Day 4 Friday, July 27, 2007

Up at 7am this morning and off we went. Destination: Pedder Bay. This anchorage is located on the Canada side of the infamous Straight of Juan de Fuca, which separates Washington State and Canada. This Straight is well known for almost always having a ‘Small Craft Advisory’ due to large waves and heavy winds. It is a bright and sunny day but COLD. Any time spent in the wind without protection leaves one with a cold face and very cold hands. I am bundled up in long pants, gloves, my boarding jacked and my beanie!! Quite a switch from the shorts and t-shirt I was wearing in the marina yesterday morning.

So the big bummer of the trip is that the head (name for the toilet on a boat) is broken. And since they are pretty hard and unpleasant to fix I understand why my Dad left it at the very bottom of the to-do-list. I will spare you the details but it involves a bucket with a line attached that is rinsed out by throwing it over the side of the boat. I was fearful at first of this arrangement but actually it is not that bad. I know you are probably laughing right now but I will take a bucket of seawater over a port-a-potty or nasty gas station bathroom any day!

Despite the bathroom situation we are actually living a pretty comfy lifestyle aboard my Dad’s 30 foot ‘Baba’ sailing vessel. We have had coffee every morning made in the percolator on the stove and either bacon and eggs or pancakes and bacon…until this morning….we had oatmeal. I have my own bunk with my clothes packed away in the cupboards. Our cell phones have yet to be out of range therefore I was able to talk to James this afternoon while we were underway (sailing). And I am typing this to you from the ‘couch’ down below on my laptop. I also started my audio book that James downloaded to my ipod before I left while I was steering the boat this morning. And anytime we want to know where we are we just open my dad’s laptop that is connected to the GPS and there is a map and our boat moving across the screen…it is quite handy.

Despite the forecast of 15-25 knot winds and 2-4 foot seas today the straight was actually really calm. The seas were practically flat and the winds more like 10-15. At 3pm we saw Pedder Bay off the port side but because the sea was so calm we decided to press on. The last good place to stay overnight before we really enter the straight is Sooke Bay. We arrived there at almost 6pm and after navigating the winding inlet leading into the harbor we tied up to the dock at the first marina.

Sooke Marina is privately owned and had 35 newly built ‘penthouse’ condos right on the water, but all I cared about was their awesome bathroom complete with a shower this time unlimited and free with our stay. After getting cleaned up I finally talked Dad into walking the mile or so into the main town of Sooke to get dinner. As we started up the large hill leading out of the marina the guy who helped check us in was getting off of work and offered us a ride into town. My Dad jumped at the chance as he had literally seconds before quit his moaning about the steep climb up. This was great actually because he dropped us off curbside at this little out of the way local pub that we never would have found on our own. After an awesome dinner of halibut fish n’chips and a beer (cider for me) we set off on our walk back. It was a beautiful night, not to cold, calm and the moon hung low over the bay.