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| Pelagia's 2025 route (Southern portions): RED = sailing |
Approximately 4 weeks were spent in the Broughtons, with not quite 2 weeks in Desolation Sound/Discovery Islands area. The Broughtons were not at all crowded (though busier than past) and the daytime temperatures comfortable (14-17 degrees C). Desolation Sound by late July/early August was crazy over-crowded, made worse by being too hot.
As we've suggested before, spending much time in Desolation Sound in July and August isn't worth it ... just too crowded. Too many boaters with many not exactly being considerate of others.
One thing we noticed: a significant percentage of USA boats were not flying their USA flag. Perhaps embarassed? A small percentage flew neither their USA flag nor a Canadian "courtesy" flag. Who did they think they were fooling? (Perhaps they were just "unaware" of normal, accepted practice.) As far as we could tell, USA boats were treated well here in Canada, just like any other boats.
In total, our trip to/from the Broughtons was 626 nautical miles, of which we sailed 164 nm (about 26%, not terrible). And we did have some great sails: down Johnstone Strait with winds from behind reaching 30 kn at Fanny Island; all the way up Malaspina Strait for out longest sail (37 nm).
We anchored out 37 nights and stayed 11 nights at docks (as usual, our favourite was/is Sointula, which we visited 2x). We anchored in 4 new-to-us anchorages (2 of them twice because we liked them so much).
It might have been cooler and more comfortable up in the Broughtons (though certainly not sunbathing or ocean swimming weather), but we really only had 3 days of true rain. Fog and drizzle, however, were regular.
We had a couple weeks cruising with friends Wayne and Lee on SV Chanter, up to Sointula. Sadly, they had to leave us, and we missed them.
Unfortunately, we had to cut short our trip due to some persistent muscle/tendon aches and pains that needed attending by a physio and doctor back home. These problems made long walks, hiking or kayaking difficult.
We hope to get better clarity on the aches and pains and to be able to go back out on Pelagia late August or more likely September. And by then the Summer crowds will have substantially decreased.
[Photos to come.]