Offshore to Barkley Sound, Part 1

In August, 2007, we sailed Betty Lou from St. Helens, OR to Barkley Sound, BC, on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Scott Shuey and I spent the first two days motoring down the Columbia River. We spent the first night at the small village of Cathlamet at Elochoman Marina. Cathlamet is a sleepy little town, and the marina is a quiet spot with great showers. There is a riverside trail into the downtown area, where there are several watering holes and resturants. We got an early start the next day for Astoria to avoid the afternoon onshore breeze, which can make for a bumpy ride when it meets the downstream current. We were tucked into West Basin in Astoria by 1300.

We spent the rest of that day and the next doing last minute projects. We went up the mast to change the deck light, and added new fittings on the boom for the slab reefing system. Tim Hyrciw joined us, and our crew was complete for the trip up the ocean. We fueled the boat and were ready for a pre-dawn departure to hit the bar crossing at slack water before the flood tide.

We pulled out of West Basin into a very dark night at 0430. It was raining lightly, with a 10 knot breeze. Our timing for the bar was perfect, conditions were mild, and we motored out into the Pacific, turning north once we passed CR Buoy # 1. The NW swell was big, about 12 feet, and Betty Lou rose to each crest about every 14 seconds. What wind there was was on the nose, so we motored up the coast all the way to Barkley Sound.

We passed through the traffic lanes exiting the Straits of Juan De Fuca during Tim's midnight watch. At about 0200 he woke me to man the radar. We had a large vessel crossing our track ahead, and a tug and tow gaining from astern, but 15 minutes of plotting with the radar assured us that we would pass well clear of both. I tumbled back in my sea berth and was back asleep in seconds.


Tim turned me out again for my watch at 0345. I came out into the cockpit armed with a fresh thermos of coffee. Slowly, the dawn light revealed the rugged mountains of Vancouver Island. The coastline was obscured by a thick bank of fog. Our landfall would be the small community of Ucluelet, and we were right on schedule for docking at 0800. But the fog would make things interesting. The channel threaded between a rocky headland to the north, and a dangerous reef to the south. I roused the crew at 0600, and we debated whether to risk the fogbank.


We could hear the bell of the outermost buoy, our chartplotter had us right on track, and the radar was painting a pretty clear picture, so we decided to ease our way in. We motored slowly toward the ringing bell. Visibility was maybe 100 yards, and finally the buoy appeared out of the murk. I made a course change to follow the channel, slowed to 3 knots, and we heard to breakers to our right and left over the drone of Betty Lou's engine. Suddenly a large sport fisher came out of the fog towards us, doing maybe 15 knots, and passed us off the port side. A minute later another went by to starboard, seemingly unconcerned with the pea soup conditions.

We passed within 50 feet of the second channel buoy and a few minutes later turned north towards the opening of Ucluelet harbor. Suddenly the sun started breaking through. A fantastic sundog highlighted a cedar covered outcrop to port, and the fog disappeared as if by magic as we motored past the fuel dock and tied up at the government dock just beyond. It had taken us 31 hours to motor from Astoria to Ucluelet. Clearing customs was a matter of a five minute phone call from the phone at the head of the dock.



Like clockwork, the rest of the crew arrived at the dock after driving up from Portland. We were joined by my wife Muki and our old friend Leanne Anderson. It took several trips to transfer the massive load of food and beverges they had brought from home. We would eat like kings for the rest of the trip! We slipped our lines by 1200 and motored out of the harbor under cloudless skies and bright sun. The wind was perfect for a downwind sail into the heart of Barkley Sound.