On the First Part of the Journey

It is hard to comprehend the strength of the Columbia River. The water flow is visible 200 miles out to sea. Pleasant journey to Astoria but foul weather kept us in port for two days. Particularly disappointing to Ryan and Shari who had a scant week before returning to Chico. On the third day there was a window and we headed out. The bar was rougher than we would prefer with waves at 9 feet at 11 seconds. We picked our way through but the bar closed to recreational vessels an hour later. The 11 hour trip to Neah Bay was tiring and rough. As mariners must we made a decision to take Shari and Ryan to Victoria as they would have had a single day in Barkley Sound before making the two day journey to connect with their flight south. The lovely Royal Victoria Yacht Club hosted us for two days. Shari and Ryan had a taste of Victoria and engaged in one of our favorite pastimes - foraging for food. Eight crab later we bid adieu to Shari and Ryan and headed for Port Renfrew where we spent a lovely evening on the hook.

The next morning at 0630 we pulled anchor and headed for Swiftsure Banks hopeful for halibut. As we progressed the seas changed from fairly quiet to northwest swells of 9 feet at 11 seconds. We tried but were not able to keep bait on the bottom. Our efforts resulted in a rock cod proudly caught by Jan and a rough journey to shore.

Barkley Sound was once the home to 10,000 Indians who were well skilled in seamanship. The islands are dotted with middens which are the shell remains of the Indian's seafood feasts. Rumor has it that in the deep water caves found on the islands there can be found many burial grounds which even contain bentwood boxes and ancestoral remains. I prefer to look for those that sparkle with orange and purple starfish.