Columbia Cove

Day 9 | West Side of Vancouver Island Flotilla | Winter Harbour to Columbia Cove

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Around Brooks! This is one of the more significant milestones of the trip around Vancouver Island, and the weather has not been particularly cooperative this year. Wind this morning looked ideal. The forecasts called for single digit speeds and the early morning observations at Solander Island and Quatsino Lightstation backed that up. Our concern, though, was the swell. The wind has been blowing for several days and it continues to … Read more

Circumnavigating Vancouver Island Flotilla | Day 12 | Columbia Cove to Rugged Point to Nuchatlitz

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Today looked like the last day of calm. We’ve quickly grown spoiled by the windless days in the ocean and we decided to use this last day of calm to jump down the coast to Esperanza Inlet and Nootka Sound. This meant skipping the Bunsby Islands and Walters Cove. We didn’t wantto skip them, but several factors weighed on our minds. We’re running a bit behind schedule after the weather … Read more

Circumnavigating Vancouver Island Flotilla | Day 11 | North Harbour to Columbia Cove

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We’d departed North Harbour between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. for the trip around Brooks Peninsula. It’s not a particularly long trip—about 36nm—and the forecast didn’t look like morning would be any calmer than afternoon, but we wanted to leave ample time for exploring Columbia Cove once we arrived. Crossing the mouth of Quatsino Sound was the bumpiest part of the day. No wind, just some confused swells. We motored through … 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

Brooks Peninsula and Columbia Cove | West Side of Vancouver Island

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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