Day 41- published later
Day 41
Anchored at N48 52.68/W125 18.82, Effingham Bay,
We did a small shopping, added some ice to ensure it will last through the heat wave and then filled with diesel. We were off the fuel dock at about 11:00.
Again, no wind to speak of and we motored all the way to Effingham Bay.
Before I go on, I must revised Ucluelet. After ranting on about how touristy Tofino was, I must say how much Ucleulet appealed to me. It has no pretensions ( although there are condo’s appearing and there is the Princess resort); the rest of the town feels like a small Prairie town; a bit down at the heels. There have been attempts to spruce it up, with some pathways,etc but no one is keeping them up and they are a bit run down. The public marina is well run, but it caters mostly to sport and commercial fishermen; there were only about 6 sailboats in harbour when we were there.
It feels like a real town and not like Banff or Tofino who feel like shopping malls with some homes/accommodation attached to them.
So, now that is off my chest, back to today.
After we anchored and had lunch, I made up the shore party of one to find the trail to the east side of the island where there is an old Indian village and sea cave to see. I had to cruise up and down the bay to find the trail entrance but couldn’t. I called Ralph on the portable radio to double check the guide book. I bushwacked in the general direction and eventually found a faint trail. Once you are in the rain forest canapy it is hard to find trails; the duff can fool you into thinking it is a trail. After many false starts/dead ends, I eventually made it to the beach. I had a potentially bad scene when I was walking on a tree bridge which turned out was 2 trees filled with moss; I broke through up to my knee and fortunately didn’t pitch forward or I would have snapped it.
The physical evidence of the village consists of an area that was obviously clear of trees at one time and a huge, 10’ by 100’ midden ( pile of discarded shells) that would have taken a long time to build up! One book says you can find nurse logs ( fallen logs now supporting new trees) that are squared and were obviously beams for long houses. I couldn’t find any.
The tide was still too high to get to the cave; but I did get some nice photos. The beach is mostly rounded boulders and logs. Walking on this stuff forces you to go slowly at a pace to enjoy it. When you stop to look around, you have a new view that you were not aware of sneaking up on as you walk along.
I managed to walk through a patch of nettles; later in the evening, my feet felt like they were asleep…. I’m sure it was all in my head.
Travelling through the Broken Is. Group, it is easy to see why this is a kayaking paradise. It would make a nice few weeks to use the boat as a base and kayak around to the smaller islands and beaches.
We are not spooked any more by the sight of “sea foam”; when we first saw this stuff I thought it was evidence of rocks near the surface. It actually is foam formed by breaking waves on rocks but the foam then drifts away from these areas. It can build up and look like soap suds. It is still unnerving to be moving around within ½ to ¼ mile of rocks poking up through the water. I would not want to be out here in the dark! It is very difficult to identify all the rocks and small islands even with charts and GPS and keep your self properly oriented.
Anchored at N48 52.68/W125 18.82, Effingham Bay,
We did a small shopping, added some ice to ensure it will last through the heat wave and then filled with diesel. We were off the fuel dock at about 11:00.
Again, no wind to speak of and we motored all the way to Effingham Bay.
Before I go on, I must revised Ucluelet. After ranting on about how touristy Tofino was, I must say how much Ucleulet appealed to me. It has no pretensions ( although there are condo’s appearing and there is the Princess resort); the rest of the town feels like a small Prairie town; a bit down at the heels. There have been attempts to spruce it up, with some pathways,etc but no one is keeping them up and they are a bit run down. The public marina is well run, but it caters mostly to sport and commercial fishermen; there were only about 6 sailboats in harbour when we were there.
It feels like a real town and not like Banff or Tofino who feel like shopping malls with some homes/accommodation attached to them.
So, now that is off my chest, back to today.
After we anchored and had lunch, I made up the shore party of one to find the trail to the east side of the island where there is an old Indian village and sea cave to see. I had to cruise up and down the bay to find the trail entrance but couldn’t. I called Ralph on the portable radio to double check the guide book. I bushwacked in the general direction and eventually found a faint trail. Once you are in the rain forest canapy it is hard to find trails; the duff can fool you into thinking it is a trail. After many false starts/dead ends, I eventually made it to the beach. I had a potentially bad scene when I was walking on a tree bridge which turned out was 2 trees filled with moss; I broke through up to my knee and fortunately didn’t pitch forward or I would have snapped it.
The physical evidence of the village consists of an area that was obviously clear of trees at one time and a huge, 10’ by 100’ midden ( pile of discarded shells) that would have taken a long time to build up! One book says you can find nurse logs ( fallen logs now supporting new trees) that are squared and were obviously beams for long houses. I couldn’t find any.
The tide was still too high to get to the cave; but I did get some nice photos. The beach is mostly rounded boulders and logs. Walking on this stuff forces you to go slowly at a pace to enjoy it. When you stop to look around, you have a new view that you were not aware of sneaking up on as you walk along.
I managed to walk through a patch of nettles; later in the evening, my feet felt like they were asleep…. I’m sure it was all in my head.
Travelling through the Broken Is. Group, it is easy to see why this is a kayaking paradise. It would make a nice few weeks to use the boat as a base and kayak around to the smaller islands and beaches.
We are not spooked any more by the sight of “sea foam”; when we first saw this stuff I thought it was evidence of rocks near the surface. It actually is foam formed by breaking waves on rocks but the foam then drifts away from these areas. It can build up and look like soap suds. It is still unnerving to be moving around within ½ to ¼ mile of rocks poking up through the water. I would not want to be out here in the dark! It is very difficult to identify all the rocks and small islands even with charts and GPS and keep your self properly oriented.
posted by Bruce Warren @ 4:23 p.m.
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