Arriving in Barkley Sound

From Hot Springs Cove we headed up inlet to Bacchante Bay where we spent the night in hopes of paddling up the creek there. Unfortunately we were too lazy to wake up early to paddle the high tide in. When we finally made our attempt to paddle upstream, both creek and tide were too low to make any progress. We're not sure if was due to the dry summer or low tide. Probably both. After a quick swim we headed back down inlet to Ahousat to stage for our next hop around the outside. There was nothing notable about the dock at Ahousat except for the pack of dogs who would have liked to have eaten Pika for dinner.

Our next stop was Ucluelet for re-provisioning, laundry, water top-off, fuel and a dinner out. The next morning we squeezed in a lunch of the freshest fish and chips ever (the fisherman who just brought in the salmon we ate was in line in front of us) and a hike on Pacific Wildside Trail while we waited for the tide to turn in our favor.

We spent the afternoon motoring to Pipestem Inlet where we stayed anchored for the next two nights. The following morning we woke to rain. Finally. We had been sailing in the Pacific Northwest for two and a half months and had only seen three days of rain. The landscape finally looked at peace again, draped in low lying clouds and drizzle. Sigh. We suited up in rain gear and climbed into our kayaks for a soggy paddle up beautiful Lucky Creek to a sweet little waterfall.

After two nights in Pipestem Inlet we moved on, through the pouring rain, to a lovely little anchorage at Nettle Island. The rain continued to pour so we opted to not put on our already soaked rain gear to paddle to shore. We stayed on the boat playing board games and reading instead.

The following morning we got a sun break so we laid all our soaked clothing out on the warm decks to try to dry them out before heading out to Joe's Bay at Turtle Island. Our plan was to paddle once in Joe's Bay but the winds were so high and the water so choppy that we were boat bound again. I was starting to get a little stir-crazy at this point....

Click here for photos.