Newsletters of Interest to Sailors

Tour day Gulf Island Cruise July 29-Aug 2

A nice trip with sunny skies and fair winds took us into the Gulf Islands with a honeymoon couple from Atlanta, Georgia. We spent our first night at Montague Harbour and enjoyed a nice sail followed by a hike and exploration of the shell beach and surrounding forest. We sailed the next day to Ganges in a 15 knot southerly breeze and took in the small village charm found on Saltspring Island. We bought two live dungeness crab there and took them back to Takuli for a dinner of local rockfish and crab. We spent the night at Annette Inlet where there was only one other boat anchored. We explored the bay via kayak and walked across to the bay on the other side of Prevost Island. We set sail in a nice breeze the next day and sailed all the way up to Wallace Island Marine Park, where we anchored for lunch and spent the afternoon hiking the trails of this delightful island. Late in the afternoon we sailed up to Clam Bay and anchored. After supper we enjoyed a one kilometer paddle through "the cut" between Thetis and Kuper Islands and visited the pub on Thetis Island. We arrived back to Takuli after dark, our flashlights leading the way! On our return to Nanaimo, the wind had shifted around to the northwest so we motored up to the Miami Rocks where we observed 90 northern fur seals basking on the rocks, with many pups among them. We spent the last hours of our trip at Newcastle Island and hiked to Mallard Lake while taking in the beautiful mountain views of the Sunshine Coast. Best of luck to Chuck and Beth and congratulations!

Princess Louisa Inlet July 29-Aug 2

Our last trip took us to Princess Louisa Inlet (June 29-July 4). I had a family from the Czech Republic on board, five in total. The 15 year old, Martin, plays for the Czech National Basketball team for youth. We left Nanaimo under sail and sailed half way across the Strait of Georgia before running out of wind. We motored over and spent the night at Garden Bay in Pender Harbour. There is a wonderful natural forest park there with good hiking trails. We woke early in the morning and headed up Princess Royal Reach, arriving at Princess Louisa Inlet at 2 p.m., in time for the slack tide to make our way through the Malibu Rapids and into 4 mile long Princess Louisa Inlet. It had been raining quite heavily here for 36 hours, but our timing was good and the rain stopped for us. What was left to see was dozens of waterfalls cascading down the mountains from high above. Chatterbox falls was positively roaring with all the runoff, and spumes of water and mist cascading off the falls and river. The 550 meter trail was too wet to hike all the way up to the top, so we only made it half way, but it was sunny at sea level and we enjoyed a nice warm sunny afternoon, exploring the forest and shores at low tide in the dinghy and in the kayaks. The following morning the waterfalls was back to its normal flow, I would estimated to be a third of what it was when we arrived, and most of the smaller cascading falls had stopped completely! We sailed back into the Strait of Georgia and made our way over to Jedediah Island to anchor for the night in Clam Bay. A California Sea Lion surfaced 6 feet from our dinghy and stared at us for about 10 seconds before setting off around the small bay in search of food. I do not think 11 year old Adam will ever forget this close encounter! We hiked the trails and enjoyed watching all the sea and bird life surrounding us. We sailed south the next day and anchored for the night at Silva Bay, where we caught some crabs and a big sun star starfish in the crab trap. The next morning we transited Gabriola Narrows and spent our last morning hiking and kayaking Pirates Cove before heading back to Nanaimo. We had a great sail home, and actually sailed through Dodds Narrows all the way back into Nanaimo Harbour under sunny skies and a fair southerly breeze.

Gulf Islands June 15-19

We just got back June 19th from a five day trip cruising through the Gulf Islands. Onboard were a group of four friends from Phoenix, Arizona. We had sunny and warm weather the whole week. We left Nanaimo and sailed out to Entrance Island, just off Gabriola Island, and anchored in Silva Bay. We went to shore there and hiked to Drumbeg Provincial Park about 2 kilometers away. After exploring the sea shore and watching the change of the tide, we headed back to the Silva Bay Marina for a beautiful view of the anchorage and to enjoy an ice cold beverage. We left at 5:15 a.m. the next morning (the tide waits for no one) and enjoyed a quiet passage down to Prevost Island where we spent the morning kayaking and hiking the trails at James Bay. An active eagles nest can be seen out at the point. We  made a short run over to Ganges and spent 3 hours in this interesting village before meeting at Moby's Pub around 6 p.m. We anchored overnight at Ganges, enjoying a perfect sunset. The next day we sailed out of Ganges and headed for Bedwell Harbour. We arrived early due to a strong tide in our favour, and kayaked and hiked around the Marine Park located in the Harbour. We sailed around South Pender Island and anchored at Port Browning for the night. A nice wind was up in the morning and we hoisted sail for an exhilarating ride through Captains Passage, before reaching Montague Harbour in the afternoon. Everyone enjoyed a sunny afternoon on shore, hiking, beachcombing and meeting some interesting locals! The crew even made it up to the Hummingbird late in the day and came back to Takuli III with a freshly made rhubarb/strawberry pie to complement our bouillabaisse halibut chowder. We sailed back to Nanaimo from Montague Harbour on our last day, enjoying the Gulf Island sunshine. A nice relaxing week, and good company out of Phoenix.

Howe Sound and Gulf Islands June 9-13

We just arrived back June 5th from Princess Louisa Inlet. I sailed with Roland and Sandra from Germany and Norah and Jim from Victoria B.C. Our first day took us across the Strait of Georgia to Green Bay near Pender Harbour on the mainland side. We sailed the whole way, about 35 nautical miles on a glorious beam reach, 12-15 knots of wind from the southeast. Our next day was sunny and calm so we motored up Prince of Wales Reach to catch the slack tide at Malibu Rapids at 2 p.m., and entered Princess Louisa Inlet. We tied up to the dock at the foot of the falls and marveled at the scenery which includes mountains from 5,000 to 8,000 feet tall surrounding the inlet! Princess Louisa was calm as glass, great for kayaking and walking around the base of Chatterbox Falls on the hiking trails. The next morning, not a cloud in the sky, we hiked up 550 meters to an old trappers cabin high on the mountain. It is a two hour hike each way, so we were back in the early afternoon to enjoy the sunshine and rest our bodies! It was a calm evening and we all enjoyed some kayaking around the inlet. We sailed back down the inlet the next day to arrive at Jedediah Island Marine Park in the late afternoon. Everyone went to shore for a good exploration of this beautiful uninhabited island. The anchorage was surrounded by sheer rock cliffs and provided a peaceful anchorage for us. We hoisted sail the last day of our trip and enjoyed a following sea sailing back to Nanaimo about 23 nautical miles. We anchored, had lunch, and spent the last three hours of our trip hiking and exploring the cool forests of Newcastle Marine Park just across from Nanaimo. It was nice and cool out in the Strait of Georgia, but a heat wave in Nanaimo saw temperatures soar to 33  degrees Centigrade. Dinners aboard Takuli III for this trip included wild king salmon, cod rockfish fillets, chicken and vegetable stir fry and spaghetti with my home made pasta sauce. A very good trip, excellent summer weather and good company!

The first trip this year sailed May 17 and visited the Gulf Islands. We sailed from Nanaimo to Montague Harbor with a following breeze and anchored in this well protected bay for the night. The next morning we spent exploring the seashore as we experienced a rare -.3 foot tide which allowed us to view crabs, starfish, mussels and clams, many types of seaweed, seals and eagles up close since we could walk out a long way as the water dropped from a high of 15 feet of tide. We sailed over to the village of Ganges in the late afternoon and anchored in the well protected harbour there. The next morning we visited Ganges, the hub of activity on Saltspring Island, a very beautiful peaceful place. There were tropical palm trees thriving along the shoreline and other beautiful plants everywhere. We sailed out of Ganges after lunch and circumnavigated Saltspring Island, transiting Samsun Narrows in the afternoon before arriving and anchoring in Telegraph Harbour, inbetween Thetis and Kuper Islands. There were eight eagles in the trees above us, two of them youngsters learning how to gather food at the waters edge on low tide. The following morning we strolled along Thetis Islands pastoral roads (pop. 350 on the island) and then explored "the cut" a small channel dredged between the two islands for boat passage on high tide. We left our anchorage at noon, passed a seal haulout along the way, and sailed to Gabriola Pass, where we transited out at slack water, as the current here runs up to 8 knots at maximum ebb. We visited Silva Bay before raising sail and sailing back through the Straight of Georgia on our way back to Nanaimo and arriving at our dock at 6 p.m. Joan (from Kansas) stated that this must be God's country because it was so beautiful, and would move here in a minute if she could bring her grandkids!

B.C. coastal fishermen are reaping the rewards of one of the largest herring runs they have seen in years. "This is the most fish in the gulf in 50 years". Trevor Fields, a Department of Fisheries and Oceans supervisor, says sonar readings provided by fishermen so far show an estimated 140,000 to 160,000 tons of herring in the Strait of Georgia alone. The limit set on this year's herring run is 27,800 tonnes-only 800 more tons than last year. Out of that amount, B.C. coastal seiner fishermen are allowed to catch 9,800 tonnes in total. coastal fishermen earned 38 million dollars in total from last year's run. The amount of roe, quality of the roe and market prices dictate the value of the herring catch.

 want to bring you up to date. After leaving Canada in the fall of 1997, A lot has happened in the last few years and IPam and I sailed to the South Pacific visiting Mexico, Tahiti, the Cook Islands, Tonga and Fiji. Then we toured Australia and New Zealand by car before returning to Fiji.

June 2000   Orcas, Humpbacks and Sea Lions

In late June, while we were sailing down to Khungit Island, we came across a herd of approx. 70 sea lions barking loudly on the Garcin rocks. While watching and photographing them, a humpback whale surfaced just in front of us. It was feeding in the rich, fast flowing waters here. We had been observing here for about 30 minutes when we started to see shapes appear in the water from the south. We could not believe our eyes when we counted first 10, then 20 and finally 40 orcas,or killer whales, cruising towards us. They were in groups of from 2 to 8 whales and were all heading north up Hecate Strait. The sea lions seemed to quiet down substantially at this spectacular sight! The guests with me were from Ontario and none had ever seen an orca, let alone a humpback whale or a sea lion. We headed south on our way to Rose Harbour, exhilarated at what the morning had brought.

This summer we watched Dion, one of the Haida Watchmen at Hotsprings, filet and dry two halibut he had caught nearby. The halibut is cut into fine strips and hung on racks. The Haida know this food as tsiljii (pronounced jill-gee). This traditional delicacy is highly prized and a favourite of many islanders.

We visited Burnaby Narrows shortly after and to the casual eye, there was no trace that the accident had ever occurred.