The small settlement of Walters Cove is in Kyoquot Sound, just eight miles south of the Bunsby Islands. We popped in and tied up at the public dock for a quick look around and to see if the small general store happened to be open. It wasn’t, but the woman we asked about the store hours was the store owner, and she opened it for us so we could do … Read more
The Bunsby Islands are a group of islets and islands in Checleset Bay, just seven miles south of Columbia Cove. They’re popular among cruisers and kayakers, and for good reason. Within the group there are several well-protected anchorages, lots of shoreline to explore, white shell beaches, black silty beaches, lagoons, and beautiful views out to the Pacific and back towards Vancouver Island. The short cruise from Columbia Cove was delightful. … Read more
Cruising the west side of Vancouver Island requires frequent hops in the ocean. The hops are typically short—15 to 30 nautical miles—but even a few hours in rough conditions can be awful. Three headlands can create particularly rough conditions: Cape Scott, Brooks Peninsula, and Estevan Point. Brooks is perhaps the worst of all. It juts out from Vancouver Island into the Pacific Ocean like an enormous, flat, rectangular slab. Dramatic … Read more
Quatsino Sound is the northernmost of the five sounds along the west coast of Vancouver Island. It’s also among the most developed, with many active logging operations and several communities scattered throughout (and good cell phone service!). The run from Sea Otter Cove to Quatsino Sound was easy: no wind, lazy swell. For boaters used to cruising the Inside Passage (including us), being out in the ocean is different. Even … Read more
For the last several days, we’ve been closely monitoring the weather forecasts, looking for a window to cross Queen Charlotte Sound and round Cape Scott to the west side of Vancouver Island. Environment Canada had been calling for 20-30 knot southerly winds today, diminishing to 5-15 knots tomorrow, then increasing to 15-25 the next day. But yesterday afternoon they revised the forecast. Suddenly today looked decent, with 15-25 knot winds … Read more
We left Kynumpt Harbour and cruised four nautical miles to Shearwater, where we tied up for a couple hours to do laundry, grocery shopping, and top off the fuel tanks. The grocery store was closed for restocking until 1:00 p.m. (Our lucky day! Fresh produce!) so we took advantage of the new laundry drop-and-fold service ($20 Canadian per load) while we had a late breakfast. With chores done, we headed … Read more
We left Port Stephens with no particular destination in mind. Once again, rain poured down. Given the rainfall, not much scenery was visible and riding around in the dinghy wasn’t very attractive, so we figured we’d make miles. We hate to zoom through such an interesting section of coast, but frankly, we’re ready for summer. Outside of Port Stephens conditions weren’t very summer-like. Gusty southerly wind, 1-3 foot chop, sideways … Read more
Heading south from Prince Rupert, we opted to take the “outside of the inside” route. Most boats take the most direct protected route: Grenville Channel (aka The Ditch), which runs between the mainland and Pitt Island. This is a perfectly fine route, well protected, with several scenic anchorages. The “outside of the inside” route, which runs along the west shore of Pitt Island, isn’t necessarily better, but it is different … Read more