Critters from Vancouver Island

Here's a video from our trip, some of the wildlife we encountered circumnavigating Vancouver Island.

day 37 - Silva Bay to Ladner (Lo49°06.8N’L123°04.4’W)

And then it was almost over. Sniff. We woke up this morning and enjoyed our last breakfast with coffee and Bailey's, cleaned up a bit, took Louie Bert to shore, then up came the anchor and we were on our way. Before this trip, crossing the Georgia Strait seemed like a pretty major undertaking to me. But now, it seems like one of our much, much easier days. With a wind at our backs we were able to put the main sail up for a while, but the wind died down again so we motored the rest of the way in. Once we got to Sandheads weather station near YVR, and amongst the MASSIVE amount of weekend fisher-folk out with their boats, we could see salmon jumping out of the water. Then up the south arm of the Fraser River past Steveston to Captain's Cove Marina, and back into her home berth. Sniff. I'll admit I was crying a little when we did our final rum jiggers before we locked her all up - I was not ready to be done yet. But, in reality this isn't the end. It is just the beginning.

This was, no question, one of the greatest trips I've ever done. The coastline of British Columbia is spectacular. A friend asked me, "so, what was the most beautiful place you saw?" That is very hard to answer, it was all gorgeous and all a little bit different. The landscape of the gulf islands, which prior to this trip was my only real frame of reference for the BC coastline, is beautiful. But now I realize it is a beauty that is particular to the gulf islands. Cordero Channel is stunning. The Broken Island Group islands are almost surreal. Hot Springs Cove? My god, possibily my new favourite place on earth, but because of the perfect water, not just the beauty. Meares Island was mystical. Rugged Point rivals Long Beach in its white sandiness. Bull Harbour on Hope Island was where I could sense the spirit of the land itself the most, but Nootka Island was a close second. I could go on and on, and the thing is we barely scratched the surface. Our 5 week circumnavigation of Vancouver Island could have easily been 3 months, and we still would not have seen it all.

There are places now that have intrigued us enough to go back and see more - the Broughton Archipelago is a trip onto itself, perhaps next year we'll spend 5-6 weeks up there. Because we spent more time than we planned in Quatsino Sound (but still didn't see very much, Port Alice could have been another day's trip), we didn't get a chance to see much of Kyoquot Sound. And while we did get to see a fair bit of Esperanza Inlet, getting all the way up to Gold River would have been good to see also. And Barkley Sound is another area we didn't get to explore as much as we'd like, Port Alberni included.

TOTAL NAUTICAL MILES - 794
# OF DAYS TO CIRCUMNAVIGATE - 37
# DAYS THE MAINSAIL WENT UP - 4
# OF SHEER PINS BROKEN - 4
# OF FISH CAUGHT AND ATE - 5
# OF CRABS CAUGHT AND ATE - 3
# OF PRAWNS CAUGHT AND ATE - 20
# OF PEOPLE WHO SLEPT ON THE BOAT THIS TRIP - 10
# OF BEERS CONSUMED - too many to count
# OF RUM JIGGERS - at least one each per day, sometimes a few more
AVERAGE DEPTH WE ANCHORED IN - 20 feet
# OF NIGHTS WE PAID FOR DOCK SPACE - 4
AMOUNT ERIN LIKES CAP'N ADAM'S 37-DAY SALTY BEARD - so, so much
COST IN DIESEL - about One Grand
COST IN FOOD - respectable
COST IN ALCOHOL - less respectable
VALUE OF MEMORIES AND TRAINING FOR FUTURE - priceless

day 35 & 36 – Ruxton Island to Gabriola Island (Lo49°09.0N’L123°41.5’W)

Our 35th day on the boat was a bit of a day for rest. Now that we have a Salty Dog onboard again, we needed to resume our “to land twice a day” duty. We headed over to the cabin after breakfast, and Cap’n Adam decided to stay there and do some light cabin chores while I headed back to the boat to nap, read, and edit videos. But mostly just to be back on the boat. We haven’t spent much time on land for the last few weeks, and now the rocking of the sea seems comfortable to me, rather than nauseating.

We had intended to stay a few days at Ruxton, enjoying the cabin and getting reacquainted with Cap’n Adam’s folks. But, the wind blew up very strong during the night, and Cap’n Adam had to do his first “anchor watch” overnight. We were concerned again about whether the sudden wind might cause the anchor to drag, causing us to smash into the rocks nearby. So, Cap’n Adam kept a watch, constantly assessing whether our position had changed and whether we would need to spring into action, firing up the motors and getting the anchor raised so we could relocate somewhere safer.

Our anchor didn’t drag overnight, but the weather forecast predicted that the wind would be strong for another day and night. Our anchorage in Herring Bay was fairly unprotected from a wind of that direction, and so we decided to move on a bit and head for Silva Bay.

After motoring across Pylades Channel, we passed through Gabriola Passage and then into Silva Bay on Gabriola Island. Silva Bay was, in a nutshell, completely packed with boats. This is a very popular bay for boaters, as it is the first protected bay on the west side of the Georgia Strait (if you leave from Vancouver). Boats were rafted up together 2-3 deep on the dock, so we opted to anchor again, and hoped that the wind would not be as fierce here in Silva Bay as it was last night. If we swung too much on our anchor line, there were all sorts of boats and docks that might get in our way.

Once the anchor was down we had lunch at the pub, spent the rest day wandering around and checking out the weird sandstone formations on the beach, and updating our boat log. But we didn’t want to talk about the fact that tonight was most likely our last night to sleep on the boat this trip. While our Vancouver Island circumnavigation has been a “vacation” of sorts for us, it has also been a test for a potential future lifestyle. And I think we can both see ourselves sleeping many, many more nights onboard down the line…

day 34 – Salt Spring Island to Ruxton Island (Lo49°05.1N’L123°42.8’W)

A sunny morning at Long Harbour on Salt Spring Island. After breakfast we borrowed a couple of bikes from the dock, and rode the 5 km or so into Ganges, the major commercial centre on the island. There were a few provisions that we needed, but most importantly Cap’n Adam needed a bigger wrench. He realized this morning that the rudders were not aligned correctly, which probably explains why the Auto-Pilot seems to be drunk, and gives us reason to believe we weren’t being as fuel efficient as we could have been. In order to fix this, he needed a bigger wrench. It seems hard to believe that with the multitude of tools Cap’n Adam has on board, somehow he doesn’t have the right wrench. But, it was true. So, off we peddled to town.

Back at the boat, we untied about noon and headed north to Ruxton Island. Cap’n Adam’s family has a cabin on this no services, no ferry-access island in the De Courcy Group of islands, just outside of Nanaimo. After leaving Long Harbour we came around Nose Point, then travelled north through Trincomali Channel (just west of Galiano Island) and past Wallace Island, Secretary Islands, Hall Island, Reid Island, and finally Tree Island & Pylades Island. We floated past Naylor bay and waved, then anchored in Herring Bay on the north end of Ruxton. We dinghy’d around to the cabin and were greeted by a border collie wagging very excitedly. Up to the cabin for a round of sparkly wine with Cap’n Adam’s parents to celebrate the rendezvous, a delicious dinner, then an early night back on the boat. With crewmate Salty Dog Louie Bert back on board.

day 33 – Victoria to Salt Spring Island (Lo48°51.2N’L123°26.1’W)

And in the morning the sun returned. By 09:00 we were untied, and heading from the inner harbour to the outer harbour of Victoria. From there we motored on calm waters along the south shore, around the point and then north through Oak Bay, around Cadboro Point and through Cordova Bay. By this point, we were feeling as if we were back in home waters. The landscape looked a lot more familiar. There were far more boats we needed to be aware of. But the most telling – we could see BC Ferries again. Their giant silhouettes, each a slightly different size and shape depending on whether they carry cars and when they were acquired, loomed on the horizon. They are a ubiquitous presence in the Strait of Georgia, and I had taken for granted their absence as we explored some other parts of the BC coastline. We passed between Sidney Island and James Island, and across Prevost Pass between Portland Island and Moresby Island. From there we rounded the east tip of Salt Spring Island, and headed north to Long Harbour on Salt Spring. We were so happy that there was an open and easy spot on the dock for us to float right onto. After getting settled in with shore power, checking out the life attached to the side of the dock, and having a BBQ dinner, we hit the sack.