Chapter 1—Introduction
Red can #4 off Port Angeles. Olympic Mountain Range looking up in background. Patched fog soon becomes dense fog. The dog days of school are long over, and full-time employment is now a reality. We are looking for escape and adventure, but it can’t take much more than our two-week allotment of vacation. Given that the Patience plods along at a leisurely 5.5 knots, Alaska, Northern British Columbia and Oregon are once again out of the question. Desolation Sound is feasible, but far too non-desolate. Barkley Sound is a worthy destination, but we’ve already charted those waters.
The obvious choice is Clayoquot Sound. Clayoquot is the fourth (counting down from the top) of Vancouver Island’s five west coast sounds. It’s desolate, but not too desolate. I know from sailing Around Vancouver Island that Tofino is a hip town. Long Beach, Ucluelet and Hot Springs Cove (all near Clayoquot Sound) have a lot to offer. All this equates to fun. The entire eastern part of the archipelago is virgin territory—unexplored previously by the crew of the Patience. This equates to perceived adventure. In geekspeak:
IF [fun] AND [adventure]
THEN RUN GO_CLAYOQUOT.VAC

Sunset in Herbert Inlet--Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia. If you don't get that lame joke, that probably means you've never written any code—and that, probably isn't a bad thing!
Anyway, by such logic, the decision is made, and the destination chosen. On our way “out”, we get to explore the lesser-traveled destinations of Port Angeles and Neah Bay. Outside of Barkley Sound we see the obligatory whale (no Neah Bay whalers in site). At Clayoquot we party in Tofino with the eco-tourists and later explore the fjord-like inlets behind Meares Island with our rag-tag crew. Near Tofino we go fishing (jiggin’ as my brother calls it) and catch-and-release a couple of nice Coho Salmon. On the way home from Clayoquot, Amy and I battle fog and pests and wait for the blow that never comes.
Sample of the type of maps that are included in the story. The story includes over 60 color images. All are fully captioned with the ALT tag (hold your mouse over the image to see the caption). You can click on any image and you be forwarded to a larger, higher quality version of the image. Due to popular demand, I enhanced this story with an increased number of maps and “maplets”. Each chapter begins with a detailed maplet showing where we traveled and the ports or anchorages we stayed at. Hopefully these maps will help you follow the story better and assist in planning any trips you might make. Please do not use them for navigation;-). I have also tried to include interesting and relevant pieces of history throughout the story.
All in all, is was a great trip. I would highly recommend Clayoquot Sound to sailors, powerboaters and kayakers alike. Read-on if you like sailing adventures, or simply reading about and seeing cool pictures of beautiful places in the Pacific Northwest. I try to make the stories detailed yet entertaining. Hopefully the result is part crusing guide, part entertaining story. If you haven’t already done so, be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter. It is unobtrusive and lets you you when our site has been updated with new material.









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