West Coast Vancouver Island

West Side of Vancouver Island Flotilla | Day 10 | Yuquot (Friendly Cove) to Hot Springs Cove

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We were pleasantly surprised when we awoke to…no fog!! We left Yuquot at 6:00 a.m. and headed for Estevan Point. Environment Canada predicted variable winds 5-15 knots. Windy showed southeast winds in the 10-15 knot range, a little worse but we didn’t think it would be too bad. Best of all, the weather reporting station at Estevan Point showed southeast winds of just six knots. Airship left a little earlier … Read more

West Side of Vancouver Island Flotilla | Day 9 | Tahsis to Yuquot (Friendly Cove)

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Some of our group went into town for a tour of the salmon hatchery. There were no fish there at this time, but the community is quite proud of their volunteer-run hatchery and it really showed. After the hatchery tour, we got on our way and headed for Yuquot/Friendly Cove. As we got further out of the inlet, the fog cleared and we even got some bright sun for a … Read more

West Side of Vancouver Island Flotilla | Day 8 | Nuchatlitz to Tahsis

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Nuchatlitz was super foggy this morning as the group made their way through the narrow, winding exit. Eventually (once we were pretty far up Tahsis Inlet) the fog cleared! The entrance to the Westview Marina & Lodge is a little tricky if you don’t know what you’re looking for. You make a 180 degree turn around this first log breakwater, then another 180 degree turn around that second one to get … Read more

West Side of Vancouver Island Flotilla | Day 7 | Walters Cove, Rugged Point, Nuchatlitz

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We exited Walters Cove around 9:00 a.m. and headed through some fog toward Rugged Point.  Our plan was to temporarily anchor in the small bay at Rugged Point and dinghy to shore for a hike across to the beach on the other side. We had about 10 knots of wind in the bay and the fog looked like it was starting to burn off. Rugged Point is appropriately named. Gnarled … Read more

West Side of Vancouver Island Flotilla | Day 6 | Bunsby Islands to Walters Cove/Kyuquot

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The narrow entrance to Walters Cove is a fun navigational challenge. The channel is well-charted and well-marked, but it’s narrow and winding. Looking in from the outside, the buoys look more like a random sprinkling of green and red than a defined channel. The chart clarifies the path, but it can still be intimidating. Inside Walters Cove, we found the public dock almost empty, with ample room for the whole … Read more

West Side of Vancouver Island Flotilla | Day 5 | Columbia Cove to the Bunsby Islands

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Today’s cruise was a short one — only 8nm or so from Columbia Cove to the Bunsby Islands. We anchored in the northernmost (slightly larger) anchorage, then took the drone up for some quick aerials before going exploring. By dinghy, we found a small island with a nice landing beach so we went ashore and found some great tide pools! We saw quite a few of these in the intertidal. … Read more

West Side of Vancouver Island Flotilla | Day 4 | Klaskish Basin to Columbia Cove

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Brooks Peninsula is one of the most challenging sections of a trip around Vancouver Island. Actually, it may be the single most challenging spot on the whole west coast, from Olympia to Skagway. The problem is that it juts a dozen miles seaward from the Vancouver Island shore. Wind funnels around Cape Cook and Solander Island. When the rest of the coast is reporting light winds, it’s not uncommon to … Read more

West Side of Vancouver Island Flotilla | Day 3 | North Harbour to Klaskish Basin

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We left North Harbour about 8:00 a.m. for the relatively short run to Klaskish Basin. A couple of black/white fog and tree photos on our way out of North Harbour: This route crosses the mouth of Quatsino Sound, and we’d hoped for calm morning conditions. Instead, we found 15-knot outflow winds meeting a low westerly swell. The seas didn’t look that bad, but they were confused and resulted in a … Read more