Day 53: Ucluelet to Joe’s Bay

After breakfast and grocery shopping, we headed out to the Broken Group. Conditions were a bit bumpy, but not too bad. Going the other direction, into the conditions, looked pretty uncomfortable aboard some sport fishing boats, though.

Right out of Ucluelet we found several gray whales. They didn’t come quite as close as a couple days ago, but they definitely turned around and headed straight for us. Mom wanted me to move the boat away from them when they abruptly turned around and headed for us. “I can’t, it’s illegal!” I told her, truthfully. Since they were already within 100 meters of us, we had to wait. On the other hand, nobody seems to obey the whale regulations here (commercial operators included) and there’s no apparent enforcement.

This one came right for us!

Always fun to see some fluke

First stop was Wouwer Island. We kayaked ashore and walked to a beach on the open side of the island. Tons of sea glass. More interestingly, it seemed as if a boat had washed ashore here. I found a bent prop shaft with a mangled propeller on it and lots of fiberglass. It’s spooky finding this kind of stuff. I always wonder how the boat ended up on the beach and if everyone aboard survived.

 

Mangled prop, bent shaft

Prop shaft and one of many pieces of fiberglass

After a couple hours on the beach we walked back to the anchorage. The westerly wind had really picked up, and Retriever was rocking and rolling. I’m glad I set the anchor well!

 

Mom setting out on her kayak

We then made our way over to Effingham Bay. Thanks to the shallow draft of Retriever, we anchored right near the trailhead, behind all the other boats. We lounged, read, and enjoyed the sunshine.

Late in the afternoon we paddled ashore and hiked to the other side of the island. The hike didn’t start easily. Evidently I chose the wrong trailhead, and we bushwhacked halfway across the island before we found the actual trail. More beachcombing, though Effingham Island was less interesting than Wouwer Island.

 

Uhhh...where's the trail?

Eventually we found the beach

Xtra Tufs and shorts are my new favorite fashion

We got back to the boat and cooked dinner. Unfortunately the westerly wasn’t dying as quickly as I expected and the 1-2 foot chop rolling through Effingham Bay wasn’t too comfortable. I decided we should scoot over to Joe’s Bay, which would be more protected.

 

Last light in Joe's Bay

Sure enough, it was. And much emptier than when I’d visited last week. We slept much better than we would have at Effingham Bay.

15.5 nm today

1032.7 nm total