Pierless Sailing Adventures

 June 19-20: We left Refuge Cove at 10:30 a.m. for Laura Cove in Desolation Cove.  This would be short but pleasant trip of about 13 NM or about 3 hours, and would be our first anchorage in Desolation Sound proper.  The provincial park is fairly large, but this section is the most frequented area of the park. Passing Martin Islands We made the most of the short trip, passing inside the Martin Islands then between Morgan and Melville islands.  I do enjoy passing close to land when depths allow!   Morgan and Melville Islands Threading William and Scobell Islands Laura Cove is a real gem in the Desolation Sound archipelago- smaller than other anchorages and well protected.  We wove our way through the channels and rocks to our anchorage toward the end of the cove.  There were two other boats at the anchorage and everyone was stern-tied.  Stern-tying is an effective way to accommodate more boats in an anchorage.  You drop your anchor, then b...

 June 18: As much as we enjoyed Von Donop, it was time to move on.  By now, we had a good routine for loading the dinghy on deck and the paddle boards into their cradle.  Once loaded, we fired up the engine and began raising the anchor.  It came up clean (as it has at most of our anchorages so far), and we were soon motoring down the inlet toward Sutil Channel.  Today's goal is Refuge Cove on West Redonda island, a trip of about 17 nautical miles which should take four hours. We departed at 7:15 to hedge on the current through Lewis Channel.  We knew the tides, but did not have information on current direction at this time, so we timed our departure toward the next tide change.  This way, if we were lucky, we would have a following current for a couple of hours.  If we were wrong, we only had foul current for two hours. No wind - On way to Refuge Cove The morning was clear and windless.  Heavy haze of the past week gave depth to the mountains...

June 16: We had a peaceful night anchored off Rebecca Spit.  I fixed the pump issue in the morning and we raised the anchor at 9:15 to depart and head further north.  After some discussion and consulting of charts, we decided to head for Von Donop Inlet, a marine provincial park.  It is a long, narrow inlet on the NW side of Cortez Island.  The First Nations name is Ha'thayim.   From Rebecca Spit, it is only about 10 NM to the entrance, but the inlet itself is about 3 NM long with many possible anchorages throughout its length.  It boasts a very large tidal lagoon that can be explored at high tide as well as several small bays to explore or anchor in.  We were looking forward to exploring the area! On the way to Von Donop we followed Sutil Channel which separates Read and Cortez islands.  The channel is very deep and in places you can be quite near shore and still in deep water.  The farther north we traveled, the fewer signs of civiliza...

Henry Bay to Rebecca Spit via Gorge Hbr We left the Henry Bay anchorage at 7:30 a.m. to reach the Comox Bar close to high tide.  This is a wide bar between Comox on Vancouver Island and Denman Island.  It is shallow but has a well marked channel to follow through the 1 NM crossing.  Once across the bar, we turned north toward Quadra and Cortez islands.   Comox Bar On the way north we passed the Comox ferry terminal that takes travelers to the mainland.  We sailed a short time but the wind died quickly and we were back to motoring.  It was a sunny morning and we enjoyed watching the mountains of Vancouver Island and the mainland slowly slip by.   Gorge Harbor has a dramatic entrance so we decided to stop in there for a look and to top off our fuel and water tanks.  The entrance is narrow with dramatic rock cliffs.  There are petrographs on the walls as well. Gorge Harbor Entrance We motored over to the fuel dock, topped off our ...

After untying from the mooring ball in Mark Bay, we travelled north through the channel between the park and Nanaimo.  This passage gives you a view of the city and waterfront features.  We stopped at the end of the channel to fuel up our tanks (water and diesel).  There we met a nice couple in a power boat at the fuel dock.  This is one of the enjoyable aspects of cruising:  You meet many interesting people along the way. After leaving Nanaimo, we passed Hammond Bay.  This was an alternate anchorage we considered using.  There is a nice lagoon and park (Pipers Lagoon).  There is a small community which lives on the small islands just off the lagoon with an interesting history dating back the whaling days and the great depression.  For more information:    http://thenav.ca/features/shack-island-the-little-island-that-could/ Continuing on, the day was warm and sunny.  There wasn't much wind, but we did manage a short sail under ...

Leaving Selby, we proceeded up the west side of Galiano Island heading for Porlier Pass between Galiano and Valdes islands.  This is a narrow passage that leads to the Strait of Georgia.  Our destination was Nanaimo.  The more direct route to Nanaimo is through Dodd Narrows.  This narrow passage has dangerous currents during tide changes and must be timed carefully.  Our projected arrival would put us there at the wrong time to enter the narrows, so we chose the outside path in Georgia Strait.   After transiting Porlier Pass, we passed the Valdes ferry terminal and eventually rounded the top of Gabriola Island and the lighthouse on the east side. Lighthouse off Gabriola Nanaimo is a busy harbor with a fair amount of traffic.  Ferries, fishing boats, pleasure craft all converge here.  We passed a couple ferries and other traffic on the way in. Entering Nanaimo There is a small island/marine park next to town called Saysutshun (Newcastle) Islan...