Around Vancouver Island 2013

Day 20 - July 24, 2013 Wednesday

We thought that the Bunsby Islands were so good that we would spend another day here and do a little more exploring. This area is very popular with kayakers and we can certainly see why. There are three islands close together with lots of little nooks and crannies to go into and why shouldn't we take James around here, too?

As I was getting breakfast ready we noticed that 'Porpoise' was on their way out. The day was absolutely lovely, the tide was out so we could see so much more shore than we could before and lots of what I call salad, which are kelp patches. As I was cleaning up from breakfast and doing the dishes I heard an odd noise. I called to Moe to listen and asked him if that noise meant we were out of fresh water. We had been thinking, due to the increasingly visible water line on the boat, that we were likely getting low. Yep, we were low all right! So we started making plans to get to the nearest watering hole, which was Kyoquot.

I don't have my log book with me right now, so I'm guessing that we pulled up the anchor and were on our way by about 10:30. We said goodbye to 'Nimue' and hoped to see them again on our journey. As we were leaving the entrance to the bay, we met 'Talagoa' and then 'Witte Raaf' coming in. We told them it was a great place, but avoid that big rock!

Once we got out into the ocean, we felt the wind and swell again. We had a NW blowing about 20 knots against a flood tide. Just the kind of weather conditions that make sailing a little less comfortable, than if everything is going the same direction. We had some big waves, a lot of rolling and lurching and little bit of deck washing. As we neared our destination, Moe hailed the Tofino Coast Guard to check on the state of the buoys in the entrance channel to Walter's Cove. He had heard earlier that there were some issues and that boaters should be aware. The Coast Guard didn't have any information, but a Coast Guard vessel 'Bartlett' came on the radio and advised that they had indeed completed the repairs to the buoys and all was well. Nice!

We found our way to turn into the beginning of the entrance. The way in to Walter's Cove is long and curvy. Eventually we made it to the buoys that marked the entrance in Walter's Cove, but upon going in we saw two red and two green buoys and with our perspective none of it made any sense so Moe turned Reborn around and we re-read the Sailing Directions. There are two entrances, the east and the west entrance around Rolston Island. We had attempted the west entrance and didn't like it, so we went to the east. What a difference! Everything suddenly made perfect sense and we followed the buoys all the way in to the cove. The community doesn't become visible until the last corner has been turned. We spotted the public dock and tied up there.

Moe went up to find the water and passed the hose down to me. I'm really a little forgetful sometimes, so when the water didn't flow down the pipe I started looking around for my skipper for answers. He was nowhere to be found. I puzzled a little longer, checked for skipper again. No skipper. Finally, it dawned on me. I hadn't opened the pipe inside the boat! Uh huh, as soon as I did that, the water flowed!

While we waited for the water, we went up to the store and re-stocked our supplies. We learned that there was internet available at the restaurant and decided it might be a good night for taking a night off cooking for ourselves.

While I was packing the groceries away, Moe met the man who runs the restaurant. How convenient! He came back and told me he had made reservations for us on the mezzanine with the maître de. We finished with the water and gathered our electronics. Time to re-connect with family and friends!

The restaurant is called 'Java the Hutt' and we found it at the end of a narrow, well used trail. It kind of reminded us of the boardwalk at Winter Harbour. Again, we were walking through rain forest and people's back yards. I loved it! As we walked by one house, a man called to us and said this is the end of the trail. We told him we were looking for the restaurant and he said we had surely found it.

We walked up the stairs and went in. We had heard from the owner, Eric, that the fish and chips were very good so that's what we ordered. We went out onto the deck where we met one of the local people and struck up a conversation. Everyone here is quite laid back and friendly. We also learned that the restaurant is named after Eric's brown lab, Java the Hutt. He's a very friendly dog and immediately suckered me into some petting and a chest scratch.

We got online and did what we had to do. Our fish and chips arrived and the recommendations were right. This was the best fish and chips we had had in a long time. They use a crispy batter rather than a beer batter, plus very good quality fish. Yummy! As we ate, another couple of men came out onto the deck to have their dinner. As it turned out, they are from Ladysmith and are here working. We chatted with them for some time and by 7:00 were ready to leave, just as the restaurant was closing.

We made our way back through the trail, noticing a side trail along the way that appeared to lead to the ocean side of the bay. We thought, if we were going to stay for another day, that we would check it out.

We got back to Reborn and pulled out our charts, reference books, dividers, etc and set to work. We realized that we would again be traveling with an opposing wind and current but made plans to go to Queen Cove in Esperanza Inlet.

With that in the bag, we snuggled into our warm bunk and set about killing mosquitoes.