Quatsino Sound cruising

B

blackfish

New member
Hello all
trying to plan our summer vacation and one of the places on the list is Quatsino Sound on northern vancouver island
has anyone on this site been boating out that way

thanks for any info Dave
 
I've been taking my 16' Angler up there for a week every summer for the past 7 years. The pictures in my photo album are from Winter Harbour (Quatsino Sound). It's a great place to fish but you have to deal with the weather if you go outside the sound and sometimes you just don't go outside.

Al
 
thanks Al
I was thinking i would launch at Coal harbour
when you go do you spent the week at winter harbour
any nights spent out in the sound?

thanks again Dave
 
Coal Harbor has a small museum, down by the launch ramp, showing how the Canadian Coast Guard flew seaplanes out of there in WWII. It's in the old hanger right by the launch ramp.

The launch ramp seems decent. The road comes in from Port Hardy. If you want to, you can cruise the Broughtons from Port McNeil on the way up and then Quatsino Sound. It's a long way up from Nanimo.

Boris
 
Dave

I trailer over the Holberg Road but it is 50 miles of logging road from hell. I take a lot of camping gear and a freezer, and have my brother with me, so coming in from Coal Harbour was not an option for me. I make it to Winter Harbour in about 2 hours from the paved road at Port Hardy. If I had your boat I would definitely launch from Coal Harbour. I have never launched from there so I can't provide any info but a lot of boats come from that direction. I have been told the water is very nice (it's totally protected) between Coal Harbour and Quatsino Sound.

We camp at Winter Harbour. There is a full service camp ground we stay in with electricity, sewer connections, public docks, and restrooms/showers. There is also a small store at winter harbour with basic supplies, food, beer, fishing licenses, fuel dock, etc. They have a small unimproved boat ramp we launch out of as well. If you are into fishing, you can catch salmon inside Quatsino Sound but the serious fish are outside if the weather lets you out. All the fish in my pictures are from outside. I think you would have a good time cruising there.

Milesandmiles

Thanks! I know it's been said a lot on this web site but I love my boat. It is perfect for fishing 1-2 people and I have caught a lot of fish out of it. I can go out all day and go many miles in the San Juan Islands here in Washington State and only burn 6 gallons of gas. I have fished it in everything from mud puddle lakes to rivers to open ocean. I have looked at the 19' but I like the 16' Angler design better. If they had built a 19' from scratch and kept the same proportions as the 16' angler, I would have probably bought one but the 19' is more of a cruising boat than a fishing boat for me.

Al
 
If I had a bigger boat I would definitely check out Brooks Bay but I don't stray too far from the mouth of Quatsino Sound. I generally go the other way up the island at most about 10 miles and a couple miles off shore in good weather. The wind always blows me back to Quatsino. I've heard a few horror storys of trips back from Brooks Bay into a stiff headwind. A guide from Qualicum Rivers and 3 of his clients went there last summer from Winter Harbour in a 19' boat and never came back. Found their boat anchored and upside down.

So I play it safe, monitor the weather radio closely, and stay inside when the forecast is for a blow.

Al
 
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