Gale Warnings

Gale warnings are never good news for mariners – particularly on a day that travel in the big water has been planned. Careful analysis of the weather indicated that the gale was 12 to 24 hours off shore. That provided enough time to fish in route but only time to catch one small king salmon (about 10 lbs). The sea was lumpy and a little ominous and the winds came from all directions.

We headed for Tofino Inlet and anchored in Tranquilito Cove. It was very hard to believe that outside the winds were raging at 70 knots with the tranquil waters we experienced.

Watched a Black bear as we pulled crab pots. Five nice crab and we decided to allow the bear free range of the beachBeautiful anchorage and a very happy birthday for Jan. Thanks for the many birthday greetings

PS Mike Moran - I am many years younger than you to answer your query!

More Fun with Family and Friends

I am not quite sure why it is so exciting to forage for food...is it the wonderful, fresh taste or is something more primal? We eat oysters nearly ever day (even Beck liked a few). Crab are plentiful. You might enjoy this hot crab dip - we did!



HOT CRAB DIP

8 oz. cream cheese
3/4 c. mayo
2 T. minced onion
1 t. horseradish
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t. salt.

Puree in a food processor or mixer until smooth.



Fold in 6 oz. crab. Bake about 25 minutes until hot. We served it with warm homemade bread but crackers would do!

Fun with Family and Friends

Life is a journey not a tour and no journey a ever goes exactly as planned particularly when at sea. Shari and Ryan ended up in Victoria rather than Barkley Sound due to an unseasonably strong cold front off the Oregon coast. We crabbed and saw sights in Victoria.

Note the picture in front of the Shinto shrine. Jeff purchased the shrine in Japan in the 1970s and sold to British Columbia for display in the Victoria Art Museum.

It was rough getting out of Ucluelet the day we fished with Meghan, Seth and Kathy. Hard on all of them but we saw whales and Seth caught his nice fish. We enjoyed a great time together with them. Gathered seafood, ate well and laughed a lot.

Rick and Beck arrived next with intentions for great fishing. Once again the weather reports forecast an unseasonably strong cold front for their time with us. Once again the forecasters were right and we headed for anchorages noted to be “bomb proof”.

Poor weather affected the fishing badly but despite the rain and cold we had a wonderful time together. We gathered oysters and clams, had a good prawn pull and saw five bear....but no fish. They will simply have to come back!

About Sea Stars

Sea stars belong to the phylum echinoderm which means spiny skin. Sea stars have a unique vascular system that moves water through canals that end on the under surface in tube feet. These tube feet expand and contract allowing the animal to move and to eat. Sea stars feed mostly on mollusks such as clams and oysters and other echinoderms including sea urchins. The large sea star in the foreground of the picture is a Sunflower star which can grow to two feet in diameter and can be orange, red, yellow, pink or brown. The specimen on the left is a Pacific Blood Star and the smaller purple sea stars are known as Bat Stars. Sea Stars are not edible and have the ability to regenerate limbs.

Weathering In

Barkley Sound is a place of quick changing weather. The captain noted the forecast that predicted an unseasonably strong low and we moved to the inner part of the Sound. The glorious, sunny, calm seas quickly raged. We sought refuge behind Bazett Island anchored and stern tied protected from 40 mph Southeastern winds.

Bazett Island turned out to be a treasure with a clear small cove filled with oysters and clams. Te oysters were smaller and particularly tasty.

A trip across the base of Pipestem Inlet to Lucky Creek was interesting but somewhat less enchanting than the reports.

Snuggled in we are waiting for calm seas to return. We had wished for better weather for our guests. Little fishing time for one of our favorite fishermen but perhaps Rick will come to Campbell River.

Other Duties as Assigned

Mariner’s have long laughed that cruising is simply an opportunity to work on your boat in exotic places. Doug has experienced that first-hand tweeking of the diesel heat system, the dink suspension system, and the water maker since we left port.
A lesser told story is the first mate’s might opportunity to do laundry in new places such as Ucluelet. With a large supply of quarters, a load of laundry and a good book I headed up to the local Bubblemat for an afternoon of fun. The Bubblemat was a wonderful opportunity for people watching. Not unlike people watching at Heathrow . Just on a different wave length…hikers damp from the misty sea, young families vacationing, a skinny fisherman with bad teeth and a few fishing crew members. A rather weather beaten soul came up to me and asked how much it would cost to have me launder his clothes. Rather a change from my previous occupation…to be mistaken for a Laundromat employee.
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Just a Glorious Anchorage

Effingham Bay with 10 boats at anchor was not our idea of paradise so we nosed around Gilbert Island to see if we could find shelter from the prevailing west swells and north west winds. The first nook was too deep for the captain’s comfort. The second on the west side of Effingham Island between Bauke and Austin Island was a good possibility. Our electronic navigation system, a paper chart evaluation and a dink perimeter survey was positive. We checked weather forecasts to ensure that there was no prediction for south winds.

We had a stunning view of the Pacific Ocean, wonderful tidal pools filled with California mussels, anemones, and ochre sea stars. Both the sunset and the sunrise were glorious.