 
   |
Welcome
Tim Whelan:
We are pleased to welcome fellow sailor Tim Whelan, who has given permission to
reprint the start of one of his fine articles on West Coast cruising. You may
read the rest of the article on his own web site, and view some impressive
photographs of this beautiful area.
My
name is Tim Whelan. I am the editor, publisher and photographer for tgw.net.
I have been taking pictures since highschool and sailing since I was about 13. I
don’t claim to be very good at either. I have been playing around with
computers since my folks got us our first Apple II back in about 1978.
I like to write about and photograph the Pacific
Northwest. I grew up around Puget Sound, mostly at a place called Three Tree
Point. I spent many summers with my family in the San Juans & Gulf Islands.
I am not a Canadian, but my mom is. I have some wonderful Canadian cousins who
live in Victoria, British Columbia. Over the years, I have been lucky enough to
experience a number of things-Canadian, with them. Feel free to email
me.
|
 |
|
Cruising Clayoquot
by Tim Whelan
Chapter 1—Introduction
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
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. 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.
|
We are pleased to welcome fellow sailor Tim Whelan, who has given permission to
reprint the start of one of his fine articles on West Coast cruising. You may
read the rest of the article on his own web site, and view some impressive
photographs of this beautiful area.
