Day 43 & 44

July 25th:
So, on the last blog update, I made the mistake of predicting when we'd
be in Port Renfrew! Among the many sailing superstitions, one is that
you should never record in the log before you get there, what your
destination is as it will jinx the trip.The High pressure ridge
didn't/hasn't moved resulting in gales yesterday at Juan De Fuca and
this morning's forecast was for winds to build to gales again, from the
West; Port Renfrew is also not the best anchorage under westerly gales.
The topper was the lighthouse reports for Pachena and Cape Beale giving
ZERO visibility this morning; this is at the entrance to Barkley Sound.
We decided to abort and hang out here for yet another day.

Some unconnected random ramblings follow:

* We ran the engine to charge the battery and found that we didnt'
get any hot water; appeared to be another air lock in the hot
water tank heating circuit which I think I've cleared. it is good
to have a project to do on a layover day!

* The first propane tank ran out on day 42; our average speed (from
the GPS, so it is speed while moving, not total miles per total
hours on the water) is 5.4 kts and our total mileage so far is 748
which will put us close to 900 for the whole trip. From the log,
we have been motoring about 2/3 of time. This is due to the
geography as well as the weather. Exploring the inside sounds and
inlets usually means motoring. The outside passages should be
sailing but we were skunked on some of them. Surprisingly we had
more sailing on the way up than we have had on the "wild west"
portion.

* We launched the dinghy yesterday to avoid taking the water taxi
($5 each way/person) over to East Bamfield. I must say I agree
with the guide books that the preferred side is West Bamfield.
The east side has no sense of a core or being anything other than
dusty roads with lots of boats and trailers parked on them. We
went to the cafe for a SLOW lunch. Only one waitress on and it
was near noon..Breakfast was only served until 11:00; one table of
fishermen asked if they could have breakfast and were told
emphatically NO; then the table beside them was given their order
and it was breakfast... the waitress explained that they had
ordered earlier. The fisherman said, "an hour earlier!?..is that
how long we are going to have to wait for our food?"... .turns out
the other table had called in their order before they showed up.
It always helps to know the rules.

* At the visitor information centre, I learned that the telegraph
terminal building ( which is now the Marine study institute ) was
designed by Rattenbury..he is the same guy who designed the
Victoria Legislative building ( or was it the Empress hotel??...
or both???). The cable was an engineering marvel of its day and
stretched from here to Australia. It was shutdown in 1959. I
wonder what the employees of the station would think of the
internet and sat phones,etc??

* Along the boardwalk here are the "new Tree Top Toilets" built up
the hillside which I've been using for my morning constitutionals.
They are composting toilets, similar to the ones installed at
Pirates Cove Marine Park. "Flushing" consists of dropping in a
handful of woodchips. A unique feature is that they have an
opening window at seat level so that you can watch the harbour
activity while you do your thing.

* The other big event today was "boat day" with the arrival of the
Lady Rose; i was in line for a newspaper at the West Bamfield
general store ( to get a crossword puzzle not the news) but all of
the Times Colonists had been "booked" before they even got
here!....snooze and you loose. I overheard the captain of the Lady
Rose saying how rough it was yesterday and today.

* The coast guard is reporting an overdue kayaker who was supposed
to have rounded Brooks Penn. yesterday; he is 60yrs and by
himself. There has been some nasty weather north of us in the last
few days and I hope he is just hunkered down somewhere with no
means of communication ( maybe he also has a sat. phone!!)

* Bumped into John from Amazing Grace,who moors on E dock in Canoe
Cove where we keep Tatoosh. He has left his boat here in Bamfield
at the public wharf for the summer and has been doing excursions
using Bamfield as a base. This would be a great way for us to get
out to do some kayaking with the lads without having to schedule
an extra week to just move the boat over from Sydney; as well as
exploring south of Brooks without doing the northern section.
* The general store here has liquor, ice cream and a good selection
of real food and good quality produce(no home made pies though).
they also have a book exchange, so I cashed in 6 of the trashy
novels from the ship's library for 3 more equally trashy novels.
* Bamfield is named for the first white resident, William Banfield;
turns out the Post Office misspelled his name and the town became
"BaMfield".
*

I hope that our next update has a new position to report - othewise we
will have to start looking at realestate here.zz

cheers from quiet West Bamfield