Up Goletas Channel, over infamous Nahwitti Bar and around Cape Scott - this is the start for the off-shore legs for the Van Isle 360.
Light winds prevailed again for the first part. Just around Cape Sutil a couple of fin whale played in the wake of Turicum for a while.
It was a long and slow night for us in light winds with the current against us. Arriving late & tired in Friday Harbor the crew did not get much rest. This ultimately led us to retire from the next leg to Ucluelet when light winds again suggested a long and tiring two nights at sea.
Having retired from the Winter Harbour to Ucluelet race we arrived early morning and had a wonderful day away from the race circus.
Some of us explored the Amphitrite Lighthouse while others went for a some more sleep.
With the batteries re-charged the crew was looking forward to sailing in the forecast strong northwesterly breeze promised for the leg to Victoria.
Off we sailed to in a light breeze towards the Juan de Fuca Strait. The wind built slower than expected but around sunset rose steadily to a good 20+ kts. The spinnaker went up and we had a fantastic sail down along the Canadian coast towards Race Passage. At 1 am we screamed through Race Passage overtaking other boats and sprinted towards the finish line.
What a great adventure and what an achievement for the crew who until that moment never saw much more than 10 kts of wind, let alone in the middle of the night with a spinnaker up.
Well done everybody and we look forward to the final leg through the Gulf Islands, sailing towards Nanaimo.
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