Thursday – Tuesday, 22-27 August 2024 … and HOME!

Thursday, 22 August
Effingham Bay to Turtle Bay by way of Wouwer Island, Broken Group Islands, Barkley Sound: (48-52.0N 125-21.3W) (48-55.0N 125-19.7W)
So much rain has fallen in the past few days, first circumnavigating Estevan Point to Quiet Cove and over twelve straight hours last night of heavy downpour, that the anchor light flooded out. We are thankful for not also having wind since anchoring in Effingham Bay. The predictions were for partly cloudy conditions with light winds later today, and, praise be, that materialized. We appreciated the change after the longest continuous and hardest rain in the past four months. Growing webs between the toes we are.

Three events spiced the day. Upon anchoring where we had intended to anchor the night before south of Wouwer Island, we assembled and launched Bravo for a fun spin on the motor first through an east-west gap in big rocks (video) and out to a very large rock (video) that was supposed to be home for Steller’s and California Sea Lions (none found), then back in the gap (video), to a tiny log-free slot in an otherwise log clogged beach on Batley Island.

From there, we took a short walk across Batley to an incredible small and log- and kelp/seaweed-filled cove that was hosting bountiful bug meals (video) to perhaps four species of sandpipers (video). And I’d forgotten binoculars(!) Being still for twenty to thirty minutes, many of the dozen or so birds gravitated to within twenty feet of us. Size and coloration suggested a mix of Western, Semi-palmated, and Least Sandpipers on one hand. Vocalizations by and coloration of others suggested – most likely – Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers though solid coloration lines sorely tempted me to call out the Common Sandpiper. Their Eurasian range made that unlikely though it was given as a “Similar” to the Spotted Sandpiper.

These birds are difficult to pick out in pictures. In the video one can at least see them move! These birds were stuffing themselves to the point many needed intermittent naps.
Fishing was third on the list. Steve Riehmann’s and Ron Watt’s advice to fish high spots again paid off twice, and for the first time since landing several Dolly Vardens at the Haines dock two and a half months ago, I landed two fish using (previously frozen) herring with a heavy weight. Pictures don’t do either fish justice. Both were beautiful, and my soft side balked at slicing them up. The first was – I believe – a Greenling based on fin structure though I have yet to find a picture of one with blue spots. The second was a very bright orange Rockfish.

We dined on the former and vacuum-sealed and froze the latter after anchoring in Turtle Bay surrounded by Turtle, Walsh, Dodd, and Willis Islands … and, at one point, EIGHT other vessels at anchor. The fish was most delicious – some of the best we’ve eaten – despite a plethora of thin bones in the meat.
We turned on the steaming light at night.

Friday, 23 August
Turtle Bay to Jaques-Jarvis Lagoon (48-55.3N 125-16.5W)
Today started as an auspicious day, exactly four months to the day after our departure from Bainbridge Island and day “five” counting down to our return home. It turned out to also be a day in which I lost my composure … while fishing of all things! I had just landed another smaller Cabezon while fishing with one of my remaining frozen herring over a high spot north of Jarvis Island and suddenly had another fish on. Being me, I also was fishing using a yellow guppy on a second rod. Darned if it wasn’t a small Yelloweye Rockfish – which one is not supposed to keep. Having complicated matters fishing two rods at the same time, as we slowed, I needed hands on four things at once – throttle and steering, reeling in the second rod, grabbing a net, AND fetching the release gear in my tackle box to quickly return the Yelloweye to deep water. Haste makes waste. Having not practiced using the release mechanism, the fish slipped off it TWICE before I got it to work (sort of). In the process, the net fell overboard to Davey Jones Locker (DJL). While I eventually succeeded in running the fish down to 110 feet, when I released it, all that came back was the weight and not the release hook which was probably left with the fish. It joined the net in DJL. Whether the fish survived will remain a mystery. My self-generated frustration had skyrocketed making things unpleasant. Solution: I went back to fishing with the three no longer frozen herring I had left. Out of that, I caught two more rockfish and lost a fish in-between.
We ducked into the tricky Jaques-Jarvis Lagoon and dropped the hook so I could start fish processing.
Having completed that, we took a ride in Bravo at high tide using the EP Carry motor – as the rain resumed – and motored across the channel to see if anyone had taken up residence in the Nettles Island bay in which we had planned to stay. Finding no one there was nice, but instead we decided to hole up in the J&J Lagoon, run the generator and dehumidifier, and enjoy a quiet night. I took a 360 video in the afternoon in flat gray light. More appealing was a video of scintillating minnows on glassy water.
I shot this video of J&J Lagoon the next morning as the sun came up.
(Jacques-Jarvis Lagoon 360)
If you guessed this might be a place in which to find Common Loons, Kingfishers, and Western Flycatchers, you’d be right. Motoring into the lagoon we came across eight Common Loons – the largest flock since our trip north last spring.

Saturday, 24 August
Jaques-Jarvis Lagoon to … Port Renfrew: (48-33.4N 124-24.5W)
We awoke to almost clear skies and a growing southwest breeze. After pulling Bravo for the last time this trip, we departed the lagoon to mostly blue skies and found both kayakers and sport fishing boats east of Jacques Island on Imperial Eagle Channel. As we entered the channel and raised sails in a 12kt breeze, we counted over 35 fishing boats at work.

Such wonderful sailing conditions quickly made us change our minds about stopping in Dodge Channel a mere 6 miles away. Set close-hauled and aiming east-southeast, we headed for sea and Port Renfrew 35 miles away.

The below track shows our up-wind passage from Tofino through Barkley Sound and the Broken Group Islands. (None of the yellow UVIC buoys are there anymore)

While sagging and shifting winds gave us fits a time or two, we were able to motor-sail close-hauled into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and admire three handsome light stations: Point Beale (1130am), Point Pachena (1230pm, (these two shown below, left and right respectively) and Carmanah Point (3:15pm).

In addition, and most surprisingly, we sighted numerous waterfalls (video) along this coastline before and after visiting Port Renfrew.

Cape Flattery loomed from the gloom south at 3:30pm.

Just in time for dinner, we moored at the Pacific Gateway Marina at Port Renfrew. Who knew, the large-ish body of water here at the west end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca is actually Port San Juan on the chart, and the head of the bay is called Snuggery Cove. Encore presence in the marina was hard to miss.

Sunday, 25 August
Port Renfrew to Victoria: (48-25.3N 123–22.2W)
Today was another magical day of sorts on big water east-bound for Victoria. We set off at 0530 to catch a flood tide that stayed with us three fourths of the way to Victoria nudging Encore along three quarters of a knot or so faster than its mighty Yanmar could push her. We encountered very little vessel traffic in the early hours of the day.
At 0830 we came across well over two dozen Humpback Whales feeding all over the north side of the strait, some quite close necessitating speed and heading changes, others distant. Approaching noon, we passed the Sheringham Lighthouse to port …

And at noon we came across several dozen fishing boats … and whale watching boats, surely enough indicating the presence of Orcas and therefore salmon. We flew the Whale Awareness flag for a short bit and dropped a Coho Killer lure with ten ounce weight off the transom. That effort bore no fruit, expectedly. And suddenly we were in fog that grew thicker quickly to the point of limiting visibility to 100 feet. I turned on the radar on at 1:30pm and it stayed on until we entered Victoria Harbor at which point the fog lifted completely. If ever there were a situation where radar made a difference, that nearly two-hour period was it.
We moored at D dock, Causeway Marina … without having to first check in with Canadian Customs for the first time ever.

Later, after a Black and Tan at The Irish Pub (above), we dined at Pagliacci’s down town and slept like the dead … after a Sunday evening blues band finished playing at a waterfront stage nearby at around 9pm!

Monday, 26 August
Victoria: (48-25.3N 123–22.2W)
No visit to Victoria is truly complete without a visit to Butchart Gardens. After taking breakfast at Milano Cafe, we hopped on a bus to the gardens where we spent nearly four hours wandering amongst myriad different plants mostly in bloom.

Tonight we met Glen and Cheryl, (SV Indigo Wave – a beautifully tricked out 46 foot Island Packet) whom we had met in our second visit to Petersburg, and enjoyed a fabulous meal at one of their favorite places, The Courtney Room, downtown.

Tuesday, 27 August
Victoria to Bainbridge Island, Eagle Harbor Marina (47-37.0N 122-30.8W) BRINGS TO A CLOSE A 124-DAY ADVENTURE!
A nice confluence of strong southwest wind and a suitable ebb tide under clear pre-dawn skies staged us for a fast departure from Victoria at 0520 with reasonable hopes of a quick crossing of Rosario Strait to engage in at least a good portion of the following flood tide into Admiralty Inlet.

Encore handled the seas well, and we laughed at how mild 22+ kt winds on that body of water felt compared with crossing to Vancouver Island just over two weeks earlier. Flying up to the ocean cauldron (video) at Point Wilson Light at 10kts, progress screeched to 5kts just past Marrowstone Point Light. One day in the future I must play with this current because, having suffered demoralizing low-5kt progress for an hour thereafter, suddenly we were back up to just over 7kts. Note to self: the water must have been shoved north to Whidbey Island before turning back southeast. Winds which had driven Encore hard gave up the ghost at Marrowstone and were not felt again in earnest until we reached halfway down Bainbridge Island. Too late!

We gave friends a heads-up about our ETA at Point No Point along with a picture …

… and they were there to greet us and help us tie up.

Thus ends our 124 day adventure. (Interesting reflection calligraphy of “Encore.”) We are grateful to have completed the trip and to be home and looking forward to seeing our grandson … and other things like rowing and getting back in (a different kind of) shape(!) And we are super-grateful to have made a bunch of new sailing friends including Scott and Karen (Tuuli), Ron and Peggy (Solstice), and Nick and Laura (Ardent) who were with us at the Catalina Rendezvous in Roche Harbor and joined us as the big adventure began, and Glen and Cheryl (Indigo Wave), Sean and Kate (Petrichor) – and 5th place in this year’s Race 2 Alaska!, Ron and Jo (Interim), Tom and Elaine (and Bodie) (Belle), Charlie and Geo (Longtemps), John and Jane (Salish Aire), Kevin and Karen (Salish Dream), and finally Peter (Wayfinder) whom we met at Nuchalitz Inlet, Esperanza Inlet.

By the numbers, below is a summary of our final month aboard Sailing Vessel Encore and the total for our cruise.

• Nautical miles traversed: 1130, 3721
• Engine hours: 194, 705; Gallons of diesel: 85, 378; Fuel costs: $447, $1154
• Gallons of propane (amazing): 0 (we’ve not refilled, but probably a gallon), 8.3; ~$90
• Days of underway time: 24, 108; and sum of daily underway hours: 216, 813
• Anchorages: 17, 79; Dock days: 10, 64; Moorage costs: $759.72, $2232.32
• Anchorages in which we were the only boat: 46; and with one other: 10
• Passage (sailing overnight) days: 3
• Total days: 30, 124; Total costs (fuel & moorage only): $1297, $3387

“What’s next?” some may ask. We did spend a lot of time talking about additional sailing adventures. As much as we admire Matt and Amy’s round the world example (Sailing with Florence, a Major inspiration for our trip – look them up on YouTube), that’s not in our cards. We’ve been counseled that the harder parts of sailing we accomplished, including passages, are as difficult as anything we’d see crossing most oceans. That much is comforting! We worked well as a team aboard in cramped quarters. Also good. We will very likely take long trips in the future, but probably not four-monthers like this one.