Sam's Big Adventure

I'm bringing this back up to the top just because I think Sam's blog is so good and I don't want it to fall off the bottom of the 'most recent..' list. Checking into C-Brats is the first thing I have done every day for many years (well the second thing really). Now, when I get onto the site the first thing I do is check Sam's blog and his Spot. Then I find myself checking his (their) progress several times during the day. It's a wonderful exciting read and it's happening right now.
 
Sam is really moving along. Some of those current passes scare hell out of folks but he's doing well on them. Interesting to follow along. His track is unusual up the mainland side. Lots of hidey holes but exposed to swell. I've crossed From the Port Hardy side into the start of the Inside Passage not from the mainland side but interesting country. He'll be back in sheltered waters before long.
 
Thanks for your blog, Sam. It's really fun to take this trip vicariously with you! Hope to meet you one day on Decatur. Cheers! Mike.
 
ghone":1ce7lgoi said:
Sam is really moving along. Some of those current passes scare hell out of folks but he's doing well on them. Interesting to follow along. His track is unusual up the mainland side. Lots of hidey holes but exposed to swell. I've crossed From the Port Hardy side into the start of the Inside Passage not from the mainland side but interesting country. He'll be back in sheltered waters before long.
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Years ago, when El and Bill werre proposing doing the Inside Passage, I suggested trailering the boat to Prince Rupert to save gas and avoid the Queen Charlotte Sound crossing. They did it that way.

From Prince Rupert, you still have to cross the Dixon Entrance, but that's just a good one day event doable in good weather.

Just a passing thought for those of you following this thread and making your own "someday" plans.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
As Joe says the Inside Passage experience is available even if you can't take a summer off / on to do it. Tow to Rupert and then turn left to come down into BC for a while and then go back north into Alaska. You avoid the nasty bits at Cape Caution and others thereby. You can come down the long passage toward Kitimat and see Bishops Bay hot springs and the fun short passage into Baker Inlet. Pick a lot of your weather for moving this way. George
 
Well, you could do that. But for me, the absolutely most intriguing cruising grounds were between Calvert Island and Prince Rupert. This is the part I really regret not having been able to dawdle in. We had 7 days to make it from Blaine, WA, to Ketchikan to meet Patty's plane, and somehow the weather gods let us pass. So many cool placs we just zoomed by. We did get a good soak at Bishop Bay Hot Springs. Spending half a day with the keepers of the Ivory Island Light House, Brent and Slyvia Hacking, was a real highlight. Crossing Queen Charlotte Straight was a non-event for us, although we did get our fillings knocked about crossing Dixon Entrance, and that was supposedly "good" weather!
 
Pat Anderson":3bjski4d said:
Well, you could do that. But for me, the absolutely most intriguing cruising grounds were between Calvert Island and Prince Rupert. This is the part I really regret not having been able to dawdle in. We had 7 days to make it from Blaine, WA, to Ketchikan to meet Patty's plane, and somehow the weather gods let us pass. So many cool placs we just zoomed by. We did get a good soak at Bishop Bay Hot Springs. Spending half a day with the keepers of the Ivory Island Light House, Brent and Slyvia Hacking, was a real highlight. Crossing Queen Charlotte Straight was a non-event for us, although we did get our fillings knocked about crossing Dixon Entrance, and that was supposedly "good" weather!
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Me too.

Can't speak for anyone else, but not rounding Cape Caution would have made me feel like I missed an essential part of the trip. I am well aware of what can go on in the waters around the cape, but I've rounded it four times now, and never faced anything more than long rollers with maybe a little chop on top. I've never had to wait out the weather to go, either. OTOH, last year on the Southbound return trip, I spent an unscheduled week in Ketchikan because the Dixon Entrance was simply not doable. In fact, I couldn't even get to Dixon, because I was in Clarence Strait facing the worst conditions I've ever experienced anywhere. By all accounts, as bad as Clarence Strait was, Dixon was worse.

Don't get me wrong, putting in at Prince Rupert would be a great way to experience the Inside Passage. Also, no one should extrapolate generalities about the relative safety of the Dixon Entrance versus Cape Caution based on a couple of accounts by a relative novice like me. (Pat's account, of course . . . well, I leave that to the reader's judgment.:wink: ) On a bad day at either place, the difference would make no difference. Be that as it may, for me personally, when I think about these trips, the area around Cape Caution stands out as a highlight.
 
No matter where you begin, where you end, or how long you spend, as noted in the comments, this adventure is indeed a serious matter. Last evening, while following Sam's SPOT, he reached the open water between the mainland and Port Hardy and then doubled back to a cove on the east side of an Island. He was still there about 8 this morning. Fog? Wind? A log? No blog entry. I went for my walk and returned a few hours later to find his SPOT showing progress toward Port Hardy. Whew! Way to go Sam.
 
Yep, weather has been slowing us down yesterday and today. Was hoping to get around Cape Caution this afternoon, but the 10:30 AM forecast said we'd have 15-25 knots of wind at Cape Caution this afternoon (rising to 30), instead of the 15 knots previously forecast. It was already sloppy in Queen Charlotte Strait, so we headed for Port Hardy to wait for a weather window. Looks like we'll be here for several days too. Oh well.

As it turns out getting stuck here isn't all bad. I had strep throat a few weeks ago and finished the antibiotics on Saturday. I felt fine, but yesterday I felt my sore throat returning. This morning it was much worse, and a trip to the doctor here in Port Hardy confirmed that the strep has come back. So more antibiotics and I should be feeling better by the time we have good enough weather to continue.

I'll fill in some more details on the blog today or tomorrow, and try to get some more pictures online. Great trip so far, even though our progress has slowed. It looks like we'll have to hustle through the rest of BC, but I'll get to take my time on the return trip and visit some of the places I'm missing.
 
Good on you Sam to hole up and look after yourself. You want to be in good shape to launch past C Caution. It can be a brute. I would not want to cross if 15 knots is forecast. I crossed in 25 knots nw in a sailboat and it kicked up 10 foot seas out there close together ones. I would wait for a dawn crossing and as calm as you can stand and do 20 knots. 2 plus hours would get you past most nastyness. Calvert island has a nice cove on the southeast corner. Get well. George
 
Hi Sam,

You may already have heard much of this, but just in case you haven't, here's a bit from my book that might provide a good tip or two:


Crossing the Queen

Beyond the more protected environment east of Vancouver Island, “Crossing the Queen” (Queen Charlotte Sound) to the BC North Coast represents a significant milestone for many cruisers. This open water crossing including some 30-40 exposed miles can provide a real challenge in winds and seas. It can be rather long but no big deal, or in the wrong combination of wind and tidal currents it can become a small boat’s worst nightmare.

Obviously you wouldn’t want to be out there in strong winds, but there’s more to the analysis than just wind speed. In our experience, one combination to be avoided is a strong ebb current flowing west with westerly winds greater than 12-15 knots. Similarly, a flood current with a southeast wind might not be a good choice. Small aluminum mail boats cross the Queen regularly, and they tell us that even 20 knot winds can be no great challenge, if not opposed to current. I’d stick with a max of 15. BC’s VHF marine weather gives actual conditions at key points, like Pine Island and Egg Island, which can really help you decide when to go.

In ”normal” weather, with wind primarily from the NW, calmer in the morning and building in the afternoon, a fast boat with an early start can avoid much of the challenge. But crossing at slow speeds you’ll be out there for quite a while, and you’ll want to pay careful attention to tides and weather. You don’t have to run all the way from Port McNeill or Port Hardy up to Rivers Inlet in one fell swoop. There are protected anchorages at Blunden Harbour, and closer to Cape Caution at Miles Inlet, Skull Cove, and others near Nakwakto Rapids.

There’s a special situation along the way you certainly want to avoid: wind from the west at the same time as a strong ebb current through the Nakwakto Rapids, flowing huge quantities of water from Seymour and Belize Inlets out through the narrow Slingsby Channel. This can set up a train of large and steep waves, starting in the mouth of Slingsby and continuing on westward for a mile or more in the open ocean. Check the Nakwakto current tables to see if this combination is likely, and if so steer clear, further out west than you might otherwise.
 
Thanks for the advice on getting past Cape Caution! It looks like tomorrow morning may be our chance...we'll see if the wind calms down as expected and then if the waves get quite a bit smaller and spaced further apart.

In other good news, the antibiotics I got here have made me feel better quickly and hopefully will get rid of the strep for good.

I just put a new blog post online and am hoping to be out of here about 5:00 tomorrow morning. There'll be several other boats heading out around then for the trip around Cape Caution, but most are sailboats and I'll be traveling much faster than them.
 
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