Juan de Fuca Strait to Barkley Sound

Well… so much for spectacular weather! After our two-day transit up and around the south coast we can see why Sir Frances Drake had this to say about Vancouver Island in 1579:

“from whose high and snow-covered mountains the north and north-west winds send abroad their frozen nimphes to the infecting of the whole air… in the middest of their summer, the snow hardly departeth from these hills at all; hence come those thicke mists and most stinking fogges.”

 Thicke mists, stinking fogges

Global warming nothwithstanding, we can attest that more than 400 years later those same stinking fogges are still hanging around.  We’ve had thicke mists and stinking fogges most mornings, exacerbated by this year’s warmer inland temps.

After a 3:30 AM DEPARTURE we made our long run up to Barkley Sound. This was a tricky passage:  steep chop, lumpy seas, and thick fog all the way – with less than a quarter mile visibility.  But as soon as we turned into Barkley Sound – presto! – the fog burned off, and we raised the jib for a short sail into the clear blue sound backed by towering peaks.

Team Heron nearing entrance to Strait of Juan de Fuca. Chilly!

“Look at these bad-ass rocks!” Skipper Jeff, said, eyeing Barkley Sound’s hundreds of rocky islands and reefs.  Little did we know these would be our course marks in the next days’ NORPAC race series, eek.

Sailing into Barkley Sound...

Rafting up, Alberni Yacht Club...