Crossing the Bar and Rounding the Cape

We awoke this morning at 4:00am to get the weather report via SSB. It sounded good and after a hot breakfast we pulled anchor and headed toward Nawhitti Bar. There were two other sailboats heading out ahead of us as we departed. The fog had settled in and we were in the soup before leaving Bull Harbour. We decided to catch the bar on the last hour of the flood, hoping for flatter seas and little wind. The strategy worked well for us and the bar was basically a flat run, a non event. This was the first challenge of the day and we felt a huge sense of relief leaving it behind. The next challenge was the rounding of the cape. Cape Scott can be nasty with different currents and heavy seas meeting at the western most tip of the Vancouver Island. The books that discuss rounding Cape Scott state "if you find yourself in trouble off Cape Scott, you are in trouble…" The cape has sunk and capsized substantial vessels per Waggoner Cruising Guide. The Canadian Pilot describes the cape as producing heavy seas and overfalls, dangerous to small craft. It alerts mariners that heavy seas may seemingly emerge from nowhere with the collision of currents. We set our course for the cape with fog and furry crew our only company. It took 3 hours from crossing the bar to rounding Cape Scott. We never saw the cape nor did we experience any heavy seas except for some confused wave and swell for about 6NM directly off the tip. After clearing the cape the swell settled into a NW pattern, 1 meter and very little wind. We had a large pod of Orcas pass to starboard headed north. The dorsal fins were like sabers slicing above the water. They were magnificent! The fog stayed with us until we entered Winter Harbour. The other two sailboats came out of the fog like ghost ships as we approached Quatsino Bay. This was a long, long day with 63NM. We are spending tonight at a government dock which so far has been an interesting experience. We have met several sailors at the dock attempting circumnavigation of Vancouver Island. It is an eclectic grouping of characters. We are all committed to heading south at this point, as we can't go back now. We will probably anchor out tomorrow…..

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