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Bess-C
Joined: 03 Nov 2003 Posts: 459 City/Region: Anacortes
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2003
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Bess-C
Photos: Bess-C
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Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2004 12:56 am Post subject: Vancouver Island's West Coast in a C-Dory |
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Brock, thanks for asking about our trip. The west coast of Vancouver Island is my favorite place, we've been going there for 15-20 years with and without a boat. I saw my first C-Dory there (a red 16'), and I think it is a perfect place to cruise with a C-Dory.
We took the ferry from Tsawassan to Nanaimo and stayed in Nanaimo the first night. I've had several C-Brats ask about the cost of the ferry. It is a little steep. The cost for the 25' our vehicle and two people was approximately $125 each way. We then went to Tofino and stayed at the 4th Street Dock for the first week.
If you haven't been there before, it's kind of hard to describe Tofino. It's a fishing village that has been transformed into a tourist destination. There is a thriving counterculture group, surfers, German tourists, French Canadians, sport fishermen and a few folks that are circumnavigating the island on their boats. It has 4 or 5 great restaurants. The 4th St dock is pretty run down, but an interesting place to stay. It doesn't feel like you're in an upscale tourist destination while moored there. From there we explored Clayoquot Sound. Once away from the dock, you have most of the Sound pretty much to yourself. It is approximately 20 miles across from south to north. There are great coves to spend the night in, usually you're the only one there. Lots of islands to explore. This year the salmon fishing was great. To quote a commercial fisherman it was "the best year in living memory" for salmon in Tofino. Even though we were at the tail end of the season, there were lots of springs (chinook) and coho left. The weather is usually best in August, but we had a lot of good weather the first week of September.
The second week of our vacation, we trailered 20 miles south to the town of Ucluelet. This town is on the northern edge of Barkley Sound. Barkley Sound is again about 20 miles north to south, with the Broken Island Group in the middle of it. Ucluelet's small boat basin is a great headquarters for the area. A beautiful area, we especially liked Bamfield which is at the southern edge of the Sound. Beautiful little town built around sportfishing and other water activities.
I could go on for way to long about this area. I recommend it as a cruising destination for any C-Dory. You can have a much more remote, wild experience than the more developed San Juan's, yet it's a relatively safe area to boat in with boats the size of all of the C-Dorys. If anyone wants to explore the area, I'll give you what knowledge I have. There are others here who have a better knowledge of the Barkley Sound area and fishing opportunities.
Lyle _________________ Bess-C 25 C-Dory sold 6/09
Bessie 46 Westcoast 6/09
Baby Dory 14 C-Dory 3/11
17 Center Console C-Dory 10/16 |
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Pat Anderson
Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 8553 City/Region: Birch Bay, WA
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2005
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Daydream
Photos: Daydream and Crabby Lou
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Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2004 1:01 am Post subject: Re: Vancouver Island's West Coast in a C-Dory |
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Lyle - would you take your boat up the west side of Vancouver Island to Tofino from a launch, say, in Anacortes?
Bess-C wrote: | Brock, thanks for asking about our trip. The west coast of Vancouver Island is my favorite place, we've been going there for 15-20 years with and without a boat. I saw my first C-Dory there (a red 16'), and I think it is a perfect place to cruise with a C-Dory. |
_________________
DAYDREAM - CD25 Cruiser
CRABBY LOU - CD16 Angler (sold 2020)
Pat & Patty Anderson, C-Brat #62!
http://daydreamsloop.blogspot.com
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Bess-C
Joined: 03 Nov 2003 Posts: 459 City/Region: Anacortes
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2003
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Bess-C
Photos: Bess-C
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Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2004 11:15 am Post subject: |
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Hi Pat,
I don't think I would. I don't have enough experience on the open ocean. There are several long stretches where you can't get off of the ocean if conditions deteriorate. Also lots of fog on that coast in the summer. There were several larger boats docked close to us that had come up from Seattle. It's a common trip for boats 35' and up.
I believe Dusty has made the trip in a 26' boat, and if Mr. Fisherman will go 50 miles west from Newport, it would just be a day trip up and back from Neah Bay for him.
Lyle |
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Catman
Joined: 30 Oct 2003 Posts: 1526 City/Region: Seattle
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2017
C-Dory Model: 23 Venture
Vessel Name: Songbird (Bambina, 16')
Photos: Bambina
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Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2004 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, Lyle, you and your photos have really set my mind in motion. How easy that is to trailer our small boats to Tofino or Ucluelet and begin a fabulous, relatively unpeopled adventure. Thanks for that. |
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TyBoo
Joined: 23 Oct 2003 Posts: 5313 City/Region: Warrenton
State or Province: OR
C-Dory Year: 1996
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruise Ship
Vessel Name: TyBoo
Photos: TyBoo
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Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2004 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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CM - Are you supposed to be dayreaming and typing and internet browsing, or are you supposed to be working? I think the latter, my friend. _________________ TyBoo Mike
Sold: 1996 25' Cruise Ship
Sold: 1987 22' Cruiser |
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B~C
Joined: 31 Oct 2003 Posts: 2861 City/Region: Bend
State or Province: OR
C-Dory Year: 1999
C-Dory Model: 22 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Blue~C
Photos: Blue~C
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Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2004 3:44 pm Post subject: |
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It's called multi-tasking Mike.....when's the Tofino C-Brat gathering? _________________ Ken
1999 22' boaterhome |
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Mr. Fisherman
Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 726
State or Province: OR
C-Dory Year: 1995
C-Dory Model: 22 Angler
Vessel Name: Sea Lion
Photos: Sea Lion
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Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2004 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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Bess-C wrote: | ... if Mr. Fisherman will go 50 miles west from Newport, it would just be a day trip up and back from Neah Bay for him.
Lyle |
well I am one to pick my days rather carefully and from what I have seen of the Northern coast I am not sure I would be able to do a trip like that without about a 3 week window in the calm summer months...
I have range for well over 200 miles without adding fuel... I sure enjoy those 12 hour days on the Ocean... _________________
Live to Fish
Fish to Live |
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Bess-C
Joined: 03 Nov 2003 Posts: 459 City/Region: Anacortes
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2003
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Bess-C
Photos: Bess-C
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Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2004 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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Ken, I'm supposed to be working too, but since I'm just back from vacation I can't get my mind and heart into it.
Brock, here's some more information for you to process while daydreaming. It is about 2 hours from Seattle to the border crossing. It is exactly 45 minutes from the border crossing to the Tsawassen ferry dock. The ferry takes two hours to Nanaimo. From Nanaimo it is one hour to Port Alberni. From Port Alberni it is about 1 1/2 hours to the west coast. The road from Port Alberni to the west coast is the adventure. It gets worse the further west that you travel. It is uneven, narrow and twisty for about 20 miles. You are traveling down a narrow curvy road at 50 mph, and you come to a sign that says narrow winding road ahead. It's laughable, but they aren't kidding. It's only about 50 miles from Port Alberni to the west coast, but it takes an hour and a half. When you get almost to the Pacific Ocean you will come to a junction. Right 20 miles takes you to Tofino and Clayoquot Sound, left 5 miles takes you to Ucluelet and Barkley Sound The stretch between the junction and Tofino is a Canadian national park with beautiful beaches. The park is occupied by surfers (surfing's become a Canadian craze), cougars and bears. Both Tofino and Ucluelet have everything that you would need for C-Dory cruising.
When you're in Ucluelet you can cross a 7 mile channel and then you are in the Broken Island group, a group of several hundred islands that are also part of the national park. Because it's a national park it is undeveloped. There are protected places to anchor there. It's very popular with kayakers and boaters in the summer. It wasn't very populated at the beginning of September.
Lyle |
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Pat Anderson
Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 8553 City/Region: Birch Bay, WA
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2005
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Daydream
Photos: Daydream and Crabby Lou
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Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2004 8:02 pm Post subject: |
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I think Daydreaming is just fine...
TyBoo wrote: | CM - Are you supposed to be dayreaming and typing and internet browsing, or are you supposed to be working? I think the latter, my friend. |
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Catman
Joined: 30 Oct 2003 Posts: 1526 City/Region: Seattle
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2017
C-Dory Model: 23 Venture
Vessel Name: Songbird (Bambina, 16')
Photos: Bambina
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Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2004 12:47 pm Post subject: |
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TyBoo wrote: | CM - Are you supposed to be dayreaming and typing and internet browsing, or are you supposed to be working? I think the latter, my friend. |
Thanks, Pat. Man, that Tyboo's filling in for my absent control freak boss: Watching, surveying, evaluating, studying my motions and choices. To both big sister and brother I resolutely say, hey, what better place to hang out than Bratville?
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Bess-C
Joined: 03 Nov 2003 Posts: 459 City/Region: Anacortes
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2003
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Bess-C
Photos: Bess-C
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Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2004 3:46 pm Post subject: |
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I've added a few pictures of our trip to our album this morning. They give a little flavor of the area. Most of these were taken by Shelley with her new digital camera. The guys harvesting the sea urchins were very friendly and cracked open one so that we could taste it. Not bad, I guess it's a great delicacy in Japan and they're harvesting millions every year for the Japanese market.
Lyle |
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Pat Anderson
Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 8553 City/Region: Birch Bay, WA
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2005
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Daydream
Photos: Daydream and Crabby Lou
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Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2004 8:01 pm Post subject: |
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Patty here. Just checked out your photos. Fabulous. Looks like the new camera is a keeper. |
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C-Sick
Joined: 03 Nov 2003 Posts: 178 City/Region: Renton
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2008
C-Dory Model: R-25 Tug
Vessel Name: Gratitude
Photos: C-Sick
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Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 3:17 am Post subject: Port Alberni Information |
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I am heading to Port Alberni and up through the Broken Islands the 2nd Week in August. A group of friends will be kayaking while I am in my C-Dory.
Any info about Marina's in Port Alberni or places to go or avoid in the Broken Islands _________________ C-Sick
In A Bad Way |
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digger
Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 496 City/Region: Spokane
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 1993
C-Dory Model: 22 Angler
Vessel Name: C-Sik
Photos: Snoopy-C
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Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 11:26 am Post subject: Port Alberni Marina |
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Don't exactlly know the name of it, but it is on the river and you'd almost run into it as you come into downtown. You pay for parking there, but we've left vehicles for a week with no problems. There are attendants there whenever we've come in during daylight hours. It is also well lit. It is a couple of miles from the Alberni inlet, and you stay near the townside bank going or coming -- that's where the channel is. There are adequate pilings and such to make the trip just fine. Going down the inlet, there are a multitude of areas where you could make a wrong turn, so it is adviseable to preplot the trip with map and gps so that you can follow the road. If you need waypoints to get to Bamfield or Ucluelet I could probably print them for you. It is a beautiful trip ... very scenic and there is enough traffic that if you need assistance you could hail someone. There is also a daily passenger ferry that on alternating days goes to Bamfield, and Ucluelet. That is a nice day trip to take. Enjoy, Ron _________________ previous snoopy-c owner, previous c-miner owner, current C-Sik owner(22 angler) |
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Falco
Joined: 20 Dec 2004 Posts: 164 City/Region: Flagstaff
State or Province: AZ
C-Dory Year: 2004
C-Dory Model: 22 Cruiser
Photos: Bucking Coho
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