Cruising to Nanaimo

S

SounderSolutions

New member
One of the reasons we wanted a larger boat was to make the cruise to my Wife's hometown of Nanaimo from Whidbey Island. I have been looking at the charts and have the required Canada navchips for the GPS and even the electronic versions of the paper nav charts from Canada. We have made the trip via the ferry but that perspective is drastically skewed from three stories up.
My questions are: What is the prefered route? Is the inside passage better than outside? I calculate 4-6hrs based at 22kts; does that seem reasonable? Are there places along the way that we 'must' stop and see? I see a winter trip and a summer trip on the horizon.

Thanks in advance,
Steve
 
I'll leave most of those questions to those who have done that cruise before.

One must stop place -- Canada Customs. Sidney is an easy place and worth a stop anyway so I would consider that. Partly because I would rather cruise in and through the islands rather than make a long open water crossing. YMMV,

Enjoy the trip. Sounds like you are on the right path.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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Hi, As far as route you have two basic choices. Inside or outside of the islands. If the weather is nice and you just want to get there fast then the outside run is great. No passes to go thru and you can wait until Nanimo to clear customs. If the weather does kick up you can head to the inside thru three different passes and take the inside route the rest of the way up, but you would still have to make customs at Nanimo.

If you want to stop on the way up or the weather if iffy then the inside is the way to go and the way most people go. You can clear customs at poets cove first and that way if you want to stop on the way up you can. As far as where to stop and what to see.... there is so many places to see or anchor out on the way you could write a book, well several people have written boats so start there.
 
Inside--along the coast of Vancouver Island. We cleared at Sydney or Bedwell. Most of the time it was a phone call, but we had one of the "passes" I think that a special place also to stop is the anchorage in back of Buchart Gardens--A C Dory may snag a mooring near the dinghy dock, and you walk right up to the gardens.

We enjoy Telegraph harbor. Chemainus is a great place with the murals on the buildings. We also enjoy Salt Springs for a Walk around place. There are also a lot of great anchorages along the way.
 
If you come up through the Gulf Islands, check out Conover Cove on Wallace Island. Safe anchorage and a small dock that will accomodate 7 or 8 boats. Soak up the history of the place and enjoy easy walking trails. It is one of my favourite places. Put Montague Harbour and Telegraph Harbour on your stop over list as well. Places the other's have mentioned are great as well. When you get to Nanaimo, Newcastle Island marina is half the price of the Port Authority dock. Have fun.

Martin.
 
Inside. Lots of good suggestions. Do stop at Ganges. Great village. Way laid back. Pirates Cove on DeCourcey. Also. Enjoy.
 
Sounds like a fun trip, I did it 3 times this summer. If going during the winter and planning on clearing customs at Poets, make sure they are open as they are not open year round. I like Sidney for customs as we usually stay a night or 2 there. In the summer Poets can be very busy late morning to early afternoon and the float planes use this for their clearance.

Don
 
Watch the weather. I don't know if 22 knots is very realistic unless the conditions are ideal. Depending on where you let in, make sure to plan ahead for the weather and have a plan B in mind. I checked,
http://weather.gc.ca/marine/forecast_e. ... teID=14301
for info on the Straights. If you don't have more time than four hours don't go. Wait until you have more, heck you might want to slow it down anyways specially on the inside of the islands. Also I find the passes to be more entertaining than the straights. Keeps you more engaged in the navigation. It really depends on what your flavor is. I enjoyed poets, nice spot to take in lunch or dinner.
 
We liked Silva Bay for its scenery, restaurant, and handy store. Compact, beautiful, pass not so bad, easy in a C dory.

Also, enjoyed Ladysmith, as a laid back, kind of funky moorage, with a bit of a walk to services in town, complete with a great bakery, a good Greek restaurant, usual services, and interesting walking, both in the town and along the shoreline trail.

The fave overnight spot, however, was Newcastle Provincial Park, with services across the way in Nanaimo, good moorage, showers, interesting history, great walking and hiking, terrific views. Good cove for anchoring, with a stern tie recommended to rings set in the sandstone, if that is your preference. Small restaurant in the summers, closed in the winter, I believe.

Ganges in summer is a real tourist mecca, and crowded. Good restaurants, great bookstore.
 
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