PRINCESS LOUISA INLET -- FEB 2010

Lobo

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Messages
290
Fluid Motion Model
C-248 C
Hull Identification Number
FMLT2562J708
Vessel Name
Lobo
MMSI Number
316013957
On February 17, 2010 19 mostly seniors left Sidney BC on six 40’ boats for a winter cruise to Princess Louisa Park at the upper end of Jervis Inlet on the West Coast of BC. The destination is about 30 air kilometers from the Winter Olympics in Whistler BC – but “you can’t get from here to there”.

The ship I was on is a 40’ trawler and there were 4 of us older gentlemen on board.

Day 1 was a 35 mile run to Nanaimo where we overnighted. Dinner on our boat was lobster – 2 each! Plus accompanying salads, wines and dessert.

Day 2 was an early departure of 4 boats of us across Georgia Straight (a 42 Beneteau Swift Trawler crossed the night before; a 45' Grand Banks came up a few hours later). Conditions could not have been better – in fact for the whole cruise we had almost no wind and flat calm seas. We left North and South Thormanby Islands to starboard; passed Pender Harbour; up Agamemnon Channel and into Jervis Inlet. Around 3:00 PM we passed through Malibu Rapids (a plus 4 knot current with us). As a “newby” to the area, we had to point the bow into a waterfall and I had to add some branch water to my glass of rum. Dinner was salad, steaks, ice cream and accompanying wine.

The entire trip was absolutely clear and crisp. There was very little snow. Many of this group have been doing this cruise every February for 20 years, and apparently this was the best “weather-wise”. Last year there was 3 feet of snow on the docks.

The park – with Chatterbox Falls – is 3 miles from Malibu Rapids. There is 890 feet of dock space, and in summer you can raft up 2 deep on each side. Other than our 6 boats and 19 crew, we didn’t see any other boat or human. I only found 2 people of the crew who had been to Princess Louisa in the summer, and they found it quite crowded in summer. There is a bit of anchoring area, and there are some stern-tie rings on the rocks on the other side of the falls (from the dock). Often two or more boats will put a hook down in the outfall of the falls and let the runoff keep them all lined up. Anchoring and stern-tying is cooler and bug free compared to the dock.

The park is quite small as the area is hemmed in by steep mountains – which of course make finding a place to put an anchor down difficult.

Facilities at Princess Louisa include free docking; non-potable water to the docks (in summer); an outhouse; a great gazebo with fire pit and a Ranger cabin. There is a good write-up in Waggoner Cruising Guide.

Our group spent Friday and Saturday there (days 3 and 4) – all in beautiful weather conditions. There was some fog in the morning but it slowly burnt off as the sun crawled slowly down the mountains. We ate, we played golf, we had a few beers, ate some more, etc. etc. Dinner on day 3 was “boat appetizers” as we all tried to outdo the others. On Day 4 there were two large prime ribs roasted over the fire on a revolving spit, salads, deep fried onion rings, apple crumble with ice cream and warm caramel sauce. And, perhaps, a wee dram of something else.

Departure Sunday morning (day 5) was at 7:00 AM to get through Malibu Rapids. There was a thin layer of ice on the water (the top 6 inches seems to be fresh water, salt water underneath). We had ice for most of Princess Louisa Inlet and a few miles of Jervis Inlet. Last year the ice was around 1" thick.

Weather was clear for most of Jervis Inlet, but around Pender Harbour we encountered fog which we were in until Departure Bay in Nanaimo. We stayed overnight in Nanaimo and had our last feast – salad, roast chicken and very little accompanying wine.

Mondays trip home (day 6) was an early departure to hit the slack at Dodds Narrows; then we left Thetis Island to starboard, cut through the Secretary Islands over to Stuart Channel, and down through Sansom Narrows to home. We encountered fog again – and spent a few anxious moments trying to “find” a tug with two barges we had seen earlier that disappeared into said fog.

Princess Louisa has been described as the “Holy Grail of Cruising”, and for scenery it surely is tops. Going in winter with only a few people, no dogs, no late-night generators, etc. made it even more spectacular.

There is limited anchorage between Pender Harbour and Princess Louisa, but there is some. If you plan this trip, take the distance and potential moorage problems into consideration. There are a few spots with shelves with 20’ depths that then fall off into 600’ plus.

There were no Ranger Tugs on this trip. I would have loved to have had my 25’ as the conditions were perfect. When we landed back and refuelled the boats I found another joy of my Ranger! I estimate a full tank (260 litres) for my Ranger for this trip; we put in 560 litres on the boat I was on, the 42' Beneteau ST around 1,000 litres and the Grand Banks even more.

This is a link to a web cam at Malibu Rapids.
http://www.malibuhydro.com/

Dave
"Lobo"
 
Dave - WOW! Sounds like you found not only the holy grail of cruising, but the gastronomic holy grail as well! Congratulations on making the rest of us very envious. The next time you try this, I would ask a favor; please take our R-21 "Kamalani" in tow at least to Malibu Rapids. Then we can get some beautiful photos of her at Chatterbox Falls, and blow the minds of our fellow TugNutters! Sounds like fun.
Thanks for sharing your incredible experience.
(As an aside: I did have the thrill of experiencing Princess Louisa in 1986. We were taken by Zodiac through Malibu Rapids, and up the inlet to the falls, and then back to our waiting ship. Our ship was "Society Explorer", the same one that sank in Antarctic waters last year. I cried.)
Alex, "Kamalani"
 
Hi Dave,
I am glad you made it through Dodd Narrows safely, it does get trying at full current. I didn't hear anything about the torpedo test area off Nanaimo. Several years ago we were in the area and got hit by something that lifted our 40' Monk (about 25 tons) out of the water and later found an circular impression in the keel, hmmm I wonder what that was. We were using an outdated chart after which the range had enlarged. Maybe the range is no longer there.
Bob
 
The range, called Whiskey-Gulf, is northeast of Nanimo is still used and mariners need to pay attention to the canadian VHF radio channels to know when it is active and when it is not. The range or military exercise area is quite large and is drawn on the charts, both on paper and the current chart plotter maps. There really is not a good reason to be in that area when it is active.
 
John,
I felt like I got a lecture about my boating skills. At the time we may have gotten hit by a torpedo we we using old charts after which the range had been extended. The reason for my message was to make people aware of the range and to show due caution. When the incident occured we did not have more than a radio and depth sounder , unlike the new navigation equipment available on your boat and mine, so location relative to the range was a guess.
Bob
 
Bob,
I thought it was "cool" when we almost got broad sided by a seaplane while Tarpon Fishing in the keys a few years back! But to get hit by a torpedo! Your story wins! I know no one that has ever had their pleasure boat hit by a torpedo!!!! 😱

Hey, we all live (hopefully) and learn (again, hopefully!) We will try to avoid the military range when we go north this summer!!!
 
Dave,
Thank God it wasn't armed, it was only a test torpedo but still bad enough. As noted by John, the area is called Whisky-Gulf.
Bob
 
Still a cool story to tell! You sure it isn't called Tequilla-Gulf....... Maybe it was in search of your Margarita machine......
 
Dave,
This was 35 Years ago, long before the machine existed. I will not use it as an excuse, maybe the next time. In my response to John I forgot to mention I had a compass as well, still not enough equipment. The MIMI (my Monk) still bears the scars of my embarrassing event. I like to present these experiences so others don't feel embarrased by their's.
I have many more to share but will do them over a period of time so I don't appear to be inadequate as a skipper. the next event I will address will be my experiences as a gill netter in the 60's.
Bob
 
Winter of 2011 with rain and snow in the forecast for Puget Sound and I am thinking of Princess Louisa Inlet. The article that we wrote for BoatUS Trailering Magazine about our trip to Princess Louisa can be downloaded from our website:

www.laurieann-ranger25.com
 
August long weekend of last year I took my 21EC to Chatterbox Falls. I live in Gibsons so I towed it on the trailer to Egmont and left my pickup and trailer at the Back Eddy pub for the weekend. In a 21 it's a 5.5 hour trip to the falls. It is a stunning area. I have a collection of pictures in a Chatterbox falls album. Look for Dalee62 if your interested in seeing some photographs.

Dave
 
John, your informative article on Princess Louisa reminded us of our shakedown cruise, May, 2009. We were green with our newly launched 25' and cruised with more luck than sense. At Nanaimo we called to learn that Whiskey Gulf was inoperative Saturday and Sunday. Good, it was Friday night. With flat seas Saturday morning, we were in Welcome Passage in "no" time, stuck our nose into Smuggler and Secret coves and intended to anchor the night in Garden Bay. We stopped in at John Henry's to pick up some local knowledge and learned that, with 15+ knot power, Malibu Rapids was "no sweat." They did it "all the time."

It was noon, no cloud in the sky, and forecast of rain. Shouldn't we see Louisa in brilliant sunshine? Yes! So we forgot Garden Bay and did 10-12 knots to Malibu, shot up against its boiling tide, and were soon gliding up toward Chatterbox Falls. What? The dock is full? We were told that May would be slack season and we would have no difficulty tying up. As beginner's luck would have it, there was just enough room for our 25' and a ringside view of the falls.

We planned to spend two nights. But soon it was five. Most of the boats evacuated and, with rain, almost none came to take their place. At one point we could count 21 waterfalls cascading down the cliffs and we gathered rainfall from our canvass to supplement our diminishing fresh water supply.

Our compatriots on the dock were very gracious. We had a community shrimp feed. They were pulling them up by the hundreds.

We followed an experienced captain in his 55' trawler downstream to exit Malibu. Both of us were fish-tailing our way down the rapids but uneventfully so. I had planned to refuel at John Henry's but computed that we had "plenty" of diesel to reach Nanaimo. I did not, however, account for the heavy seas and detour around Whiskey Gulf. The low fuel began to beep as we rounded Ballenas Is. 😳 Before we turned into Departure Bay we were moving at idle speed. And only one fuel depot in Nanaimo? You've got to be kidding. We pulled in with the gauge showing .4 gal. :roll:

Our dockmates at the princess knew we were headed up the Inside Passage to Alaska and exalted, "You'll never see any scenery better than this!" Well, maybe. But that's like saying, "You'll never see a sunset better than this!"

Norb and Ruth Hattendorf
"Two If By Sea"
25' Ranger Tug
Boulder, Colorado
norbhat@comcast.net
 
Norb, thanks for sharing your adventure. I enjoyed reading your account.
 
Back
Top