We left the hot springs and had a marvelous sail to Bacchante Bay. There we anchored alone among towering peaks. A row in the dingy at high tide found us suddenly not on marsh shores but in an alpine wonderland, rushing streams, blueberries and bear scat all around. Our deepest anchorage yet, were were on the edge of Watta Creek’s delta, and a few boat lengths away it was less than 10 feet deep. Yikes!

The next morning found us fog bound. This wasn’t so good as we wanted to make a long day of it and reach Ucluelet after 10 hours. We set out once the entrance to the bay was visible and navigated around Obstruction Island in fog. At the mouth of the bay we ran into dense fog, and decided to wait it out at Ahousat. The facility is for sale, and the chatty proprietor is the son of the man who donated the hot springs as a park all those years ago. Well, thanks!  I bought a t-shirt with a mermaid on it.

Quickly we returned to our course (long day, remember?) but it was still dense fog. Kristin, her brain sharpened by Stugeron, the seasickness meds only legal in Europe, decided to press through the fog seaward. With radar and gps and strict attention to the helm, we headed past numerous rocks and islands whose presence could only be taken on faith.  Visibility was 100 yards. Or at least, we never saw a damn thing.  Until out at sea that is, where the fog cleared to the warmest and nicest day one could imagine. The thing about fog is you hate to be in it, but it sure is scenic when looking back at it.

We made Ucluelet in good time, helped by an unexpected knot of tide behind us. Our little boat averaged 6.5 knots. Vroom!