Awoke to thick fog and a gentle mist, so enjoyed a lazy morning. Gary & Lenore picked up a couple more nice crabs in one of their pots. We headed south towards Sullivan Bay around noon, the mist and fog looking like gauze and spider webs gently draping the islands, and the seas flat calm.
We arrived at Sullivan Bay after a pleasant 4 hour cruise, where I spent the rest of the late afternoon struggling to upload pictures. Finally gave up part way through in favor of cocktail hour, finishing instead the next morning. After dinner Lenore and Linda killed the guys at WII bowling once and for all, then watched another episode of Planet Earth.
Sunday, the 27th (I have to look on a calendar to see the day of the week) was a cloudy, lazy morning. We watched some dolphins playing in the bay then enjoyed a goodbye lunch at the restaurant with Gary & Lenore. They’re heading out to anchor in Turnbull Cove while we begin a push south to join Mirage, SeaJay and other RHYC friends for an annual pre-RHYC Colors cruise get-together at Sucia Island.
We cruised slowly on to Matilpa, an abandoned Indian village in Havannah Channel, hoping to anchor there for an early morning run down Johnstone Straits. Finding it fairly full with other boats planning the same thing, we anchored instead in Burial Cove across the way. There were some cabins on shore so it didn’t seem too haunted, and with the weather clearing it was actually quite lovely. As we left Sullivan lots of boats were pulling in giving us our first indication that a good-sized storm was approaching. Coming out of the Gulf of Alaska it was apparently one of the lowest pressure readings ever seen in the summer. Anchoring out was a risk, but the Timm’s and we calculated that the storm wouldn’t arrive until at least mid-morning the following day. Hence, the decision for an early morning run down the Straits.
As we prepared our dinner of cracked crab and clam pasta Glen Dodge called. They’d safely made the Cape Caution crossing, also running to stay ahead of the impending storm, and had arrived in Port Hardy. It was great talking to him and we’re sorry to have just missed, but they’ll try to hook up with the Timm’s somewhere in the Broughton
Islands.
On the 28th indeed we were up at 5:30am and along with the other boats anchored at Matilpa, headed south. It was actually a pretty morning, though an unseasonably cold 48*. Johnstone Straits offered no more than rippled seas, so rather than duck into Sunderland Channel we went on down to Mayne Channel, thus avoiding W
hirlpool and Green Point Rapids.
A word about these crossings and rapids we discuss, for those of you not familiar with Inside Passage boating: There are a series of open water crossings and rapid water flows that must be transited to reach different cruising areas. From Seattle the major crossings include the Straits of Juan de Fuca, separating Washington State from British Columbia (although these can be avoided through a longer route behind Whidbey Island), the Straits of Georgia, heading from the Gulf Islands to the Desolation Sound area, the Johnstone Straits, connecting an area just north of Desolation to the Broughton archipelago, and the “dreaded” Cape Caution, connecting the Broughtons with the very remote northern B.C. coast. Each crossing is increasingly more challenging and very much weather dependent, the advantage being that this keeps the majority of boats south. In rough weather or as the typical northwest winds rise in the afternoon, you just don’t want to be there. If going clear to Alaska you also cross Dixon Entrance between Prince Rupert, B.C. and Ketchikan.
The rapids, on the other hand, are not weather dependent, but time dependent. As I write this it’s the 29th and the storm is finally upon us. The rain and wind have us glad to be “inside” and not attempting any crossings, but we are going down through Dent and Yuculta Rapids. These you don’t want to do in anything other than slack or near slack water (when the tides change from low to high or high to low and the currents slow for their change). If attempted, the whirlpools and over-falls would give your boat more of a dangerous amusement park ride than a cruise. Even now, just past slack in Yuculta, we’re twisting and turning a bit.
We were up early again this morning to head down to Cortez Bay and the SYC outstation there. We’ll have to hold up there for the day and night as the crossing down the Straits of Georgia sounds a bit too lumpy, as the Canadians say.
Yesterday, we arrived at Cordero Lodge at 11:00am then immediately let down the dinghy to go fishing. Though cloudy and cool, the rain hadn’t begun and the breeze was still light. We ran about 7 miles over to Denham Bay, fishing but not catching for about 3 hours. Lots of guide boats were there as well but no one got so much as a bite. It could be the salmon were still spooked from the pod of orcas we understand were there feeding earlier in the day. As we headed back to the Lodge, the rain and wind were just beginning. Cordero’s a good place to be in nasty weather, though, offering a warm and welcoming German dining experience. We enjoyed a dinner of schnitzel and sauerbraten, joined at our table by Chris and Toula on Bon Echo, a retired couple living in Nanaimo.
An update just before attempting my upload: we arrived safely in Cortez Bay and here ran into Don & Mary Simpson. We were lucky to get a space just as another boat left. We can’t imagine why he left because the entrance into the bay from around Mary Point in Desolation Sound was nasty. There were 4 foot seas coming up from the Georgia Straits, so we went well south into them before turning into the bay in order to minimize beam seas. The seas were so steep, though, and running so fast that they surfed us in, causing us to slip down the side, yaw and then roll uncomfortably far. A roll too far turns into a broach, something we’ve experienced and don’t ever want to again. Desolation Sound is normally so settled this time of year! Luckily that didn’t last more than a few minutes, but it got my heart pounding. Early tomorrow we’re hoping the storm settles enough to allow our run down the Straits of Georgia. If not, dear RHYC friends, you’ll know we tried.
We arrived at Sullivan Bay after a pleasant 4 hour cruise, where I spent the rest of the late afternoon struggling to upload pictures. Finally gave up part way through in favor of cocktail hour, finishing instead the next morning. After dinner Lenore and Linda killed the guys at WII bowling once and for all, then watched another episode of Planet Earth.Sunday, the 27th (I have to look on a calendar to see the day of the week) was a cloudy, lazy morning. We watched some dolphins playing in the bay then enjoyed a goodbye lunch at the restaurant with Gary & Lenore. They’re heading out to anchor in Turnbull Cove while we begin a push south to join Mirage, SeaJay and other RHYC friends for an annual pre-RHYC Colors cruise get-together at Sucia Island.
We cruised slowly on to Matilpa, an abandoned Indian village in Havannah Channel, hoping to anchor there for an early morning run down Johnstone Straits. Finding it fairly full with other boats planning the same thing, we anchored instead in Burial Cove across the way. There were some cabins on shore so it didn’t seem too haunted, and with the weather clearing it was actually quite lovely. As we left Sullivan lots of boats were pulling in giving us our first indication that a good-sized storm was approaching. Coming out of the Gulf of Alaska it was apparently one of the lowest pressure readings ever seen in the summer. Anchoring out was a risk, but the Timm’s and we calculated that the storm wouldn’t arrive until at least mid-morning the following day. Hence, the decision for an early morning run down the Straits.
As we prepared our dinner of cracked crab and clam pasta Glen Dodge called. They’d safely made the Cape Caution crossing, also running to stay ahead of the impending storm, and had arrived in Port Hardy. It was great talking to him and we’re sorry to have just missed, but they’ll try to hook up with the Timm’s somewhere in the Broughton
Islands.On the 28th indeed we were up at 5:30am and along with the other boats anchored at Matilpa, headed south. It was actually a pretty morning, though an unseasonably cold 48*. Johnstone Straits offered no more than rippled seas, so rather than duck into Sunderland Channel we went on down to Mayne Channel, thus avoiding W
hirlpool and Green Point Rapids.A word about these crossings and rapids we discuss, for those of you not familiar with Inside Passage boating: There are a series of open water crossings and rapid water flows that must be transited to reach different cruising areas. From Seattle the major crossings include the Straits of Juan de Fuca, separating Washington State from British Columbia (although these can be avoided through a longer route behind Whidbey Island), the Straits of Georgia, heading from the Gulf Islands to the Desolation Sound area, the Johnstone Straits, connecting an area just north of Desolation to the Broughton archipelago, and the “dreaded” Cape Caution, connecting the Broughtons with the very remote northern B.C. coast. Each crossing is increasingly more challenging and very much weather dependent, the advantage being that this keeps the majority of boats south. In rough weather or as the typical northwest winds rise in the afternoon, you just don’t want to be there. If going clear to Alaska you also cross Dixon Entrance between Prince Rupert, B.C. and Ketchikan.
The rapids, on the other hand, are not weather dependent, but time dependent. As I write this it’s the 29th and the storm is finally upon us. The rain and wind have us glad to be “inside” and not attempting any crossings, but we are going down through Dent and Yuculta Rapids. These you don’t want to do in anything other than slack or near slack water (when the tides change from low to high or high to low and the currents slow for their change). If attempted, the whirlpools and over-falls would give your boat more of a dangerous amusement park ride than a cruise. Even now, just past slack in Yuculta, we’re twisting and turning a bit.
We were up early again this morning to head down to Cortez Bay and the SYC outstation there. We’ll have to hold up there for the day and night as the crossing down the Straits of Georgia sounds a bit too lumpy, as the Canadians say.
Yesterday, we arrived at Cordero Lodge at 11:00am then immediately let down the dinghy to go fishing. Though cloudy and cool, the rain hadn’t begun and the breeze was still light. We ran about 7 miles over to Denham Bay, fishing but not catching for about 3 hours. Lots of guide boats were there as well but no one got so much as a bite. It could be the salmon were still spooked from the pod of orcas we understand were there feeding earlier in the day. As we headed back to the Lodge, the rain and wind were just beginning. Cordero’s a good place to be in nasty weather, though, offering a warm and welcoming German dining experience. We enjoyed a dinner of schnitzel and sauerbraten, joined at our table by Chris and Toula on Bon Echo, a retired couple living in Nanaimo.
An update just before attempting my upload: we arrived safely in Cortez Bay and here ran into Don & Mary Simpson. We were lucky to get a space just as another boat left. We can’t imagine why he left because the entrance into the bay from around Mary Point in Desolation Sound was nasty. There were 4 foot seas coming up from the Georgia Straits, so we went well south into them before turning into the bay in order to minimize beam seas. The seas were so steep, though, and running so fast that they surfed us in, causing us to slip down the side, yaw and then roll uncomfortably far. A roll too far turns into a broach, something we’ve experienced and don’t ever want to again. Desolation Sound is normally so settled this time of year! Luckily that didn’t last more than a few minutes, but it got my heart pounding. Early tomorrow we’re hoping the storm settles enough to allow our run down the Straits of Georgia. If not, dear RHYC friends, you’ll know we tried.
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