Location: Race Rocks, Ogden Point Breakwater, Victoria, British Columbia
Race Rocks sits on top of the glacial sill in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. What this means for scuba divers is that the inbound flow of nutrient-rich, cold ocean water gets pushed up and over “the junk” that a receding glacier from the last ice age left behind, creating an incredibly rich ecosystem.
Our first dive today was at West Race Wall and the scuba diving there equals world famous Browning Wall (which means that it is pretty darn good). My only surprise of the day was the dearth of sea lions basking in the sunshine on the rocks. I’m used to seeing hundreds of animals here. Instead, we saw a total of 5 stellar sea lions and no California sea lions. Not sure what to make of that.
We finished the day off with a port call in Victoria’s Inner Harbour and tied up next to the gigantic private megayacht “Laurel.” I felt a wee bit sheepish when we noticed the crew polishing the stainless steel on their gangway – everything about the ship was absolutely immaculate vs. the poor old Nautilus Explorer where our crew battles diligently to keep our hard-working little ship clean and rust free.
No visit to Victoria is complete without a visit to the Sticky Wicket pub at the Strathcona Hotel, and I was glad to be able to introduce some of our guests to the concept of leaving bras behind, dangling from the ceiling of the pub!
–Captain Mike
Weather: Sunny, clear skies, glassy calm, temperature mid 70’s, beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!
Water: Visibility ranging from 20 – 50 feet, water temperature 49° degF.
