Princess Louisa

[Luna C]

Been there, done that! What a trip! In three days, I think my feet where on solid ground for maybe ten hours. I would recommend a week, but I just kept traveling this time! Here is a Boatumentary. Engine hours, average speeds, RPM's and fuel usage's. This will help me plan trips with my family, and may help you as well.

Long post, long trip. Especially the 2.8 hours crossing west to Nanimo! It was a work out, but the boat handled it without a problem. It past the test. I did wait for several hours at Secret Cove for the winds to die down as the weather report indicated, not a lot of improvement until I reached the other side! I think I will invest in a sea anchor. I would have great value (as in life) for power failure in such a crossing.

By the way, as approaching Skyline Marina at the end of the journey, I had to make a rescue. A Seasport conked out at the entrance as was about to be blown onto the rocks. (He was trying to drop anchor before this occurred) C-Dory to the rescue! Towed him back in to the Marina. At the hoist, ran into the former owner of Hunky Dory # 8, he had his new Seasport with him. Nice boat. He doesn’t get 3.8 gph though! He would kicks our butts in two foot chop.

Hope the tabs line up or this data will be a mess. gph at the bottom.

Started with 82 gallons fuel:

Place Engine hrs Speed RPM Wind Waves

Day one, 4/10,

Depart Skyline 109.4 14kts SE25 3 -4ft
Arrive C.I. 110.1

Day two. 4/11, 11am.

Dpt. Center Island 110.1 16-17 4300 1-2ft
To Shaw 110.7 21 4800 ripple
To Deer Harbor 111.0 11 3800 2-3
Cross Haro Str. 111.5 11 2-3
Sydney - Customs 112.4
To Degnen Bay 114.8 20 4800 <1
(S. Gabriola Is.)
Cross Georgia S15 2
To 1/2 moon Bay 116.3 Prop ding
To Pender Hbr. 117.2 17 7pm
7.1 hours boat time

Day three, 4/12, 6:30am

Dept. Pender Hbr. 117.7
To Egmont 118.4 16-19
To Malibu 121.0 11-15 4400=15kts
To P.L. Dock 121.9 5kts (max allowed) ~ 50 gallons fuel to this point!
4.2 boat hrs

Day four, 4/13, 5:40am

Dpt Chatter box falls 121.9
Enter Jervis 122.7 19kts light
To Agamemnon Ch 124.6
To Secret Cove 125.6
Cross to Nanimo 128.4 9kts SE25 3-6
Dodd Narrows 128.8
Wallace Is. 130.1 11-19
82 gal gone! 130.6
Bedwell Hbr 131.3 17-20
Stewart USA 131.7 17kts
(Cleared customs via pin, straight to Stewart! Arrive 7pm Prevost Hbr.)
9.8 boat hours

Day 5, 4/14, 7am
Dept Prevost 131.7
Pole pass 132.4
Center Is 133.1 27.4 WOT 5900 (OK, just for two minutes!)
Anacortes 133.8 14-15 SE20 2-3
2.1 boat hrs.

Total boat hrs: 24.4! Total fuel: 94 gal. gph=3.85
To P.L. 12.5hrs 50 gal gph= 4
Return 11.9hrs 44 gal gph= 3.69 Lighter load - less fuel?
82 US gal 21.2hrs 82 gal gph= 3.86
I may have been at 49 gal @ PL, I didn’t want to run the tank dry while going through the rapids! I returned with two five gallon jugs of Canadian fuel in reserve. (Do they add a color additive? The gas was pink!?!)

[Larry H]

Pink or red gas in Canada is called 'marked gas' and is for boats, tractors , chain saws or other off road use. There is no road tax in the price of marked gas. I have found that it's usually 89 octane or 'mid grade'.

[Luna C]

Thank you! It was 89 octane. I was pretty sure they didn't slip me mixed gas! If they even have that any more with all of the 4 strokes.

[Pat Anderson]

OK, thanks for the journal - first off, how the heck did you get 82 gallons fuel on a 22? Our tanks on the old Daydream together held 46...will have 107 on the 25.

I really want to go to PL, trying to convince Patty Memorial Day is the time. Maybe the weather will be better around Memorial Day ('casue that is when I can put four days together). We would start from Blaine, which is considerably north of Skyline. Assuming a decent weather forecast, and starting very early Friday morning, I don't see why we can't do it on the mainland side and be at Malibu in roughly 8-10 hours if we can maintain only 15 mph, longer if there are slower stretches, sooner if we have some flat water and can go faster (the Honda 150's "sweet spot" is 4500 rpm, 23 mph, but the comfort factor in the 25 at that speed is yet unknown to us).

So what is wrong with this plan?

Leg 1 is from Blaine to a point just west of Point Roberts - this is about 14 miles, have done Blaine to Point Roberts a couple of times. Around an hour, and sometimes 40-45 minutes. Add a little time for clearing customs in White Rock.

Leg 2 is from Point Roberts to a point just west of the Fraser River, staying off Roberts Bank, just in the deeper water. This is 15 miles (29 cumulative miles). Never ventured into these waters, but assume they are similar to the Strait 10 - 15 miles south, which we have crossed numerous times.

Leg 3 is from the Fraser River to a point west of Burrard Inlet and south of Bowen Island. This leg is another 15 miles (44 cumulative miles). We are 3 hours into the trip at this point, if we can maintain 15 mph.

Lots of experience in the Strait of Georgia in our 22 tells us we most likely will be able to do this part in the predicted 3 hours, although it is reportedly boring scenery and usually a bit lumpy (a fact we can confirm). In fact we might just have to do a preliminary canter up to Vancouver from Blaine just to get a sense of traveling on the mainland side - if it is just too rough, we would revise plans and cross over to Stuart, clear customs at Bedwell and go up inside the Gulf Islands.

From this point, we basically take a straight line to the southern tip of Texada Island, where we are at the entrance to Jervais Inlet. This is the longest leg, at 34 miles (78 miles cumulative) - just over 2 hours for this leg, if we can maintain 15 mph, cumulative 5 hours into the trip. If we are way off and it has taken us a lot longer than planned to get here, guess we better have a planned spot to anchor, and go on the next morning, but that would be OK.

The rest of it is the zigs and zags up Jervais Inlet to Malibu - looks like 45 - 50 miles up to Malibu from this point. Again another 3 hours, maybe 4 (Chris and Janet report Pender Harbor to Malibu as 4.2 hours), just don't even have a clue what traveling here is like.

You will tell me about Malibu - I am assuming it is pretty much like Deception Pass? Faster? This is the only part I am a little concerned about...timing arrival at Malibu so we can proceed. Anyway, if we have left at say 6:00 am, we should be here by 4:00 pm, maybe later but definitely hours of daylight left. Even if we get there Saturday morning, we can enjoy ourselves the rest of Saturday and all day Sunday. Experience may tell us we have to depart Sunday afternoon rather than early Monday morning, but again, that is OK.

I know this is a long way to go in a day...probably better to break it into a day and a half, enjoy some scenery along the way. But this trip is about getting to PL, not the journey itself as much as the destination.

So take your shots at this plan...

[starcrafttom]

No shots, just a tip. texas island has a nice cove on the inside of it that allows you to hide from the wind no matter which way it is coming at you. I dont have charts on me so can not remeber the name of it. On the trip in 99 the 46ft krogen was getting tossed around pretty bad so we pulled in here to rest until the wind died in the afternoon. nice place to know about.

[Larry H]

Pat,

A good spot to anchor near Pender Harbor is Bargain Bay. The entrance is south of the entrance to Pender, check a chart. After you enter, its a short run to the anchorage area, almost to the bridge. Good holding in 20-30 ft. If all you want is an anchorage, Bargain Bay is easier to enter and faster to leave the next morning.

[Luna C]

For fuel, I had my new 25 gal tanks + 32 in cans. I took 3.6 hrs from Chatterbox to Secret Cove on the return trip - wind at my back. (Wind rules the boating world!) I got my current info at:
http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/sitesel.html Piece of cake at slack. Check our my photos, there are some shots at the passage. Big cruise ships go through! ( I have heard up to 100 ft.)

[Pat Anderson]

Thanks for the photos (check these out folks, in the LunaC album), and the link to the tides and currents site! Got the Malibu Rapids timing figured out! The run up from Blaine is Friday, May 27, spend the night somewhere near Pender Harbor (or Harbour, if you prefer), leave EARLY Saturday morning, May 28, to arrive at the Malibu Rapids entrance some time the next morning before the high slack at 8:16 am. Spend all day Saturday and most of Sunday, May 29, at Chatterbox Falls dock or on the hook. Exit Malibu on the Sunday low slack at 5:17 pm, another night near Pender Harbor, run back to Blaine Monday, May 30. Have to get an early start on this one too. Now to convince Patty!

[stevej]

Pat I made the trip from Egmont to Princess Louisa twice when I was up there a few years ago. After doing all the reading and such I also intended to pass through Malibu rapids at slack. Ended up talking about the transit with one of the local water cab captains in Edgmont and his advice was “with your boat go when you want and just power through it” so I did. It is a little intimidating at first but it’s well marked, short and was not a problem. Know your navigation buoys and check the tide tables. Might be a bit more challenging with one of those 16’ tide exchanges as opposed to the 8’ when I went through.

Some great oyster gathering spots just around the corner from Egmont and prawns if you have the time… Nothing like a fresh oyster and prawn bbq while sitting at the dock in Princess Louisa inlet.

stevej

[Catman]

Janet and Chris, thanks for the detail on your Princess Louisa trip. I trust it was Spring break?

One question: Did I read correctly that you left Secret Cove for Nanaimo in 25 MPH or knot southeast winds driving 3-6 footers? I guess that's one big difference between a little feller like Bambina and the 22. I wouldn't have left the dock with assertive Georgia Strait winds salivating to toss the tiny ship.

[Luna C]

Yes, it was a long trip to the other side! The boat handled it very well. I was a bit tired!

[Ron on Meander]

Pat,
The only thing that may prevent you from doing the trip as you planned is of course the weather, other than that it would just be a long day. The trip from Blaine to Vancouver is the least scenic part of the trip. Remember the shipping lanes parallel the shore in the deeper water between Point Roberts and Vancouver not a problem at all in good visability. Once you reach the Vancouver area the scenery improves.
A few suggestions of places to anchor on the trip up if needed.
Plumper Cover Provincial park - on Keats Island by Gibsons.
Smuggler Cove Marine Park, Secret Cove and Pender Harbour on the east side of Malaspina strait. There really isn't much for good shelter in Jervis inlet so you are pretty well committed once past Egmont. I would agree with Steve on the need to be exactly at slack for Malibu, close is probably good enough.
Just talk Patty into the trip,

Cheers
Ron

[Ron on Meander]

Pat,
When you do get up to Princess Louisa and go to transit Malibu Rapids watch out for the unmarked hazards that may be there like this one!


OK so embedding the image didn't work! Maybe someone can tell me what I missed in trying to embed this image?
Ron
This link works though
Unmarked Hazard

[starcrafttom]

she's still for rent. http://1cyc.com/motoryacht/goldencell.htm at 14,000 a week.

[starcrafttom]

sorry about that . Its 140,000 a week.