Thirty-one days, fifteen hundred nautical miles, we have now completed our sailing journey of 2012. We explored remote regions of the Inside Passage, witnessed the wildness of British Columbia from close vantage. Wolves, eagles, porpoise, dolphins and whales shared their homeland and waters.  Home for them but new horizons for us.

We will go sailing again and in all likelihood, we will go further into new territory... and newer horizons.

Ohana

Ebb Current Bird Rocks, Strait of Juan de Fuca

The strong ebb in the morning of July 5th carried us at 10+ knots from Rosario Strait into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and on toward Admiralty Inlet just in time for the big flood of the afternoon south into Puget Sound. We would make the long run home traversing 75 miles and arriving at our home port, Bainbridge Island by dinner.

Moonrise Dogfish Bay (9:30pm)

Sunrise Strait of Georgia near Gabriolla Passage (5:00am)

Sunrise, exit Dogfish Bay to Strait of Georgia

Sunrise, Strait of Georgia

We weighed anchor at Dogfish Bay prior to sunrise. We would catch the building ebb current south on the Strait of Georgia to the San Juan Islands. Near Patos Island the current would reach a smooth four knots, allowing us to make the Customs dock at Roche Harbor by 1:00pm.

Passing storm front as we cross Strait of Georgia

Gull 

Bald Eagle

Two common inhabitants of the coastal waters occupy the same breakwater wall at Westview Harbour. Both birds faced each other a mere thirty yards apart and both have mastered the avian form of a "poker face".

Westview Fuel Station

A fuel dock can be a welcome sight for a cruiser, especially the more north one goes. Cruisers along the inside passage cannot always rely on wind and often must deal with apposing currents. Thus, fuel to power their engines is a necessity. Knowledge of one's fuel consumption is imperative. Typically, volume consumed per hour is the key metric. Ohana burns about 0.75 gallons per hour. At 6 knots cruising speed, that equates to about 8 nautical miles per gallon. Ohana holds 85 gallons of fuel or 680 nautical miles of range. However for planning purposes, 600 nm is a reasonable range estimate, but more importantly, 100 hours would be the safer planning unit to use.

Pacific Grace

In the pouring rain and twenty knots of breeze, the Pacific Grace and Pacific Swift, two northbound training schooners, passed us on our southbound approach to Savary Island. Pacific Grace, viewed here had just experienced a mishap with their large foresail which can be seen dragging through the water as the crew awaited what appeared to be an unplanned training exercise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sail_and_Life_Training_Society