On Christmas Day, the barometer fell nearly 20mb in 24 hours and Environment Canada was predicting big weather: Storm warning in effect for West Coast Vancouver Island South. Wind west 25 to 35 knots diminishing to northwest 15 to 25 early this evening then backing to southwest 15 to 25 late this evening. Wind increasing to south 25 to 35 before Monday morning and to 35 to 45 near noon Monday except 50 northwest of Estevan Point. Wind becoming southwest 30 to 40 Monday evening. We actually were looking forward to it–no storm-force winds have hit Barkley Sound since we’ve arrived, and we were curious what conditions would be like. The storm didn’t turn out to be quite as fierce as predicted, but we did get some interesting barometer movement.

Here’s our log from Snug Basin to Turtle Bay, or you can display them on the live map view.

12/23/11: Misty skies, Snug Basin A heavy rain shortly after dawn has given way to a calm, misty morning. The temperature is much warmer today than yesterday–in the high 40s up from the low 30s.

12/23/11: Entering Poett Nook The channel into Poett Nook looks tight, but is reasonably wide and deep.

12/23/11: Poett Nook We were considering anchoring at Poett Nook, but it wasn’t very appealing. Aquaculture fills the east shore and a large marina and trailerpark is along the west shore. And the marina appeared open, with a boat at the fuel dock. Had we need gas for the dinghy, though, we likely could have filled there.

12/23/11: Robbers Passage We’re anchored off the Port Alberni Yacht club outstation, all closed up for the winter.

12/23/11: Surf The anchorage is well protected, with barely-noticable swell, but we can see waves crashing against the outer shore to our northwest. Another southerly gale is predicted, so that view could become even more interesting.

12/23/11: Tzartus Island Abandoned house at the north end of Tzartus Island. It looks like it once was quite nice.

12/23/11: Shahowis Lodge The Lodge at Shahowis appears to have been in disuse for several years. The dock was a mess, and it was pretty overgrown. Sad to see.

12/23/11: Sea arch, Tzartus Island Small craft apparently go through this arch in calm conditions, but we didn’t have those today.

12/23/11: Sea cave, Tzartus Island The exposed outer coasts in Barkley Sound are full of storm-created sea arches and caves like this one.

12/23/11: Port Alberni Yacht Club outstation The Port Alberni Yacht Club has carved wonderful trails into Fleming Island. The trails are as nice, or nicer, than most government-maintained parks. This one leads up to what they call the Crow’s Nest.

12/23/11: Crow’s Nest The view looking north from the Crow’s Nest.

12/24/11: Imperial Channel Earlier this morning, we were seeing gusts into the low 40s, but the anchorage was still reasonably calm from a wave perspective. Outside in Imperial Channel, the winds were blowing steady 25-30 from the southeast. Surprising, as it’s only blowing 15-20 at La Perouse Bank. Conditions weren’t too bad though–the waves were perhaps 3-5′ high.

12/24/11: Bamfield Coast Guard Station The Bamfield Coast Guard station also is home to the Rigid Hull Inflatable Operator Training (RHIOT) school. RHIOT operates only in the winter, when the weather is at its worst.  Students from all over North America attend, learning how to operate the craft in extremely rough seas, including handling capsizes. The title of a Pacific Yachting article written by one attendee pretty much sums it up: “Getting Bashed at Bamfield.”

12/24/11: Air draft We last were at the head of Bamfield Inlet in the previous boat. With an air draft of 15.5′, the 17m clearance under the wires between Burlo and Rance islands wouldn’t have been much of a concern. At 30.5′, the 52’s air draft leaves plenty of room to pass under, but it still caught our attention.

12/24/11: Bamfield Inlet Rain is pouring, the winds are gusting into the 20s, and Dirona is shifting about in the anchorage. But we’re securely set with plenty of swing room, and the boat is cozy and warm. We’re loving it.

12/25/11: Christmas morning Merry Christmas.

12/25/11: Entering Grappler Inlet At the mouth of Grappler Inlet. This may look tight, but its nothing compared to where we’re heading.

12/25/11: Narrows at Grappler Inlet Looking back through the marked channel we just passed through. The channel is narrow and shallow–charted depths are less than a meter in parts.

12/25/11: Grappler Inlet neck With 8.5′ of tide, the depth was about 8′ going through the drying entrance into the inner basin at the head of Grappler Inlet. The charts are accurate and the path well-marked, but it’s pretty tight. We crept through the channel with a careful bow watch. The current was carrying us in, so we used as much reverse as forward to keep our speed down to a half knot.

12/25/11: Storm coming The barometer has fallen nearly 20mb in 24 hours and the Environment Canada is predicting big weather: Storm warning in effect. Wind west 25 to 35 knots diminishing to northwest 15 to 25 early this evening then backing to southwest 15 to 25 late this evening. Wind increasing to south 25 to 35 before Monday morning and to 35 to 45 near noon Monday except 50 northwest of Estevan Point. Wind becoming southwest 30 to 40 Monday evening. We’re actually kind of looking forward to it–no storm-force winds have hit Barkley Sound since we’ve arrived, ane we’re curious what conditions will be like.

12/25/11: Grappler Inlet head The anchorage in the basin at the head of Grappler Inlet is quite scenic. We were expecting that it might be built up like the outer basin. But only a few houses are ashore here, concentrated together at one end, and nobody seems to be about. Likely the combination of a restricted entry and no apparent road makes building here less appealing.

12/26/11: Barometer “v” The barometer bottomed out at 1001 yesterday, then shot back up to 1020 again. Near the bottom of the “v”, the wind was blowing 35 knots at La Perouse Bank, with gusts near 40. We had gusts up to 37 in Grappler Inlet, but the average was around 15. Conditions were reasonable when we crossed Imperial Eagle Channel early this afternoon. The wind was blowing 15, gusting 20, with a swell heigh of 6-8′ while at La Perouse Bank, the winds were S 21 gusting 26, with a wave height of 3.2m.

12/26/11: Turtle Bay The more common entry is from the north, but the east entry appeared straigtforward and it was. We saw min 38′ on a 12′ tide.

12/27/11: After the storm The winds blew last night, but not as fiercely as predicted. We recorded speeds in the high twenties with gusts into the thirties. La Perouse Bank had the same, and Estevan Point was a little worse, with gusts to 39 knots.