Summer 2019 cruise was shorter than most years because of our drive across Canada and back (May-July). This Summer, for about 6 weeks, we travelled approximately 650 nm, and overnighted (often for many nights) in 11 anchorages and 3 marinas.
Very little sailing (we had one great sail back South/East down Johnstone Strait) but great weather for most days. Up at the north end of Vancouver Island, however, sunny weather usually means foggy mornings, and we had many of these.
In case you were wondering, unlike with past trips, we chose to not update our blog until we returned home (apologies to the few loyal readers who checked to see our progress...).
Highlights/stops:
Stop #1: Pender Harbour: Spent 3 nights at the Vancouver Rowing Club's outstation docks. Excellent weather brought out our bicycles and we hiked up Mt. Daniel.
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| Selfie on top of Mt. Daniel, Pender Harbour |
#3: Roscoe Bay. anchored 2 nights. Anchorage very busy. Hiked Mt. Llanover (last time was 2017; trail much better now) and swam in ocean. Unpleasant interaction with another boat anchored almost on top of our anchor, who felt our 3:1 scope was somehow too much (Huh? That's the minimum scope one should let out; indeed often more such as 4:1 or 5:1 is needed.)
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| View SW from Mt. Llanover |
#4: Moved out of Roscoe as tide levels over the Roscoe bar in the morning would require leaving 5am and on a falling tide. Moved to Grace Harbour (also crowded) to anchor 1 night.
#5: Decided to go through Hole-in-the-Wall Rapids and Upper Okisollo Rapids to anchor in Owen Bay (1 night), giving us the option to run next day down (up?) Johnstone Strait, if weather and tides were favourable. On the way, stopped in Refuge Cove to topup diesel and water, and purchase food. Nice, quiet, uncrowded (3 boats) night in Owen Bay.
#6: Left early with the ebb through Lower Okisollo Rapids, detouring via Barnes Bay (less current). Had a great trip motoring up Johnstone Strait with ebb often giving us a 3-5 knot push. Arrived Havannah Channel too early to transit Chatham Channel. Anchored in nook on Hull Island (across from Matilpi) and had a little sleep. Awakened by wind picking up (from Call Inlet) into our anchorage; given it was still early (mid afternoon) and now a good time to transit Chatham Channel, we decided to move on to Cutter Cove. A very quiet eve with only one other boat anchored. Good to be back in the Broughtons.
#7: Rain in the forecast later in the day. We decided to checkout "anchorage" at narrows in Sargeaunt Passage, which we decidedly did not like. Moved on to new-to-us Wahkana Bay anchorage in Tribune Channel, a rather deep but well-protected anchorage. Only one other boat anchored, which made anchoring deep a little easier. Still, it took an unprecedented 4 tries to be happy. Then the heavy rain closed in for the night and all day the next day. A little claustrophobic (low clouds and heavy rain kept us in the boat), we felt safe (no wind inside Wahkana Bay). We anchored 2 nights.
#8: After 2 nights in Wahkana, we awoke to sunny weather. We decided to tryout Waddington Bay anchorage, which we haven't visited since ~2003. It was better than we remembered (sunshine helps), and we stayed 2 nights and did some nice kayaking. Only negative (a big negative!) was a very obnoxious/unpleasant skipper of a neighbouring boat who decided he didn't like talking to us (we had come over on our kayaks to say hello, as we knew the boat from a previous owner) and abruptly told us to go away. Such a strange encounter. Otherwise, quiet nights and a nice anchorage.
#9: We headed over to Mound Island anchorage, which was surprising relatively "crowded" (6-7 boats; it is all relative, as a similar anchorage in/near Desolation would have seen 30-40 boats...); most boats were from the USA. Stayed just 1 night, as we planned to head over to our favourite, Sointula.
#10: Awoke to (soon-to-be-familiar) morning fog. As it cleared (in our anchorage), we headed out through Whitebeach Passage to Blackfish Sound, where we immediately entered thick fog (<0.25 nm visibility). Happily, the fog lifted about 20 minutes later, and we had a clear motor to Sointula. As we came closer to the marina, we gave them a telephone call to see where there was space. To our surprise, they said they were full and we'd have to raft. As it turned out, the commercial fishing fleet was in as there were no "openings". We decided to come in and raft and wait for space to open-up next day. As luck would have it, a space opened-up 10 minutes before we arrived, so we were able to tie to the dock. As the wharfinger stated, "We had won the lottery..."!
We stayed seven nights (!) at the Sointula docks. Truly is our favourite docks on the coast. Bikes came out. Michelle got some running in. We stayed through until Sointula's annual "Salmon Days" celebration. (As far as we know, there never was a commercial fishing opening in the area this Summer. Sad for the commercial fishermen. Meanwhile, recreation fishers, many from the USA, were going out everyday and often catching their daily limit. No doubt many were well over their possession limit.) We provisioned, partly using the Sointula Co-Op grocery store, and also dinghied over to Port McNeil.
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| Salmon Days parade, Sointula |
We had a wonderful surprise while at Sointula. Two women on a sailboat (from Lunenburg, NS) across from us looked very familiar. And their dog was especially familiar. Indeed, we did know them! We had met Marike and Karen on their (other) boat while we were on Pelagia at Marina Mazatlan. And the dog? Enya was found as an emaciated puppy abandoned in a ditch near our marina in La Paz by our friend Jennifer (SV Kylahi); Michelle helped Jennifer nurse Enya back to health. When we returned to La Paz in December 2014 (after the hurricane season), we learned that Enya had been adopted by Marike and Karen. So, here we were in Sointula in August 2019, seeing Enya, Marike and Karen for the first time since 2014. Enya immediately recognized Michelle, ran to her, jumping all over her. It was a lovely reunion.
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| Wonder dog "Enya" on SV Quoddy's Run |
After 7 nights in Sointula, we felt it time to get back out and anchor. After the fog had cleared, we headed North across Queen Charlotte Strait to Blunden Harbour.
#11: Blunden Harbour. A very nice 2 nights at anchor. No wind, some fog, much sun, and only a few other boats. We kayaked over to the entrance to Bradley Lagoon, where the tide was flooding in. We could have entered, but we chickened out, as people have gotten stuck inside the lagoon, waiting for the tide to change.
The weather forecast indicated more fog and, to our concern, southerly weather in a few days time. We had hoped/planned to go further NW in the direction of the Cape Caution area, with its beautiful wild anchorages. But if we did so, we wouldn't be able begin to head back down SE (to Desolation Sound) for at least another week. As we were hoping to meet up with our cruising friends David and Gillian (SV Carousel) in another week or so, we decided to start the journey before the Southerlies arrived.
#12: We headed back, in thick fog for first 1-2 hours, to Crease/Goat Island anchorage. At first we were surprised there was only 1 other boat anchored, as we've anchored here many times in the past (and it can get a bit crowded). However, the kelp in the anchorage has grown considerably, and after two tries at anchoring (pulling up the anchor each time filled with kelp), we gave up, and headed over to Mound Island anchorage (only 15 minutes away). As before, Mound had numerous boats anchored, all from the USA. But it has lots of room and no kelp. We had a nice night.
#13: The following morning, we left early, trying to time the flood in Blackney Passage as well as in Johnstone Strait and hoping for no fog. The current in Blackney Passage was against us, but it was sunny, and we eventually got the flood in Johnstone Strait. Winds for the Strait were forecast to be light, increasing to 15-25 kn, then late in the afternoon to 30 kn. As it ended-up, we had a great downwind sail for 30 nm; and indeed, the winds piped-up to 32 kn, making for a raucous (but safe) sail down Johnstone and then Sunderland Straits. We rolled-in the headsail as we rounded Athorp Point at the entrance to Whirlpool Rapids, and motored to Douglas Bay in Forward Harbour, where we anchored for the night. (We are not great fans of Forward Harbour, as one usually has to anchor in 60'-70' depths in Douglas Bay if there are more than 2-3 boats.) This night, there were perhaps 10 boats, and we had to anchor in ~64'. But, it was a mainly quiet, windless night, so all was well.
#14: Next morning, we ran Whirlpool Rapids (ebbing, with perhaps 3 knots against us) and then Greene Point Rapids (flooding, with about 3 knots in our favour). We then motored over to Chameleon Harbour, which always has tons of room, although westerlies can make it choppy (too many boats were in nearby Handfield Bay). We normally prefer Chameleon anyways, as there s lots of space to put out lots of chain (yes, 5:1 or 6:1 scope) in case the westerlies pick up. While there, a friendly family from a small Nordhaven powerboat came over to say hello and comment on seeing us sail down Johnstone. They had passed us during the light winds, then saw us later pass them as the westerlies really picked-up. They ducked into Port Neville for the night while we rode the westerlies all the way (almost) to Forward Harbour. (Our best and, thus far, only sail of the trip!).
#15: Decided to catch slack at the Yaculta rapids (Dent Rapids, Gillard Passage, etc) and then head down to the warm, protected (and likely crowded) waters of Von Donop Inlet. We arrived too early at Dent Rapids, so had to power against a 2-3 knot ebb (we really have to stop doing this...). As usual, there were some very large American powerboats pushing through at the same time, some with very large wakes (which are accentuated by the opposing current). Most were OK. We reached Gillard Passage at slack. One large powerboat from the USA really wanted to pass us in the very narrow Gillard Passage; kept trying, but each time decided he couldn't (you DON'T pass boats in Gillard). Finally, exiting Gillard, he roared past us, with the accompanying large wake. (What's your hurry? Can't you wait 10 extra minutes? Really, one gets really tired of these large USA powerboats roaring all over the place with huge wakes, knocking about other boats. In this boat's case, we saw it a week later stuck at Refuge Cove, awaiting parts and repairs. Kharma, I guess.)
We reached Von Donop Inlet in one piece (😉), making it safely past the rock in the entrance channel (it is very real, with less than 6' over it a zero tide), and anchored in our usual favourite spot. A bit crowded, yes, but nowhere as bad as we'd seen in the past (probably because it was now late August). The water warm for swimming. We hiked the trail (and then the road) to Squirrel Cove where we purchased a few provisions (is wine a "provision?). We also did a couple kayak sojourns, including a long kayak to outside of Von Donop over to the trail to Robertson Lake. The swim in the lake was lovely after we first met an interesting "Cortesian" (her term for those living on Cortes Island) who was full of interesting stories, including cruising the west coast of Haida Gwaii. (It was particularly nice she was willing to chat so much despite us "surprising" her as she as just finishing her swim au natural.)
We anchored for 6 (or 7, lost count) nights in Von Donop. Midway in these 7 days, we left Von Donop ostensibly to get provisions and water at Refuge Cove and then to anchor over at Squirrel Cove. After leaving Refuge Cove, we found the Southerly winds were just starting to really pickup (remember those winds we talked about when we were deciding Cape Caution or not?). Squirrel Cove was really crowded and winds were howling in (it is not a favourite anchorage, because it gets crowded and its bottom is fouled by logs, chains etc from logging long ago). Just as we were turning to leave, we saw SV Starlady right in front of us, with Barry and Sue (who we had "met" on HAM radio, and had hoped to meet in person). They came out on deck (in the wind) and we circled them saying hello. But they agreed it was too windy (they were considering moving) and we said we are heading back up to calm, quiet (and relatively less-crowded) Von Donop. Too bad. Hopefully we'll see them next Summer. We managed to sail up Lewis Channel (our second sail) until we lost the wind at the North end of the channel, and returned to the same spot in Von Donop.
While we were in Von Donop, our cruising friends David and Gillian arrived on SV Carousel with two crew (family from England). We enjoyed an great reunion dinner on Pelagia. Next day they headed to Waitt Bay/Octopus Islands. We headed south into Malaspina/Okeover Inlet.
#16: Michelle's birthday was coming up, so we decided on a special dinner at The Laughing Oyster restaurant at Okeover Landing. Not sure about space on the docks, we anchored nearby in Penrose Bay (site of "Cougar Lady" Nancy Crowthers homestead). The "aquaculture" pens noted on the chart were now gone, nevertheless the anchorage was a little tight with private moorings. Still, we were the only "transient" boat, and it was a quiet night.
#17: In the morning, we moved over to the public docks at Okeover Landing. There was lots of space on the new docks: Moorage cost $0.75/foot (no facilities: no water, no power, no garbage, and only an outhouse up the street). We went for a walk (a lot uphill) and did some exploring. At night, we had an excellent (but pricey) dinner at The Laughing Oyster.
#18: Next stop was a return to Roscoe Bay. Definitely far less crowded than back in late July.After a few days, our friends on SV Carousel rejoined us. More warm'ish salt water swims, and another hike back up Mt. Llanover with Gillian and David (first time we've done this hike 2x in one season). We stayed 5-6 nights in Roscoe Bay. One night was particularly special as we (well, Michelle) cooked dinner for David and Gillian for their 50th Wedding Anniversary (!). As always with them, a great time.
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| David, Michelle, David & Gillian: relaxing at the top of Mt. Llanover |
That night, we had a good dinner on SV Carousel, joined by old friends Roly and Marion from MV Tropic Isle (we first met them in 2002, on the west coast of Vancouver Island).
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| Michelle, Roly & Marion |
#20: We cleared out of Melanie Cove the next morning, with no issues with out anchor or chain. We (Pelagia and Carousel) decided to head South. We motored all the way to Pender Harbour (where Carousel anchored while we stayed at the VRC docks). Along the way, we had some issues with our hydraulic steering. Adding more fluid seemed to clear the issue.
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| Leaving Desolation Sound in September |
#22: We headed home to our berth at the Vancouver Rowing Club (SV Carousel stayed another day). We were worried about problems with our autopilot, not being sure if it was related to the previous steering issue or something else. Our autopilot, a Wagner over 30 years old, has been a trusted hard worker and is still used on many commercial fishboats on the BC coast (now gone, Wagner was a BC company). Something to deal with before next Summer.
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