During September we were lucky enough to take a three week voyage to waters north. While we had set no firm cruise schedule, we hoped to make it into Jarvis Inlet and up to Princess Lousia Inlet. We hoped to use this three week expedition as a mini shakedown cruise for our planned longer cruise, hopefully for 1-2 years, departing next summer.
Leaving Olympia at o’dark thirty to catch the ebb tide, we motored to Eagle Harbor. We woke up even earlier the next morning to catch the ebb tide to Port Townsend, where we were lucky enough to get space on the last free public dock before the Wooden Boat Festival took over the town. With a fair weather forecast, and wanting to make good time getting north, we set off again the next morning for Sidney, BC. The wind never filled in so we motored our way across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Nearing Hein Bank we saw a fleet of boats gathering. As we approached closer we came across a pod of Orcas. We turned the motor off and drifted with them for an hour as they came and went as they pleased.
As prearranged, we made a rendezvous with our friends Eric and Jennifer aboard Willow, SSSS folk. After spending a two days in charming Sidney, we had a delightful day sail to Ganges Harbor on Saltspring Island. We toured around the harbor that evening and were able to go to the Saturday Market the following morning where all the local artists displayed their many talents. What a wonderful market it was! From Ganges Harbor we sailed to Degdnen Harbor and then to Dodd Narrows.
We arrived at Dodd Narrows with the current against us, with about one hour until slack water. We watched other powerboats fight the current and make it safely through the narrows. After watching one large sailboat fight their way through, we figured the current had subsided enough for us to make it through. As we approached we kept a close eye on the GPS, displaying true speed over ground. At about 200 feet from the very shallow and narrow pass, our speed over ground decreased to 3 knots. Another one hundred feet further, our speed decreased to about 1 knot. At this point we felt that our maneuverability and control over the boat had decreased beyond our comfort zone, so we bailed out, turning hard around, down current. A few minutes later we watched a very powerful 50 foot sailboat attempt to make the Narrows, only to retreat as we had. After waiting for half an hour, sailing about and having a leisurely lunch, the current subsided enough to make a safe passage through the narrows. We were on our way to Naninmo.
With clear skies, and a favorable forecast we left Nanimo the next morning and began beating into 25 knot headwinds, crossing the Strait of Georgia to Pender Harbor. It was a perfect opportunity to test our new staysail! It was a majestic day on the Strait. Blue skies, white caps, and warm sun! Several boats were out sailing, some with reduced sail going upwind, others with a full set of canvas reaching and running at full speed. Gradually the wind decreased and lifted us to Pender Harbor. By the time we made it across the Strait, the wind had died to almost nothing and we decided to motor through Welcome Passage on our way to Pender Harbor. We both agreed that this region’s scenery reminded us a lot of our honeymoon trip to Norway.
In Pender Harbor we topped off our fuel and water tanks and departed at 0530 to arrive at Malibu Rapids 50 miles up Inlet at the 1430 slack water. That morning the eastern sky glowed red in a very memorable sunrise.
As we motored up Jarvis Inlet we were more awed by the natural beauty around us with every mile. We had a little celebration when we crossed north of the 50° parallel. At one point we circled several times taking photos of each boat with the snow capped mountains in the background. We made it to Malibu Rapids on schedule and entered perhaps the most beautiful place on earth, Princess Lousia Inlet. We decided to stay there for two full days. The first day we went on a long hike, passing the old cabin by Chatterbox falls and continuing to gain elevation. We made it to 3000 feet, verified by GPS, before we decided to turn back. Even Jack, Eric and Jennifer’s energetic Husky, got tired and sat down at every opportunity.
Wanting to take it easier the next day, we went rock climbing up the vertical granite walls straight up from the water and our dinghy. Eric of Willow lead climbed and set protection in the rock. We followed him up, with the safety of a belay rope. At the summit of our climb, we repelled down, directly into the dinghy! After noting how deep the water was right up against the granite wall, we decided it would be fun to pull our big boat up against the wall for a photo. Slowly we inched up to the shear cliff until we were right alongside, holding onto the wall. At that point, the depthsounder still read between 55 and 105 feet! The shroud softly brushed an evergreen hanging tenaciously on to the cliff. We still have a few sprigs on our deck.
Reluctantly we left Princess Lousia the next morning and motored down Jarvis Inlet, back to Pender Harbor. Fortuitously, we arrived there on Friday night which was the beginning of an annual three day Jazz Festival. We toured the town that evening, listening to great live Jazz. There were free ferries criss-crossing the harbor bringing people to different venues. Every person we met in Pender Harbor was even friendlier than the last.
Although we would have loved to stay in Pender Harbor for the rest of the Jazz Festival, sunny skies and a north wind were calling us for a long run down the Strait of Georgia. We set the spinnaker, turned on the autopilot, and did not touch either for five hours. It was a beautiful run! We pulled into Center Bay on Gambier Island in Howe Sound and stern tied to the shore. It was our first experience at stern tying, and it worked well.
We left Center Bay the next morning and motored directly into thick fog on our way to the city of Vancouver. It was a good test of our piloting, and the radar we installed over the winter paid for itself in short order. We passed several ferries and tugs with tow at close range through the fog. As we neared False Creek in downtown Vancouver the fog lifted. Good experiences through tough situations did wonders for our confidence. We set the anchor into sticky mud in 15 feet of water very close to the Granville Island Market. We had a wonderful time exploring Granville Island and all the delicacies found in China Town.
We left Vancouver with partly cloudy skies, the first clouds for two weeks, and a fresh southerly breeze. With one reef in the main and the full jib we blasted across the Strait of Georgia with the Monitor windvane steering the entire way. We barely touched the sails or helm the entire passage!
Over the next few days we experienced beautiful sunsets as we stayed overnight in Montegue Harbor, Sidney, Port Townsend, and Eagle Harbor on our way back home to Olympia. We had a wonderful time exploring the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. We gained a lot of confidence in our boat and ourselves. While we did not really want to come home, we are now more than ever looking forward to our extended voyage that will begin next summer.
Eric & Angela Siegel, Rouser
For photos online check out our website.