2012 Cruise to Barkley Sound

John and Daleen left their homeport aboard the Omega at Skyline in Anacortes, Wa on June 11th around 1:45.  After checking through customs by phone in Victoria, we decided to check out the reciprocal dock in the Canadian Forces Sailing Association Marina in Esquimalt, which turned out to be perfect, with very friendly people. The private marina has only military owners with boats moored and one small reciprocal dock but very protected.  You have to call the Esquimalt Harbour Master on VHF 10 when entering, leaving or moving around the harbour. We were invited to attend a BlueWater potluck at the Pub and listen to a very interesting presentation on Pacific Northwest Mammals.  Due to weather and high winds , we stayed over in Esquimalt for 3 days.

We left the CFSA Marina in Esquimalt on June 14th at the break of dawn and anchored in Port Renfrew 11 hours later. The current was not in our favor most of the day which made for a long day.  We knew the seas would be a bit choppy since the winds had been blowing for the last few days.  All seemed fine with light chop & 18 knots of wind until we rounded and made the turn at Race Rocks into Race Passage.  I ask John why we were here!!!!  Winds topped 32 knots with deep/high steep rollers 10+ feet at 3-4 seconds.  John offered to turn around but we both hoped the seas would calm down after we were away from land, which they did once we were out of the passage.  A guy from the Blue Water group, told us the night before that the boat would take far more than we could, and he was right!!  Lesson Learned - Wind apposing current in a tight location.  A trip I would not want to repeat in those conditions!!

 We both turned in early after a long day on the water.

There are not many small recreational boats around us as we exited the Straits but we saw many large container ships either leaving or heading into Seattle or Vancouver BC.


June 15th up at 5am for a exit from the Straits of Juan de Fuca into the Pacific Ocean.  A first for Daleen.  The seas were much calmer and the ocean had small ripples with a low southwestern swell.  It was a smooth crossing with the winds 6-12 knots most of the day and a nice sail when we turned into Barkley Sound at 11:30am with 15 knots of wind.

 We pulled into the government dock in Bamfield to check out the village. We turned around to see Jim, John's lab partner from school, pulling up to the dock in his dinghy and offered for us to raft with him in the harbour.  We all walked around , bought our Canadian fishing Licenses, checked out what was here and back to the boats to get settled for the day. Mary, Jim's wife, is suppose to join him in the next week or two.