Barkley Sound is a beautiful cruising area and well worth several days of exploring. Unfortunately, we didn’t spend those days exploring. As this was the last leg of our journey and our son was going to join us in Victoria for the Canada Day long weekend, we were eager to keep moving.
The trip down to Ucluelet was warm and sunny. We arrived early in the afternoon, got a berth in the small boat harbour and immediately got to work. Several loads of laundry and a couple of trips to the shops for provisions, and by early evening we were set and ready for the final leg of our trip.
The next morning, we headed across Barkley Sound to Effingham Island to wait for a good weather window for the final leg of our trip. We ended up spending a few more nights in Effingham Bay than planned because of gales brought by a low-pressure system but we enjoyed our time there. Shawn and Janis from Callisto were also in the bay. We enjoyed some good chats and a hike across the island with them while we waited.
In order to make it home for the Canada Day long weekend we had a couple of long days ahead of us–a total of 130 nautical miles. The first day we put in 14 hours to go from Effingham Bay to Becher Bay. The second day was shorter–10 hours–but we were frustrated by the currents off Victoria. At times we were only able to motor at 3 kts because of the strong currents. The currents were against us for 8 of the 10 hours that day but the sun was out, making it a great day to be on the water.
Arriving back at our home marina completed our trip around Vancouver Island. We’d been gone 55 days and travelled 1100 nautical miles (2100 km). We’d caught up with old friends, made some new friends and were able to see places that I’ve heard about most of my life but hadn’t been able to experience until now. We feel very fortunate to live in such a beautiful place.
Cormacks On Cambria 
What a trip! Good preparation for the really big one.
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