Posts In The “North America Pacific Coast” Category
The Hakai Luxvbalis Conservancy Area is situated off the mainland coast just north of Vancouver Island. At 123,000 hectares it is the largest of British Columbia’s numerous marine parks and comprises literally hundreds of islands and islets. This is the B.C. coast in all its glory, with something for everyone: mountains, rapids, wildlife, lagoons, lazy…
We wound our way slowly through the entrance to Prideaux Haven just before sunset. It was one week before Christmas and the cove, normally so crowded during the summer months, stood silent and empty. We felt caught in M.Wylie Blanchet’s book We would not have been surprised by the arrival of her Caprice, piloted by…
Jutting northward from Kildidt Sound deep into Hunter Island in the Hakai Conservation Study Area, Kildidt Inlet extends roughly three nautical miles before branching into two secluded lagoons connected by a narrow channel studded with islets. The waterways are a joy to explore, but entry is blocked by the perilous Kildidt Narrows, where 12-kt tidal…
It wasn’t until last summer that we even entertained the prospect of cruising the west coast of Vancouver Island. It’s completely exposed to the Pacific Ocean and receives some really nasty weather. Even on very good days there is a constant ocean swell, and on very bad days ships go down and lives are lost….
After a week spent over Christmas in Desolation Sound, we traveled south on Boxing Day to Princess Louisa Inlet. We considered stopping for the night at the Harmony Islands, but were eager to see Chatterbox Falls that day, so we forged ahead. It was very cold, but the mountains were so magnificent that we bundled…
In the winter of 2002, rather than our usual trip to the Gulf Islands, we instead traveled to Desolation Sound. Upon learning of our trip, everyone’s first question is always about the weather. It was cold of course — we did not spend any time sitting around in shorts — but we saw very little…
We traditionally spend Thanksgiving in the San Juan Islands. On the way up this year, we encountered a Navy chopper quite near the water surface practicing rescue maneuvers using a buoy just off Port Townsend. We could see it in the binoculars a long way off and could not figure out what it could possibly…
In the summer of 2002, we traveled to the Hakai Luxvbalis Conservancy Area (formerly designated as the Hakai Recreation Area). Hakai is on BC’s central coast, off Queen Charlotte Sound north of Vancouver Island. It’s roughly 400 nautical miles from Seattle and 200 miles from the Alaska border. Encompassing close to 123,000 hectares, Hakai is…
One morning, with the wind blowing between 30 and 40 knots from the north, we decided to find out just how rough Johnstone Strait was with an opposing max ebb current. We would discover that it was both “not so bad” and “really, really awful”—all depending upon location. We put on our inflatable PFDs, had…
When Daylight Saving Time gives our Friday evening daylight cruising period a big boost, we begin to range farther north and south of our typical winter cruising ground of the middle Puget Sound. In late April of 2002, we returned to Quartermaster Harbor which juts into the southern shore of Vashon Island and is roughly…
Those who have gone boating since the events of 9/11 have undoubtedly discovered that the waters and naval bases of the Puget Sound and surrounding areas are now much more heavily guarded than in the past, with pleasure craft coming under substantial scrutiny. If you haven’t been out since then, you will find that we…