Aussies' Adventures Along The Northwest Inside Passage

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Part 7: Blind Channel to Beach Gardens Marina

By David & Irene Axup

Editor's Note: Northwest Boat Travel Club members and designers of the NBT Club burgee, David & Irene Axup, of Melbourne, Australia, have spent over two years carefully planning for "an adventure of a lifetime". Several articles were published in our club magazine, describing their preparations. Now they are here - on our lovely waters, sailing northwestward on their adventure of the next four months. We asked them to share their cruise with our members and with us.

22nd August G'day,

We are currently at Beach Gardens Marina having come in to sit out the gales that accompanied the low pressure of the last couple of days. Our anemometer recorded gusts of up to 45 knots - only three more for a Beaufort Scale "Storm". We were safe and secure if a little uncomfortable as all that was between us and the long fetch up Malaspina Strait was the breakwater wall and at high tide the spray was coming across it in great sheets.

14th AUGUST - Tuesday

0700 Up and about and prepare to leave. We want to be first into the fuel dock so as to get away at a reasonable time. We don't take a great deal of fuel but it is slow filling - after all wind is supposed to be our principal method of propulsion.

0815 Motor around to the fuel dock.

0920 Away and out into Blind Channel and turn down towards Cordero Channel with the flooding tide. There is a fair bit of turbulence at the confluence of Cordero and Blind Channels as the flood tides from both meet. A fishing boat overhauls us close on the port beam - a bit too close actually - and cuts across our bows in towards Crawford Anchorage behind Erasmus Island. He was probably just being a smarty - actually he was a dill - as his action threw his boat all over the place and hopefully spilt his morning coffee. It would have made a great photo opportunity but we did not expect a professional seaman to be such a dill.

We leave Erasmus Island to starboard and motor slowly east along Cordero with the tide under our tail - there is not a breath of wind. The sun comes out from behind the clouds and it looks like a great day to come. We are going to be dreadfully early at Dent Rapids if we keep going - we need to get there at around 1330 to make use of the last of the flood tide to go through Dent Rapids to access Dent Island Lodge. Our plotted course from Blind Channel to Dent Island is only 16.8 nm.

1040 Into Shoal Bayand tie up at the Thurlow public dock. This tiny declining settlement in the shelter of Shoal Bay has a magnificent view North up Phillips Arm and the sun is shining on the mountains to the North. There is a coronet of cloud sitting a short way below the peak of the tallest of the mountains and the water is a brilliant blue.

Our lines are taken by another yachtie and a fisherman who are also tied up at the dock.

We have just over an hour to kill according to David's reckoning and so we spend the time talking - David to the yachtie and the old fisherman and Irene to Liz from the yacht. The fisherman is in an old fashioned canoe stern troller and is from northern Washington State. He is on the way south early as while there are plenty of fish in Alaska the abundance has reduced the price and he tells David he is thinking of retiring anyway. The catch is that the North keeps calling him each year and each year he puts off retirement and heads to Alaska. He is a fascinating character.

1200 We are away from Thurlow and motor out into Cordero Channel into the procession of boats all heading east to the rapids.

Nodales Channel is wide open to our South and a picture in the sunshine. Frederick Arm is to our North. A small restaurant has been established up Frederick Arm and is obviously good as we have been told about it by quite a few boaties. A visit is not on our schedule.

Turning the corner at Hall Point we leave Denham Islet to Port and idle slowly down channel towards the rapids while larger power boats go past obviously with the intent of going through both Dent Rapids and Gillard Passage into Big Bay. Channel 73 is in constant use as vessels call up seeking moorage at the marinas with Big Bay being the busiest. We have our spot at Dent Island Lodge and so just need to inform them that we are inbound. Those who have not pre-booked soon run out of luck as Big Bay fills and the callers are told that there is no room.

Into the rapids and the power goes on. There is a hint of Devil's Hole off to our Port side and some turbulence as the current is still running at about 2 knots. Level with the tip of Dent Island we turn sharply North and cross the East side of Dent Island and then in to the small bay in which Dent Island Lodge sits.

A float plane lands just behind us and Josh, the wharf manager, asks us to sit off while they get the plane in and away. Hardly a challenge and the Beaver and SKyamsen follow each other around in circles to the amusement of those on the dock until a boat is removed from the aeroplane dock and then we just sit in the bay and wait for the plane to leave.

We are directed to the very narrow passage between the docks and the North West side of the bay and edge around into a tiny anchorage alongside the Western most finger of the docks to be met by Josh and Peter, his assistant.

Tied and secure we chat to Josh and Peter for a while to discover that Josh is also a yachtie and has a boat waiting for him at Whangerai [pronounced Fongeray] in the North Island of New Zealand and that he will be heading across the Tasman to Australia later this year.

Booking in at the office we are told that Josh always finds spots for sail boats even if they are booked out - we are greatful that this is so as otherwise we would have missed out on visiting this magic little place.

Dent Island Lodge sits on two islands with Canoe Pass running below the windows of the restaurant and a lovely deck where you can sit in the sunshine. The small skiffs with the fishing guides race through the Pass irrespective of the direction of flow and it is quite spectacular.

Pre-dinner drinks on the deck looking across towards Big Bay and dinner in the restaurant at a window table looking down onto Canoe Pass make a great way to spend the early evening.

After dinner we chat to the staff in the bar and express some disappointment that we have not the seen the small bear which is said to frequent the islands and was seen in the Gazebo this morning.

An enquiry about e-mail access leads us to Henry Moll, the very able manager, and he makes his system available to us to send off "the Diary" to Phil and Gwen and let our family know that we are still around. Access is fortunate as there is a small problem with the estate of David's late sister and, as executor of the estate, it has to be dealt with and Henry offers the facilities of the Lodge to assist.

Two e-mails and a telephone call and the process is under way to resolve the hiccup.

The wind has come up and we settle down for the night snug in the corner of the bay.

15th AUGUST - Wednesday

Today we are not going anywhere so the opportunity to sleep in is gladly taken.

When we do get up it is to a sunny morning with a light NW wind coming through the gap on the NE corner of the bay.

Many of the boats that were here last night have gone - most likely to catch the slack water at both Gillard Passage and Dent Rapids depending on their direction of travel.

We spend a lazy morning and early afternoon in a beautiful setting. At 1340 [Pacific Daylight Time] we ring home where it is 0630 on the 16th August - confused? A chat to our son, daughter and grandchildren keeps us in touch with home events. A fortuitous circumstance had our daughter staying overnight with our grand-daughters.

1500 Cam, a fishing guide, arrives to take David out to catch a salmon as so far all his Fishing Licence has done is contribute to the Consolidated Revenue of Canada. They head off through Canoe Pass at a fast clip and head NW to fish in the bay between Horn Point and Gomer Island at the mouth of Federick Arm. There is a report of Orca in Nodales Channel and there is some discussion as to what effect this will have on the fishing.

Cam knows what he is doing and so David spends a very pleasant four hours slowly trolling back and forward along the shore line in idyllic conditions.

The sum total of the afternoon is one Pink Salmon and two Rock Cod who must have been really hungry as the lure is being towed about 20 metres from the bottom. There is one other strike but the hook does not set and so it remains in Cordero Channel.

1920 Cam and David [who is highly excited with his afternoon] return and the Pink is cleaned and put in the freezer for later barbequeing.

Again Henry assists us and e-mails are dispatched to sort out the problem at home.

There is another yacht tied on the opposite side of the finger and the two masts of the yachts sit high above the tops of the power boats which dominate the small marina. Apparently yachts are not frequent visitors to Dent Island Lodge.

16th AUGUST - Thursday

0640 Up and prepare to leave this delightful place.

The tide is almost right out and our depth sounder shows 2.9 metres - our draft is 1.7 metres so allowing for the position of the transponder there is not much water underneath us. Likewise there is only about 7 metres behind us to the "hard stuff" and so, with Henry, the Manager, holding the bow sprit to keep the bow against the finger, Josh, pulls the stern around with our 100 metre shore tie cable until we are sitting on the end of the finger with the bow pointed down the bay.

0815 David puts the boat into gear and we creep slowly along between the bows of the moored boats and the shore which is close on our Port side. The bows of the moored vessels are close enough to reach out and touch however Irene is busy retrieving the cable after Josh released it and David has his hands full with piloting SKyamsen.

Dent Island Lodge is a beautiful place with immaculately kept buildings and grounds. Henry Moll, the Manager, and his staff are friendly and helpful and it seems a pity to leave so soon. If you want an "upmarket" stop on your passage North or South then we can heartily recommend it - it lives up to the description in the NW Boat Guide.

Emerging into the triangular stretch of water which is enclosed by Arran Rapids, Dent Rapids and Gillard Passage we can see a small procession of boats heading West from Gillard to Dent while a number of boats are emerging from Big Bay heading towards Yaculta Rapids.

Slack at Gillard is at 0839 and we nose into the last of the ebb and emerge into Big Bay through a very benign set of rapids - certainly nothing like the raging torrent we observed from the security of Big Bay on our trip North.

Through Gillard we turn to Starboard and lay a course to leave Whirlpool Point well to Port as we head for Yaculta Rapids where slack water is at 0904.

A regular procession of boats comes out of Big Bay or through Gillard to pursue us down Yaculta Rapids. One by one they pass us as we are in no hurry and the tide when it runs will be under our tail. Once again the water gives only the slightes hint of the maelstrom which it can become.

Elf, the converted Tug, passes us and we acknowledge the wave of the skipper as it moves slowly past us. We suspect that this is the last time that we will see her as she sets her course straight down Calm Channel towards Lewis Channel.

We leave Harbott Point on our quarter and now that we are out of Yaculta the sails go up. The wind is light but it is there and we are under sail again and the motor is off. Peace and tranquility as we ghost down channel with the breeze under our tail and only the lap of the water against the ducky to accompany us.

Two yachts, sails down, pass us heading down channel and one slows to photograph SKyamsen before motoring on.

Light weather sailing is a matter of constant attention to keep the sails full and drawing and the close quarters passing at speed by large power boats is invariably greeted with disgust by yachties and on this occasion it is no different as several large boats do so. The violent motion caused by the wake invariably causes the boom to swing and spill the hard won wind from the sails. One however slows down and glides past us with a minimum wake and we acknowledge this rare courtesy. If power boaties wonder why a sailing vessel will always stand on to force right of way when they could have quite easily, and more conveniently to themselves, change course then this is the reason.

Off the South end of the Rendezvous Islands we change course into Sutil Channel and immediately lose the wind to sit almost motionless for about 20 minutes.

Wind ruffles the water ahead of us and soon there is a breeze blowing straight down Sutil Channel towards us and SKyamsen springs to life as her sails fill and we are off charging diagonally across towards the shore of Read Island before we go about to head across towards Cortes Island.

The wind is kind to us and the SE breeze of around 15 knots swings more to the East and our course comes up with it to keep us close on the wind towards the mouth of Von Donop Inlet on Cortes Island

. Off the entrance to Von Donop we drop and secure the sails and motor into the entrance with Irene reading aloud the description of the passage up the Inlet with emphasis on the rock which sits mid-channel in the narrows.

We approach the narrows with the shore close on our starboard side as recommended and are commited to the narrows when a large power boat appears from the small point beyond the narrows and obviously decides to oppose us and heads diagonally towards our Port bow at about Red 005. We have right of way in terms of the use of the channel and have little room to manouevre and so David stands on holding his course and keeping a watchful eye on this bozo. We have less than ten metres to our starboard side to the "hard stuff"and it looks like he wants tocross our bows to come down channel starboard to starboard. It stops in the water but leaves little room for error and the helmsman is in clear breach of good manners and the Regulations for the Prevention of Collision at Sea. We are clear of him and fortunately David is on the helm and so cannot reach the radio and Irene is in the bow having been on watch for the rock and so the opportunity to detail this moron's illegitimate ancestry is lost. Not content with one effort he moves forward again into the path of the yacht, Amazing Grace II, about 50 metres astern of us and once again has to stop and go astern. There is a third yacht behind Amazing Grace II, but we do not see what occurs with it and in the course of keeping a watchful eye on him do not get the name of the vessel - a restored ‘60's style launch of about 13 metres length. In vivid contrast another vessel approaches and sits off waiting for the incoming vessels to clear the rock before proceeding. It is not that we do not have this sort of idiot at home, we do, but the waters are not so restricted and the nature of our seas and weather sort them out and the sheer volume of boat traffic is not there and so the probability of this sort of incident is reduced dramatically.

This little unpleasantness behind us we motor on up the Inlet to the head and drop anchor in about 8 metres of water on a flooding tide. We are going to spend a couple of days here.

One of the crew from the yacht moored close by dives overboard to swim - the first time we have seen anyone voluntarily in the water on this trip.

Evening settles over the anchorage and the reflections of the trees reach across the water to caress the side of our boat and the sky turns slowly darker. Lights start to glow warmly from dead lights around the anchorage and the anchor lights start to come on.

The evening also brings the mosquitoes but they are a small price to pay for the beauty which surrounds us.

17th AUGUST - Friday

0900 Up and about and have a lazy breakfast. Some of the boats in the anchorage have gone and there is a light breeze rippling the water. Sky is overcast and we wonder if our sunshine has gone for a while.

The morning is spent just pottering around the boat and enjoying the peace of this anchorage.

After an early lunch we head off in the ducky to explore down the inlet to poke into the small bay about a third of the way down the inlet and photograph the small cairns we see on the island at its northern entrance.

Coming back along the inlet there is another couple in a ducky with two dogs as well out to set a crab pot and we pass the time of day with them and photograph what is a very full ducky. We motor into the drying arm on the west side of the bay and can get almost to the head of it with the tide on the flood. A couple from a nearby yacht row past and enquire if we have sailed from Australia and we spend a pleasant quarter hour chatting to them. They have also called today a lay day having gone for a walk to Squirrel Cove and taking the wrong turn ended up doing twice the distance they wanted to.

David goes below to read and is soon asleep.

The sun is out and the anchorage is slowly filling with boats although there is plenty of room and no one is crowded. Duckies and dinghies are busy plying the still waters of the bay with their occupants intent on matters of great interest.

Evening starts to settle and we barbeque half of the salmon David caught at Dent Island and sit down to a very tasty meal of fresh fish - and to David's delight mashed potatoes and peas - a gourmet he is not.

Dusk brings a visitor in the shape of a large gull which sits in the water close by and so we feed it the remaining pancake until it has obviously had enough and leaves us to head home taking off and flying in circles around the anchorage gaining hight.

Darkness discloses a small forest of anchor lights and the voices from the crews of other boats drift across the water as they enjoy the evening in the cockpits of their craft.

We may just stay here tomorrow as well.

18th AUGUST - Saturday

Up and about but not too early. Some movement in the anchorage but generally boats are staying put.

The day is sunny and warm and most pleasant. We are going to stay.

David gets to and cleans topsides as it is badly in need of a scrub while Irene tends to the cabin and cleaning down there.

The morning is soon gone and we just sit and enjoy the sunshine when a blue ducky with a couple on board motors slowly over and stops alongside.

They are Bruce Winpenny and Alekxos Sarter from the yacht, Cavolina, and Bruce informs us that he had once completed a Fraser 36 from the hull and deck.

We invite them aboard for coffee and spend the next few hours chatting in the cockpit and the time flies. An invitation to go over for drinks at 1900 is accepted enthusiastically.

1900 Away from SKyamsen in the ducky and motor over to Cavolina and go aboard. Cavolina is a Roberts 44 with a centre cockpit on which Bruce and Alekxos live in Vancouver. It is a beautifully fitted out vessel.

It is dark when we leave and putter slowly up the anchorage to our boat. The wake from the outboard is a swirling mass of phosphorescence and quite fascinating.

19th AUGUST - Sunday

0800 Up and about. The morning is sunny and there is no wind. We breakfast and prepare to leave.

Bruce and Alekxos motor close in to say goodbye as they are heading off to Octopus Islands Marine Park while we are heading to Gorge Harbour.

A call to Gorge Harbour Marina on channel 73 ensures us a berth for tonight.

1145 The anchor is up - an unusually long process this morning as there is thick ooey gooey mud all over the chain and it has to be brushed off - no wonder pressure hoses are common on boats here. It is the first time we have brought up mud like that on the pick.

Motoring down Von Donop there is a small breeze coming against us and we are hoping that it means wind in Sutil Channel. The tide is on the ebb and the water level is well down [Spring Tide] and so we pick our way carefully through the narrows near the mouth of Von Donop.

The surface of Sutil is like glass - not even a wind ripple so it looks like the sails will stay furled.

We turn South West down Sutil keeping reasonably close into the shore of Cortes Island. The morning is beautiful with the reflections of the islands in the water and Altocumulus and Cumulus clouds creating dramatic patterns across the sky to the North West.

There are power boats plying back and forth on the other side of Sutil and we can only guess at where they have come from and where they are bound. We are left to ourselves on our side of the channel.

If there had been wind we had intended to leave Subtle Islands to port and head wide out into Sutil Channel to sail around Marina Island - there is no wind so we motor inside Subtle Islands through Plunger Passage.

There is a modern dock and new buildings ashore on the southern most of the Subtle Islands - and not to subtle buildings at that. They are unexplained on the chart or in the Guide other than that the islands are privateley owned.

A large power boat appears out of Whaletown Bay and enters Plunger Passage going the other way and slows right down to minimize his wake effect on us and we cheerfully acknowledge his courtesy and seamanship.

The Heriot Bay to Whaletown ferry crosses our bows inbound for Whaletown and disappears behind the point into Whaletown Bay.

The chart shows a red spar buoy off Whaletown Bay and we eventually spot it. It is small and totally different to the size of spar buoys we are familiar with. Our next task is to pick up the green spar buoys at Uganda Passage. The red marker on the east side of Uganda Passage is clearly visible and it takes a while to pick up the small green buoys. The tide is right out and Shark Spit sits high above water level and anchored yachts on the South East side are only visible by their masts.

We motor into Uganda Passage to make the sharp turn to starboard to take us out towards the red cone buoy which we leave to port. Around Heather Islets we lay the Guide Islets as our indicator of the entrance to Gorge Harbour. There are houses built on the Heather Islets with board walks and docks and we wonder if they are permanent residences or holiday cottages only.

The entrance to Gorge Harbour is not visible until we are virtually into it and we ride through on the flooding tide with the cliff towering over us to port and Tide Islet standing well into the channel challenging you to go close as the tidal water swirls around.

Gorge Harbour Marina is in the North West part of the harbour and as the Marina does not answer our call on channel 73 we come alongside near the fuel dock and our lines are taken by Bernard and Bev Brown of the motor vessel Pacific Dream. We have no sooner made our bow and stern lines fast than Melissa, the wharfinger, arrives and points us to an inner finger to moor. Pacific Dream is a trawler style vessel with lots of bright work and quite a delight to look at.

Laundry time and we head up to start the process of turning grubby clothes into pristine cleanliness.

Bernard invites us for drinks at 1800 and we spend a pleasant hour sitting on the top deck.

The forecast is not brilliant with SE gales forecast. What happened to the NW winds we had on the way up?

We will see what the morning brings.

20th AUGUST - Monday

0700 We have set the alarm as where we are tied up is blocking several vessels from getting out and we want to be prepared. When we stick our heads out the vessel on the finger opposite and adjacent has gone so anyone ahead of it can now get out.

Discuss areas near Victoria with Bernard on Pacific Dream before he leaves for Lund.

The weather forecast from Comox Coast Guard is for gales in the afternoon with the outlook for continuing bad weather for several days. A phone call to Beach Gardens Marina near Powell River ensures us a berth and the decision is made to head out.

Because of where we are and the peculiarities of long keel yachts when attempting to go astern - they like to go in a straight line - we start to warp SKyamsen to the end of the finger and then swing her stern so that our bow is pointing out. Three men and a woman stand watching while we move 11.5 tonnes of boat by hand and make no offer to help and then the woman says, "That looks like heavy work". It is better to stay silent than to say what we are really thinking and so we ignore her. This is the first time we have encountered somebody just standing by and watching someone handle a vessel into or out of a berth without an offer of assistance.

Alongside we take on 18 litres of diesel and then give it away as the hose delivers far too fast for our intake and we have enough fuel to motor to Beach Gardens if that is necessary.

1005 Away from the fuel dock and motor our of Gorge Harbour on the ebbing tide and turn SSE towards the Strait of Georgia to lay the West end of Mitlenatch Island although we have no intention of going that far.

That course will keep us off the sands until we reach the buoy SW of Sutil Point on Cortes Island.

There is a long keel boat aground on the sands between Sandy Bay and Sutil Point and lying on her side - she will be there until the tide floods to refloat her. Another boat is standing off her and there are people on the sands around her and there is nothing we can do to assist.

At the buoy we alter course to lay Spilsbury Point on Hernando Island and pass into Baker Passage between Hernando and Twin Islands. Off Hidalgo we turn further to the East to lay Mace Point on Savary Island. Lund is visible in the distance on the mainland.

There are seals around and Irene hopes that she managed a good photograph of one up close to the boat - we won't know until the film is developed in Australia in about 4 weeks. That thought stops us as we have become used to this life and there is still so much of coastal BC to explore.

Closing Mace Point the wind starts to rise and is on the nose. Where are the NW winds of our passage up the coast. We start to see a number of yachts heading up coast running before the wind with all sails set and we are envious of them.

Lund appears to be a thicket of boats of all sizes and probably a good place to avoid tonight if the forecast gale eventuates.

Around Mace Point and we are head on into a rising wind with an opposing sea and it is going to be a long haul to Beach Gardens. Yachts continue to pass us going the other way flying before the wind and the odd power boat passes us going down coast.

As we approach Harwood Island we can see a spinaker in the distance and soon a 40 to 50 foot ketch passes us with her mizzen, main and a beautiful radial cut red, white and black spinaker set. She is flying before about 22 knots of wind - oh to turn around and hoist the sails and head back up the coast.

We make the final leg across from Harwood to Grief Point into less of a sea as we are partially sheltered although the wind is rising further.

1710 We turn into Beach Gardens Marina where we stopped on the way up and take on fuel before warping around onto the long finger and tying up. We spend the next half hour to hour talking and helping other boats coming in in the high wind.

The side curtains have gone up in the cockpit for the first time since Shawl Bay and it starts to rain as we settle down for the night. The wind has died away a bit but that is probably just a lull before the gale hits.

21st AUGUST - Tuesday

0210 Or thereabouts - the wind hits and David is up again to check the mooring lines.

We have two bow lines, three bow springs, three stern springs and a stern line rigged to the dock.

There will be little rest tonight and David dresses and curls up on the settee in the main cabin with the red night lighting on in the cabin and at the Nav Station. The rest of the night is spent going out to check the lines as the wind howls across the top of the breakwater. The anemometer is showing wind of 37 knots with gusts over 40.

Daylight brings no relief from the wind but it is easier to check the condition of lines and fenders. We are on the West side of the finger and hanging out from the dock and so the fenders are not really getting any work whereas the boat opposite is sitting tight against the dock.

David and several others check the lines on their boats and assist each other in taking up the pressure while slack is taken out of springs. We are sitting on an angle of heel of around seven degrees with just the bare mast.

The side curtains are taken out of the Bimini to reduce our windage.

There is a clear view out of the marina entrance and Malaspina Strait has the spray whipped off the top of the white caps. A tug with a laden barge passes heading into the wind and the spray from its bow butting into the waves sweeps high over the top of the wheelhouse. Not one of the most pleasant jobs today.

Low tide is at 1404 and there will be a drop of over three metres which will give us some relief from the wind as our boats drop well below the top of the stone breakwater. The forecast is for it to drop to about 25 knots this evening.

A large schooner passes the mouth of the marina heading down Malaspina and dips her bows deep into the short seas and David and several others stand on the fuel dock and watch the struggle to make any headway and why bother when there is shelter behind Harwood or Savary Islands - not perfect but better than bashing into that kind of sea when it is not necessary.

Late in the afternoon the wharf manager tells us that a large motor vessel is coming in and is going to tie up in front of us on the main finger. We gather on the end of the finger as he rounds the breakwater and comes beam on to the sea running along Malaspina and the helmsman guns it in to the marina and then puts it astern and brings it alongside the wharf so that it is just a matter of lines being handed to those of us on the wharf and making fast while the skipper comes down to check or re-tie lines. The vessel's name is Marjatta and David says it is one of the neatest pieces of seamanship he has seen in 49 years of "mucking around in boats"- high praise from someone who is so particular about boat handling.

The wind does not let up and we record gusts of 45 knots - two more and it is "Storm Force".

Dinner is a bowl of soup and we settle down to another long night of checking lines. Several crews have gone ashore and booked into the Resort for the night but David will not leave SKyamsen and so we stay. The night is going to be spent fully clothed and napping in the main cabin.

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