A25 BC cruising blog

[11kolive]

Hello,

We owned an A25 "Leighway" in 2010 when I wrote a blog about cruising from Bellingham to Princess Louisa Inlet that described our trip through that area. It still has people reading it even after 6 years. As we continue to look for our next Albin, an A27, I thought I would share the link again with the Albin Owners here.

www.princesslouisa2010.blogspot.com

It was my first attempt at a blog so it is quite long.

[DesertAlbin736]

Keith,

I had seen a picture of your boat a couple of years ago in Google images & saved it on my hard drive in my collection of Albin 25 photos. It caught my interest because we have the same tandem Advanced Elements inflatable kayak, although we've never tried taking it along with our boat.

AlbinwithAdvancedElementsKayak.jpg

We actually just came back from making a nearly identical 45 day cruise out of Bellingham, only we trailered our boat up from Phoenix, AZ to get there. Our track was very similar to yours, except I haven't gotten around to putting a blog together or posting pics & vids on YouTube.

We launched at Squalicum Harbor on June 16 after a 1,500+ mile road trip. We stayed in a guest slip on Dock 9 until June 20th, provisioning, taking care of a fuel line leak issue on our Yanmar engine, and waiting for rainy weather to clear. Then we went to Fossil Bay on Sucia, a day stop on Jones Island, on to a night in Roche Harbor and another in Garrison Bay. On and on it went, stops in Deer Harbor & Olga on Orcas, then back to Bellingham for fuel line "banjo bolt" washers to take care of the fuel line leak that re-appeared. After a return to Bellingham for one night and a stop at Tri County Diesel engine shop for parts we ran all the way from B'ham to Reid Harbor on Stuart, then to Sidney for Canada Day on July 1st. From Sidney we went to Montague Harbor & had dinner at the Hummingbird Inn Pub, then on to Nanaimo. From Nanaimo we crossed over to Smuggler's Cove, then on to Pender Harbour.

Part of our road trip route took us through Yakima and Kennewick, as we followed an inland route from Phoenix up though Page, AZ, Salt Lake City, UT, Boise & Twin Falls, ID, and along I-84 to the turn of toward Yakima before picking up I-405 outside Seattle.

Here we're camped for a night at Columbia Sun RV Resort near Kennewick.

20160615_193644 (1024x576).jpg

After Pender we ran into trouble with our dinghy getting torn off the snap davits in rough seas in Malaspina Strait off Nelson Island, so we changed our original plans for Desolation Sound and went to Princess Louisa instead. On the way up to Chatterbox Falls we spent a night in Vancouver Bay, then the next day we stopped for a couple hours in Deserted Bay so we could time our arrive at Malibu Rapids at slack tide. On the way back we ran all the way to Egmont and stayed a night at the Government Dock, then back to Pender Harbour.

Crossing back to Nanaimo we got lucky & crossed in glassy calm conditions. Once in Nanaimo we docked at the Newcastle Island Park, then next day went out around Gabriola Island past Entrance Island Light to Silva Bay where we anchored for the night. Then Silva Bay to Ladysmith, Ladysmith to Telegraph Harbour, Telegraph to Ganges, Ganges to Winter Cove on Saturna, Winter Cove to Port Browning, Port Browing to a days stop at Poet's Cove via Pender Canal, then cleared customs in Friday Harbor, then Friday Harbor to Fisherman's Bay on Lopez (where we met Mike Almvig from Anacortes), then to Olga on Orcas Island, and finally back to Bellingham on July 31st. 573 NM all together WHEW!

So here's our Chatterbox Falls photo in almost the same spot that yours was taken six years ago. Photo taken by our flotilla mate Charles from his O'Day 25.

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And docked at Chatterbox. By then our dinghy was lost, but we still had our outboard.

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Here's our boat docked at Port Sidney Marina

20160630_182736 (1024x576).jpg

[11kolive]

La Dolce Vita,

I thought you might have just finished this loop. It is a fantastic trip and very comfortable in the Albin. We live just outside of Yakima, too bad we did not get together for coffee on your way by. Next time!

Keith

[DesertAlbin736]

Yes, too bad we didn't have a chance to meet up. Rick A, aka WillieC, drove up to Bellingham from Hood Canal & hung out with us for a bit when we first got there. We met Mike Almvig who coordinated this year's PNW rendezvous in La Connor (we didn't attend) when we crossed paths later at Fishermans Bay on Lopez Is. The Albin world is defineatly a small one! Maybe someday we can put together our own little A25 only rendezvous.

The photo in your blog of Leighway in front of Chatterbox Falls just blew me away, since our cruise mate friends took a picture of our boat in nearly the same exact place from the same angle as your boat. I mean really, what are the chances of that, considering I had never seen that photo before? The position, perspective, direction of each boat, camera angle? Couldn't have gotten a photo that close to identical to yours if we'd known about it beforehand and tried. This belongs in the annals of Albin 25 legend.

[WillieC]

I can clearly see now, that once I solve the engine woes, I MUST go to Princess Louisa Sound! I, too, read Keith's blog in detail several times.
Stand by for picture!

[11kolive]

The photos are amazingly similar! Uncanny. That was our first trip there and it was such an amazing place. We've been back twice since then.

[DesertAlbin736]

I can clearly see now, that once I solve the engine woes, I MUST go to Princess Louisa Sound!

Rick, I suppose if you were pressed for time and wanted the quickest way to Princess Louisa you could trailer up the Sunshine Coast past Vancouver, take the BC ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Hopkins Landing and continue up to Pender Harbour. Then find a launch ramp somewhere. You'd have to inquire locally to find one, they seem few and far between. I think the best bet their is at the Pender Harbour Port Authority government dock near Madiera Park. From there Chatterbox Falls is 105 NM round trip, an easy 2 day/1 night run using Agamemnon Channel as a short cut to Jervis Inlet. You could stop overnight at Egmont (marinas, docks, fuel, provisions) or split the distance nearly even by going up to Vancouver Bay, (no services, anchor out only).

Taking your boat on the ferry would be somewhat costly, but much less time than going by boat all the way from Hood Canal or even trailering to Bellingham or Anacortes.

[11kolive]

Yes, there is a ramp at Madiera Park right by the Marina office. It would be an easy cruise to PL from there.

[DesertAlbin736]

That would be here, the government dock at Madiera Park

[11kolive]

That's the place and the boat with the green canvas was was the crab guy that showed me the quickest way to crack and clean crab.