Thoughts of summer... Desolation Sound BC

[SVPardonMyFrench]

if you are in Seattle or Vancouver, Desolation Sound is a must.

Check out this third video of our trip there a couple of summers ago.

 

[Kings Gambit]

I can't help but share with everyone the comments of Jonathan Raban (Passage to Juneau, p. 188 paperback edition; ISBN:0-679-77614-1) on Desolation Sound. Not that I wholeheartedly agree, but I did anchor inside the park boundary for a few nights several years ago and have no desire to return to that particular locale; although, I am interested in other spots within the greater "Desolation Sound" area. (See at link below.) Of course, Desolation Sound was named by Capt. George Vancouver who did not find in it a particularly inspiring setting.

"As a post-Romantic tourist, I felt that entering a landscape like Desolation Sound was uncomfortably like wandering over a famous battlefield left over from someone else's war. That it had been a scene for such heightened emotion in the past only made me feel more keenly my own absence of feeling in it. 'Enbosomed in scenery,' as John Muir put it, I instinctively fought its old, mothball-smelling embrace. The tidal atlas advised that here the tides were 'weak and irregular'-- a fair description of my response to Desolation Sound, as I flipped a cigarette butt into it and made an anxious calculation as to whether I could still make slack water at the Dent and Yuculta rapids, fourteen miles ahead."

https://forums.sailboatowners.com/i...e-octopus-islands-to-desolation-sound.184097/

 

[forbin]

I'd like to make it up there one of these years...but it's starting to seem like just chartering from somewhere nearby is more a more realistic expectation of my time than trying to make it all the way from Seattle.

Cool video though. How long was your whole trip?

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

but I did anchor inside the park boundary for a few nights several years ago and have no desire to return to that particular locale;

Any particular reason for not wanting to return ?

 

[Kings Gambit]

As I said, several years ago (read mid-1990's); but I suppose I simply found it an unmemorable or unremarkable experience, at least to the good; although I do recall seeing a bald eagle or two as we entered the park. Something we had not seen for who knows how long prior. Nevertheless, contrast that with Chatterbox Falls at Princess Louisa Inlet which we visited on that same trip; as well as the Harmony Islands. There are many much more interesting and exciting locales to visit in B.C. Absolutely the most disappointing thing(s) I do remember, however, was being anchored there in "desolation", and another sailboater(!) not all that far away deployed some kind of motorized, noisy, remotely-controlled toy boat and sent it buzzing around the otherwise quiet, peaceful anchorage. I was flabbergasted ! We picked up and moved as far away as we could. Also, the place was exceedingly warm under intense sun w/no breeze much of the day. The water was full of stinging jellyfish medusae which discouraged jumping in to cool off.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

and another sailboater(!) not all that far away deployed some kind of motorized, noisy, remotely-controlled toy boat and sent it buzzing around the otherwise quiet, peaceful anchorage.

In most anchorages in Desolation, someone would have sunk the little SOB.

The water was full of stinging jellyfish medusae which discouraged jumping in to cool off.

Is there any chance were you in Von Donop Inlet, which is nearby on Cortez Island ? It is truly one gawdawful place, with forbidding vibes, and water like jellyfish soup. Sorry it went so poorly for you.

 

[SVPardonMyFrench]

I'd like to make it up there one of these years...but it's starting to seem like just chartering from somewhere nearby is more a more realistic expectation of my time than trying to make it all the way from Seattle.

Cool video though. How long was your whole trip?

Thanks, we took about 4 weeks from Seattle

 

[Kings Gambit]

Is there any chance were you in Von Donop Inlet, which is nearby on Cortez Island ? It is truly one gawdawful place, with forbidding vibes, and water like jellyfish soup. Sorry it went so poorly for you.

No. But to the best of my recollection not having kept a navigation log that I can now consult, we were within the Provincial Marine Park boundary; probably at either Grace Harbour or Tenedos Bay. But there appears much more around the DS area to see outside the Park boundary.

 

[Terry Cox]

probably at either Grace Harbour

Did you by chance hike to the lake above the harbor? Quite picturesque, nice trail, evidence of big foot ( I have a video clip of his footprint) and numerous old pieces of abandoned logging equipment. Just say'n.

 

[Michael Davis]

I'd like to make it up there one of these years...but it's starting to seem like just chartering from somewhere nearby is more a more realistic expectation of my time than trying to make it all the way from Seattle.

Cool video though. How long was your whole trip?

You need more time off!!!! My Dad and I went around Vancouver Island in 3 weeks.( back when I was still gainfully employed- can take longer now that I'm retired)

 

[Kings Gambit]

Did you by chance hike to the lake above the harbor? Quite picturesque, nice trail, evidence of big foot ( I have a video clip of his footprint) and numerous old pieces of abandoned logging equipment. Just say'n.

No, we didn't go there. Sounds worthwhile tho.