West coast Vancouver island

[amy and karl]

Hello to all,

We're looking into possibly cruising the west side of Vancouver island this summer for a couple of weeks. Any recommended cruising guides to this area besides the waggoner? (Already have it) Thinking of launching from Sequim then heading across the strait to clear customs. After that out the west end of the strait then north.

Thanks for your input,

Karl and Crew

[chromer]

2014 Waggoner? That one has Sam's updates from last summer

[rogerbum]

Karl,

Most people who do the outside of Vancouver Island come down from the North and the prevailing winds are from the N/NW. It will be a much slower and less comfortable trip going S to N than N to S. However, the depends greatly on how much time you spend in the inlets relative to on the outside. Sam gave a really good talk at the brewery last Friday on his trip and he did mention 3 other cruising guides that he thought were useful. I'd contact him directly.

[amy and karl]

Thanks for the info Roger. Really hoping to check out the broken group and maybe Nootka sound. Have to wait and see how the weather treats us but, not sure we will have enough time to make it around the north end. We've found on our trips to the central and northern B.C. Coast that we prefer the more exposed feeling of the west side.

[starcrafttom]

I really like the "Dream speaker" line of cruising guides. Much better for the out of the way anchor spots.

[rogerbum]

Karl,

If you're set on going from S to N, you might want to consider launching at Neah Bay and clearing customs in Ucluelet. For customs on Vancouver Island, you're pretty much stuck with either Victoria or Ucluelet (nothing in between). It's only about 50 nm from Neah Bay to Ucluelet and you can clear U.S. customs back at Neah Bay on your return. That would cut out most of the Strait of Juan de Fuca from your trip (which frankly isn't that exciting) and would save you some fuel and time. I tow out to Neah Bay all the time and store my trailer there all summer (for free). Once your to Ucluelet, you're in prime territory for cruising the Broken Group.

[amy and karl]

Thanks for the info guys. The dream speaker book looks like a good one to start with. Glad we've got six months to pick a route.

[Aurelia]

I have been through a fair amount of the area and we will actually be in Barkley Sound with my sis and family camping by boat in late July. If you make it north of Vargas Island I can add this book to the other recommendations.

It is for paddlers and highlights natural features, historic features, other sights and beaches and basically many of the features I think your family could enjoy on such a C-dory adventure. If you like to find quiet, sight-see, fish, and go ashore to look around, paddling guides are more useful than boating guides. Typical cruising boats can't as easily get close to shore or use landings like a C-dory can. Just bring the boating books to find the fuel and groceries!

http://www.valorebooks.com/textbooks/sea-kayak-nootka-kyuquot-sounds/9781894765527#default=buy&utm_source=Froogle&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Froogle&date=02/06/14

[starcrafttom]

I have not made the crossing from the Neah bay to Ucluelet but I would agree with that plan for the most part. The last place that I know of that you can put in for shelter is Sooke if are coming around from Victoria. Which is a reallly nice place to stop and hang out. Not the town but the bay and the inter bay are kind of cool. You can also get fuel there in the back of Sooke Basin.

We towed to Ucluelet and spend a week in the Broken chain group. It was a wonderful area and I could spend another week there looking around. Very little in the way of marina's or services out side of ucluelet, which I like. Lots of little islands to explore. If you tow to Ucluelet or tofino you can cruise a lot of areas with out having to worry about weather with crossing the straits back to the U.S. Weather can hold you up for days in that area.

[rogerbum]

Also, if I had to pick my dates in advance, I'd pick late July or early August. That's generally when the weather out there is the best and the seas the calmest. I always say the ocean is good about 4 days out of 5 that time of year. Usually it's nicer on the outside than in the strait as the wind tends to come up a bit in the afternoon and the strait funnels it.

[smckean (Tosca)]

[journey on]

I couldn't talk Judy into circumnavigating Vancouver Isle, so we took the ferry over. Worked out great, saw both sides if the island. Great trip, saaw the inlets, went to Nootka, anchored where Capt Cook anchored. Here's the story of that trip: Journey On on and around Vancouver Island.

Boris

[starcrafttom]

The best thing about the using the ferry to get you and your rig,boat and trailer to the island is that you can see both sides. If the weather turns bad you can trailer to where it is better or more protected. If it had rained one more day on the start of our trip we were going to head to the east side where it was sunny that week. It did clear up and we stayed but it was nice to have a option.

[rogerbum]

[journey on]

Yes, indeedy, the ferry is expensive. I can only point out that launching Journey On on the mainland and cruising around the isle adds a lot of boat mileage @ 4 mpg and $4 gas.

I also mention that Vancouver Island is 280 miles long, so a round trip is looong, about 575 miles, either from Port Angelus or Vancouver, and no side trips up the inlets. You gotta bring the boat back to where you started, eh? We used the truck to go up and down and across the island, at 8 mpg. Both those mileage numbers are tough to swallow, but the trip was worth it.

I think the ferries run specials, both the one from Port Angelus and the one from Vancouver. It's a ball sharing the ferry with a logging truck, though why they're hauling logs to Vancouver Isle is beyond me.

One of the neat parts of the trip was visiting all the small towns on the west side, such as Tahsis. It's different from LA, really wonderful especially the people.

Boris

Boris