Two Albins in Blind Bay BC

[dkircher]

We were fortunate to meet up with John and Carol (joreyn), post rendezvous in Blind Bay, British Columbia. Both couples are cruising north following the Roche Harbour annual rendezvous.

Here's a photo of Amazing Adventure and big sister, Blue Moon, moored at Blind Bay Resort. For Denise and I this has been a great cruise with several Albin sightings.

[jcollins]

Love that background scenery.

[kathylsails]

Beautiful!

[DougSea]

Very nice!!

[joreyn]

Many thanks to Dave for posting that picture. Dave and Denise were furthering Denise's "Amazing Adventure" which is to cover the entire route from Washington to Prince Rupert BC. My hat is off to the Kirchers. It's good to be bold!

We met on our return from the Broughtons, which is a large Archipelago just East of Port McNeil on Vancouver Island. For reference, the next big body of water to the North is Queen Charlotte Strait, which is usually the go/no-go point for cruisers hoping to go up to Alaska. The Broughtons, along with Desolation Sound, Georgia Strait, the Gulf islands, The San Juan Islands, and the greater Puget Sound make up what is often referred to as the Salish Sea. They really are one BIG body of water with thousands of islands. This has to be one of the top cruising grounds in the world. Think Baltic Sea, Greek Islands, New Zeeland, and the Caribbean.

We spent four weeks following the Pacific Northwest rendezvous, and it wasn't enough time. But now we have the lay of the land and with retirement coming in the next couple of years, opportunity awaits!

Cruising in these waters has been described as transiting a series of gateways. To get past each gateway, you need to plan carefully and be patient. For example, we waited for three days in Silva Bay at the North end of the Gulf Islands, because the Georgia Strait weather and sea were brutal. On the fourth day, the seas were dying down and we made our way across to Pender Harbour on BC's Sunshine Coast. We spent two nights there, and then busted our way through some big chop up to Lund. The following day was nice and the seas had calmed. We cruised a short distance to Gorge Harbour on Cortes Island which has a fabulous marina.

Leaving Desolation Sound you have to choose between two gateways. You can transit Seymour Narrows and take your chances on Johnstone Strait, or you can take an inland route and go the "the rapids." We chose the latter. Rapids are narrow areas where the tidal water rushes in and out so rapidly that it becomes impassable, kind of like some of the bays in Nova Scotia. If you go through at slack water, there is no problem, but planning around the slack becomes a challenge if you have to go through three or more of them in succession. You can hit one at slack, but not all of them. We chose to go through Yaculta Rapids a little before slack, then Gillard Passage at slack and Dent rapids a little after. It helps to have plenty of power available to force your way through, and I used the autopilot as much as possible because it recovers much faster when you get into the whirlpools and keeps you on course.

We broke it off after three rapids, and spent the night at Blind Channel resort, where we ran into Dave and Denise a couple of weeks later on our return. The next morning we transited Greene Point Rapids just before slack and then beat our way down Chancellor Channel with a 35 knot wind (called a Qualicum by the locals) on our nose. Rough! It tore my yacht club burgee right off, but the AOG burgee survived. We then turned out of Chancellor, went through Whirpool Rapids, into Sunderland Channel and eventually into the mid-section of Johnstone Strait for about a 10 mile run. Pulled into Port Harvey for a night out of the rough water.

Even though this can be challenging cruising, the key to the process is preparation. The reward is the stunning beauty of the area. And of course, at this point we were on the edge of the Broughtons, which is also a big reward. I'll post more on the Broughtons soon.

So, cruisers, this is a cruise for your bucket list. Just amazingly beautiful, rugged wilderness, with wildlife and sealife all around. There are bareboat charters to be had if you want to give it a try. I'll be happy to help any AOGers with questions.