Aboard Astraea

Inside the harbor all was nice and calm.

The most exciting part about day 9 of our cruise was leaving Victoria Harbor and turning left out in to the straits of Juan de Fuca. The seas were coming at us from the south, and at the mouth of the harbor they were 4-5 foot waves! I thought back to when we first got the boat in 2009 and how going out in this type of water would have been unimaginable, but we handled it with ease. It was pretty tiring so we pulled in to Oak Bay for the night. Hey, I’m on vacation! I don’t want to get stressed out about wind and waves. I was surprised that the marina cost the same amount as if we’d stayed in Victoria and there wasn’t a reciprocal dock available to us.

We headed out to catch up on some Wi-Fi and do a little emailing and blogging at the local Starbucks.

Another morning underway, wind coming from the South, just the way we want to go. I’m cruising, trying to visit a whole bunch of awesome places before we leave the PACNORWEST. I don’t want to waste my time tacking endlessly back and forth in order to gain super sailor bragging rights. If the wind is going to help me get there, the sails go up. If it’s going to detract from my

Sidney to Victoria. Top of the chart to the bottom.

enjoyment seeing new places then I’ll motor. We headed south through Sidney Channel in to the west side of Haro Strait and then turned right towards Baynes Channel. There the sails went up to make use of the wind from the south.

Heading in to Victoria Harbor we learned from our cruising guide that there is no sailing in Victoria Harbor and I understand why. Seaplanes take off and land there, big ferries come in and out, filling the channel. There’s a lot going on. We maneuvered our way around seaplanes and a massive ferry to get to the city docks in front

Perfect lunch

of the Empress Hotel. It was a pretty sweet spot to be in and there were only three other boats there! The perks of cruising before high season starts.

First order of business: Beer. Second order of business: poutine. What is poutine? Only the tastiest snack in the world. French fries covered in gravy and cheese curds. Yum.

Being a cruiser is hard, so we took a nap on the boat and woke up late, almost midnight late. We had some dinner and went to bed. Enjoy the pictures.