Left Last day of June for Vancouver Island. Figured a 3 day tow, about 1000
miles. Extra two days because I had to replace a trailer axle in Roseburg,
OR. Figured it is the California potholed I-5 that caused a Bearing Buddy
that even had Setscrews to hold it on to leave the hub. Lucked out as got
up in the morning after camping at a free Casino RV parking lot. and noticed
the leaning tire. A Sunday and tied the axle up and towed it the 30 miles
to Roseburg. Everyone was very helpful, including the guys at the North
River boats factory store, but no EZLoader trailer axle available. Monday
did a 300 mile roundtrip to Portland area to Century Wheel and Rim.
Fantastic service. They built up a new axle by welding on the spring pads
in the correct place, installed new rotors and calipers (Kodiak) and had the
axle ready to install. $299 out the door. Went back to the RV Park and guy
loaned me a floor jack and I installed the axle and was ready to roll
Tuesday morning. Entered Canada at Blaine, WA and took about 5 minutes
going through immigration this year. Opposed to about 1.5 hours last year.
Caught the Ferry to Duke Point and stayed at the Paradise RV park in
Parksville. Very nice reasonable park. Stayed there on the way back also.
Towed to Tofino the next day (July 5) and spent 5 days boating and fishing.
Salmon was slow and the outside ocean was rough, so no Halibut. Tried one
day, and gave up at about 4 miles. Caught a lot of rockcod and kept 4 for
dinner during the trip. Undersize salmon released to grow some more. Lots
of small islands to boat around and explore. Big tides, so have to be
careful when beaching the boat. Either you will be high and dry or floating
away if not anchored to the beach. Huge eelgrass flats in the area. So
have to be very careful of where you boat. Pay attention to channel markers
and follow a local or the crabpot buoy lines when entering or exiting
Tofino. May be 50' deep and 20' feet away , 3' deep. Whales were scarce,
and saw none from the boat. Listened to the whale watching boats and they
were also having a tough time finding whales. Did see a pod of Orcas when
were at the Pacific Rim Park visitor center, just offshore. The rangers
said they had never seen them in there before. As well as one humpback a
ways off shore. Very friendly people in the area. Gas $1.09 Liter. Forgot
to fill the boat before leaving the USA. $189 fill. After Leaving Tofino,
we went to Saltspring Island and rented a slip for the boat for 4 days.
$119. At Salt Spring Marina. Chuck may get familiar with this marina as
the Seattle Yacht Club has bought a 25% interest. Did a lot of boat touring
and a little fishing. Wallace Island is a park island and has free dockage
during the day. We stayed at the Always Welcome B&B in Ganges. Fantastic
breakfast each day. Wife said she probably gained 5#. Sunday pulled the
boat early morning to get ready for the 11:30 ferry to Swartz Bay as the
direct to Vancouver ferry was fully booked. At 44' was wise to make
reservations. Lost a fender while motoring from the slip to the trailer and
realized it after pulling the boat. Nice guy Stan from the SYC took me out
in his skiff, so I did not have to launch again. All in all a very nice
trip. Lots of helpful people all during the trip. Helpful with either info
or tools. Would also recommend the House Piccolo in Ganges for a nice
dinner. Best Lamb Chop dinner I have ever had. Both the presentation and
the food was great.