Monthly Archives: July 2011

Robbers Cove

Jul 3rd

After apple pie for breakfast, we left Effingham Island and headed out of the Broken Group. We decided not to explore the island as it was a windy and cloudy day. The wind was blowing 10-15 knots so we decided to sail downwind and try out our wind vane.

A wind vane is a mechanical self steering system that you use to steer the boat along a particular course of wind, so you don’t have to be at the wheel all the time. It has a fin thing that acts like a sail and a rudder thing to turn the wheel. The beauty about the wind vane is that it is purely mechanical so you don’t have to juice it up with power. We have one that came with the boat that we had remounted but hadn’t used yet. It is a Fleming, from Australia and about 20 years old. Jessica Watson, an Australian girl who recently became the youngest person to sail solo around the world, used a Fleming wind vane to accomplish the feat, albeit a newer version.

Anyway we set the wind vane and hooked it up to the wheel and presto, it didn’t hold the wheel on the course. We adjusted it and tried again, and again and again. No joy! It did not want to move when the wind turned. So we got out the instruction book and found out that you need to adjust your sails just right before you can set it! No weather helm from too much sail being put up! Kudos to Jessica Watson for being able to do it as it’s not easy. We noticed that our vane was a little stiff, a product of being 20 years in storage. So we oiled it a bit and managed to loosen the fin up a little but I think it needs more grease on the rudder thing!

We had a fun afternoon sail and headed to Robbers Passage between Tzartus and Fleming Islands (how appropriate). They are in a group of islands known as the Deer group just east of the Broken Group. There is a small marina run by the Port Alberni Yacht Club that is very pleasant but we decided to be cheap and drop the anchor (free!).

Since it was early afternoon on a sunny day we hopped into the dinghy and landed at the dock. We took a walk through Fleming Island to the other side. There are nice trails through here maintained by the club. We found a nice little beach and some rocks in the setting sun to explore.
Then we headed back to the boat and Jim grilled the salmon on cedars planks. We had anchovies on one, and truffled salt on the other fillet. Jacintha has really been enjoying the salmon dinners we’ve been having! More apple pie for dessert!

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20110710-061655.jpgFleming Island

20110710-061723.jpgRobbers Passage

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Fish On!

Jul 2nd

Had a relaxing morning, then up anchored and headed out of the park boundaries. Today was fishing day! Before we left Jim made a few trips to the bait and tackle shop to buy some more gear. He bought these special lures that look like squid, a long flashy thing that look like it came from the 80’s and a red diving thing that gets the lure down below the surface for trolling. He also borrowed a couple of rods and reels from his friend Steve. He was now excitedly getting his equipment ready, setting up the rod holder and working out where we were going to bring the fish aboard with a net so we could kill it.

Once he began trolling, I had to drive the boat as Jim was expectantly waiting for his fish to bite, while I was quite skeptical that we were going to catch one today. Jacintha was excited too! I was expecting hours and hours of waiting around!

Twenty minutes after he started trolling, the line on his reel got tangled up and we had to pull the line up! So he transferred the lures, flashy thing and diving weight onto his back up rod and reel while I tried to untangle the mess on the first reel. Fifteen minutes later the reel started clicking and Jim shouted “fish on”!!! He reeled in a salmon and I netted it although it didn’t put up much of a fight. It was a coho salmon, 27 inches long! We gutted it and I took it below to fillet. My filleting skills were very woeful and I left a lot of meat on the fish. I cut up some pieces to eat with soy sauce (no wasabi on the boat) but the fish was chewy and not so tasty as the sushi from the restaurants. Perhaps it was the way I cut it up – I need a sushi license!

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The 27 incher

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Yummy fish!

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Fisher Jim at work

After that, there were no more fish, a couple of nibbles, enough to get Jim all excited and when he reeled in the line there wasn’t a fish to be seen! When it got dark, we headed for Effingham Island in the broken group. I baked one fillet with salt, dill and lemon and the other with a curry paste and a tomato salad. I also made an apple pie for dessert. We anchored in Effingham Island late in the evening and had a wonderful meal.

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Apple pie

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Turtle Bay

July 1st
Happy Canada Day!

Woke up to the smell of freshly baked bread. It was rainy and windy that morning. Had a light breakfast and then set off for The Broken Group Islands. Outside the shelter of Ucluelet inlet it was choppy with the swell of the ocean. There were a lot of fishing boats fishing in the channels that we crossed. Jim was salivating at the thought of fishing but he bought his license to start tomorrow.

The Broken Group Islands, in the middle of Barkley Sound, extends from the Pacific Ocean inwards, surrounded by the snow covered mountain peaks of Vancouver Island on three sides. They are part of the Pacific Rim National Park in Canada. There are many islands with coves and sheltered bays to anchor in.

Once we got to more open water, we put up our sails and headed down to Loudoun Channel towards the Islands. The winds were a gentle 10 knots and the rain had ceased, with the sun occasionally peeking out! We had a pleasant sail down to Peacock Channel where we had to turn on the engine (iron sail) as the wind had died down. We then wound our way through a series of narrow channels, avoiding many submerged but shallow rocks to get to Turtle Bay.

Turtle Bay is surrounded by Turtle, Willis, Dodd and Walsh islands. It’s very sheltered and pleasant. We were the only boat there so had the pick of where to anchor. There were groups of kayakers paddling around the bay and some on a little beach on Dodd Island. We hopped into the dinghy and headed for a quick walk ashore on Dodd Island. Jacintha could not get enough of the water but we finally got her to come on a short hike through the camp ground and forest, until the mossies started to buzz, then we headed back for the beach.

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The rocky beach on Dodd Island

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Climbing a big tree!

We had a small snack on the beach while Jacintha waded around in her dress. More kayakers came back into shore. They’d taken a boat from Port Alberni to a smaller whaling town and then hired the kayaks from there and were now exploring the many islands and camping on the camp grounds there. As the beach was now in shadows we walked to the rocks, at it’s tip where the last rays of sun were. Then we headed back for the boat for dinner of hot dogs and corn on the cob.

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Resting on a log after our exploration of the rocks

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