Breakfast Chatterbox Falls

People We Met at Chatterbox Falls

Chatterbox Falls is a Great Place to Meet People! We feel one of the most important benefits of boating is all the wonderful people we get to meet. It doesn't matter where we cruise, we find other boaters to be very friendly. Our time at Chatterbox Falls was no different. We met lots of interesting people during our stay, we even ran into a couple we had met in Alabama while cruising on the River System several years ago, 2,600 miles from British Columbia. It's a small, small world. [huge_it_maps id="32"]      On the first day at the falls, soon after we tied up, we took…

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Chatterbox Falls

World Famous Chatterbox Falls

Three Years Since We Last Visited Chatterbox Falls It could have been last week or three years ago, it doesn't seem to matter as it relates to our return to Chatterbox Falls – it felt like revisiting an old friend. Seems like we were just at the falls, but in reality, it’s been a full three years since we last visited. Early on, we decided to stay for four days. During that time we met and talked with other boaters, had a bonfire in the pavilion, walked to the falls over and over again, took a short hike to a little waterfall,…

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Fog in Princess Louisa Inlet

Princess Louisa Inlet Took Our Breaths Away!

Princess Louisa Inlet Leads to Chatterbox Falls Arriving at Malibu Rapids shortly before slack, we had no trouble at all transiting the rapids to Princess Louisa Inlet. We proceeded the last four miles to the end of the fjord and the "granddaddy" of all Pacific Northwest waterfalls – Chatterbox Falls. Princess Louisa inlet is a narrower fjord than Jervis Inlet and it can have a sobering effect on a visitor once inside its towering walls. The mountain walls seem to envelop and suck you inside towards the apex of the falls with an uncanny stillness in the air. Unlike our last visit…

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Newcastle Island Marine Park Anchorage Across from Nanaimo, BC

Newcastle Island Marine Park is Within Easy Access to Nanaimo, BC – Our route from Pirates Cove to Nanaimo took us through Dodd Narrows and eventually to Newcastle Island. This passage through a narrow channel needs to be well-timed to transit at slack tide. If not at slack the currents run up to 9 knots in a very turbulent swirling narrow channel between rocky cliffs. We were up at 6 a.m. to hit Dodd Narrows at the 7:03 a.m. slack. Our end destination was Newcastle Island Marine Park located across from Nanaimo BC, the second largest city on Vancouver Island.…

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Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel Marina

Looking Forward to a Month-Long Stay at Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel Marina We choose Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel Marina (above) for a month-long stay because it is in downtown Victoria, British Columbia. From the marina, it is a 5-minute walk to the legendary Empress Hotel, Parliament, the legislative seat for British Columbia, and all of downtown Victoria. Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel Marina was recommended by fellow Ranger Tug owners Mark and Jodie, on Irish Mist, they are from Ontario Canada. They gave us the idea to spend a month on our boat in this marina in Victoria. We were also lured to Coast Victoria…

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Winterizing Kismet for Storage in Portland, OR

Time to Think About Winterizing Kismet! All good things must come to an end… well temporarily anyways as we think about winterizing Kismet. As the colder, wetter months arrived in Portland, we started to turn our thoughts to flying home for the holidays. Jim found a secure storage lot for our boat near Salpare Marina. As the time approached, we prepared a few to-do lists – a list of things to pack to take home, a list of errands to do before we left, and the most important list of all, Winterizing Kismet, just in case. Although the temps are fairly…

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Port of Cascade Locks on the Columbia River

Port of Cascade Locks – Our cruising destination this week lies in the heart of the Columbia Gorge Port of Cascade Locks is one of the oldest towns on the Columbia River. In their journals, Lewis and Clark described this section of the river – the Cascade Rapids – as the “great rapids of the Cascades.” This stretch of raging water was formed by a huge landslide long ago and is more than two miles long. In 1880, because of the hazard vessels faced navigating the rapids, the US Government started to build locks to provide safe passage around the rapids. The older locks were completed in 1896, and…

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Friends, Jim Favors and Tom Conrad

A Simple Sailor Man

Tribute to a Friend – Tom Conrad We lost a good friend. Tom Conrad passed away recently and the boating community lost one of its best. We met Tom and Patsy Conrad many years ago through AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association). If the Great Loop boating adventure did not exist, we probably would never have met – with the Conrads living in Florida's Panhandle and us living in northern Michigan. What a loss that would have been for us. Because we shared a passion for boating and this adventure they call a "Loop," our paths crossed and our wakes overlapped. Loopers, ourselves included, often say that one of…

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Group Shot, Ranger Tugs North Channel Rendezvous

2014 Ranger Tugs/Cutwater North Channel Rendezvous – Many Thanks to All…

We Want to Thank Everyone Who Attended the First 2014 Ranger Tugs/Cutwater North Channel Rendezvous We look forward to meeting up with many of the participants on the water in the future. Boats in attendance ranged from far away as Alberta, Fort Lauderdale, Rhode Island, and Texas. This was the first time cruising the North Channel for 9 of the 15 boats. Although we could not have had a successful rendezvous without those in attendance, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes well before the event starts and during the rendezvous. Thanks to Debby Turner at Little Currents Turner’s for…

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Favors, View, Covered Portage Cove

Have a Ranger Tug or Cutwater?

Join Us in the North Channel for the 2014 Ranger Tug North Channel Rendezvous! The More the Merrier!   We’ve been given a one-week extension, until June 27th, to guarantee dock space for the rendezvous, so if you’re thinking of attending make sure you get your registration form and payment to me by then. We look forward to seeing everyone soon. Click on the link below to access the registration form and please email me with any questions that you may have. With spring in the air, the much-anticipated boating season in Canada’s North Channel is just around the corner.…

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downtown Seattle

Seattle – Miss You Already!

Downtown Seattle is within close proximity to everything we could possibly need during our stay. As we approached the final weeks of our PNW cruising adventure, I asked Lisa if there was one place she wanted to visit before our trip came to a close. Unsurprisingly she said, “Downtown Seattle of course.” That's why we positioned ourselves at the Bainbridge Island anchorage. We stayed for two nights there waiting for an available slip at Bell Harbor Marina, before we made the short 8-mile trip across Puget Sound into Elliott Bay and finally to the Port of Seattle's Bell Harbor Marina. The reason we…

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Torpedo Town USA – Keyport, WA

Torpedo Town USA – Naval Undersea Museum is located at the small U.S. Navy depot, Torpedo Research, and Testing Facility After doing some research on the Liberty Bay area, for our planned stop in Poulsbo, I stumbled across information on the little town of Keyport, WA., nicknamed "Torpedo Town USA. Its major tourist facility, the Naval Undersea Museum is located at the small U.S. Navy depot, Torpedo Research and Testing Facility, tasked with ranging and repairing torpedoes for the U.S. Navy and its allies. The museum features exhibits and displays on undersea technology, including the Trieste II, which descended to…

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A Taste of Scandinavia in Poulsbo, WA

Little Norway on the Fjord – Poulsbo, WA Poulsbo, sitting at the edge of Liberty Bay, is a delightful, highly Scandinavian-influenced, community. This quaint, picturesque, little town has a strong Norwegian heritage. Its founders came from Norway via Michigan and Minnesota to settle in a landscape that was similar to their own snow-peaked mountains and fjords. Other Scandinavian immigrants soon followed. On a prior visit to Poulsbo, we had docked at the city marina, so this time we decided to anchor out in the protective confines of the bay and dinghy into town for our on-shore leave. We arrived late afternoon,…

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Ranger Tug Kismet Docked, Anacortes, Washington

2013 Ranger Tugs / Cutwater Rendezvous – Anacortes, WA

, One of the ancillary benefits of boating is the many social opportunities present. Everywhere we anchor or dock we'll either run into old friends or we'll end up meeting some very interesting people. We can’t think of a better place to do this than at the 2013 Ranger Tugs / Cutwater Rendezvous. The event was held this year at Cap Santé Marina in Anacortes, Washington. Because we’d been cruising in British Columbia for an extended period of time, our calendar allowed us to arrive a few days early. We would use the time to catch up on the usual boat chores.…

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Roche Harbor – A Boating Mecca

Timing our arrival in Roche Harbor Marina to coincide with the Customer Appreciation Party! In 1845, the quaint waterside marine village of Roche Harbor, on San Juan Island, started out as a trading post for the Hudson Bay Company. By 1857 both the United States and Britain were claiming the San Juan Islands as their territories, based on a dispute over the western border of the islands. The dispute was settled in 1872 when arbitration was rendered in favor of the United States. In 1881 the Scurr brothers bought Roche Harbor and started mining the rich limestone deposits, turning the…

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Hiking on Sucia Island – Caves, Rock Formations and Beautiful Pacific Madrona Trees

First Time Mooring at Sucia Island Leaving Friday Harbor behind us we cruised to Sucia Island, a Washington State Park sitting in the San Juan Islands at the base of the Strait of Georgia, only 3.5 miles from the Canadian border. Our 16-mile ride, from Friday Harbor, was short and uneventful, however during the last few miles we had no leeward protection from the southeast and the open waters of Rosario Strait, so it was a little lumpy. Taking it slow and steady we made it into the well-protected cove of Shallow Bay, where we happily found a mooring ball available;…

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Into the Light… Jedediah Island

Thankful for the Shelter and Beauty of Jedediah Island! The closer we got to Jedediah Island the calmer the waters and our nerves became. As we sliced through the channel, with the powerful push of following seas behind us, we traveled between Jedediah and Bull Islands (both islands are protected by two larger islands, Texada and Lasqueti), making our way to the leeward side of all the turbulence in the straits. Almost magically the wave activity became a non-issue. We immediately found a pint-sized, well-protected, cove suitable to drop anchor, a boat was just leaving so we hovered out a…

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Kismet Cruising to Powell River, Canada

The Storm in Malaspina Straight

The waves we encountered in Malaspina Straight were steadily increasing in height and uncomfortableness. Leaving the calm of Pender Harbour behind us, we headed out toward the Malaspina Straight, pointed southwest towards the Gulf Islands. We were aware of the storm that was to arrive later in the day and, based on the weather reports, we thought if we left early enough in the morning we’d miss the high winds, as it’s only about 36 miles across to Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island, our planned, end of the day, destination. No such luck! Not long after we left the calmness of…

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Boat Entering Malibu Rapids, Jervis Inlet, Canada

Dinghy Ride to Malibu Club for Ice Cream

Craving a Refreshing Cold Confection at Malibu Club One of the things we had come to enjoy while cruising in the Pacific Northwest this year was our time exploring away from the boat by dinghy. We would try to get as much information about where to beach our dinghy so that could do a nice hike and maybe encounter a freshwater lake or woodsy waterfall. On our last full day at Chatterbox Falls, we decided to spend the day taking a dinghy ride from the dock at the falls all the way back to Malibu Rapids (5 miles) to visit…

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Chatterbox Falls

Walking and Exploring Around Chatterbox Falls

Lisa and I hiked up the path from the docks so we could spend some time exploring Chatterbox Falls – close enough to be sprayed by the relentless downpouring of water. Peeking through the lush vegetation at the viewing spot, we were mesmerized yet again, not only by the beauty but the power and force of Mother Nature. We walked a few of the trails and noted the danger signs frequently posted around the park, we tried a few of those trails but decided they were a little too gnarly for us. We certainly kept our distance from the top of the falls…

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Ranger Tug Kismet Docked, Chatterbox Falls, Canada

Chatterbox Falls… Hear it Roar!

After our slow cruise through the magnificent granite-walled gorge, we could finally make out Chatterbox Falls roaring at the head of Princess Louisa Inlet. The fall is part of the Loquilts River, which empties into the inlet. It had been raining for several days before our arrival to Princess Louisa Inlet and although Chatterbox Falls flows all of the time (along with 60 or so others during the spring season due to the sun melting the snow-pack high on top of the mountains) the rain produced many smaller waterfalls. They looked like shiny ribbons on the gorge walls. The smaller…

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Fishing Boats, Lund, Canada

Leaving Desolation Sound for the Village of Lund, British Columbia

 Headed to Lund – Entering the Sunshine Coast... After two glorious weeks of picture-perfect boating weather and sensory overload during our exploration of Canada’s Desolation Sound, the time had come to start working our way south/southeast. We had a calm but overcast day to exit Desolation sound from our anchorage in Roscoe Bay. Up next, was Jervis and Princess Louisa Inlets and the much talked about Chatterbox Falls, but first we had to explore a few of the little fishing villages along British Columbia's "Sunshine Coast." Our first stop was Lund (below), a busy, picturesque, seaside village, 120km north of Vancouver,…

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Kayaks, Rosco Bay, Desolation Sound

Seeking Crystal Clear Water of Black Lake

As Our Cruise in Desolation winds close to the end, Black Lake Was a Real Treat! One of the activities we came to enjoy while cruising Desolation Sound was hiking to the many inland freshwater lakes. Black Lake was one such lake located not far from our anchorage in Roscoe Cove. After a short dinghy ride, it was easily accessed by hiking a fairly short woodsy remnant of a logging trail. The trail continued along the lake for a while before heading up a big hill. Lush vegetation and huge ferns surrounded us as we explored the trail further up the hill.…

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Kismet Anchored, Pendrell Sound, Desolation Sound

Swimmingly Warm in Pendrell Sound – Desolation Sound, British Columbia

We left our anchorage at Octopus Islands late morning, during slack tide, to head to Pendrell Sound. Just as on most days during this trip, we had sunny skies and calm waters for our day's cruise. "How was the swimming at Pendrell Sound?" We often get asked this question in regard to how a cruising territory meets some fairly typical cruisers desired water activities. The reason I bring this up in this post has to do with our stop in Pendrell Sound. British Columbia's Desolation Sound is located within close proximity to the 50th parallel. As a reference the only place above this…

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Boats Anchored, Grace Harbour, Desolation Sound

Our First Night Out In Desolation Sound – Anchored in Grace Harbour

First stop, Grace Harbour – Striking out on our own to explore Desolation Sound – We left Gorge Harbour mid-morning to find yet another perfect boating day awaiting us. History states that Captain George Vancouver first sailed the waters of the Sound in 1792, thinking the landscape remote and forbidding, he named it Desolation Sound. We think he must have had a run of bad weather to have taken such a gloomy stance on such a diverse and stunningly beautiful area, but we'd have to admit that the name has a certain draw to it. With Cortes Island behind us…

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