Bligh Cove to Tahsis

June 24, 2007

We awoke to broken skies with occasional sun breaking through, and after breakfast headed for Tahsis at the end of Tahsis Inlet Via a passage through the Spanish Pilot Group. We had a mixture of sunshine and showers along the 20-mile trip, and saw a bear foraging on the beach across the inlet from Santiago Creek.

It was a joy to find Westview Marina at Tahsis, such a nice, clean, and well managed marina. It is an outstanding facility with accommodating management.






After registering, and having a Mexican lunch at the Marina Cantina, we took advantage of the sunny weather and walked the .8 of a mile into the community of Tahsis and visited the small store.

Not much happening in Tahsis these days now that all the lumber mills have closed and been torn down.

By the time we got back to the marina and back on board Teal to discover we were able to get on line wireless from the boat, and get a load going in the first rate laundry room, it was raining again.Teal t laundry room, it was raining again. After dinner we made it to the very well-maintained showers while fishermen at the half dozen fish cleaning tables worked into the night cleaning and packing the day’s bountiful catch.

June 25, 2007

Beautiful sunny blue skies greeted the day, but more foul southeast weather forecast to come in. We took the opportunity of sunshine to dry out the boat, hanging the sleeping bags out to air, and pulling out and drying out stuff that was stashed in all the nooks and crannies that has been collecting moisture over these last few rainy weeks. At the time of this writing, all is dry and warm and we are happy about that. The sky is threatening again. So we feel smug that we got drying out done in the knick of time.

The marina allowed us to use their courtesy car to get our propane bottle refilled in town at the hardware and home center. The guy that is licensed to fill propane tanks? went home sick and there wasn’t anyone available to do the job until the owner, also the school principal got off work late in the day. We will go back at 9:00 Am tomorrow morning to see if we will have propane in our back up bottle.. Much to do about nothing!

George & JoAnne

Hot Springs Cove to Bligh Cove

June 22, 2007

Friday Morning we left the Hot Springs dock at 6:45 am to make our way to Friendly Harbor in Nootka Sound (49° 35.683 N / 126°.37.031 W).

It was a breaking cloud morning with the promise of sun. However, the sunbursts were few and far between. We experienced easy folowing seas on a fast reach to Estevan point. From there a fast run on surfing seas to Nootka Sound. The closer we got to Friendly Harbor, the rougher the waters got.

We saw a lot of small fishing boats in the area near the entrance to the harbor. The weather was deteriorating, it was low tide, and there was not very much room in the cove to maneuver. The captain chose to seek shelter elsewhere and headed for Ewin Inlet and Bligh Cove .

Getting across Cook Channel into Ewin Inlet was very gusty and it was raining buckets, somewhat like a squall. Shortly after getting into the inlet things settled down and by the time we reached Bligh Cove all was calm and serine.

Bligh Cove (49° 39.097 N / 126°31.156 W), named for the infamous Captain Bligh who prior to the Bounty saga served for Captain Cook at the time Cook discovered Nootka Sound and landed at Friendly Cove, circa 1778.

We spent two nights at Bligh Cove watching it rain, staying snug, dry, and warm, anchored on a glassy surface completely out of the wind.

George & Joanne

Ahousat to Hot Springs Cove

June 21, 2007

Mid morning, we departed Ahousat and headed for Hot Springs Cove via Hayden Passage We fished, without success, here and there as we went. As we approached the mouth of Sydney Inlet the swell and wind chop made one realize how spoiled we become cruising all the calm protected water ways.

We tied to the park dock at Hot Springs Cove (49° 21.735 N / 126°15.917 W) along side a sailboat from Vancouver we had tied with at Tofino, and were immediately approached by the Roley the temporary harbor master.

We had met Roley aboard his converted fishing trawler “Tropic Isle” two years ago while anchored in Joe Cove in The Broughtons. He said he was watching for us. He is a Ham radio operator and had been talking with Neil & Nancy of Harmony. They asked if he had seen us yet, as they figured according to our blog we should have been there by then. Nice to know you’re being watched out for. Jo is going to look into Ham licensing when we’re back home this fall.

We visited with tour boat drivers and crusing folks on the dock while waiting for the tour boat crowds to leave and return to Tofino and make room for us at the Hot Spring pools.

Around 5pm we left the dock garbed in swim suits under our cloths and comfy shoes, towels in back pack and proceeded on the 45 minute hike along the well-maintained board walk to the Hot Springs.

How wonderful experiencing the rain forest with its ferns and flowers, and many trees growing it seems in mid air. Some large cedars have taken root from old fallen trees and are towering into the sky balanced (for many years) on these old moss covered nurse logs. Quite a site. The Park department has done an awesome job with this long boardwalk. It’s wide enough for folks to pass each other coming and going from the Springs. A majority of the boards have boat names carved into them; some very intricate and artsy.

We arrived at the Springs and there were only about 4 people there. It is amazing how hot those sulphur spring waters are. The hottest part is the water fall at the top. The water gets cooler the closer you get to the ocean as the surf brings cooler water into the bottom pool. We were hoping the tide would come in while we were there, but that didn’t happen. It was a most enjoyable experience. We dried off and headed back to the dock, only to look forward to the next hot spring adventure to come further up the line.

George & JoAnne

Tofino to Ahousat

June 19, 2007

After chores we took two rock crabs from the trap and headed for Ahousat (ah Howz it going?) under partly sunny skies. We saw for the first time this year Coho salmon jumping, and that prompted us to do a little, unsuccessful, trolling along the way.

By the time we got into Ahousat (49° 16.928 N / 126° 04.309 W), the skies were threatening and by nightfall were raining on us.















Ahousat is a relic from a time when there was more industry on the coast. Besides the hostel, general store, that has just about anything you could imagine, there are sheds and yards full of stuff from that era as well as an old boat yard facility and restaurant.


Huey, the second generation owner of Ahousat General Store, and enterprises, told us that he had a buyer coming to take a look at the end of the month. The place has been for sale for a long time.



It rained most of the next day while our clothes were washing and drying in machines that looked like they had been resurrected from one or more of the junk piles scattered about the various yards and sheds around the general store, café and boat yard.

Two more rock crabs were taken from the trap and we had a crab lunch.

George & JoAnne

Bedwell Sound to Tofino

June 18,2007
We awoke to a completely different scene than what we anchored in. The nook was more rock than water, yet we were sitting in 15 foot of water a boat length away from the shoal as predicted. The area we had rowed in our skiff the previous evening was now exposed rocks and bare limbs. As you can see from the photo, very colorful.

Mid morning we collected our traps and found only two small rock crabs in the crab trap and one small fish and one small prawn in the prawn trap. We then headed to Tofino (49° 09.331 N / 125°54.450 W). The trip was made through the vast shoal area with its strong currents, making these water ways so different from the usual deep water ways of the rest of the Pacific Northwest.

This time we tied to the Government dock (“Whiskey Dock” so dubbed for all the obvious reasons) because it is closest to the COOP where we were going to shop. After stowing our provisions, we attempted to post to the blog and then head out for Ahousat. However, the water taxies and stop-and-go boat traffic making such huge wakes made that impossible. It was getting a little late for the trip anyway, so we went to the other end of town to the small craft harbor and secured moorage for the night.

George & JoAnne