Eva circumnavigates Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in HD (1080x1920). All photos taken with an Olympus mu740 shirt pocket camera. Panning and zooming required for viewing on lower than standard resolution screens. Downloading this entire photo essay will take no less than five minutes and possibly as long as eleven minutes on a dial-up connection. High speed connections will typically take less than twenty seconds (1 megabit per second or faster).
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Turn Point light house on Stuart Island overlooks the U.S. and Canadian border in the busy shipping lane between the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia. Seen here is the light keepers quarters built in 1893 and used continuously until 1974 when the light was automated.
When we launched Eva in Bellingham, WA an onlooker commented that she was a "skookum" vessel. Somewhat naively I asked if that meant good. Seen here is the Skookumchuck Narrows at the entrance to Sechelt Inlet on the mainland side of the Strait of Georgia. After seeing the world’s fastest tidal rapids in action on one of the bigger spring floods of the year I would have to say that Skookum probably does indeed mean big or strong.
Most tidal rapids behind Vancouver Island are much milder, but careful timing is still required for safe and easy transit of the "gates" as they are sometimes called. Green Point rapids seen here was easy to traverse in the dingy while we waited for slack tide to take Eva through.
Eva's crew hams it up for the self-timer.
Eva anchored at the Bush Islets off of West Racroft Island in the Johnstone Strait.
Alert Bay on Cormorant Island has long been an important trading port.
These days the Nimpkish native village is a significant location of Totem carving.
Mere shells of their former selves, these crabs stand a colorful watch on a beach at the south end of the Bunsby Islands on the Pacific Coast of Vancouver Island.
A sand dollar on the beach south of Rugged Point. The Pacific Coast of Vancouver Island seems to be a long way from just about everywhere, and is particularly far removed from the valleys and silver mines of Jachymov in Eastern Europe where our term for currency has it's linguistic origins.
Eva anchored in the tranquil waters of McBride Bay far inland behind Nootka Island and well away from the wild Pacific Ocean.
Throughout the outer stretches of the inlets of the Pacific Coast of Vancouver Island Starfish are often found in colorful scenes like this one..
With unsettled winter weather already beginning to blow up in late August we high tailed it up the Strait of Juan de Fuca and found the city of Victoria a welcome refuge.
The feature display at the Victoria Maritime Museum is Captain Voss' 35 foot dugout canoe which he sailed most of the way around the world during the early years of American excavation of the Panama Canal.
We also saw Victoria's other famous small circumnavigator while we were in the harbor. John Guzzwell’s Trekka was apparently for many years on display inside the Maritime Museum, but we happened to catch it back in the water for a wooden boat show.
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