This was our first visit to Mound Island with a flotilla. Mound Island is a small island in a cluster of islands near the west end of the Broughtons. It was nicely situated for our planned trip across Queen Charlotte Strait in preparation for rounding Cape Caution in a couple days. There is ample dinghy exploring available through the maze of little islands and rocks and small shallow and intertidal … Read more
Queen Charlotte Sound—rounding Cape Caution—is probably the most significant of the “gates” along the Inside Passage. Here, every vessel is forced from behind the shelter of Vancouver Island into the open Pacific for 40 miles. Since we left the Gulf Islands, we’ve been looking ahead for our opportunity to round Cape Caution. Tomorrow looks to be the day, so this morning we put the Broughtons behind us and headed northwest … Read more
We awoke to very different weather than we’ve had: overcast, temps in the high 40s, and light mist. The wind was also blowing, still from the northwest but at 15-25 knots, building to 25-35 knots. Given the wind, we chose the “inside” route around the east side of Gilford Island to get to Pierre’s. This is a little longer than the “outside” route, but it minimizes time spent in Knight … Read more
Today we left the Broughtons. We’re constantly amazed at how quickly the miles tick by. A week after leaving the San Juans, we’re further north than many cruisers make it in a lifetime. Granted, our cruise thus far has skipped plenty of outstanding destinations, but that’s only because there are so many to see further up the coast. A week out, we’ve covered about a quarter of the distance to … Read more
Our cruise from Port Harvey to Pierre’s Echo Bay (33nm) was easy and calm. We planned to head west in Knight Inlet and then around the west side of Gilford Island, but the morning weather reports gave us some pause. The northwesterly hadn’t died down in Johnstone Strait during the night. With a 20 knot northwesterly, we worried Knight Inlet might be uncomfortable. The alternative route, through Tribune Channel, is … Read more