West Coast Odyssey of Cyndyn (8 Weeks)

Lyle and Judie Roberts were kind enough to attend our last meeting and share their experiences circumnavigating the Island on board their M/V Cyndyn. They have also provided a copy of their log which I have included below.

WEST COAST ODYSSEY OF CYNDYN

June 1, 2004: Left Nanaimo at 0800, arrived at Comox at 1530 53 miles

Margaret and Bruce, our friends on our companion boat, hit a submerged deadhead in Baynes Sound and required divers to check it out.

June 3: Left Comox at 0750, arrived Discovery Harbour Marina at 1225 33 miles

June 4: Left Campbell River at 0545 to catch the ebb tide at Seymour Narrows. Very fast ride to Port Neville at 1115. Note in log: “always go on an ebbing tide” 49 miles

June 5: Left Port Neville at 0745, arrived Port McNeill at 1230 40 miles

June 6: Left Port McNeill at 0855, arrived Bull Harbour at 1415 39 miles

June 7: Stayed in Bull Harbour because of weather. Margaret fell down forward passageway at 2130 and broke her arm. Had to take her back to Port Hardy following day.

June 8: Left Bull Harbour at 0755, arrived Port Hardy at 1130 24 miles

June 9: Remained at Port Hardy to help Margaret and Bruce return home.

June 10: Left Port Hardy at 1000, arrived Bull Harbour at 1345

All boats were still waiting for weather to clear. 24 miles

June 11: Off to the Cape: Left Bull Harbour at 0530, around Cape Scott at 0900, stopped at Sea Otter Cove at 1030, because of rising winds 35 miles

June 12: Remained at Sea Otter Cove, tied to mooring buoy. Winds gusting to 48 at Sartine Island

June 13: remained at Sea Otter Cove. More of the same – but saw huge orca. Other boats left, but sea state was 2-3 meters, so we stayed put

June 14: Left Sea Otter Cove at 0625, arrived Winter Harbour, Quatsino Sound around noon (time not recorded). Boil water advisory, limited groceries. Large protected anchorage for many boats just inside mouth of Quatsino Sound at Browning Inlet 27 miles

June 16: Left Winter Harbour 0900, fished for a while, arrived Coal Harbour at 1430. No facilities available at all; dock space limited 27 miles

June 17: Left Coal Harbour at 0755, motored to Holberg and back, anchored for night in Varney Bay at 1540. Great crabbing 36 miles

June 18: Left Varney Bay at 0830, motored to Port Alice, arrived at 1045. Stocked up on groceries and fresh water. Left at 1330 for Julian Cove, anchored at 1430. One of two prettiest places on trip. 1 9 miles

June 19: Left Julian Cove at 0900, “outside” to Klashkish Basin in the crook of the elbow of Brooks Peninsula. Tied to mooring buoy at 1415 37 miles

June 20: Brooks Peninsula Day/Fathers’ Day. Left Klashkish Inlet at 0740, in full sun, reached Solander Island at 0910, fished until 10:30. Crept in fog to Columbia Cove at 1230, tied to mooring buoy 25 miles

June 21: Left Columbia Cove at 1300 hours, after fog lifted, arrived at Scow Bay, Bunsby Islands, at 1420. 10 miles

June 22: Left Scow Bay, Bunsby Islands at 1240, arrived Walters Cove at 1410. Interesting slalom course into village docks (very roomy). No restaurant, laundry, or showers, and store open only a few days a week. Could be more facilities in Kyoquot, across the harbour. 10 miles

June 23: Left Walters Cove at 0900, sneaked through a short-cut rocky entrance into Kyoquot

Inlet to Fair Harbour for diesel and water at 1115. Nice people, help with docking, small store. Anchored in Inner Dixie Cove at 1340 18 miles

June 24: Stayed at Inner Dixie Cove for a spa day for first mate. Captain caught a nice ling cod and a prawn trap full of hag fish. Ugh. No radio reception.

June 25: Left Inner Dixie Cove, Kyoquot Sound at 0900, explored Nuchalitz, home of the Nootka tribe, anchored in Queen Cove, Esperanza Inlet at 1345 29 miles

June 26: Remained in Queen Cove as crabbing was promising.

June 27: Left Queen Cove at 0900, arrived Zeballos at 1120.

Not much room at dock 15 miles

June 28: Layover day in Zeballos

June 29: Left Zeballos at 0920, arrived Tahsis at 1145. Westview Marina is good place to stay 15 miles

June 30: Left Tahsis late after morning winds abated at 1310. Passed Critter Cove at 1600 and anchored in Hisnit Inlet at 1620 1620. 21 miles

July 1: Left Hisnit Bay at 1130 after walk on shore and explored upper Nootka Sound, anchored in charming Galiano Bay. 16 miles

Reached 600 nautical miles

July 2: Left Galiano Bay at 0920, explored Spanish Pilots Group to Bligh Island Marine Park near entrance to Nootka Sound. Great anchorage. anchorage 10 miles

July 3: Left Bligh Cove at 0845. Fished, with no luck for two hours, then anchored in Friendly Cove to explore site. No dock, lots of anchorage . Went to Santa Gertrudis(or Dawley’s) Cove to anchor at 1330 6 miles

July 4: Left Santa Gertrudis at 0640 for trip around Estevan Point. Tough sledding for an hour or so. Arrived Hot Springs Cove at 1100. Good mooring or anchoring. Save walk to hot springs until after 5:00 p.m. when tourists leave. 30 miles

July 5: Left Hot Springs Cove at 0830 to fish off Barney Islands, then motored up Sydney Inlet to Coyote (Bottleneck) Cove at 1125 8 miles

Good “back door” to Ahousat, Tofino, et al. Watch for crab traps all over the place.

July 6: Left Coyote Cove at 0820, added water and provisions at Ahousat, a good spot with a nice little restaurant. Lots of dock. Anchored at Friendly Dolphin Cove, near head of Clayoquot Sound, but on the quiet side of Flores Island. Great way to avoid surf on outside. 25 miles

July 7: Left Friendly Dolphin at 0845, investigated Bacchante Bay, anchored in West Whitepine Cove at 1550. Good large anchorage anchorage 19 miles

Depending on sea conditions and weather reports, this might be one of many small anchorages to choose, rather than going into Tofino. That city’s marina is crammed full of derelict boats, with very little moorage for visitors, other than rafting to fish boats. They charge for water, too. Better to fill up at Ahousat, and again at Ucluelet. In an emergency, there is sometimes dock space at Weigh West, but they charge more than the city docks and are further away from town (although we walked it just fine).

July 8: Left West Whitepine Cove at 0855, arrived at Tofino at 1055. Tied up at Weigh West docks at 12:30 16 miles

July 9: Stayed in Tofino, for chores.

July 10: Left Weigh West dock at 0835. Motored out to fishing grounds (8 miles) and caught some lovely wild coho. Returned to Clayoquot and up to Quait Bay in Cypress Bay, just north of Meares Island. 26 miles

July 11: Left Quait Bay, explored Bedwell Channel, traversed Matlset Narrows and Fortune Channel to Mosquito Harbour at 1350. Nice harbour 17 miles

July 12: Left Mosquito Harbour at 0925 and ran down 14 miles

July 13: So nice at Tranquilito Cove we stayed another day. Lyle swam.

July 14: Left Tranquilito Cove at 0845, made the run to Ucluelet and arrived at 1515. Nice peaceful passage, great harbourmaster. 38 miles

July 15/16: Stayed at Ucluelet

July 17: Left Ucluelet at 0800, but got held up at gas dock until 1030. Spent the night at Entrance Harbour. Not recommended – too busy, too crowded. 14 miles

July 18-22: Exploration of Barkley Sound. Did not travel more than 10 miles per day, found exceptional anchorages. Did not like Effingham Bay – too crowded, with swell. Loved Joe’s Bay, Pinkerton Islands (a must see), Port Alberni Yacht Club (great docks, showers, nice people and a place to walk). Eagles Nook, near Effingham Inlet, is a wonderful place for a decadent dinner (moorage included if you eat there). $55.00 each for dinner, without wine, but totally memorable. Fishing good at Swale Rock. Total miles in five days: 40 miles

July 23: Departed Eagles Nook at 0805, arrived at Bamfield at 1030. Got water, tied to Government dock on east side of bay (no water there). Fellow boaters convinced us to try Dodger Channel, right at the entrance to Barclay Sound (south west corner) just across from the entrance to Bamfield. If weather is calm, this is a beautiful way to say goodbye to the west coast. Sunset like a Vickers painting. 15 miles

July 24/25: Left Dodger Channel and returned to Bamfield, for protection against predicted NW gales. Tied to Government dock on west side of harbour. Stayed one extra day to let NW gales settle, walked to Brady’s Beach. Nice place.

July 26: Left Bamfield at 0610 to make passage to Port San Juan. Seas were high for the first hour, but subsided, giving us a nice ride. Sighted Cape Flattery at 0930. Found a spot behind the Port Renfrew public dock at 1230. No room at docks, anchorage open, but calmed at night. 43 miles

July 27: Left Port San Juan Harbour at 0730, arrived at Sooke at 1225. Calm seas in Juan de Fuca Strait. Big public dock, good walk to good stores in town 37 miles

July 28: Moved around to Victoria Harbour to visit with family. 20 miles

Total mileage for trip from Nanaimo to Victoria: 983 nautical miles

(Add mileage for trip from Victoria to Deep Bay)

We left Victoria for Friday Harbour and Anacortes to visit with the friends who had given up the trip due to Margaret’s broken arm, and returned to Nanaimo via the Southern Gulf Islands.

Although we traveled inland on many occasions, we did not go more than a day’s easy voyage off our track at any given time. We found places that we never would have discovered by car, and pretty much had them all to ourselves. So many boats rush down the west coast in order to complete the circumnavigation in a set number of days. Our voyage would have been shorter if we had passed up the side-trips, but except for the five days spent checking for hull damage and visiting medical help, we took seven weeks. We did not go to Gold River (due to Luna) or Port Alberni (due to heat).

The only two rough spots we had to be brave about were rounding Estevan Point and leaving Barclay Sound around Cape Beale. In our boat, we found taking a tip from the sailors and tacking into the waves was the best policy. Although it was bumpy, we didn’t roll too much, and when we got out far enough to clear the point, we turned our backs to the waves and enjoyed the sleigh ride. Our policy was not to travel if winds were more than 15 knots, and seas more than 1 meter. They always seem bigger when you’re out there on them.

Water and fresh groceries will be your biggest challenges after leaving Port McNeill or Port Hardy. Best place, if you don’t go inland to Port Alice, Zeballos or Tahsis, is Ucluelet. At Tofino, as mentioned, it is difficult to find moorage. There is limited provisioning at Winter Harbour, Fair Harbour, Ahousat, and Bamfield. The store might be open at Walters Cove when you arrive. Lunch out for the cooks? Ahousat, Tofino, Ucluelet, Port Alberni yacht club outstation area, and Bamfield!

Enjoy every minute of your trip!

Lyle and Judie Roberts

cyndyn@shaw.ca