OMOO’s Vancouver Island Circumnavigation is on the home stretch!! Juan de Fuca and the route back through the Gulf Islands was an exciting part of the trip, thanks to BIG cargo ships, submarines, and racing sailboats.
Off the dock at 0600 from Bamfield heading SE in cloudy rainy weather, seas calm. By noon the sun came out, the wind picked up to 10-15KN and we sailed with a push (going with the tidal current) to Sooke.
1800 hours – anchored behind Sidney Spit. The 12 hr run had treated us well, followed by a calm eve once the sports fishing boats settled down for the night. We sat in the cockpit discussing the next stop and the attractions of the Inner Harbor in Victoria which we both know well from land.
1st question – Is there a slip available? Turns out the new Harbour Authority monitors all the marinas so one call makes getting information easy. Yes, there are slips available
2nd question – How much will it cost? Turns out it’s triple what we like to pay, knowing it would be more because of the spectacular location.
3rd question – What are the options? Nearest harbor is Esquimalt. Guide books say the anchorage is spacious with good holding, and free! As soon as the skipper heard that I heard, “LET’S GO!! Besides it will be interesting going past the naval base.”
What I love about the skipper is his sense of adventure and his love of seeing new places and things. We never carry a set schedule or detailed itinerary, just a rough plan of where we’re going and the time frame we have available. We love how this invites opportunities to experience things we could never plan on our own. We feel very lucky, we’re so happy that we’re both free spirits and it works!!
