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BRITISH COLUMBIA CRUISE NOTES
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John and Lorraine Littlewood have been sending us notes, updates and corrections, and here is their latest contribution. Occasionally I've added my own thoughts, but I don't think they get in the way. -- Bob Hale
Hi Bob,
Some notes from our last trip for your interest. As usual, the Waggoner was an invaluable tool on board and just plain fun to read. The color is perfect and greatly enhances the presentation. We never send photos because yours are so great. Next year, the Queen Charlottes, hopefully.
Best wishes,
John & Lorraine
Cruising Notes for Waggoner
6/19/05 - 7/7/05
6/22/05 Our first rounding of Cape Caution and we were way too close! We tried to cut the corner (coming direct from Port McNeill) and came around about ½ nm from land, where we hit the shallows and steep seas. We should have been at least 1 nm to 1.5 nm offshore (as we were on our uneventful return). We were tempted to save some time and it was dumb.
We anchored for the night in Fly Basin, inside Takush Harbour and, contrary to the cruising guides, anchored in the west arm instead of following the rest of the crowd (well, 3 other boats) into the inner basin proper. As a result, they shared an anchorage and we were alone in an absolutely pristine cove with a uniform mud bottom with a mid tide depth of 22’. Why no one mentions this is a mystery. I’m sure we can count on you not to pass this on.[We wouldn’t dream of it.-ed.]
6/24/05 Mail day at Dawson’s Landing. The floats were all in disarray owing to repair work, but the hospitality was first rate and the store is as you describe it: perfect and unbelievably well stocked. A delightful stop.
6/25/05 Ocean Falls. Your description was perfect-a bizarre juxtaposition of the old, the new, and everything in between. We learned that the Martin Valley community contains a substantial number of expat Yanks, Sally the wharfinger being one of them. Why, we asked? Where else can you get waterfront property at this price, was the answer. That, combined with the beauty, solitude, and the RAIN.
6/26/05 Anchored in Elcho Harbor, our principal purpose being to make a pilgrimage to Alexander Mackenzie’s rock. It was an adventure (the definition of an adventure being events that occur due to a lack of or poor planning). We anchored about 1600 on a rising tide and hopped in our tender, an 11’ RIB with a 9.9 Honda on the back for the trip out. As we arrived at the mouth of the harbor and rounded the point headed for the Rock, the flat water transformed itself into 2+foot breaking waves about 6 feet apart. Dean Channel, which we had just traversed uneventfully an hour before, attacked us with a vengeance and we arrived at the small beach to the west of the Rock wet and excited, only to find the beach gone, a product of the almost high tide and the breaking waves. Foolishly undeterred, we “landed” anyway, Lorraine filling up her boots upon debarkation, and attempted to pull the dink up into the remnants of the beach/woods, where we got it finally “secured.” Somewhat shaken, we nonetheless trekked up to the Rock and paid our respects to what can only be described as a monumental achievement by a true explorer. Lump in the throat time.
After suitably documenting the occasion, we returned to the dink to find those pesky waves now breaking over the transom of the boat, in the process inundating the Honda, leaving about 3” of water in the bottom. We got it turned around, broke out the oars, and managed to pole ourselves out into water deep enough to start the engine, which roared to life on the first pull. We got away from the shore, out into the channel, and one of the Honda’s 2 cylinders suddenly quit. We did not panic (!?), but gave the remaining cylinder full throttle, pointed the boat sort of toward the mouth of the harbor (we had to quarter the waves to avoid swamping) and drove on. About 2 hours later (my watch said 15 minutes, but was obviously malfunctioning), we reached relatively calm waters and arrived back at the mother ship an hour and 15 minutes after departure, where we emptied the dink & our boots, dried off, opened the liquor locker, and congratulated ourselves on our survival. Lessons?
- Always check the tides before you do anything on the water
- Remember how fast the wind can build in a confined channel
- Estimate wave height and compare it to the freeboard of your dink; if it exceeds, go back, unless it is a survival situation
We could have done the same trip the next morning in calm water at low tide, but were excited and anxious to fulfill one of the major purposes of our trip right now! This lapse of judgment needlessly endangered us, notwithstanding the OK outcome. A cautionary tale (adventure).
6/27/05 Shearwater. Amazing. Great service, good food, first rate amenities, reasonably priced fuel, nice people, and more improvements on the way. An absolute must stop.
6/28/05 Anchored in what Douglass call the “Bombproof Anchorage” in the McNaughton Group, just west of Hunter Island in the Hakai Park. No big deal, but getting there was really fun, as we entered the main anchorage from the north vs. from Cultus Sound to the south. This is accomplished by way of a poorly charted passage connecting what Douglass calls “Without Fear Anchorage” to the north with “Back Door Anchorage” to the south. We came in the back door! We take minor issue with both the published chart (#3786) [Chart 3786 was replaced by newer Chart 3937-ed.] and Douglass’ notes regarding the location of some hazardous rocks, but notwithstanding, the passage can be safely made at mid tide or greater with a careful bow watch and judicious use of power. I wouldn’t take a deep keel boat through at anything other than high slack and would respectfully suggest that 50+’ boats take the long way around, but this is the kind of gunkholing that makes the North Coast so special. Plan well, execute properly, and great experiences (as opposed to adventures; see above) will result. Neat.
7/1/05 Leaving Joe’s Bay in Fish Egg Inlet for the trip back around Cape Caution, we got positively hammered off the entrance to Rivers Inlet. Two to 3 meter seas topped by 3-4’ breaking wind waves are not a comfortable environment for a 28-foot Camano, and for an hour or so we were not well. I’m sure it was a combination of the ebb from Rivers Inlet meeting the swell and wind from QC Sound, but explaining it did little to make things better [Correct. Take note.-ed.]. We would have waited for a better day, except that it was the best day for the past week and forecasts were for substantially worse in the coming week. Once we passed Egg Island, things smoothed out nicely. In retrospect, we should have headed out into the middle of Fitzhugh Sound instead of hugging the east side.
7/2/05 After an uneventful rounding of Cape Caution, anchored in the Murray Labyrinth. We think of this place as our Sanctuary and are loathe to give details, other than to say that it is the finest, most pristine, wild and beautiful place we have ever been on a boat. The description of the entrance in Douglass is accurate, but the drawing/chartlet is not, and that’s all we’ll say other than it is challenging and not intuitive. Good things should be hard to get and appreciated when had.
7/5/05 A cautionary note about the winds in Johnstone Strait. The Fanny Island reports on wind speed are not indicative of winds in the strait. Because of its location at the mouth of Sunderland Channel, the readings are substantially less than what occurs in the strait proper. We recorded discrepancies of about 15 kts(!) lower than the actual wind speed. v
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