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Old 03-01-2020, 13:16   #16
MJH
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Re: Considering an inside passage trip

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For the last year or so I've been thinking a little about making a trip North via the Inside Passage from Seattle to... somewhere. Not exactly sure if, when, or how I'd be doing it but toying with the idea.

Has anyone here made this trip? Any key factors to consider?

My trip would probably be in a twin diesel 46' Express/Sunbridge aft cabin with a full canvas enclosure, 400 gallons of fuel capacity, and a onan generator. The trip would probably be more pleasant in a sedan cruiser like a Bayliner 4588 or a Nordhaven 43... if I had one

First question is... Is this worth doing in an express?
We made it up to Alaska this year, my wife's first trip by sailing yacht, and my second; my first trip was solo in a San Juan 28 years ago. It is worthwhile in any boat one may possess. On this trip I noticed that there are more boats than the first trip and particularly in Alaska...BC not so much. Go now before is gets worse. I remember the days when I wouldn't see another boat all day...those days are gone.

I choose to NOT take the better known Inside Passage as it is more narrow with more traffic...I go via Laredo and Principe Channels accessed via Meyers Passage (if you are daring) with great scenery that you will miss going so fast in a MV. Listen to the weather, respect the currents, look out for logs, and watch for wildlife. There are plenty of places to hide if the weather turns bad.

Get a copy of The Waggoner.

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Old 03-01-2020, 13:29   #17
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Re: Considering an inside passage trip

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There's always wood in the water and most of it imo NOT from booms breaking up. As the spring runoff in the rivers increases, the amount of wood increases. As it does also after every storm around partcularly high tides. This is what it looked like near Campbell River after a storm a couple of years ago
If you look close, most of those sticks have sawn ends. Doesn’t need to be a total loss of a boom but most large debris in BC are sawn logs. Up here they have 9’ diameter root balls attached to them and clearly from spring runoff. A lot of times they’re still green with full foliage. Same goes for beach debris lots of full trees complete with roots.
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Old 03-01-2020, 16:16   #18
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Re: Considering an inside passage trip

This time of year? (to end of March or April). Miserable wet, cold weather. But at least you would have south-easters behind you for most of the trip. Top up fuel and grub when you can. Many places close for the winter.


In July/August it's pretty busy up to and including Desolation Sound. North of there the traffic drops right off because a great many people don't want to deal with the rapids - and the weather gets MUCH cooler and foggier! Then traffic drops off again at the north end of Vancouver Island because people don' want to deal with Queen Charlotte Sound. North of there you will mostly have spectacular anchorages all to yourself. South of there you'll probably have to share.


Up the Passage itself there are a great many great anchorages - secure, sheltered, and decent depths. However if you go up any of the mainland inlets that changes. The inlets were scraped out by ice eons ago and are generally VERY deep with few decent anchorages.


Get a copy of Waggoners and READ IT. It has lots of info on berthing opportunities, fuel, grub, anchorages, etc. In the summer there are lots of fuel stops but provisioning is more of a challenge. Madeira Park in Pender Harbour (my home town is good as there is a big supermarket within walking distance of the docks and they let you take buggies to the dock (and come and get them themselves each evening). Campbell River is pretty good. Port McNeill is EXCELLENT (same situation as Madeira Park). Further up Shearwater is good although limited selection and expensive, and Prince Rupert is good. All the places mentioned are open year-round (although Shearwater might be sketchy) but smaller places generally close for the winter,


I can't speak for the Alaska portion but stay inside in BC. I'd go up through the Yulculta rapids, etc. (rather than Seymour Narrows) in order to stay out of the larger, straighter bodies of water such as Discovery Passage and Johnstone Straits where the combination of wind and current can kick up some really NASTY seas. On one occasion last summer we were slowed from six to two knots (SOG) and we were going WITH the current!

Be VERY careful crossing Queen Charlotte Sound. It's about eight hours at sailboat speeds. Although there are places to hide both south and north of Cape Caution, closing with them involves dodging A LOT of rocks - which in high seas can be seriously nerve-racking.

Get a current copy of Ports and Passages. Its tide and current tables are FAR better than the government publications and it contains many chartlets, hints (like how to get through three successive sets of rapids in one tide) and useful phone numbers for services along the way.

In BC a Telus phone.html" target="_blank">cell-IRJDSUNE9932123321222xxeww-phone is by far the best. Anybody else has very little coverage - although even Telus is spotty.

Both Queen Charlotte and Milbanke sounds are shallow and those big Pacific rollers, coming non-stop from Japan steepen up brutally and can be breaking on miles-long fronts. Not for the faint-hearted. Otherwise, from Vancouver to Prince Rupert it's pretty sheltered.

Enjoy.
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Old 03-01-2020, 16:39   #19
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Re: Considering an inside passage trip

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If you look close, most of those sticks have sawn ends. Doesn’t need to be a total loss of a boom but most large debris in BC are sawn logs. Up here they have 9’ diameter root balls attached to them and clearly from spring runoff. A lot of times they’re still green with full foliage. Same goes for beach debris lots of full trees complete with roots.

The VAST majority of logs in the water and on the beaches of BC are detritus from the logging industry. 90% (and that's no exaggeration!) of significant sized chunks of wood in the water or on the beach have at least one end (usually both) that has been cut by a chainsaw. Even the root balls drifting around have usually been washed down when heavy rains hit a clear cut area and precipitate landslides. It's MY country, MY province, and it's disgusting! The primary reason is that, unlike in the States where the government auctions off standing timber so the companies pay for every tree, here the logs are generally only paid for (stumpage) when they reach Vancouver. Stuff lost along the way, or left on the hillside because it got stuck or something (later to wash down into the streams and ocean) is never paid for and therefore is little loss to the lumbering companies. As I say, it's DISGUSTING! and was one of the key issues in the Canada/US softwood dispute. It was resolved in favour of Canada but frankly I wish the US had won and we had been forced to adopt US logging practices.


If you lasso one of those logs and tow it to a mill or some such place you can't sell it. It belongs to some one or company. You're stealing and trying to fence it. But if you run into it and wreck your prop, strut, shaft, rudder, etc., too bad. It's an act of God - or so the courts, swayed by well-paid lumbering industry lawyers, have ruled. Ask BC Ferries. They sustain hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages every year from ferries hitting logs - but it's an act of God and even they haven't been able to collect.



As I say, DISGUSTING! (Don't get me started!)
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Old 04-01-2020, 05:12   #20
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Re: Considering an inside passage trip

I’d echo the earlier post of Slowboat.com. They run flotillas from Puget Sound and the San Juan’s up north as far as Juneau, Sitka, etc. They’ve posted daily blogs on their trips with tons of tips and shortcuts. They also have many YouTube videos on planning, routes, outfitting, etc. Strongly urge you take a look.
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Old 04-01-2020, 09:21   #21
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Re: Considering an inside passage trip

My only additional comment to the one that I've already made here having done the trip only once, single handed, from Seattle to Sitka, firstly in April from here in Seattle to Port Hardy and secondly in May from Port Hardy to Sitka is that I totally disagree with the comment that the scenery isn't really beautiful until you reach St. Petersburg Alaska. I've only made the trip one way only once in my Dana 24 sail boat. BUT I NOW HAVE MADE 50, YES 50, ROUND TRIPS IN MY OTHER BOAT. MY FLYING BOAT! My Lake Amphibian airplane. You'll be stunned by the scenery everywhere north of Campbell River. Period. Dodd Narrows, and even more so, Seymore Narrows, are the 2 really challenging ones. The first can be avoided relatively easily by simply staying out in closer to the center of the Straits of Georgia. The second, and much the longer and more challenging of the two, can only be avoided by taking a far longer and more circuitous route closer to the North American Continent. I also wish to compliment Scorpius on his observation of logging in Canada. Its tragically too common in both the pan handle of Alaska and Canada. But I agree with him. Its worse in Canada.
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Old 04-01-2020, 10:10   #22
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Re: Considering an inside passage trip

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My only additional comment to the one that I've already made here having done the trip only once, single handed, from Seattle to Sitka, firstly in April from here in Seattle to Port Hardy and secondly in May from Port Hardy to Sitka is that I totally disagree with the comment that the scenery isn't really beautiful until you reach St. Petersburg Alaska. I've only made the trip one way only once in my Dana 24 sail boat. BUT I NOW HAVE MADE 50, YES 50, ROUND TRIPS IN MY OTHER BOAT. MY FLYING BOAT! My Lake Amphibian airplane. You'll be stunned by the scenery everywhere north of Campbell River. Period. Dodd Narrows, and even more so, Seymore Narrows, are the 2 really challenging ones. The first can be avoided relatively easily by simply staying out in closer to the center of the Straits of Georgia. The second, and much the longer and more challenging of the two, can only be avoided by taking a far longer and more circuitous route closer to the North American Continent. I also wish to compliment Scorpius on his observation of logging in Canada. Its tragically too common in both the pan handle of Alaska and Canada. But I agree with him. Its worse in Canada.
Having lived on the west coast from Van island to Rupert for many years and been cruising south east for the last decade exclusively, I am biased to large glacier topped mountains with deep fjords with untouched forests. With my backyard cruising grounds being the Tongass national forest the lower coastal BC mountains wire large swaths of clear cut, the view from the water is less exciting. If you are flying you do get a better view as you can see further inland into the coastal range. And I never said it wasn’t beautiful or wild, just not quit as rugged and wild as SE AK.
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Old 04-01-2020, 11:07   #23
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Re: Considering an inside passage trip

Having flown all over the pan handle and now having a second home in Sitka I can kind of see why you're more turned on by the scenery north of Petersburg. There's one heck of a lot of clear cut on Prince Of Wales Island. Does kind of remind me of some stretches of the BC coast between Campbell River and Prince Rupert. The only answer it fewer people. We were talking more about the population explosion 20 years ago{and probably close to a billion people less}than we are now.
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Old 05-05-2020, 14:38   #24
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Re: Considering an inside passage trip

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For the last year or so I've been thinking a little about making a trip North via the Inside Passage from Seattle to... somewhere. Not exactly sure if, when, or how I'd be doing it but toying with the idea.
Surely you don't want to go outside
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Old 05-05-2020, 14:50   #25
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Re: Considering an inside passage trip

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Surely you don't want to go outside
Oh - no way. I started this thread on January 2nd. Plans are postponed
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Old 05-05-2020, 15:22   #26
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Re: Considering an inside passage trip

The scenery is fine down south. You may be able to see a clear cut now and then, but there's to much else to see anyway! Rounding Van Isle is a superb trip.
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Old 05-05-2020, 19:11   #27
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Re: Considering an inside passage trip

Well, you can divide the passage to Alaska in, as far as I am concerned, seven zones. Getting from one zone to the next involves challenges:

1. The American southern waters: Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, and the southern (American) half of Juan de Fuca Strait (Port Angeles, Port Townsend, etc.)
2. Then you have to cross the border into Canada: The Gulf Islands, the Canadian part of Juan de Fuca Strait (southern Vancouver Island, Victoria, Sooke, etc.), and Georgia Strait up to and including Desolation Sound - and don't miss Princess Louisa Inlet.
3. Then you have to get through the rapids: Seymour Narrows (not my choice) or the Yulcultas, etc. (my choice) to the Discovery Passage, Johnstone Strait, the Broughtens, Port McNeal, Alert Bay, Sointula, etc. Marvelous area.
4. Then you have to cross Queen Charlotte Sound (challenging!) to the mid-coast or, as the tree-huggers like to call it, the Great Bear Rain Forest: Beautiful, isolated, lonely, rugged. Better be well prepared because you are on your own in this neck of the woods. North to Prince Rupert.
5. Alaska: Back into the States. I can't say anything about it because I've not been there yet.
6. Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands). You have to cross Hecate Strait to get there. The straits are so shallow that people talk about having gravel thrown on deck when it pipes up. It can get REALLY nasty but visiting Gwaii Hanaas is a magical experience.
7. The west coast of Vancouver Island: VERY challenging but incredible cruising.



Take ten years to do all that (I've been at it a lot longer than that and still haven't seen it all) and you will be a VERY accomplished cruiser. One of the best cruising areas in the world! Good luck and have fun!
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Old 30-05-2020, 13:19   #28
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Re: Considering an inside passage trip

I just joined today, because I am also interested in doing this; though it won't be this year or next. I have no exposure to any Pacific marine bodies outside the Oregon Coast.. of course not including bays, lakes and rivers in Oregon.


I've been looking around for our next boat, which will be at least a year out, since our 18' Seaswirl bowrider won't do for this sort of thing and I'm already annoyed that we can't really overnight in it with any degree of comfort or protection.


Our lifestyle puts us in a sub-$15,000 23-30' weekender/cruiser/cuddy. I'm 50, not close to retirement, and not wealthy, so the Ranger Tug will have to wait.


For the first trip up North, I imagine we'll possibly trailer something from our home in Southern Oregon, and will certainly have prearranged to join one or more veterans to guide us on an intro crusing trip just around the San Juans for several days.


Sorry to crash this thread. This is a great forum and I look forward to enjoying some cruising in the PNW!


Paul
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Old 30-05-2020, 14:19   #29
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Re: Considering an inside passage trip

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I just joined today, because I am also interested in doing this; though it won't be this year or next. I have no exposure to any Pacific marine bodies outside the Oregon Coast.. of course not including bays, lakes and rivers in Oregon.


I've been looking around for our next boat, which will be at least a year out, since our 18' Seaswirl bowrider won't do for this sort of thing and I'm already annoyed that we can't really overnight in it with any degree of comfort or protection.


Our lifestyle puts us in a sub-$15,000 23-30' weekender/cruiser/cuddy. I'm 50, not close to retirement, and not wealthy, so the Ranger Tug will have to wait.


For the first trip up North, I imagine we'll possibly trailer something from our home in Southern Oregon, and will certainly have prearranged to join one or more veterans to guide us on an intro crusing trip just around the San Juans for several days.


Sorry to crash this thread. This is a great forum and I look forward to enjoying some cruising in the PNW!


Paul
Glad you're here! The San Juans are really easy. Short trips. Tides effect things. Summer winds generally light, although afternoons the wind coming in the Straight of Juan de Fuca can be strong and cause seas, but mostly effects the west side of San Juan Island, not inside the island group. The inside passage requires a bit more knowledge than the SJ's.
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Old 30-05-2020, 16:25   #30
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Re: Considering an inside passage trip

Thanks, Cheechako! I agree my post was all over the place. Bottom line, Inside Passage long term goal, SJ short term goal.

I sailed as a teenager in lakes in Oregon in a 25’ Catalina and to Nantucket Island from New Bedford in some other 23’ sloop, and grew up on a river with a 14’ wooden boat with an old 7.5 horse Johnson.

Fast forward to 50 years old and just now returned to boating as of a couple years ago.

I’m developing my vision for how I want to recreate and this discussion is it. Lol.

I’m reading my Chapman’s volume and window shopping for an older (70s—80s) 25’ something with a cabin.
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