I hadn't learned my lesson about the current here so I came back the next weekend (Feb. 7, 2014) during an even larger tidal exchange. This time the current was ebbing so my reasoning was that I would be protected from the brunt of the flow by the point itself. During my drive along the East Sooke shore I noticed that many of the more sheltered bays and coves in the Sooke Harbour/Basin area were frozen over. Fortunately the Woodward Point area had enough water movement to remain ice-free. I read an interesting thing on a Sooke newspaper website about the bay where I enter the water near Woodward Point. This was the spot in 1790 where the Spanish explorer Manuel Quimper anchored his vessel before sending smaller boats farther into Sooke Harbour. He named Sooke Harbour "Puerto de Revillagigedo" and planted a cross nearby to claim the area for Spain.
Back to the present, visibility was even better than last week. It was around 30', which is better than I could hope for in Sooke Harbour. I didn't feel much current for much of the dive. When I swam around the corner of the point, there was a strong flow pushing me back so I stayed on the East side where I was sheltered as expected. My maximum depth was about 58 feet at the base of the rubble slope.
