circumnavigating Vancouver Island

R

RogerJuntunen

New member
Hi C Brats, Cousin Dick and Judy on Jesse James and Roger and Cheryl on In Cahoots are thinking about circumnavigating Vancouver Island. Are there any brats that have done it that would share their experiences? Jesse James, hull wise, is not an easy boat to travel with in a C-Dory, as it is a full planing boat 6 knots or 22 knots and I like to go slower about in the middle of those speeds in my 25. Dick is very experienced and I feel I am still climbing a learning curve. I would appreciate any input from the fine Brat family on such a trip. I feel confident on the inside passage but the west side of the island is my main concern. I would be a novice on the outside. Is the 25 enough boat? Is a trip like this too much worry and hassle. I am just starting to get serious about this after a late night call from Jesse James (10' x 29') Eagle Craft. Thanks in advance.
Roger
 
We took Journey On to Vancouver Island but we took the ferry over. I thought that/the C-Dory 25 would be the perfect boat in which to navigate Vancouver Island, but that wasn`t in the cards.

We toured Barkley Sound and then went upstream (North) to Clayoquot Sound. It was a thrash, lot of pounding, a rough ride, even though we had slowed down. I will point out that we were passed by an open 16 ft runabout; it appears that it`about how much pounding you want to take. Then we tried to go from Clayoquot Sound to Nootka sound but the waves were too high for us. Met several boats doing the trip, all counter-clockwise.

So my comment is to start at the top and go down the west side, counter-clockwise, and surf down. It`s a wonderful trip, plenty of sounds to explore and if you go downwind from sound to sound, a great trip. A C-Dory is a very good boat for the trip.

Boris
 
We circumnavigated Vancouver Island in our Cal 46. We didn’t see any weather which would preclude a C Dory 25, and have seen worse weather with our 25 in the inside passage.

Watch your weather, and you will be fine. Going up on the inside and down on the West side puts the prevailing North Westerly winds and seas on your beam or stern. There are occasionally Southerly winds.

Plenty of places to duck into. Supplies are going to be a bit sparse. Enough fuel stops. Be sure and take times to explore the bays. We took over 2 months on the outside. Also great places to use Kayaks or dinghy exploration.

I would think that a compromise speed of 20 knots should be doable for both you and the Eagle Craft, where you want to go flats. I don’t know the amount of deadrise on the Eagle Cralt, but I don’t think it is extreme, and suspect it should be able to be on a good plane at 20 knots.
 
What month you going? I will be out of Winter Harbor around Aug 8. I think you guys can do it fine. Favor mornings if weather permits.
 
I've been circumnavigating Vancouver Island in my CD 16, but in a different way. Since the boat is easily trailerable, I'm just going from sound to sound. The only one left is Kyuquot and out to the Bunsbys. I was just planning that one.

I have been outside (on a larger boat) going from sound to sound and it is okay, but not on my bucket list to do a complete outside circumnavigation. My experience was that getting from sound to sound was never the highlight of the trip. I've read some of the cruising guides and know that it is possible to visit a few remote beaches on the outside of Vancouver Island if the wind is right and if the swell is right and if there's no fog and if you have all the charts and if you take great care in navigation and if you don't want to stay very long.

Some of it, like Barkley Sound to Victoria, is just kind of a slog. Not bad, but not as fun a poking around inside of Barkley Sound. Same with Barkley to Clayoquot. Stay well outside, then go moor in Tofino if you want to go to the outside beaches. Motoring from sound to sound will require a full day, good weather, and close attention to fuel usage. Trailering will require a full day for some, in any weather, and provisioning (including cheaper gas) is simple.

The outside run between Barkley and Clayoquot is fine for boats that can't be trailered between the two in 45 minutes. I might think differently if I was limited with a 40 foot boat.

I'll have to read Sam's article and see if I change my mind.

Mark
 
I read what I could find and, nope, Sam's description of circumnavigating didn't change my mind. Paragraphs like this one:

"After getting around Brooks Peninsula, I’ll work my way down to the Bunsby Islands, which I’m told are exceptional. The protection of Kyuquot Sound is just a few miles from the Bunsby’s, and I’ll spend several days in Kyuquot Sound. When the weather is right, I’ll dash down to Esperanza Inlet, which conveniently connects to Nootka Sound via Tahsis Narrows. I’ll spend another week or 10 days in this area."

"After getting around Brooks," "work my way," "when the weather is right," "dash down to Esperanza." No need for this with a C-Dory. Start from the "protection of Kyuquot Sound" by launching in Fair Harbor and putt out to the Bunsbys at your leisure. No need to watch the weather and "dash down to Esperanza Inlet." Just pull out at Fair Harbor and drive to Zeballos (1 hour and six minutes according to Google). Reprovision at the store and gas station in Zeballos and launch in Nootka Sound (free launch and parking). Mess around for 10 days and then pull out and trailer to the next launch.

Maybe I'm a killjoy.

Mark
 
It is definitely doable in a 25 but I would recommend getting your feet wet with at least a few day trips of offshore experience and taking boating courses first.

One tip is Fogust is synonymous with August and the wind blows in the afternoons in the summer, so travel in the morning and bring a radar.

I circumnavigated Vancouver Island 20 odd years ago in a 40 foot double ender salmon troller doing about 7 knots at top speed and have kayaked the broken islands and to Hotsprings cove north of Tofino.

I may do a run to Rivers Inlet, a day of Tuna fishing but no circumnavigation or long west coast trips my first year with the C-Dory. Happy to follow in your footsteps, so keep us posted.
 
Mark, I like your plan and your logic. Most of what I want to see is inside the inlets. Breakers on the beach are better observed from shoreside AFAIAC.

Yes, a CD-25 can do the circumnavigation, IF you really want to and take the appropriate time for planning and weather.

Trailering the 25 from point to point on the island is a bit more of a process than trailering a 16, but the point is well made.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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hardee said:
Trailering the 25 from point to point on the island is a bit more of a process than trailering a 16, but the point is well made./quote]

Harvey,

I know from personal experience that the 1 hour and 6 minute drive is not calculated at pulling a trailer. I've read lots of complaints about the road conditions on Vancouver Island and I think that most of them are from people who expect to travel at 40 mph on gravel roads. At <20 mph, the roads are fine and dust is the biggest nuisance (not counting passing vehicles). It's only 22 miles, so the Google calculation seems to be based on 20 mph.

I forgot to mention that Zeballos has hot showers for 2 loonies. There is a city RV park for a freshwater washdown. Or find somebody out watering their garden.

Mark
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Having just towed in to Tofino and Ucluelet, I would modify my "go by trailer" suggestion a little bit. For a CD 16, it wasn't a big problem. I only had semi-white knuckles. But the road from Port Alberni in to Tofino makes the road out to Neah Bay look smooth, flat, straight, and well engineered. Towing a CD 25 out to Barkely or Clayoquot would not be pleasant. The road is paved all the way. In fact it has been paved, repaved, patched, filled, repaired, shored-up, etc. There are presently some major road repairs that go down to a single lane, but two-way traffic is still allowed through that area (when it isn't shut down for blasting). It makes for some exciting driving. And when towing over the PA summit you'd probably get the same gas mileage as motoring around in a CD 25.

Once in Clayoquot, I lucked out and there was very little wind outside. Going outside from Tofino to Hot Springs Cove wasn't a problem. A one meter swell with a little chop. But despite only a 5-10 knot wind, the swell went from 1 to 1.5 overnight and rising to 2 meters with a shortened period (as per the WWX). I have no idea what it was doing out at Estevan Point, and no desire to find out in a CD 16. But I did have the Waggoner Guide to read in the evening and came across the warning that the swell bouncing back off of Estevan at certain tides causes waves that can "sink boats." That made for nice reading while in a snug anchorage.

Mark
 
We visited all the inlets (Barkley Sound, Clayoquot Sound Nootka Sound) by traveling over decent paved roads. 20-40 mph was a reasonable speed. We missed the 20 miles of graveled road to Zeballos by taking the paved road out of Campbell River to Gold River (Hwy 28) and launching there. Beautiful trip.

Gold River exits at Bligh Island and we stayed in a calm inlet on the island. Bligh Island is where Cap'n Cook repaired his ships. Nootka is where the Indians lived.

Boris
 
Marco Flamingo":3r41joze said:
hardee":3r41joze said:
Trailering the 25 from point to point on the island is a bit more of a process than trailering a 16, but the point is well made./quote]

Harvey,

.... I've read lots of complaints about the road conditions on Vancouver Island and I think that most of them are from people who expect to travel at 40 mph on gravel roads. At <20 mph, the roads are fine and dust is the biggest nuisance (not counting passing vehicles).

Stuff clipped.

Mark
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Click to expand...

Mark, I bet most of those guys are fishermen. Always in a hurry. I was in Chatham Channel yesterday, the narrowest section, maybe 75 or 80 feet of useable water, had called my "securatay" call with no response, and doing about 5 knot against a 4-6 knot current when one of those 18 foot tin boats with a 250 Yami on the back passed me close enough that his bow splash hit the side of my boat. I did see him coming from behind on the radar, but only with enough time to move starboard about 10 feet. If not he might have rubbed my gel coat, and my hide in the wrong way. :thdown :thdown

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Mark's comments about the Port Alberni to Tofino run are spot on. The high point has some of the steepest, tight curvy paved roadway I have ever seen. Big rigs run it routinely, including a few log trucks. A large boat on a trailer is not out of place, but definitely a handful.

Worse road for dust and rough roadway, however, is the Bamfield to Port Alberni run. Almost all gravel. And lots of those monster log trucks which only operate on haul roads. Plan for a flat, and protect the left side of the boat hull from stone throws. However, a very steep launch ramp (4WD almost mandatory) at Bamfield puts you right in the heart of the Deer Group, and easy cruising distances to the Broken Group and Ucluelet. Several decent anchorages in the Deers, and an outlier moorage with water, showers in Robbers Passage, courtesy of the Port Alberni Yacht Club. Barkley Sound is a paradise for protected cruising, with many nooks and crannies for superb isolation. And a decent lodge at Sechart. Google Lady Rose marine for details. A steamer from Port Alberni visits these named locations most days, allowing aunt Mildred to join the throng without suffering the drive in.
 
I understand that several roads to the west side of Vancouver Island are gravel and clogged with logging trucks. So, since there are alternates, why would you use them? Astoria Dave describes the road to Tofino as paved and winding then suggests an unpaved road to Bamfield with a rough ramp needing 4 wheel drive. Why not use the paved road and a normal launch ramp? Is there an advantage to launching at Bamfield? I looked at Bamfield when we toured Vancouver Island west coast and decided there were better ways to reach Barkley Sound.

Actually, if one wants to explore Barkley Sound, one would use the paved road to Ucluelet, which is at the north of the sound, with Bamfield at the south. All paved to Ucluelet and I remember a launch ramp. Tofino, which also has a paved road and normal launch ramp, is in the next sound up, Clayquot Sound. Actually we launched at Port Alberni, but if one wanted to launch directly into Barkley Sound, Ucluelet is the civilized place to do it.

The same with Zeballos, which has 20 miles of gravel road. We went to Gold River by paved road, great drive, and launched at the launch ramp there. Again, Zeballos is on the north side of Nootka sound and Gold River on the south.

Why would one prefer gravel roads over paved roads? I lost that thrill many years ago in the Mohave Desert. Especially over Soggy Dry Lake Road, 10 miles of washboard.

Boris
 
journey on":3sconowt said:
Why would one prefer gravel roads over paved roads?
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Part would depend on how long you intend to stay. Also the launch area. When I went to Gold River, it was a zoo. A long line waiting for the launch and a tangle of trailers parked in the supposedly secure lot. I did a quick U-turn, kept on to Moucha Bay (gravel road), and was glad that I did. When I went in to Zeballos by boat, I saw that the ramp was free, as was parking. I can see why Gold River is popular and Zeballos isn't for other boaters. For me, it's the opposite.

I've never done the drive in to Bamfield, but I remember my dad telling me that he wished that he hadn't. He thought that he would rather risk getting slammed around boating out through the Port Alberni channel. It wasn't the dust or the pot holes, it was the log trucks.

Mark
 
Mark wrote: I've never done the drive in to Bamfield, but I remember my dad telling me that he wished that he hadn't. He thought that he would rather risk getting slammed around boating out through the Port Alberni channel. It wasn't the dust or the pot holes, it was the log trucks.

I have run the PA-B road maybe 8 or 10 times, and the PA-T/U route perhaps twice that number. It comes down to personal choice, for sure. The road to Bamfield has more log truck traffic weekdays than weekends. Most weekday runs, I have encountered only two or three. Weekends, none. It is graded often to keep rock on it, and to reduce the washboard, so potholes are a nonhazard, recent years, but it is a rough run, compared to pavement.

I expect the choice between the PA channel and trailering to Bamfield depends on your vessel. A 16 ft craft is really going to take a beating when the inflow or outflow winds kick up onnthe inlet. OTOH, towing a 25 ft cruiser down that road would be a headache, for sure.
 
The Port Alberni canal can get pretty rough. It also has a fair amount of tug and tow traffic. That can be a blessing. Call the on the VHF and ask to run in behind them. It can be the difference of a 3 foot bash, or a 3 inch ripple to run in.

Note: I think most of the are running a drag line behind the tow. Ask how long it is and give appropriate clearance, you do not want to get tangled up in that line.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
res roads and maps of Vancouver Island. I went to a major Seattle map retail store and to local stores in Port Angeles, also ordered what was suppose to be up to date guides on Amazon. They were all out of date - by years.

The motel clerk in Port Renfrew laughed when I asked if my car would do OK on the gravel road to Lake Cowichan. She told me she was asked that all of the time, and that the road had been paved for at least 7 years.

Perhaps calling ahead to the motel or marina and asking about routes and road conditions would work better!
 
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