The first long haul is over

Can it possibly be June 15th already?  I’ve got so much to catch up on….

I left you on June 11 as we set out of Sidney Spit to Beecher Bay.  It was going to be a 3-day journey along the Strait of Juan de Fuca (because there are minimum places to stop & wait it out).  It turned out to be so beautiful, calm, and quiet as we left at 5am… we felt like we whispered on our way out of Sidney Spit.

We made Beecher Bay by 9:30 am!  And it seemed like a waste of a gorgeous weather window… so just about the same time we all said “How about we go for Port Renfrew?!”

We all agreed, and 72 nautical miles and 10 hours later, we completed our longest day (nautical miles) ever on Beauty.  And man, were we whooped when we got in!  Desmond (“Desi”, our canine buddy) pretty much said it all…

The next morning, another 5am departure, and there was a beautiful smell (pine/spice blend?) wafting throughout the bay. Don’t have a picture of that…. but the sunrise did not disappoint.

A 5 hour motor trip around Cape Beale to Bamfield, and we quickly remembered why we love this charming place. The tourist season has not yet begun, so we had the place mostly to ourselves. The locals are always so kind & generous – not weary of US tourists yet.  We hadn’t been on the dock but a few minutes, and a local fisherman offered us a slab of fresh caught ling cod!  Oh my gosh, our favorite!  Maybe because it was the first, it was melt-in-your-mouth delicious!  

Bamfield is such a special place. I’ll just show pictures & see if you agree:

Today we sailed out into the Broken Group of Barkely Sound.  We toured the area last year, but it’s just not possible to see everything in one trip, or even two!  So many beautiful islands & rock formations, such clear, blue water, and clean skies….  Had a great sail, and Jim got a video I’ll download when we get to Ucluelet in a day or so.