Pierless Sailing Adventures

 May 23rd:  Departure Time 8:00 a.m.  -  Saturday After an engine check and minor adjustments, we untied from the mooring ball and headed over to the short-term tie at the port dock.  We needed some groceries and fuel, so paid for 3 hours at the pier. We left the dock at 10:30 to continue north.  The channel north from downtown takes you along the waterfront between Nanaimo and Newcastle Island.  It is narrow with lots to look at as you cruise by.  We passed one interesting wooden boat on our way.  We saw a family of 7 with a dog in a very small dinghy depart from this boat...   Boat at Nanaimo Heading north we pass Pipers Lagoon.  There is a small cluster of islands here with many small homes/shacks built years ago.  Descendants of the original occupants have been allowed to continue living there.     Route to Ford Cove From Nanaimo to Ford Cove there is very little to see or do as you continue north in Georgia ...

 May 22nd:  Departure Time 6:30 a.m.   Route North We got up early to beautiful weather, raised anchor and departed Bedwell Harbor for Nanaimo.  There are two common routes north to Nanaimo.  One stays on the inside of the Gulf Islands and the other goes outside into Georgia Strait.  The inside passage is more scenic as you wind through the many islands along the way.  The challenge is going through Dodd Narrows south of Nanaimo.  Since currents in the narrows can reach 8 Kts and above, timing your passage is critical in order to avoid hazardous conditions.  The outside option is exposed to Georgia Strait, so weather and sea conditions are a greater concern. With Dodd Narrows, it comes down to timing.  If you can not be there near slack tide, going through is not a good idea.  We monitored our progress north and decided we needed to take the outside route.  This required us to traverse Porlier Pass, which was flowing fast again...

Overview of our 2026 plans: This is the continuation of my blog of adventures aboard the sailboat Pierless.  I purchased the boat in Mexico and sailed her home in 2024.  Last summer my friend Dave and I spent three weeks sailing up into the Desolation Sound area.  This spring we are heading farther north to Haida Gwaii. Haida Gwaii is a remote archipelago off the coast of northern British Columbia.  It is also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands.  It has a rich native history, pristine forests and abundant wildlife.  There are two main islands, Graham in the north and Moresby in the south.  There are about 140 additional islands scattered throughout the archipelago. The southeast coast is a national park (Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site).  Haida Gwaii sites about 60 to 100 miles off the coast of British Columbia.   Our original plan was to circumnavigate the archipelago during the month of May and early June, ...

 June 21, 2025 - Laura Cove to Tenedos Bay Tenedos Location       Path to Tenados Bay Saturday, June 21, we raised the anchor and headed to Tenedos Bay.  We enjoyed our two days at Laura Cove and had a great time exploring the area on foot, paddle board and dinghy, but we were ready to explore more of Desolation Sound. Leaving Laura Cove Dave at the helm      The move to Tenedos Bay was a short trip of about 6 1/2 nautical miles.  We stayed outside the small islands this time to enjoy a more expansive view.  There are several anchorages in the bay, so we had a few options.  One is close to a trail leading to Unwin Lake, a popular swimming spot.  The anchorage has many stern-tie locations to accommodate more boats.  Unfortunately, a boat was already anchored without stern-tying.  This lets them swing with the tides and basically sweep the entire anchorage.  We decided it was a bit dicey, so headed to the "inn...

 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...