“Texture”

The "Prince of Whales" in much smoother water, snapped from our ferry on the day we arrived in BC

There's a lot of white out there and, I don't mean the snow on the mountain tops!!!

Our very good luck...... an in-the-water boat show in front of the BC legislature. Some great deals. A very unenthusiastic wife!!

The view from our dinner table at "Sooke Harbour House"

Along the coast, around every corner is another picture!

When we booked our tickets for a 3 hour whale watching trip on a 62 foot “Zodiac” style boat, we inquired as to the sea conditions in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We were told that there was some “texture” on the water!! Departing Victoria harbour we could see conditions building in the strait. 40 minutes into the trip the boat, which usually cruises at 20 - 30 knots, was crawling up and over 6 foot whitecaps in a wind that had built to 31 knots. The crew decided to abandon the trip and return to harbour but, made the mistake of asking passengers if they were OK for the 45 minute return trip; giving them the option of being dropped off at another close-by harbour up the coast, for a cab ride back into Victoria. There was an enthusiastic endorsement of plan “B”.

After the “whimps” were dropped off, the remaining, albeit dramatically reduced crew had a wild downwind ride over building seas back to Victoria. Since the journey usually encompasses a 60 – 90 mile round trip to the whales depending on their location and, since our round trip had only covered 18.5 miles in our 2 ½ hour “wave dance”, we were cheerfully refunded the price of our tickets. I would equally as cheerfully have paid just for the wave ride!! It was a blast. When we return in the autumn, we will eagerly try the “Prince of Whales” once more.

Victoria and environs is everything people have told us it is: beautiful, rugged, and so picturesque. We have traveled to Sooke Harbour, along the coast and, around the city. Stunning!! We’re glad that we will be back in the fall to pick up the RV. We’ll make time to do much more exploring.