Vancouver to Haida Gwaii Route

[Sir Rondo Normal]

We are planning to sail to Haida Gwaii from Vancouver in July. I know the normal route is to go up the inside passage and across Hecate strait but we're not normal.

We are going to be heading out Juan De Fuca Strait in early July to take part in the Vancouver Island Cruising Experience (VICE) trip, which is an annual shakedown event for sailors to get a taste of offshore sailing on their own boats. We are scheduled to leave Ucluelet on the 12th and sail out 150 nm and then return.
So my thoughts are that since we're out there, we would then part company with the fleet and head for Haida Gwaii. The reason being, is that I work there from Sept - May.
Anyway, just thought I'd see if anyone here would have some thoughts/experience with the trip north on the outside during the summer.

Cheers

[TJ D]

This is probably going to be a damned unpleasant way to go. As you likely know, the wind is predominantly NW off of Vancouver Island. I don't think that even going out 150nm is likely to have you fetching the HG islands on one tack unless you wait for a calm period and blast up there.

Cape Scott blows 30+ NW quite often in the summer. I was in the Bunsby islands for a week once while it was gusting over 50 at the cape, and all in really fair weather.

I think I'd save the offshore leg for the trip back down. I've done a couple of laps of V.I, and I would not have wanted to do it clockwise, that's for sure.

But, you might get lucky and get a calm spell where you could motor up the outside. Patience will be in order while waiting for weather for sure.

Good luck, TJ

[PaulSommers]

The reason most people take the Inside Passage route is that the prevailing winds are from the NW on the outside - exactly the direction you will have to travel. So it will be slow, cold, and bumpy even in relatively good weather. For your 150 out and return cruise, you will likely be on a beam reach both ways - or maybe close reach headed out and broad reach coming back. Close hauled offshore in cold weather isn't much fun! Personally, I would go up the Inside Passage and then consider going outside on the way back to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. I circumnavigated Vancouver Is. once and had some really good sailing headed SW on the outside.

[Capt Phil]

I had to look up Haida Gwali then realized that you were talking about Queen Charlotte Sound and surrounding area. I spent many years commercial fishing and towing logs and barges through those waters and imagine it is just as picturesque and desolate now as it was in the 1950's and 1960's.
The Haida Indians were far and away the best commercial fishermen around, unbelievably hard workers and did not have the social problems caused by alcohol that many from the bands further south had. I recall that the Haida tribe in the Queen Charlotte Islands had a prohibition against alcohol in their villages and it was very difficult to go in and visit in a village 50-60 years ago.
Dr Borden, the Dean of Archeology at the University of British Columbia had strong evidence that several hundred years ago, the Haida's from up coast and the Kuatylyutle(sp?) bands from the west coast who were also tough mothers' would regularly raid the predominantly hunter gatherer tribes from the southern coast, steal the young and healthy women, kill off the young braves and leave the old and sick alone draining their gene pool. As a result, the southern bands fell into a spiral of drinking and poor health and can be seen to this day on skid road in Vancouver, Naniamo and other white cities in southern BC. Many from the Siwash band but the name for a native who hit the skids was Siwash.
I worked in the area with many native guys and they all told the same story backing up what Dr Borden hypothesized. Any guy, native or white, who hunted whales in wooden dugout canoes and lived to tell the tale had to be pretty hardy in my opinion.
At any rate, if you are planning on going ashore in the Charlottes to visit the villages, check before you go and make certain you are permitted to visit. Also, my guess is the villages are all dry still. The town of Massett will probably have some place to check out whether or not these restrictions are still in place. Certainly Prince Rupert on the mainland should also be able to answer questions on access.
Sounds like many changes since I worked in that country so my knowledge is pretty dated but my memories are still strong. Cheers, Phil

[Sir Rondo Normal]

Yes, I've looked at the pilot charts and will be expecting NW winds but hoping for more westerly winds.
Our ultimate destination is Port Louis on the west side of Graham Island, about 30 nm (as the crow flies) south of Langara Island on the NW tip of Haida Gwaii. I know the likelihood of getting favourable winds is pretty low so my plan B would be to shoot for Hecate Strait and maybe go around and over the top.
From that point 150 nm west of Ucluelet there's a bit better chance of a strait shot into Hecate Strait.

Yeah Phil, the Charlottes were rename to Haida Gwaii quite a while ago now. Not dry now, that's for sure. 🍻

[Pelagic]

This is the problem when you let someone else's timetable dictate your passage planning.

The sensible way to go is via the inside passage to your final destination rather than fight the prevailing conditions.

If part of your goal is to bring confidence to your crew with a trip offshore, making a bad decision at the onset will defeat that objective

[Sir Rondo Normal]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

This is the problem when you let someone else's timetable dictate your passage planning.

Yeah, I hear you and point taken. The nice thing about this is that the only thing that is written in stone is that we have to be to Port Louis by Sept 1. If we get out to that 150 nm mark we can still decide against heading straight for HG.

We could back track and take the inside route, we could aim for Hecate Strait or we could cancel the trip to HG all together. The company normally flies us in and out anyway.

We want our boat there with us though, because we're there for nine months, but it's our choice.

From the pilot charts it looks like it'd be about a 30% chance of NW and 20% chance for W winds, so we'll see what it's actually like once we get out on the VICE trip and then we can make that decision.

What I'd really like to do is get to HG and make landfall on the southern west shore of Moresby Island and then gunkhole our way up to Pt Louis. After all, we'll have 5 or 6 weeks to get there.

Thanks

[Paul L]

Junk holing the west coast of HG is certainly doable. There are some great protected bays to hide in. The Douglass guide is pretty decent. If it were me, I sure wouldn't want to beat up Vancouver Island. You could catch a weather break, but pretty unlikely as you are leaving for offshore on a specific date, not sitting in an anchorage for 3 weeks waiting for a weather window.

[Capt Phil]

Thanks Sir Ronda, for bringing this old fisherman up to date.
Gunkholing up the west coast of the Charlottes brings to mind a story from back when I was about 17 years old and some old guy, probably 30!, ducked into a small cove to get out of weather out there in his troller. A Hugh log about 50 feet long was tossed over the spit of land in the storm and landed right on top of the troller's wheelhouse. The boat was destroyed but the fisherman was down working on his engine and survived. The vessel sat there for a couple of years and became a local tourist attraction with the log still attached! The spit of land was supposedly about 30 feet high!
Unless you have been on the west coast in a winter storm, you have no idea how rough the ocean can be! The only place rougher is the mouth of the Columbia River during a heavy storm and a flood tide in winter. They US Coast Guard train their newbies on boat handling in heavy weather out there, evidently.
I'm glad I hung 'em up about 20 years ago... no need to be out there anymore!
By the way, the little picture in my avatar was taken on my last delivery from PV to San Diego...Cheers, Phil

[foojin]

Our friend Andy Cross and family did it this year. Have to be lucky with the wind. Also helps to be a great sailor.

700 miles downwind to Alaska | Rollin' With Yahtzee

[Astrid]

I did that route up West Coast of Vancouver a number of years ago going up to Haida Gwaii, and there were times I wondered what the heck I was doing out there.

Sir Rondo, what sort of work do you do at Port Louis? Do you work for The Outpost?

Asta

[Sir Rondo Normal]

Hi Astrid, yes I'm the winter caretaker at the Outpost and we absolutely love it there. What an enchanting place.
What time of year did you make the trip?

What do you do on Moresby, Gwaii Hannas?

[Astrid]

Hi, I made the trip just about this time of year actually. I wound up going quite a ways out, but still had to beat my way north until I caught some favorable wind in QC Sound. It was at times a bit of a rough trip, but then you can't have perfect sailing all the time, right, else it would not be a challenge.

I had been wondering what you would be doing at Port Louis in the off season. I had not thought of winter caretaker. That must be fun up in that area--so long as nothing happens like in Steven King's The Shining! It is very rugged in that area, but enchanting as you say. The Oupost is aptly named and seems like a spot on the edge of the frontier.

I have done some consulting work with Gwaii Hannis, yes. Mostly though I am a regional vet so most of my work is with livestock on the mainland--inspection for CFIA. Being on call eats up a lot of time, but that is the way it goes I guess. Fortunately I have a plane and can fly into most areas I need to go and that saves a lot of travel time.

I suppose it is pretty quiet up at the Outpost during the off season? That would be idyllic if one has the temperament for it.

[Livia]

Certainly things can be much rougher on the outside than the inside but at that time of year you can anticipate headwinds going up the inside as well. Unless you have loads of time to wait, or like tacking and short mileage days, you will probably end up motoring a lot on the inside as well at that time of year.

I don't mean that to be a downer. I guess I'm saying that if you are on the outside already, and really want to go North at that time of year, you can probably take some of the sections under power and at least tell yourself "it wouldn't be much better inside".

We really wanted to sail and so we went up the inside in late Spring when there were still some Southerly systems rolling through and rode those up. We then jumped from Miles Cove sailing two days to Queen Charlotte City.

Our passage: Passage to the Haida Gwaii - Team Giddyup

[Sir Rondo Normal]

Thanks for your thoughts and experiences. It sounds like you had an awesome trip. Very good blog!