurred shortly after we anchored in Oliver Cove. Roy was putting out the crab trap. He let go of it for a few seconds to get a longer line. The single knot came untied and down went the trap, glub glub glub. In 32 feet of water. Cold water. I don't think Roy's going to dive for it. Oh well, it's no great loss; we never caught any crabs anyway.
This is a nice, quiet, peaceful little cove. It's very calm, but we put out two anchors anyway.

Tuesday, September 8, 1992 - Green Inlet, BC

The generator conked out again halfway through breakfast, and this time Roy couldn't start it again, so we have to cook on the propane stove, and we're wondering how we're going to cook the rest of the salmon.
All the boats were gone except the two disabled fishing boats and the Jofian. Then a third disabled boat came in! There's also a young guy with a kayak. He paddled his kayak all the way from Seattle!
The rain let up for a while this morning, and the sun almost came out. We paddled over to the waterfall, which is a magnificent raging torrent from all the rain. Then we paddled back to "town", pulled our Royaks out of the water, and went exploring.
There was a very large fish cannery here fifty or more years ago, but it's been abandoned for a long time. The buildings were sturdily built, and many are still in fairly good condition. Also, there's a lot of machinery that was left behind. We had explored the huge warehouse on our way north but didn't have time to check out the rest of the buildings. The whole place is overgrown with bushes and brambles, so we had a hard time finding a way to get up the hill to the houses. This morning, we went to the far end of the big warehouse. There was a room with an old tractor in it, and just beyond the tractor was a doorway. We went through the door and followed a path past an old building and up the hill. There was a three-storey building that might have been a hotel or housing for the workers. The floors and stairs were still solid, so we went all over, looking into all the rooms. There were about 75 bedrooms, several bathrooms, a lounge area, and even a laundry room with automatic washers and dryers, which indicates the place was in use at least as recently as the fifties.
Vandals have had a heyday here. Everything that could be smashed had been smashed. There's scarcely a whole pane of glass in the entire town, plumbing fixtures have been ripped out or broken, furniture wrecked, holes kicked in walls, etc.
We went into what had been the mess hall. There were long tables in the dining room and a big old wood stove in the kitchen. There was a big walk-in refrigerator that still had cartons of ancient eggs and a box of shriveled-up oranges.
Higher on the hill were five small houses. They too had been vandalized. We were able to go into most of them, but the floor had collapsed in the fifth.
We followed a path in back of the houses, past the electrical transformers, to another big building with machinery in it and what looked like holding tanks for the fish. We couldn't go any farther in that direction, so we walked back to the other end of the path. Found a wooden bridge across a torrential stream. I was afraid of it, but Roy went across and said it was safe, so I followed. It was good and solid. At the other end of the bridge was a well-built cement building that housed the turbines. The turbines are driven by the cascading water and are still turning after all these years! Roy was thrilled. He explained the whole operation to me.
Across the stream from the turbine house was a small house that apparently had been the residence of the person in charge of the turbines. Roy checked it out, too, but I wasn't about to cross the stream on those broken old boards. Besides, it was after one o'clock, and I was famished.
Returned to the boat and weighed anchor. Went over to the waterfall so Roy could take some pictures of the Jofian in front of the waterfall. Then we took off down Graham Reach, eating lunch as we went.
We felt bad about leaving all those people with their disabled boats, but there really wasn't much we could do for them. At best, we could have towed one boat a short distance, but we certainly couldn't have towed all three, and we couldn't have even towed one far enough to do him any good. They were better off staying at Butedale. The Coast Guard knew where they were, and I'm sure in due course boats would come along to tow them to Port Hardy or Prince Rupert.
We turned into Green Inlet, intending to anchor in Horsefly Cove, but it turned out to be much deeper than the charts indicated, so we crossed the inlet and anchored off a sandy beach in about 30 feet of water. Put out two anchors and 90 feet of chain. Very peaceful.
Roy cooked a delicious supper in the pressure cooker. The salmon turned out even better than in the microwave, so he cooked enough for sandwiches for tomorrow's lunch.