Day 1

I recently responded to an opportunity to travel from Victoria to Gold River (some 365 or so kilometers) by water. This rugged stretch of open ocean has a history for devouring ocean-going vessels.

Uchuck III leaving the Inner Harbour - Raising the Draw Bridge- Victoria BC (Photo courtesy of the Ron Kirstein)

We were invited to participate in the return of the M.V. Uchuck III to its home base, Gold River. The M.V. Uchuck III is a working coastal freight vessel that is 136 feet long that works providing service to Nootka, Esperanza and Kyuquot Sounds.

Day one, we boarded at Point Hope Shipyards on the Inner Harbour in Victoria. It was weird to be the cause of 'raising the blue drawbridge' instead of the usual getting-stuck-in-the-traffic-jam that occurs when it goes up. Exiting the Inner Harbour, we turned west and headed up Juan de Fuca Strait. In a short time, we passed by the Race Rocks light station, one of the oldest lights on the West Coast of Canada. Most of the year a very large herd of sea lions resides on these rocks, but since they have now begun their spring migration, only a few were left. Next, we passed the shoreline of East Sooke Park where a rugged trail followed along the ocean, then came Sooke Harbour, French Beach, Otter Point and Gordon Beach, all recognizable from the sea. Once we reached the end of Juan de Fuca Strait we could see the lighthouse at Cape Flattery (USA side), where a large cruise ship was just entering Juan de Fuca Strait. After we passed San Juan Inlet and Botanical Beach, we were now on the outside of Vancouver Island. Soon, we started noticing huge caves carved into soft limestone cliffs, facing the open ocean. I made a mental note to come back later and explore this coastline more extensively in a smaller boat we can nudge right up to shore.

Lunchtime arrived and, to our delight, we tried the on-board food. Glenda's chili was awesome and I heard great reports of her homemade soup as well. Our lunch consisted of hot food and delicious 'bun-wiches'.

We sampled Glenda's treats (butter tarts to die for, banana bread, cookies and muffins) for our afternoon teas. The salt air made us hungry and the excellent food really hit the spot.

As we moved further up the coast we came upon a large pod of Killer Whales that entertained us for some time. To our good fortune, they were headed in the same direction we were and Captain Fred slowed to their speed for a while. Orcas always captivate their audience and seemed to approach the Uchuck just to have a good look at us. On a number of occasions, we discovered large colonies of sea lions covering the rocks along the shoreline. If you take this trip, be sure to bring binoculars and a good camera with a telephoto lens.

We passed a number of light stations along our voyage. On the first day, we saw the ones at Race Rocks, Sheringham Point, Carmanah, Pachina and Beale. On day two we passed Amphitrite, Lennard, Estevan and Nootka.