Our goal this summer was to expand our cruising beyond Desolation Sound. Last year out of respect to our First Nations communities, we didn’t feel comfortable venturing further north into the more remote villages. The rules now have relaxed and the Covid numbers are inversely proportional to the vaccination rates… so off we go.. beyond Desolation…. just how far remains to be seen!
We left Walsh Cove and headed to Rebecca Spit on Quadra Island. This anchorage would afford us the opportunity to get fuel and top up the provisions. We needed more gas for sure; with the bigger outboard we find we are using the dinghy to travel further and faster.. all in the search of prawns and salmon! As we approached Rebecca Spit, I thought there must be a tug and log boom in the entrance, but no.. it was just a huge number of deadheads from all the recent high tides. We had to carefully pick our way through to find a spot to drop the hook.
We left the next day at the start of the heat wave and heading north to Waiatt Bay and the Octopus Islands. We timed the ebb tide well and had nearly 2 knots of current adding to our speed. We got to Surge Narrows early and went through with about 3.5knots of current. We ended up doing nearly 10 knots speed over ground!
The next couple of days were brutally hot and the only respite was to jump into the water to cool off…. multiple times in the day! The temperature in the cabin was nearly 100 F and fortunately the fans worked well to make it bearable. Kayaking was also very enjoyable and much cooler than sitting on the boat.
We like to choose anchorages off the beaten track so our next stop was Handfield Bay off Nodales Channel. The trip there had to be planned to deal with yet another rapid – Okisollo Channel. We took the dinghy out the night before to see the rapids running at their peak and it sounded like a big waterfall with the rushing water and whirlpools. These rapids are not to be taken lightly as the max flow can be 11 knots! We timed our passage the next day carefully at slack tide and the only hazard to avoid was a very large tug and barge!
We stayed several nights and other than one night we were the only boat in the bay. It felt so remote here. We were told there could be bears on shore but didn’t see any..just some old bear poop! The bay is a secure anchorage so even when the wind picked up to nearly 25 knots our anchor held solid. The wind was noisy and kept us awake but no risk to boat or crew. There wasn’t much in the way of hiking trails so we opted to kayak for our exercise.
Next for the crew was the “unofficial Spruce Harbour Rendezvous” at Big Bay on Stuart Island. We were able to keep in touch with MV November Rain via our Iridium email and knew they were planning to stop there so we thought we would join them. MV Remedy were also there so lots of laughs, great food and waaaay to much wine/spirits was consumed by all! The salmon sushi and sake night was a big hit along with a ling vs rock cod cerviche taste test!
The docks at Big Bay are run by the Stuart Island Community Association. No power, but great water and the docks looked very new. They have a very small store that is open M/W/F and coin operated laundry. The weather, fishing, company and the scenery managed to keep us tied to the dock for 5 nights! Apparently most of the island is owned by the “rich & famous” as evidenced by the neighbour’s yacht tied up to his private dock next door!
It was nice to be able to get some hiking in as our legs were in serious need of major stretching. One of the longer trails goes across the island to Basset Bay. The views up Bute Inlet from that bay were spectacular. The water was warm close to shore and there may or may not have been some skinny dippers there! Sorry no pics of that but safe to say after the hot sweaty hike, it felt awesome! Part way along the trail there is Eagle Lake. Looking at the pics I think you can see how it gets it’s name!
Lots of beavers here too 
Brian’s fishing luck persisted at Big Bay and he retained the title of the 15 min fisherman. We went out for half an hour one day and each caught a ling cod and he repeated that the next day. I was glad that he then seemed to loose his touch because after the salmon and now the cod, the freezer was really bursting at the seams. We will have to eat some up quickly if we are to have room for prawns later in the Broughtons.
After leaving Big Bay we had a series of short hops that were carefully timed for the rapids and currents. One has to watch the wind, tides and currents carefully. We were even up at 0400 with anchor up at 0500 one day to catch the ebb tides in Johnstone Strait and to avoid winds. Leaving early and with current seemed to work well for us and we didn’t encounter any of the big waves in the strait that can make the passage very uncomfortable.
Mist leaving Cutter Cove 
Going through Green Pointe 
We traversed Dent, Gillard and Green Point Rapids on our way to Forward Harbour and then Chatham Channel rapids to Cutter Cove. Loved Forward Harbour but won’t stay at Cutter again. Lots of wind at all the wrong angles and high wind speeds made for a restless night. We left early the next morning for Mound Island. It was a tricky passage navigating the reefs in the aptly named Beware Passage. Mound was a nice anchorage with lots of scenic islets.
We are now in Port McNeil and will leave in the am to explore the Broughtons. The weather pattern seems to be holding well… misty cloudy mornings with no wind and as the day clears the wind builds in the late afternoon. Temperatures are very pleasant 18 – 20 C. We have yet to see any appreciable rain since early June in Prideaux Haven. We are fully stocked with groceries, clean laundry, fuel and looking forward to exploring some places we have never been before. Stay tuned!
SV Cariba 