British Columbia

Joe Cove – Located on the South Side of Eden Island – Today we moved a whopping 12 miles. It was a foggy, damp and still day, everything looked grey and green, even the water. We were determined to head back out into Queen Charlotte Straight in our quest to find those allusive whales. Again no luck on that front, but the fog made our cruise through Arrow Passage, Sunday Harbour and Misty Passage that much more remarkable, from a visual perspective. We can only imagine what it would have been like on a sunny day. We entered Joe Cove on Eden Island to find complete solitude – we were the only boat to use the cove for shelter that night. Guess now is as good a time as any to talk about how it felt to be out in the wilds of British Columbia for three weeks. We have anchored out a good deal during this trip and most anchorages have no viable walking…

Waddington Bay – Located Off Bonwick Island – After waking up to a thick fog, we departed Goat Island and cruised up Knight Inlet for seven miles in search of whales. Having no luck finding any, we retraced our path through extremely calm water, moving in and out of the dense fog to make our way to the mouth of Knight Inlet. We skirted into a channel by Midsummer Island and out into the base of Queen Charlotte Strait. Still idling through heavy fog, not seeing much past the bow of Kismet we went up Arrow Passage, still looking for whales. With none yet to be seen we moved on into Waddington Bay, off Bonwick Island where we found a wonderfully scenic and remote location to drop the hook at the end of the cove in 15-feet of water. We spent two days on the hook watching, unsuccessfully, for bears grazing on shore and dinghying around the bay chatting with boaters anchored nearby      We were the…

Welcome to Alert Bay –  Having provisioned in Port McNeill, we were good for another two weeks while exploring the Broughton Archipelago. First stop, Alert Bay, an aboriginal cultural destination. Alert Bay is home to about 1,300 Namgis people, a First Nations band within the larger Kwakwaka'wakw nation of northern Vancouver Island. The members of the village community coexist side-by-side, in harmony with the largely non-native population that resides in the village on the south-side of Cormorant Island. We tied up at the Government Marina for a few hours. Our mission was to walk around the village, grab some lunch and visit the U’mista Cultural Centre Museum. The Centre is a First Nations Museum collection of historically significant masks, totem poles, photos and educational videos of the area and there way of life. First we walked the docks at the village marina. Lots of old fishing boats and a few unusual pleasure boats and yachts graced the harbor docks. Next, we headed up into…

Port McNeill – Back to Civilization for a Brief Moment Port McNeill, located on Vancouver Island's northeast shore on Queen Charlotte Strait, is a gateway to the remote spaces of the Broughton Archipelago. An old base camp for loggers and named after Captain William Henry McNeill (Hudson Bay Company), Port McNeill was settled back in 1936. We were in need of many things... phone service, wifi, water, groceries, post office and drug store. Before we could go back out into the wild, we needed to take care of some business. Port McNeill is a very walkable town, we found everything we needed within a short distance of the marina. We stocked up on food at the local grocery store and were surprised that even Port McNeill, on Vancouver Island, has a hard time getting supplies. Lisa had wanted to buy chicken and couldn't find any, a worker in the meat department said the chicken only came on certain days of the week,…

Stopping at Goat Island on Our Way to Provision at Port McNeil – It had been 11 days since we had been to a grocery store and the boat cupboards were getting bare! We certainly had enough canned goods, so we wouldn't starve, but we craved fresh produce. Also, our fresh water tank was about empty. With that in mind we departed Sullivan Bay Marina for a scenic cruise within the Broughton Archipelago past Pierre’s Echo Bay Marina and Knight Inlet to an anchorage at Goat Island, it was a 20-mile run.   At Goat Island, we found low lying islands surrounding our anchorage. Calm with blue skies all day, but woke to a dense fog in the morning. Only one other boat anchored with us tonight. It was an interesting trawler with lots of toys on it. The next morning we woke up to heavy fog but not heavy enough to stop us from venturing out to meet slack tide at the top of Hanson…

Sullivan Bay Marina is on the Edge of the Broughton Archipelago –  After two peaceful nights on the hook at Turnbull Cove we pulled anchor to head a short seven miles to Sullivan Bay Marina. We timed our stay at Sullivans to coincide with their prime rib dinner, a weekly, scheduled event. Sullivan Bay Marina is a remote floating island community, only accessible by boat, sea plane or helicopter. Besides dockage there are many float homes, a convenience store, fuel dock and restaurant.   Lisa taking photos while Jim drives the boat. When we arrived we stopped at the fuel dock to top our tanks. We were warmly greeted by staff and other boaters when we arrived. We checked out the nearby grocery store to see what the offering were and ordered our cinnamon rolls for the next morning. Fresh produce was what we craved, but the prices were of course quite high – understandably. Lisa immediately asked Jim for a two-night stay.     …

Exploring Picturesque Waterways On Our Way to Turnbull Cove – After enjoying only a one-night stay at Laura Cove, we decided to move on. Having limited time to explore the Broughtons, we need to stay on task. Our day’s charted course consisted of a cruise through Sutlej Channel past Sullivan Bay Marina. Then we cruised up picturesque Dunsany Passage and Grappler Sound into the pristine and remote Kenneth Passage.   We were rewarded with a two-bear sighting this morning in Mackenzie Sound We passed by Turnbull Cove, our days final destination, for a sightseeing cruise and black bear hunt in Mackenzie Sound followed by a cruise to Little Nimmo Bay. During our chart review with Anca, at Kwatsi Bay Marina several night before, she had told us there are often black bear at the end of Mackenzie Sound. This is where the mountain river dumps into the sound providing good feeding ground for bears. Anca also mentioned the mountain views were specatular. When we arrived at the…

Laura Bay, south of Penphrase Passage, is a popular anchorage with good protection behind a scenic, un-named island. The Broughton Islands are comprised of 200-plus remote islands included in the over 240,000 islands between northern mainland British Columbia and the north-end of Vancouver Island. From Anacortes Washington to the Broughtons is about 233 miles. At least a week's worth of cruising for the serious boater to get to the Broughton Islands from the US border. The number of year-round residents in the Broughtons is less than 1,000. Keeping all this in mind, we have a lot of remote wilderness to explore during our three-week adventure. The day of our departure from Kwatsi Bay, we cruised 15 miles to Laura Bay and our second anchorage in the Broughtons. Along the way we saw two eagles and many dolphins as we slowly worked our way up Tribune Channel. Being new territory for us, we took a side trip and to cruised up into Watson Bay to get up close to Lacy Falls. Not much water…

Kwatsi Bay Marina is Just One of Many Floating Communities in the Broughton Archipelago! Kwatsi Bay Marina was just around the bend from our anchorage, so it was a short trip to the dock soon after breakfast. We have never thought it made sense to go into a marina at the end of the day if there is an anchorage situated nearby. Maybe it’s the Scotch in us, but why pay for a full day when you don’t have to? This family owned and operated marina has a well-known reputation for being a friendly, hospitable stop. After teaching and then managing the Scott Cove Salmon Hatchery, Kwatsi Bay Marina owners Max Knierim and Anca Fraser, along with their two children, towed their existing float-home to an empty Kwatsi Bay in 1995. This marina will be our introduction into the many floating communities in the Broughtons. Taking a page from the logging industry, very few buildings in the Broughtons are actually built on shore. Most…