Heading up the South Coast of British Columbia

Bedwell Harbour to Nanaimo

It was such a nice cruising day that we decided to skip anchoring in Montague Harbour off of Galiano Island and continue up Trincomali Channel on the east side of Galiano Island.  We stopped at a little bay on the south end of De Coucy island at a bay off Ruxton Channel to wait for slack at   Dodd Narrows.   We waited an hour and 15 minutes and pulled up anchor to continue up through Dodds Narrows and into Nanaimo for two nights. Our arrival time was 5:45.  8 hrs 45 min cruising time.

While in Nanaimo we did laundry and provisioning since we had no produce, and we went to the liquor store to stock up for our cruise through Canada. Grocery, Liquor store, Florist shop and Drug store are all right next to each other in the same shopping center.  We had a nice slip right near the harbour master and just around the corner from Penny’s Palapa Mexican Restaurant.  The grocery store allows you to take a cart back to the marina but they will take your id so you will return the cart.  Not a big deal since the grocery is just a few blocks away.  I bought a beautiful bouquet of white Peonies to enjoy on the boat. 

I love the promenade that runs along the Nanaimo waterfront.  Bosun and I had several walks on it and it was bustling with people and the shops were open late into the evening (10 pm) to take advantage of the nice weather.  I saw many adults and kids walking with ice cream cones.  What a delightful city.

Nanaimo over Whiskey Gulf to Squirrel Cove

We left Nanaimo on Saturday June 8th at 6:00 am after 2 nights in Nanaimo.  It was a calm sunny day.  We had been trying to determine if Whiskey Gulf is active.  For those of you who do not know; Whiskey Golf is a deepwater range that is used by the Canadian Navy and United States Navy to test torpedoes and other navel ship systems.  The area is marked on the navigation charts.  You can easily go around the designated area, but it is much faster to cruise across it if you want to travel east to northeast.

We tried to call the status line number but got no answer.  Nor did VHF channel 10 answer when we hailed it.  The VHF weather channel usually announces it but it did not when we listened to it.  Finally, we just used VHF coast guard channel 16 to ask the status of Whiskey Gulf and they were able to tell us it was not active.

We had a good weather but a little rocking travelling across Georgia Strait due to light wind and waves.  Once we crossed and turned north up Malaspina Strait on the east side of Texada Island the water calmed down.

Right after lunch as we were cruising north Don got very ill.  He was vomiting over the side of the boat.  We had him sit down and relax as I took the helm cruising up to Squirrel Cove in Desolation Sound.   

Squirrel Cove through Dent Rapids to Shoal Bay

Sunday June 9th we left at 4:00 am so we could get to Dent Rapids by slack turn to ebb at 6:50. Currents here run to 9 knots so timing is everything!  Other times when we cruised through Dent Rapids, we would see a colony of Sea Lyons out sunning themselves.   I call it the Sea Lyon Riviera.  I wonder what happened to them.  It was overcast that day so perhaps they slept in at another spot.

At 8:15 am we arrived at Shoal Bay on East Thurlow Island which is part of the Discovery Islands Region.  4 hrs 15 min cruising time.

Shoal Bay was the largest town on the western coast of Canada from the late 1800s to 1900 due to gold mining on the hillsides above the town and the surrounding areas.  It was the major industry until mining slowed in the early 20th century.  Then the town shifted to timber and fishing. By the 1950s the population had moved to more developed communities.

Today, Shoal Bay exists only as a small resort.  Moorage is available at the government wharf.  Bosun and I went for a nice walk.  The owners of the resort were very nice and said to let him run off lease as there was nobody around that day.  He had a blast on the trails, wadding in the streams, and rolling in the grass.  What a delightful day.

Shoal Bay to Green Point Rapids, Whirlpool rapids to Lagoon Cove

We departed Shoal Bay on Monday, June 10th at 6:00 am under overcast skies and mid 50’s temperature.  I’m sure you are wondering why cruising is considered relaxing when you have to get up early so often to leave.  We needed to time going through Green Point Rapids which has currents up to 7 knots.  We went through just after slack and we rode the ebb out to Wellbore Channel where we met up with Whirlpool Rapids. 

Whirlpool rapids have currents to 7 knots which cause whirlpools, upwellings and back eddies.  The best time to transit is within one-half hour of slack.  We studied the current and how the water looked before deciding to go because we were there 2 hours after slack.  We had a great ride!  It is difficult to time multiple rapids on the same day.  If it had looked bad, we would have holed up somewhere until the appropriate time to go through.

We continued on Sunderland Channel into Johnstone Strait then turned up into Havannah Channel.  Normally we would have stopped and anchored in Port Harvey, but it was such a beautiful day we decided to continue.  We got to Chatham Channel which also is suggested to transit at slack tide.  We have used this channel several times and the channel is well charted.  The south end has 2 ranges to use for navigation.  Once through the channel we turned to transit The Blow Hole to then go into the Lagoon Cove Marina.  You must be careful going through The Blow Hole because the passage is shallow and there are lots of reefs.  We went through at a fairly low tide which is always a little scary.  We arrived at 12.25 pm.  6 hrs 25 min cruising time.

It was so nice to be at Lagoon Cove Marina; one of our favorite marinas.  It is very relaxing to be there, and they have some nice hiking trails that Bosun and I did everyday we were there which turned out to be 3 nights.  They have a fun 5:00 happy hour with a large bowl of fresh boiled shrimp and each boat that wants to participate brings an appetizer.  Those evenings we never need to have dinner.  We really enjoyed talking to other boaters about their plans and past experiences. 

I let Bosun off leash on the trails so he would run ahead and then circle back to see what was taking me so long.  He loves to go bushwacking through the undergrowth which worries me a little.  I don’t want him to go flying off a slope.  He slept well those 3 nights.