Circumnavigating Vancouver Island

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by Jesse

Has anyone included the timing for a smooth crossing of Nawitti Bar and a full 12hrs of daylight to reach Winter Harbor? There are a limited number of days to do this, if I'm reading my tides and currents correctly they would be July 13~16 28~31 August 12~15 27~28 and after that you get pounded by Nawitti Bar or run out of daylight. In a pinch neap tides over the bar are much kinder to the crew, please don't ask how I learned this.
Jesse

Crossing the Nahwitti is no problem. Simply cross at a high water slack. You will then get an ebb that will accelerate your trip to Scott Channel. Only once have I had to go around through Gordon Channel.

Weather is a whole other story. In Port Hardy I download the NOAA weatherfax, grib files, and Environment Canada forecasts.

If you cannot make Winter Harbour, Sea Otter Cove is an option.

I have gone into Winter Harbour in the dark. Stay close to Kains Island to miss Robson Rock. Watch your depth sounder on the way in avoid Hall Bank.

Jack

[Brent Swain]

Evergreen Cruising Giude has two chart atlasses that give you all the charts you need. The other chart atlasses available are useless.
Brent

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by Brent Swain

Evergreen Cruising Giude has two chart atlasses that give you all the charts you need. The other chart atlasses available are useless.
Brent

Just curious. Which ones do you think are useless?

The chart atlases produced by CHS (3312 and 3313) are excellent. The scale is highly appropraite and they include notes from Sailing Directions. 3311 is rather dated, but it does work.

Jack

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by newt

Will any of you be going up the inside passage the last week of May to the first week or so of June? I should be there then. How much sailing can you really do on the upper stretches? It looks like to me that you just motor a lot past Des. Sound.
BTW- Hi everyone, I am new here but kinda a old fart sailing. Thanks for letting me butt in (I hope)

We have re-scheduled our May trip. It will be May 27 to June 10. You can sail in Johnstone Strait, but it tends to be a beat. On Van Isle in 2007 we did get a nice spinnaker run in from Hardwicke Island to Telegraph Cove.

Jack

[StayRsailaway]

never been all the way around but I didn't see anyone mention Hot Springs Cove, and barkeley sound, two of my favorite places on the planet so far... bartkley(dont remember spellling) is bahamas in a northern lattitude, plenty of island hopping and flora and fauna, HSC is in the middle of nowhere the only way to get there is by ocean taxi or your own boat, and then its a 2.5 mile hike that is completely covered by 2x4's (helpful if old or out of shape)through the woods donation only (last free destination i know of). it's secluded, wait until sunset and go into the 90+ degree hot springs just watch out for those old nude sea dogs. or those young bikini girls (i have seen both) and watch the sunset/your boat/the bay as you take a 90 degree all natural shower, o yeah BTW its on the ocean side of the island...I never went inside, although I had a friend go on his way to alaska and even a meathead like him said it was nice.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by StayRsailaway

never been all the way around but I didn't see anyone mention Hot Springs Cove, and barkeley sound, two of my favorite places on the planet so far... bartkley(dont remember spellling) is bahamas in a northern lattitude, plenty of island hopping and flora and fauna, HSC is in the middle of nowhere the only way to get there is by ocean taxi or your own boat, and then its a 2.5 mile hike that is completely covered by 2x4's (helpful if old or out of shape)through the woods donation only (last free destination i know of). it's secluded, wait until sunset and go into the 90+ degree hot springs just watch out for those old nude sea dogs. or those young bikini girls (i have seen both) and watch the sunset/your boat/the bay as you take a 90 degree all natural shower, o yeah BTW its on the ocean side of the island...I never went inside, although I had a friend go on his way to alaska and even a meathead like him said it was nice.

Both Hot Springs Cove and Barkley Sound are on my itinerary. The boards to the springs are actually 2 X 8's, 42 inches long. The Park fee is now $3.00 - well spent. If we can arrive at sunrise, we head up for a dip before heading to Ucluelet. If we arrive later, we spend the night and go up after the tourists have left.

Barkley is magical: secluded anchorages, whales, sea lions and a couple of spots I will not discuss - I want to the myself. I try to spend a couple of days there. We have had some great spinnaker runs up into the Sound.

(edit) A couple of years ago we holed up for two days waiting out a gale. HSC was once called Refuge Cove, a good name.

Jack

[Amgine]

Heh...

Summer before last I waited in Oak Harbor for 5 days, waiting for a break in the Juan de Fuca winds for even an over-night dash out to Barkley. Which I also hadn't visited on my circ; the weather was perfect for a dash in through the Juan de Fuca over-night.

But I did stop in Hot Springs Cove on my circumnav - at the reservation not the park. I was able to get some fuel there, and the people were great, and it only took about 6 hours to get it and pay for it. (Bring cash. Seriously.) The park looked jammed, with more than a dozen boats and the float plane dropping in every couple hours it seemed, so I decided to give it a miss.

[Pleiades]

Michaelmrc;

If you're still interested www.pacificadventuresailing.com

John

[Pleiades]

I just completed a circumnavigation of Vancouver Island July 4 - 15, 2009 with an offshore passage on the west side 60 nm out.

If anyone is interested:

https://www.spotadventures.com/user/...e=/user/trips/

Search for "garfitt" adventures on the SPOT website link above.

Pleaides

[Amgine]

Here's a direct link to Garfitt's Circumnavigation of Vancouver Island.

Where did you get your Spot? For those who are non-Canadians, 'smokies' are the equivalent of US-style bratwurst - overgrown hot dogs. It looks like you started to head in toward the hot springs during the high winds section of the passage. Did you decide it wasn't worth approaching in the weather you were experiencing, or were there other decisions going on?

It sounds to me like your venture was grand! We're leaving in two days, but won't be circumnavigating this year (no insurance for outside.) Instead we're going to meander northward until we've gone half the days we may, then wander back.

[Pleiades]

Hello Amgine;

Our intent was to run parallel to the west coast about 60 nm out from a point off Cape Scott before entering the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We decided to stop in at Bamfield because the wind was better suited to it rather than sticking to the original, somewhat arbitrary, plan. As I said in the post, the weather was miserable and foggy, so after 3 days at sea we had had plenty of fast rough weather sailing. Since there were only two of us on board, we were also sleep deprived.

The boat handled flawlessly for the entire trip. Even in the gale we did not have to reef as we were broad reaching. It was an exilerating sail, but quite tiring.

I bought the SPOT satellite tracker at West Marine for under C$200. There is an annual subscription of US$150 which uncludes unlimited tracking.

I bought the SPOT because it was more versatile than an EPIRB, was less expensive and has the same emergency SAR beacon capability as an EPIRB via the GEOS network. The SPOT tracker coverage includes about 60% of the surface of the earth, including several hundred miles offshore of most land masses.

Three types of messages can be sent: 1) I'm OK, 2) Need non-emergency assistance, and 3) Urgency. The first two types of messages can be customized via the the user's SPOT account.

[Amgine]

Yah, I was looking at your track and it looked pretty good. Fast trip! I'm not at all surprised at how tired you were after that run. When I soloed around I hopped down the coast to Tofino, but then got a wild hair about getting back so I sailed and motored straight through from there to Point Roberts. I know that exhausted feeling!

I'm thinking about getting the SPOT myself, for many of the reasons you mentioned plus the nice web interface for friends and family. Not sure yet though... it will depend on finances at the end of tomorrow.

[Pleiades]

I have some further thoughts on circumnavigation of Vancouver Island that I'd like to share.

For me, the highlight and focus of the voyage was the offshore leg. The slog up the Inside Passage (Johnstone Strait etc) is the price you have to pay for that experience. From a learning perspective, there is little value in that part of the voyage, in my opinion. I prefer to be out of sight of land rather than hopping from harbour to harbour along the west side of Vancouver Island.

Since I am operating these expeditions as adventure sail training courses up to the Yachtmaster Ocean level, want to be able to offer the best value for the time and monetary investment of my students. I think they would get more out of sailing out of Vancouver through the Gulf and San Juan Islands, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and then head a couple of hundred miles out into the Pacific before turning inshore to say Barkley Sound and then returning to Vancouver. That way they would get the maximum benefit of navigating the islands, and, having perfected their skill, would be ready for the offshore portion. I think that is how I will run future Vancouver Island and local Pacific Ocean training expeditions.

Please visit www.pacificadventuresailing.com to appreciqate where I'm coming from, and what I want to offer.

[Amgine]

I guess my experiences on the ocean are such that I know the deep blue water is easy - it's just a question of endurance, keeping the boat moving and maintaining it. Stunningly simple if you have a boat and steering system you can put your trust in. (And if you've got a good weather window, which rarely happens I know.)

The inside passage, though, is exercises in piloting and navigation I find far more frustrating and challenging. Timing the arrival at narrow passages and channels to align with the tides and currents - especially the latter. Fighting with gap winds, and every other sort of wind twists and variants in the channels and fjords. Some days you get up and the weather just *works*, with a run or broad reach every time. Some days you give it up and motor or you'll still be within sight of last night's anchorage at sundown.

I think both kinds of sailing are necessary for a well-rounded skipper, but I wouldn't give up my first Pacific offshore passage for anything. The excitement of leaving land had us all awake for 48 or more hours, and then we crashed and got seasick as dogs.

[richard_wb]

Pleiades, when you sailed offshore down the west coast, did you avoid the large military exercise area that charts show exists over much of the offshore waters?