We were up early and reluctantly left Khutze Inlet. It’s one of our favorite stops on the Inside Passage – stunning beauty, abundant wildlife, vast dinghy exploration opportunities, (and somewhat tricky anchoring). It was a long run up to Lowe Inlet – the site of a salmon cannery operation from 1890 to the 1930s. Lowe features a cool waterfall fed from Lowe Lake, (which we have previously tried to hike … Read more
It poured all evening in Bottleneck, so we didn’t get to do as much as we would have liked there, but the weather broke as we headed out early for a long-ish run up to the stunning Khutze Inlet. Khutze has an estuary surrounded by breathtaking mountains, glaciers, and waterfalls. Numerous bears hang out in the estuary throughout the summer. It’s a challenging anchorage (the first time on this trip … Read more
We left Shearwater at 5:00am in order to hit Perceval Narrows at slack, on our way to our intended destination of Rescue Bay. Conditions were great, we were making good time, and we made an on-the-water call to extend a couple more hours to Bottleneck Inlet. We’d still arrive before noon, and take two hours out of what will be a long cruising day tomorrow to Khutze Inlet. The rain … Read more
We departed Pruth Bay early to press north to Shearwater. Conditions looked good for a smooth transit. (No sun, but we can’t be too picky.) Coming out of Pruth Bay, Dog Star got some favorable sailing conditions and took advantage of them. Shearwater/Bella Bella is really the only good provisioning stop along the middle of the north coast. Things like produce are often scarce there, so it’s a bit of … Read more
We opted to leave a little later than our usual zero-dark-thirty to round Cape Caution today. Normally, the driving factor is winds, which tend to build over the course of a day. In that case, leaving early lets you get the more favorable winds (as well as the worm, of course), and gets you around Cape Caution and to your destination before any afternoon blows settle in. In this case, … Read more
This morning we cruised across Queen Charlotte to Blunden Harbour, one of our favorite staging points for rounding Cape Caution. The weather looked decent, but winds were forecast to build as the day progressed, so we got an early start. Overnighting in Boughey Bay had given us a nice route out to Queen Charlotte without having to revisit the peril of Johnstone Strait again. We were about half an hour … Read more
Today was the day to make miles down Johnstone Strait while things were good. Johnstone can be a serious menace, and we had favorable current from 6AM until noon. We figured if we popped out right at 6, we could ride the current all the way down to our turnoff from Johnstone. As a bonus, winds were predicted to be mellow (unusual for this stretch). It all turned out to … Read more
Early (5am!!) departure today, and a long day to boot! We cruised just over 60nm from our anchorage at Tribune Bay up past Campbell River, through Seymour Narrows (timed perfectly, of course), and onto Kanish Bay. It was a bit lumpy out, with some current against us as we headed north in the Strait of Georgia. We had three-foot wind waves on the bow for four hours or so. Not … Read more