Very Quiet in the Broughtons

[Peter & Judy]

Very Quiet in the Broughtons

We have just returned from our first cruise in the Broughtons off the NE coast of Vancouver Island, BC. We has a very enjoyable time with a variety of weather and no or minimal smoke from the wildfires that are burning in the interior of BC. We launched from the Alder Bay Campsite which is located between Port McNeil and Telegraph Cove. It is a private campground that provided us with a campsite the day before (C$30), a launch for (C$10) and longterm secure parking (C$5/day). It has a good launch site located about 2 miles from Alert Bay on Cormorant Island. It provides good access to the Broughton Archipelago Marine Park and the surrounding cruising areas. What struck us is how quiet the area was this year which made for very enjoyable cruising. On a busy day we would see maybe 6 boats and a busy anchorage would have 3 boats in it. Often we had entire anchorages to ourselves. We spent every night on the hook, as is our preference. We did stop at a couple of Marinas for a look. At Sullivan Bay we were the only boat tied to the dock. We visited the marina and spoke with the skeleton staff. They were averaging about 4-5 boats mooring for the night, the restaurant was closed and the general store hand only enough food to sustain life for a short while. They told us the their 3000 feet of moorage space is mostly full and often they need to raft boats in normal years. With Covid and a closed border they were missing their main customer base that is at least 90% American. We went into Echo Bay and the story is the same there. Pierre has retired and sold the marina to the First Nations and they are operating it now. Covid has been very difficult for these small marinas that depend on foreign traffic to survive. We did talk with a few other Canadian boaters, who like us were enjoying the solitude and the common comment was that since Covid “We got out waters back”. We found the boating very enjoyable here with good anchorages and little wind. There are a few currents that you might need to plan for. Each day we drop our kayaks and go for a morning and evening paddle if possible. Fog was common in the morning. We did shore tie while anchoring, as is our normal practice as this keeps the flat bottomed C-Dory from travelling all over the anchorage. We saw lots of humpback whales, proposes, dolphins and black bears. Yesterday we visited Alert Bay and the U’mista Cultural Center which is a must see. Thick fog in Johnson’s strait slowed out crossing back to Alder Bay and we were happy to benefit from GPS, radar and a fog horn.

We never went higher than hull speed (6 knots) as we like to like to view the beauty of nature and take photos. There are lots of logs in these waters, so you need to watch out. I am always amazed at the fuel efficiency of a C-Dory, especially when you keep the speed down. In two weeks of cruising we travelled 182 NM’s (337 Km’s) and used 137 litres (36 US gallons) of fuel.

We are now taking a few days off in Port Alberni before going on a kayak camping trip in the Broken Group of Pacific Rim National Park. Then we plan to he’d out on another cruise in Nootka Sound for a couple of weeks before heading bacc to Alberta.

[Hunkydory]

Peter & Judy, sure seems like you are having some great cruising, while taking advantage of the low number of boats in the area. I too prefer to spend the majority of our time on the ocean, running at displacement speed, anchoring & in areas of few other boats & people.

When boating out of Skagway, Alaska, I frequently hear the same complaints from some of the US boaters about the number of Canadians coming in from the Whitehorse, Yukon area. And the same lack of business, when they aren’t there.

Jay

[thataway]

Glad. you had such a great trip. This is some of the best cruising ground in the World.

Even in "normaL" summers many of the "Marinas" in the Broughtons are only a few steps from bankruptcy. Hopefully most will survive these two summers with minimal "non Canadian" trade will survive.

[localboy]

Sounds like heaven..

[LesR]

Peter and Judy,
It's really good to hear you've been able to enjoy some BC cruising after the restrictions from earlier this summer were relaxed. We're hoping to spend a little more time in that area as we return southward in a couple weeks.

[hardee]

Peter and Judy. OK, now we, You and I, are in trouble for sure.
I just read your post and now you made me drool all over my computer Really.
OK, well maybe not for real but Oh my, you brought back such a flood of great memories. Alert Bay (Duchess Bannock) and U'Mista, and Pierre's at Echo Bay, And there are literally hundreds of "Special" anchorages up there. The whales, both humpbacks and Orca, the lone totem pole on a foggy headland, or back into the brush, a big black bear swimming across the channel at Hole in the Wall, and "Eagle Eye's" good morning reports on the VHF. I can't imagine what it would be like with 90% fewer boats in the area. There were days when I might only see one other boat as it was. (I didn't spend most of my time in any marina.) The first year I retired I spend 100 days up on the north end of Vancouver Island, and most of that was way back deep in the ends of the inlets in the Broughtons. It was a very special time and place.

One of my favorites was the Port Harvey Marine Resort on E. Chatham Is. Made great lifelong friends there, had fish and chips via call ahead order on the VHF, and very special blackberry jam too.

So glad you got to enjoy the area. And if you are taking the kayaks out from Port Alberni, that canal can get breezy, so watch the tide/current/wind combo for sure. IF not, take the Lady Rose, and enjoy the workboat ride.

Canada, nad especially the BC coast is special. Enjoy.

Harvey
SleepyC

[hardee]

Sorry, Duplicate post.

Harvey
SleepyC

[kaelc]

Sounds like a great trip! We have managed Alberni Bamfield Broken Group in one trip and Tofino in another both at full speed except when trolling or jigging. You are getting to more places on Vancouver Island than most do in a lifetime! I haven’t visited Nootka except for off shore commercial fishing 25 years ago, enjoy it and report back!

We may do a couple of day trips out of comox when the we get a high pressure Ridge.

[chipwagon]

Peter & Judy,

Thanks for the post. I spend a couple of weeks in the area every August, and just back from a trip a few days ago. I spent most of the time in Telegraph Cove and area fishing spots (kids really had the fishing bug this year), and didn't get up to Echo Bay or far into the inlets, etc. But still noticed that despite the resort and restaurant being very busy, there were less boats in TC than previous years, particularly in early Aug. Later in the month there was an influx of US boats. I think fishermen are more likely & able to react quickly to border openings than cruisers on long distance trips.

Don't believe I saw you, only C-Dory sightings I recall was a nice looking blue Cape Cruiser "No Regrets" out on the fishing spots a few times and "Sea Harmony" in the dock at TC. Did you by chance make it to Billy Proctor's museum? I haven't been in a few years and would like to get back sometime, I imagine it was a really quiet summer for visitors if he was still open.
-Blair

[hardee]

chipwagon said:

[Wayne McCown]

This is the first time I had seen that 6 knots = "hull speed" for a CD 22?

[chipwagon]

[ssobol]

[hardee]

[Peter & Judy]