Ucluelet

Sorry for the delay in posting. Dave and I have been very busy preparing for the offshore leg of our journey, and have had limited network access.

Since arriving in Tofino, we decided to do a bit more exploring of Claquot Sound before heading south. Dave talked me into returning to Hotsprings Cove. It didn't take much arm twisting. We motored out of Tofino and soon found a favourable wind to take us up Millar Channel and Shelter Inlet to Bacchante Bay. There we had the whole Bay to ourselves. This was definitely one of our most picturesque and interesting anchorages. After setting the anchor, we paddled the kayaks up Watta Creek, through a beautiful rainforest, and then hiked on the stone beach for a bit.

In the morning, we motored to Hotsprings Cove. This Cove is a must-see. A gorgeous 25 minute stroll through an old growth cedar forest on a boardwalk that never lets your feet touch the ground, brings you to an amazing hot spring that spills out of the rock, cascades over a 15 foot waterfall and spills into a series of soaking pools amongst high rocks that protect you from the wind. The whole experience is magical. After a good soak, we made the decision to do some last minute preparations for offshore, and so spent the next day working in paradise. A few more trips to the spring later, we set off for my first offshore adventure. The seas were about 8 feet, and the winds from the northwest about 15 to 25 knots. Once we hoisted a full sail pattern, and killed the motor, Cygnus settled in beautifully, and we had a wonderful sail back to Tofino. This was a great training excercise for me. I was unsure how my stomach would take the huge swells, but it turned out well, and I was even able to hoist the Jib with Cygnus pitching and rolling. It was a very exciting experience! We put in to Adventure Cove on Lemmens Inlet.

As it turned out, our weather window for sailing south disappeared. The winds have switched to southerly, or light, and we need a stiff northerly for this leg.

We decided to take advantage of the situation by motoring to Ucluelet and then exploring the many sights in the Broken Island group. Upon arrival at Ucluelet, we toasted Dave's completion of his circumnavigation of Vancouver Island. Also, amazingly, the odometer on the chart plotter was exactly 1000 nautical miles since Olympia! Quite an accomplishment, and quite an adventure so far.