Nettle Island to Ucluelet

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June 11, 2007:
As we departed Nettle Island for Ucluelet, we picked up our crab trap. Still lots of bait in there and only one small crab to throw back. It was a little rainy and foggy. The surface was smooth in the islands and as we entered Loudoun Channel, it wasn’t bad enough to raise our sail to steady the boat: something we would live to regret. The swell and confused seas left from the previous day’s weather made a very uncomfortable ride. The closer we got to Ucluelet, the worse the seas became. Then it got too rough to go forward and put up the sail for the remainder of the trip. It just kept building until we entered the channel to Ucluelet.

We went into the small craft harbor (48° 56.775’ N / 125° 33.253’ W), which is where we are this beautiful sunny day.

A fisherman we met on the dock asked us where we had been the last few days. Seems it was really rough in the area, including in this very harbor.

And there we were in San Mateo Bay, snug as a bug in a rug. We moored at the docks in amongst fishing boats. Canadian fisheries stopped the commercial salmon season midnight June 10. They will assess the catch so far, and determine if and when the season will open again. These fishermen have it rough trying to figure out how to make a living with these on again off again seasons.

June 12,2007 :
Sport fishing for salmon has been spotty, we have seen just a few fish being brought in to the docks. Ucluelet is a major sport fishing locale. The Island Princess is a big business type of operation. They run 10 charter boats in their Princess fleet from this ship moored against the beech, and have a major hotel on shore. they are very organized and each of the 10 boats takes out at least two loads of sports a day.


We managed to get our laundry done (many wet towels what with the rain), and now we sit and blog the afternoon away waiting on the rain to start again.

We are enjoying the wireless when we can get it.

We purchased a Hawkings hi-gain antenna, while in Oak Harbor with the help of our friends Nancy & Neil of Harmony who we met last year at Oak Harbor. That has been the saving grace that has brought us Internet when we’ve been in a marginal signal area. Modern technology is great!…most of the time. The weather will dictate when we move on to our next stop at Tofino, stay tuned for the rest of the story.

George & JoAnne

San Mateo Bay to Nettle Island

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June 9, 2007:

We departed San Mateo Bay Sunday in a light fog. We retrieved our crab and prawn catches, which was anything BUT successful. We had one starfish in the crab trap and 2 prawns and one grayling fish in the prawn trap. That was a let down.

We checked out the entrance to Useless inlet, but didn’t want to risk going in through the waves breaking on the several rocks guarding the entrance. We checked out the cove behind Robinson Island but it was open to the weather so we headed for the anchorage tucked into Nettles Island (48° 55.761’ N / 125° 15.099’ W) in the Broken Islands National Park.

The Park Ranger’s float house is in the cove at Nettle Island. We watched a diving eagle try to make a duck his dinner – without success.



We had moments of intermittent sunshine and light sprinkles of rain. It was a calm and peaceful night and day. George went out in the afternoon and found a good-sized Rock Crab in the trap. Good enough for an appetizer. It was great!

George & JoAnne

Robbers Passage to San Mateo Bay

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June 8, 2007 :
Before we left the dock at PAYC for San Mateo Bay, George installed a crab trap hauler device on Teal to make retrieving the trap easier. The crab trap held only a couple of small throwback sized Rock Crab. Definitely tomorrow for crab! We did retrieve our first prawns of the year -13. Just enough for a taste to make us want more. Maybe tomorrow.


Along the way we anchored at calm and picturesque Holford Bay for lunch-



-prior to checking out the float in the well-protected nook at San Mateo Bay.

Then onto Uchucklesit Inlet to Snug Basin, noting how well protected San Mateo Bay was was if we chose to stay there for the night. We went into Limestone Bay on the way into Uchucklesit where we found two float houses, one in each of the only sheltered coves in the bay.

The Uchucklesit Inlet east shoreline is cluttered with frivolous real estate development, and the west shoreline has a large log dump and log rafting operation at the north end. We found a float house taking up the only protected nook in Snug Basin. Even at that it was a pleasant and scenic ride back to San Mateo Bay.

At San Mateo Bay (48° 56.744’ N / 125° 00.168’ W) we tied to the float, which reminded us very much of Joe Cove in the Broughton Islands near Port McNeill. A young couple Dan and Lori came in and tied up their Sea Sport powerboat behind us. Dan treated us to salmon he had smoked himself. It was really tasty! They were having a relaxing weekend of fishing and had caught a couple of Chinook salmon off shore before coming in for the night. They departed Saturday around noon in a driving rain. We snuggled in, played Yatzee, and stayed warm and dry while we waited out the weather. That evening a couple of prawn boats came in and tied to the float for the night. They said it was blowing about 30 knots or more out at the mouth of the sound. We would have never known. The rain eventually let up and we had a peaceful night on the float.

George & JoAnne

Bamfield to Robbers Passage

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June 7, 2007 :

Next morning we wanted to take on fuel before heading out, guess what, the gas dock on the west side was out of gas and wouldn’t be getting re-supplied for another two days, and the gas dock on the other side was closed until the next day – if one could believe the sign. We had heard that all the crew quit so there was no assurance that gas was going to be available anytime soon.

The marina at Poett Nook (48° 52.729’ N / 125° 02.869’ W) was reported to have a gas dock so we went into the secluded little cove,

and found the fuel dock was open and had gas. We were glad to pay the $5.85 per gallon and happy about having used only 17 gallons since filling our tank in Bellingham. The Poett Nook fill-up came to $100.62. That was a gulp! Further there was no potable water available at this stop.

So we headed for Robbers Passage and the Port Alberni Yacht Club “out station” (48° 53.578’ N /125° 07.045’ W) that was reported to have water on their docks.


We were greeted at the PAYC by Melody, a member of the club. She told us to help ourselves to the water, a hike around the peninsula on the trails, and a hot shower if we so desired. We filled our tanks, and followed their trail map to the various beeches including one named Sonova Beech. After that hike, we took the best showers we’ve had while out cruising. The water was hot and it lasted forever. The hospitality was great and we left the next morning for more exploring of Barkley Sound.

George & JoAnne

Sooke Harbor to Port Renfrew / Bamfield

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June 3, 2007:
We woke up socked-in with fog, so we decided to go up into Sooke Basin to the Sunny Shores Resort & Marina where there was shore side power on the docks, and showers, laundry facilities and warm sunshine. It is about a three-mile trip through a tricky shoal water channel, and after getting tied down at the rickety old docks we did our chores and played a round of miniature golf located on the resort grounds. That was even more rickety than the docks. The holes weren’t numbered, nor was a par listed on the score sheet. This frustrated the Captain, but he beat me any way. We dined aboard Teal and retired for the night.


June 4,2007:
The next morning we awoke to cloudy skies, but no fog so we cast off and made our way to the harbor entrance and turned right for another leg up the coast to Port San Juan.

The trip, after we got by the lumpy seas at Sheringham Point and the last tiderip (opposing currents) was smooth, easy, and fast on fair currents. We checked out the anchoring possibilities in Port San Juan, and after suffering rolling seas at Thrasher Cove we went into Snuggery Cove,

and tied up to the government dock at Port Renfrew with the sport fishing fleet. Besides the two hotels, a restaurant currently closed for remodeling, and a nice pub, there is not much going on at Port Renfrew at this time of year.



June 5, 2007:
Under dark cloudy skies, on calm but lumpy seas we headed up the coast to Barkley Sound. The skies grew lighter and the trip was fairly easy on fair currents except for suffering the lumpy ride at all the points and headlands.

By the time we made Pachena Point the sun was breaking through the thin cloud layer and we enjoyed warm sunshine the remainder of the trip into Trevor Channel and on to Bamfield.

Bamfield has two sides, The Mills Peninsula side and the Vancouver Island side. The inlet between is called Main Street by the locals, and has to be crossed by boat - there is no other way.

The Mills Peninsula side where we tied to the Fisheries Dock, (48° 49.755’ N / 125° 08.105’ W) has a quaint boardwalk at waters edge leading from the dock to the business section; a store, Post Office, and Coast Guard station.
This is a quaint village divided by water. The kids on the west side take a boat to school every day. The school size is similar to Klamath River. The Bamfield School has 20 students – K-10. I asked a youngster what happens when you get thru 10^th grade. He replied, “You move, or do school on the Internet.” Interesting choice. We found wireless here, but don’t have the password. We’ll investigate tomorrow.

June 6, 2007:

We awoke to a steady rain which continues at this writing. Later we will go to the Government dock on “other-side” and check out the “rest of the story”. By early afternoon the rain let up and we motored across main street and tied to the government docks on the other side, and took our empty propane bottle up to the marine supply to get it refilled. We considered mooring there, but we found 3 different price lists as to how much the docking fee was. To eliminate the confusion and since there wasn’t much more to explore anyway, we bought a few things at the grocery store and returned to the west side. We mailed a few cards, and visited that store to finish shopping for things we needed. We went back to the fisheries dock for the night.

George & JoAnne