Tuesday 8/1/2012 - Port Angeles, WA to Victoria BC
http://www.victoriaharbour.org/f_lowercauseway.php
We checked the weather in the morning and there was another high wind warning for the Straits of Juan De Fuca. The wind would be on the beam (side) this time. We decided to try to cross the Straits early in the morning to avoid the stronger afternoon winds. Before we left the docks we switched the fuel tanks to even out the weight. I switched the supply and return at the filter, but I forgot to open the fuel intake valve for the new fuel tank. Fortunately, the lazarette was open and when I turned on the engine I noticed that vacuum gauge was in the red. We shut off the engine and quickly found my oversight.
We felt the strong winds shortly after leaving Port Angeles and hoisted the sails. We reefed when the winds picked up and sailed most of the way to Victoria. The last quarter of the trip, the wind increased and the waves started pounding Bliss from the side. We put the sails down and motored the rest of the way into Victoria, BC.
Victoria harbor looks large on a chart, but the place is quite compact. The boat and sea plane traffic is bustling. When you enter the harbor, you need to keep your speed down and follow the marked bouys. We found the Canadian customs dock with the help of the marina patrol. It was an easy check-in. We called customs via a yellow phone on the dock - there was no physical boarding of the vessel. Once we cleared customs and were given our number, we called Victoria Harbor causeway with the radio on channel 66. We had made reservations in advance, so they knew where our slip was when we called them. We tucked into our slip with the help of people on the dock. We introduced ourselves to the folks in the boats around us and made quick friends. We gave Bliss a good wash. The weather was lovely - sunny with a nice breeze. While we were putting the boat away, I found the reefing system had jammed up while we were sailing. If we had tried to shake the reef out, we would have found the car inside the boom jammed. However, since we doused the sails we were not aware of the problem. I took the boom car end out and gave the car a couple of taps with a hammer to get it loose. I made a quick adjustment to the lines and the problem was solved.
We spent two wonderful days in Victoria. We had tasty dim sum, excellent pastries and had an incredible meal at a little French brasserie called L'Ecole.
We were witnesses to more crazy docking in Victoria. While we were tidying up the boat, we heard a power boat across from us hit the dock. We thought they were just a little unsure of the docking and would slow it down enough to get into the slip. However, the boat continued into the slip at full power. We wish we would have had a video camera. The boat continued into the slip at full speed and barreled into and up the stern of the power boat across from us. WOW! We scrambled off the boat to see if we could assist. The driver of the boat was a mess. We asked him to throw us a line. He threw a stern line, but had no bow line to throw at the time. He had tried to cover up the damage he did to the boat in front of him with encouragement from a lady on a boat across the way, but he couldn't hide it. The flag pole on the stern of the power boat that he barreled into fell and almost hit the water. We rescued the pole. The port authority and Victoria police came later to take statements. Was the driver of the boat under the influence? Hmmm.. Apparently while we were off site seeing, a power boat hit Bliss. The folks on our dock jumped on our boat to fend off the boat. We were extremely fortunate to not have any visible damage. In a way, we were glad we were not there to witness it.
We had scrapped our itinerary before we got to Victoria and decided to keep an open plan for our trip. If we found a place we liked, we would stay. However, after encouragement from seasoned cruisers at the docks, we decided to try to make it to Princess Louisa Inlet. We knew there was going to be more motoring than we had planned, but we were inspired and decided it would be worth it. We had researched places to stay along the way so we felt comfortable making the trip. We met so many generous and friendly people in Victoria. Two of the cruisers invited us on their boats to share stories and tell us of their favorite spots in the area.
We sailed from Port Angeles to Victoria, BC, and stayed in Victoria for three days. We met some of the nicest cruisers there and managed to see quite a bit of the city.
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| Tres Beaux! Teehee |
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| View from Bliss at the Causeway Docks |
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| Bliss, True Love 2 and Crewless. |
