Trip planning, first three weeks of August

[Kings Gambit]

I planned to skip Nanaimo entirely but it sounds like it's a good place to stop so depending on weather/timing I could skip Vancouver and stick to Nanaimo and south.

@Kings - good story, glad it turned out well, and hopefully I don't have the same experience! I do have stern tie equipment ready, 400 feet of floating poly line on a spool, but I've never had to do it yet. I probably won't even attempt it if I'm by myself but hopefully there will be at least one other person most of the trip.
Anyway, thanks again, I have even more options to ponder now.
Brian

If you have three weeks I wouldn't think you'd have to skip Vancouver; but since you've been there often perhaps there is little novelty left except to run over there to visit Howe Sound at the places mentioned above, i.e., --Snug Cove at Bowen Island and Halkett Bay at Gambier Island. However, I've visited those areas myself only b/c we've chartered 3x out of Vancouver-so, they are nice, scenic, resting or staging (overnight) stops fairly near Granville Island where the charter boats are berthed. [If your charter boat has to be home by noon on a Saturday in Vancouver and you're visiting the Gulf Islands, spending that last (Friday) night on the hook in Halkett Bay only 12-13 n.mi distant makes sense.] But I don't think I'd sail the 30+ n.mi. over there to Howe Sound from Nanaimo, and then back, just to anchor for a night or two there!! There's PLENTY of that in Gulf and San Juan islands! So, explore more of the Gulf Islands and spend two or three nights in Nanaimo--it's a fun, interesting, and scenic little area. Try that cute little Mexican restaurant--Gina's Mexican Cafe'--it's a hoot plus has really good food! Also, you might, for example, try Todd Inlet--a little anchorage off the Saanich Inlet from which you can visit the Butchart Gardens. It's all the way at the other (south) end of the Gulf Islands from Nanaimo.

KG

 

[Terry Cox]

Also, you might, for example, try Todd Inlet--a little anchorage off the Saanich Inlet from which you can visit the Butchart Gardens. It's all the way at the other (south) end of the Gulf Islands from Nanaimo.

Ditto KG. We've been to Butchart Gardens a number of times and it is well worth an all day tour. You can either anchor in Todd Inlet and dinghy over to the west entrance via Butchart Cove (sea plane entrance), or tie up to one of their several free mooring balls (shore tie required) in the Cove, which places you right at the dock and west entrance. Butchart Cove is at the bottom of Saanich Inlet and to port of Todd entrance. Coming from the north, say Nanaimo, a shorter route would be through Sansum Narrows and into Cowichan Bay, which places you right at the top of Saanich Inlet.

If you have any interest in the "Cedar Cove" television (chick flick) series, some episodes were filmed in the Cowichan Bay area.

 

[Kings Gambit]

Ditto KG. We've been to Butchart Gardens a number of times and it is well worth an all day tour. You can either anchor in Todd Inlet and dinghy over to the west entrance via Butchart Cove (sea plane entrance), or tie up to one of their several free mooring balls (shore tie required) in the Cove, which places you right at the dock and west entrance. Butchart Cove is at the bottom of Saanich Inlet and to port of Todd entrance. Coming from the north, say Nanaimo, a shorter route would be through Sansum Narrows and into Cowichan Bay, which places you right at the top of Saanich Inlet.

If you have any interest in the "Cedar Cove" television (chick flick) series, some episodes were filmed in the Cowichan Bay area.

Yeah-- If I remember correctly when we were there, we went into Todd and anchored b/c there wasn't space for us to tie up in Butchart Cove, and then took the dink over to the entrance you mention. It was a very nice day we spent ashore there; an impressive place, plus it's fun to arrive by yacht!

 

[forbin]

However, I've visited those areas myself only b/c we've chartered 3x out of Vancouver-so, they are nice, scenic, resting or staging (overnight) stops fairly near Granville Island where the charter boats are berthed. ... But I don't think I'd sail the 30+ n.mi. over there to Howe Sound from Nanaimo, and then back, just to anchor for a night or two there!!

It would basically be a two night side trip so you're right, it may not be worth it. It may turn out to be easier/cheaper for my friend to get to Vancouver rather than Nanaimo so that may end up being the reason I do it. I may charter, to save the travel time from Seattle, out of Vancouver next year to do Princess Louisa and/or Desolation Sound so I'll surely be up there at some point.

Butchart is a good idea too, I didn't realize you could arrive by boat there. My dog isn't super keen on spending a lot of time on the boat by himself so I'll have to check their pet policy if we decide to do that. He does alright at a dock but if we leave in the dinghy he panics...last time he peed all over the place and destroyed a bag of tortilla chips...not the most fun thing to clean up.

Try that cute little Mexican restaurant--Gina's Mexican Cafe'--it's a hoot plus has really good food!

Will do, looks like a cool place.

 

[Kings Gambit]

It would basically be a two night side trip so you're right, it may not be worth it. It may turn out to be easier/cheaper for my friend to get to Vancouver rather than Nanaimo so that may end up being the reason I do it.

I obviously don't know where the friend is arriving from, but there are BC ferries that could take someone arriving in Vancouver over to Nanaimo. There's an inexpensive monorail that will take you from the airport to near downtown Vancouver; you can then hop a bus to Granville Island where the ferries depart. I just did this (monorail-bus) last year when I went to Vancouver to check out a boat for sale at Granville Island and did not wish to also pay for a rental car, etc.

 

[forbin]

He's coming from Seattle. The last couple times I've made it easy because I always transfer people somewhere Kenmore Air flies to out of Lake Union! He could always take the Clipper to Victoria and bus up to Nanaimo as well.

 

[forbin]

I'm back! We had a great trip with the exception of the battery charger crapping out on day 3 and not being able to get it fixed or replaced (we were able to confirm it was dead.) We ended up staying in more marinas and motoring more as a result but had a some nights on buoys and at anchor. We crossed the Strait both directions without issue, there was almost no wind, but skipped Cattle Point and went up the east side of Lopez. More later...

It'll take me a while to put together a video and better writeup but here's where we went:

Seattle
Port Townsend
Friday Harbor
Roche Harbor (crew change)
Sidney
Van Isle (stopped here just to get the charger looked at)
Ganges
Ladysmith
Nanaimo (crew change, two nights due to thunderstorms forecast)
Thetis Island
Cowichan (amazing downwind sail through the narrow passages)
Fulford Harbor (actually a very pleasant night at the public dock)
Narvaez Bay (weren't able to find a good spot so turned around)
Otter Bay
Walkers Hook (day stop, amazing)
Ganges
Friday Harbor (picked up a friend from the ferry)
Rosario
Spencer Spit
Deer Harbor (crew change)
Friday Harbor
James Island (rough night on a buoy, didn't sleep at all!)
Port Townsend
Edmonds
Seattle (rough trip back out of Edmonds)

 

[Jalepeno]

You do know they call August Fogust, right?

Your trip sounds great. If you're going all the way to Vancouver, you might want to consider visiting Howe Sound.

Have a great time. I'm sure other more "local" skippers will chime in on more details of routing and other places to see.

"Fogust" is on the West Coast of The Island not in the Strait of Georgia, Howe Sound or the Gulf Islands.

 

[Mark Maulden]

You lead a sheltered life

 

[Terry Cox]

"Fogust" is on the West Coast of The Island not in the Strait of Georgia, Howe Sound or the Gulf Islands.

I wonder what that white stuff was crossing Georgia Strait from Active Pass to Semi-ah-moo? Visibility about 100 feet.

 

[Jalepeno]

I wonder what that white stuff was crossing Georgia Strait from Active Pass to Semi-ah-moo? Visibility about 100 feet.

Snow?

 

[Jalepeno]

Here is my post FOG from "BC Boatnet" a couple of years ago:

“Solo Fog-tober crossing”

As you know our unusual dry and sunny October weather on our South West Coast has produced a bit of fog in the Strait of Georgia for the last week or so.

I sailed my s/v Jalepeno over to Vancouver Island just before the Thanksgiving weekend and left her in Nanaimo for some rigging work by Blanchard Rigging while I went home on my (BC ferries) big power boat “Queen of Oak Bay” for Turkey Day. Last Thursday I was back on the Island waiting for a no fog “weather window” to sail her back home. The marine weather synopsis for “Strait of Georgia - South of Nanaimo” predicted fog in the morning dissipating in the early afternoon. The best weather conditions reports for this area come from the automated “Halibut Bank” weather buoy but it had been off-line for over a week (I think it is too fogy for the Coast Guard contractor to go out to repair it or they can’t find it in the fog). The automated reports for Entrance Island and Point Atkinson both reported one mile visibility but Victoria Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) on VHF 11 said that there is still fog out on the Strait but that it should dissipate in the afternoon.

I waited in sunny Nanaimo until after 1pm before setting out. The conditions at Entrance Island were as reported, cloudy with visibility about one mile, winds North-West 10 to 15 kts with a 2 ft chop. Nice condition for a return to Vancouver. Only two other sail boats on the water and no power boats. The Ferries were running but not many tug boats because both the Vancouver harbour and the Fraser River were socked in with visibility of about 50 feet. I wanted to get across as quickly as practical before it got dark because the only thing worse than fog is fog in the dark so I motor sailed with full canvas and turning a gentle 2400 rpm on the Yanmar. GPS speed over ground was over 6 kts most of the time with 7+ kts going down the back of the “seventh wave” (the seas had built up to about 1 metre high). This is very fast for my CAL 2-25 with a LWL of 22ft. About half way across the fog got very thick with about 100 metre visibility so I switched from VFR mode to IFR mode using my GPS chart-plotter / depth sounder to keep track of my progress. I wasn’t worried about running into the BC ferries or commercial traffic as I kept in touch with VTS (they were tracking me on radar). The main fog hazard is power boaters but they don’t go out in fog. The sky opened to beautiful sunshine around Cowen Point and I docked at T-Bird Marina in a record crossing time of less than five hours dock to dock.

I often make solo crossings to Nanaimo if the weather isn’t too bad but this was the thickest fog that I have ever encountered in my many years of sailing on our coast. I respect fog but I’m not afraid of it. As I’ve said before, what doesn’t kill you helps to make you stronger?

 

[nightowle]

Looks like you hit all the highlights. Good itinerary! I had a rocky night a few years ago at James Island. Won't do that mooring again!

 

[Terry Cox]

Agree. East side of James...terrible. West side more protected.

 

[Mark Maulden]

Haven't been to James in decades and have no reason to. I think the west side has a state pk dock and last i heard, the island is infested with raccoons that are not afraid of boats. Maybe the park service solved that problem......

 

[forbin]

I didn't see any raccoons at James Island but we stayed on board after dark.

After my Blake Island experience trying to take the dog in to shore after dark, I'll try to avoid raccoon infested places as much as possible! The glow of beady eyes in my flashlight from the dinghy looked like a bunch of fireflies.

 

[jssailem]

Raccoons are very territorial. They will take on anything and everything to protect their feeding sites. They possess feeding sites and return frequently unless disturbed to a point they can not run off intruders.
My cat thought she could run a racoon her size off. Got a nasty cut on her face and eye damage.
Cat is doing fine but my wallet took a hit.