Desolation Sound June 2020

[Toki]

Hey boys and girls, one thing that makes dreary PNW winters bearable is planning next season's boat trips!

BlueStreak and I have been chatting about a 2 week trip up to Desolation Sound and back. I think mid June is a perfect time for such a trip:

- Anchorages/marinas not too crowded yet

- Good weather with 16 hours of daylight

- Several of us have our boats in charter, mid June precedes prime charter/rate period

Anyone else interested in this? Might be fun to have a few of us meeting up along the way.

 

[Karll]

Add us to the list, it is a trip on our bucket list.

 

[Familyguy]

Definitely interested, but its a bit far out so add us to the ‘most likely to attend list’
Thanks!

 

[tschneid]

Interested with our Cutwater 30!!!


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[SPBland]

Interested with our Ranger Tug!

 

[Jmberkowitz]

My wife and I are interested, but hoping you’ve thought about a sample itinerary. Such as starting point, marinas to visit along the way and the route to Desolation (ie, Vancouver Island side up or mainland side). Thanks.

 

[Toki]

Hey folks, getting lots of interest in this voyage! That's great. A couple thoughts on the itinerary:

Unlike some of you, I still have one of those job thingies so my time is limited. That's why I'm looking at 2 weeks, even though a longer duration would make for more leisurely trip. If any of you are looking for a longer trip, I'm sure we could work something out to meet up along the way and track each other.

My #1 objective for this trip is to show my wife a great time. She's a little new to boating, a bit timid, so I'm going to stack the deck in my favor by showing her places I know and love, and choosing low-stress anchorages I know well. I also plan to mix anchoring in more peaceful coves with marinas with amenities. While in the protection of the San Juan and Gulf Islands, I'll choose routes to the lee of islands for calmer waters. I do have a concern with rougher water once we're in the Strait of Georgia. I plan to play that completely by ear. If weather and sea state just isn't cooperating, there's the possibility we may just want to stay within the islands rather than go further north.

However, assuming all is well for the full trip, here's a possible itinerary. As these things go, this is subject to change, and likely will be adjusted. I'd be interested in what you folks have to say about this itinerary, and any must-stop places I've omitted.

Day 1: Anacortes to Reid Harbor on Stuart Island, grab dock space or mooring balls
Day 2: Stop in Bedwell Harbor on South Pender Island to clear customs, then go on to Ganges, guest dock
Day 3: Pirates Cove on De Courcey Island, anchor in cove
Day 4: Guest dock in Comox
Day 5: Stop at Mittlenatch Island on the way to Desolation Sound. Anchor in Prideaux Haven
Day 6: Anchor at Teakerne Arm Provincial Park on West Redonda Island
Day 7: Guest dock in Lund
Day 8: Anchor in cove in Francis Point Provincial Park
Day 9: Guest dock in Snug Cove, Bowen Island
Day 10 & 11: Marina slips in False Creek, Vancouver
Day 12: Clear US Customs at Point Roberts. Marina slips for the night there
Day 13: Shallow Bay on Sucia Island
Day 14: Sucia Island home to Anacortes

 

[bluestreak]

My new wife is brand new to boating so we want to explore the Islands and so we will rely on Toki's experience.
The boat is also brand new to us so this will be a big learning and fun experience for us.

 

[Toki]

I appreciate the confidence in me Bill. While I do know these cruising grounds reasonably well, like you I'm new to my Ranger. I'm looking forward to meeting our more knowledgeable Ranger/Cutwater brethren and learning more about this little boat. And I'm still coming to grips with this single-mode-of-propulsion thing. I've always been confident in my sailboats that if the motor conks out I can get where I need to (eventually) under sail power. There's comfort in buddy-boating knowing that we can help each other if anyone has trouble. Heck, these are tugs right? Last man standing can tow the whole fleet into port!

 

[bluestreak]

Dan,
I have many hours on the water but mostly inland waters; even though the fetch on one of our lakes can generate 4-10 ft waves and I have had water come over the cabin top on a 25 ft Boston Whaler.
Lots of towing experience as well but always hope you never have to put your skills into practice.
Bill

 

[scross]

We liked our Desolation Sound cruising so much last year we’re planning on doing it again!
Here’s a rough 17 day itinerary out of Bellingham that I’ve sketched out for those that have a bit longer than two weeks.
There’s lots to see in Desolation Sound so we are not including the Grace, Squirrel, Walsh, Tenedos or Oyster areas we visited in 2019 but they were all great stops! Last year we also considered an overnight in Teakarne Arm but getting a good anchorage proved to difficult.
Generic Desolation Sound Cruise
1. Launch boat, park trailer and provision boat at Squalicum
2. Cruise from Squalicum to Ganges and provision (48nm)
3. Ganges to Newcastle PP @ Nanaimo (33nm)
4. Nanaimo to Comox (52nm) pump out and refuel on arrival
5. Comox all day
6. Cruise Comox to Gorge Harbor (33nm)
7. Leave Gorge to Manson Landing in Desolation Sound
8. Desolation Sound - Prideaux Haven area (Laura or Melanie Cove or Roffey Island)
9. Desolation Sound - Toba Wilderness Lodge via refueling and H2O at Refuge Cove
10. Desolation Sound - TBD
11. Desolation Sound - Rebecca Spit
12. Cruise to Powell River via Lund for easy pumpout and refuel
13. Powell River to Union Steamship on Bowen Island
14. Union Steamship to Vancouver (12nm)
15. Vancouver
16. Vancouver to Montague Harbor via Polier Pass (38nm)
17. Montague Harbor to Squalicum and retrieve trailer

 

[Toki]

Scross, that looks like a terrific itinerary! There are so many gems in these cruising grounds, it's difficulty to prioritize stops in a 2 week itinerary. For example, I love Montague Harbor, but I just couldn't slot that in with the rest of the stops I wanted.

One thing to be considered in my itinerary is we need to check through Canadian Customs on the way up and US Customs on the way back, so that anchors a couple legs of the journey

 

[Kimberly Dawn]

Both these trips seem like a great time!

Al, concerning Teakerne Arm being too difficult an anchorage, do you mean too busy (popular) to find a good spot, or being that it's an "uphill" anchor with a stern tie was too difficult to set your anchor.

I likewise am planning a DS trip this summer, with one stop being Teakerne Arm. Curious what I have to look forward to in addition to the sheer beauty of the area.

Bob
The Doghouse 2

 

[scross]

Toki,
Our itinerary outbound goes right by Poet's Cove for easy check with Canadian Customs. On the return to the US you could check in either at either Friday Harbor, Anacortes or Roche - whichever was easier. We have NEXUS so it's just a call in for us. The new CPB Roam app lets you call in coming back into the US and you may avoid the physical check in using that service.
Our leg from Ganges to Newcastle PP is only 33nm or so allowing lots of flexibility to time slack water at Dodds Narrows.We typically cruise at 10 knots so our legs tend to be shorter - 62 nm from Powell River to Bowen Island is the longest leg.

Bob,
Teakerne Arm had about 6-8 boats anchored there when we arrived so the best spots were taken. The drop off from shore is pretty steep. There were huge anchor eating boulders all over the 25-30 ft deep areas we looked. We tried three times but couldn't get a good set and gave up.

PS We stern tied everywhere we anchored except in Squirrel Cove and Grace Harbor.

 

[thaicobb]

Toki,

Desolation sounds good to me, esp. in June. Since I'm based in Sidney, I could join the group in Ganges and say bon voyage at Bowen Isd. or Vancouver.

Rick Kidd
R-25 Classic, "Selkie"

 

[Dcsqatar]

My wife and I are interested. Please keep us informed of future planning.

 

[vertigo]

As proud new operators of a 2012 R-29, my wife and I are very keen to start exploring Desolation Sound this coming season. We're very interested to join a group for this trip. I'm somewhat new to trawler cruising, but experienced in remote adventuring and in the repair and maintenance of propulsion systems and baking of sourdough breads in portable ovens, so perhaps we could make ourselves useful.

Please keep us posted of opportunities to accompany.

Jim

 

[Toki]

Hey Folks, looks like the seminars/gathering schedule has now been posted here: http://www.tugnuts.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=14680

Notice the Points North seminar on March 21. My wife and I are planning to attend. Looks like great info will be shared on cruising north through the islands. Check it out, might be a great opportunity to learn, and to meet each other in person! Not sure if attendance is limited, but it probably wouldn't hurt to sign up soon.

 

[scross]

To those interested in anchoring in Teakerne Arm I have been advised I gave up finding a good anchorage too soon. Apparently there are two coves on the north eastern end of the arm that we didn’t spot, know about or see last year. You’re going to need to do a google search to get the down low the exact locations for Good Sex Cove and Bad Sex Cove (aka Great Sex Cove). We missed out on these coves last year but looking forward to giving them a try in 2020! Be advised there are old logging cables in these two coves that can foul anchors.

https://svcambria.blogspot.com/2016/12/ ... k.html?m=1

 

[Toki]

Hey folks, other events are starting to appear on our summer schedule, so the missus and I decided we'd better nail down dates for this Desolation Sound trip and chisel those dates in granite. We've chosen the last week of June and first week of July, 6/13 through 7/5. Hopefully that works for those of you who've expressed interest in this trip.

Also, I should explain my thoughts on organization of this trip. I wasn't planning on this being a micro-managed "flotilla". I'm not planning to make group reservations for marinas or events. Rather, everyone will hit the water with tentative itineraries and phone numbers, Email addresses, and VHF call signs for all the other participants (I'm happy to organize putting that together and will do so as the event nears). We'll all be going in approximately the same directions at roughly the same time frames. We'll cross paths at various times, where we'll socialize, compare notes, brag about our skippering skills, complain about the weather, sip G&Ts etc. Sound about right?