Pacific North West Advice

[Maka]

Nothing to add. Just want to follow this conversation.

[CptCrunchie]

Originally Posted by Cpt Mark

If everyone on board has their Nexus card clearing into the U'S. can be done with a cell phone call without having to go into a port of entry

US Boarder Patrol recently came out with a new app for your smart phone: CBP ROAM. Download it from iTunes, open it and add your boat info, then use the camera to let the app take photos of your regular passport or enhanced drivers license. The app stores this information in their database.

When you return to the US, open the app, input who is onboard, and hit send. This will message CBP of your arrival. You will get a response as to whether they want to meet you, where you will need to go to check in, or if you are okay to land. So far, we have been okayed to land.

We usually splash in Port Angeles to fish in Canadian water. But this time of year, they removed the ramp docks, so we land in John Wayne Marina in Sequim instead. Since they don't have officers in the area to meet us, they send a text message that we are okay to land.

And if you have someone onboard who isn't in their database, simply scan their passport through the app on your way in, then request clearance.

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/pleasure-...-boat-overview

You also don't have to physically report to gain entry into Canada. We were taking our boat across to Pender Island to look at a sailboat. I called the number I usually call to get a landing number to show US CBP we were anchoring there to fish for halibut. Canada Customs said we could use that same number to check into Canada without having to physically report.

After telling them we would be making landfall at Pender Island to look at a boat, they cleared us over the phone.

1-888-226-7277

[MJH]

Originally Posted by Thank you dad

My wife and I will be spending the summer of 2019 cruising the pacific northwest. This will probably be the first post of many with questions and looking for help.


We have 2 dinghies, a hard bottom with a 15 hp and a smaller softbottom with 2 hp outboard. They both can fit upside down on the bow with motor on a stern bracket.



Trying to decide which to bring, seems like we would not need the big one as the distances in anchorages seems to be much less, its easier to beach, especially when thinking about the moving tide lines ect. But is there a reason to consider the larger boat?


Which cruising guide should we purchase? We purchased the Waggoner Guide, which others?


We have a long floating line (400') for stern anchoring, what other cruising supplies should we have that we may not be thinking about?


What other advice do you have for us?

Thanks,
Jeff

You won't be disappointed with your Northwest cruise.

Bring clothing for all climates. Be prepared for all climates. I've been in BC when even the Canadians were complaining.

Heat source would be nice. On my previous boat I heated rocks on the stove, used an inverted plant pot, or dried shoes near the engine.

The further north you go the more interesting and isolated it gets. I have spent days seeing only one boat on the horizon.

Above all else, learn the weather forecast schedules (US & Canada), where the locations are, and keep in tune with the weather. The Waggoner is very good for this.

I purposely avoid the Inside Passage and take more southerly route to avoid cruise liners and most cargo vessels and tugs.

Daily departure planning should include a target anchorage and alternate, there are plenty of them to choose from. If it is a recommended anchorage, the better chance you will have company.

Go with the tides, avoid fighting them when possible. I use Ports & Passes.

Update your Laptop software to get the current tides. I use Coastal Explorer.

Nanaimo is a good stop and the last good parts availability location. Make sure you take basic replacement parts. If you have to import parts into Canada you'll pay duty and have to wait longer if remote...I did. FedEx overnight shipping doesn't exist even though float planes may be everywhere.

Water is very deep. I have 300' of chain on my current boat, a recommended length. My previous boat (San Jun 28) only had 200' rope and I sometimes was forced to anchor in 90' of water on calm nights. Be careful anchoring at the head of inlets as many have been used for logging, now with sunken logs.

Watch for logs/debris at all times. Anchor before nightfall if possible.

Consider taking a lead from local tugs/fishing boats when determining main current running.

Slope of hillsides can give good indications of water depth near shore. Vertical walls usually mean very deep anchoring.

Fuel, fresh water, propane are available most locations but track your usage.

Watch for fishing nets rigged between orange floats.

Have a good cruise.

~ ~ _/) ~ ~ MJH

[Glacier Crews]

Just a heads up. 1)cannot bring bear spray across US boarder into Canada, ditto guns. 2)wagoners, at least the one we own, is not very helpful north of Ketchikan,AK. 3) the US no longer sells or prints currant tables in paper, so need a plan for that. 4) have fun and keep looking at e-Bay, Craig’s list, etc for various ‘not the year’ copies of Marine Atlas, Don Douglas cruising guides(2 volumes)and the Coast Pilot.

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by Glacier Crews

Just a heads up. 1)cannot bring bear spray across US boarder into Canada, ditto guns...

I believe you have over-generalized a bit with your statement...

Here is the Main page for Canada Border Services.

RE: Bear spray; If Bear Spray is printed on the canisters then Canada allows it. [EDIT: Disallowed is "...mace or pepper spray designed for use on humans"]

RE: Firearms; All must be declaired. Certain firearms are not allowed into Canada. [Mostly handguns.] Most long guns [rifles/shotguns] are not an issue.

Many cruisers up north have a shot gun on board [slugs for bears...] including us, and we have no problems declaring them as we cross borders. [In fact, further north, Canada requires we carry a long gun for personal protection from wildlife.]

I post this not to open a firearm discussion, so please don't. This is a clarification— including citations— regarding the referenced post.

Cheers! Bill

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by Thank you dad

My wife and I will be spending the summer of 2019 cruising the pacific northwest. This will probably be the first post of many with questions and looking for help.


We have 2 dinghies, a hard bottom with a 15 hp and a smaller softbottom with 2 hp outboard. They both can fit upside down on the bow with motor on a stern bracket.



Trying to decide which to bring, seems like we would not need the big one as the distances in anchorages seems to be much less, its easier to beach, especially when thinking about the moving tide lines ect. But is there a reason to consider the larger boat?


Which cruising guide should we purchase? We purchased the Waggoner Guide, which others?


We have a long floating line (400') for stern anchoring, what other cruising supplies should we have that we may not be thinking about?


What other advice do you have for us?

Thanks,
Jeff

Hi Jeff,

We are in the PNW as well; or perhaps the PNNW?

I recommend you bring the RIB and 15HP for several reasons:

• Sometimes you may want to travel a bit of distance to scout new areas for anchoring [we find a hand held depth sounder very handy for scouting from the dink], access, curiosity, a shopping trip to the town 10 miles away, etc., etc.
• It is adequate for side-tying to your sailboat and motoring you out of a difficult situation should your primary propultion become incapacitated
• It is an adequate near-shore life raft
• The PNW beaches are not pristine sand...
• Etc.

RE: Mooring it- as has been suggested, put wheels on it. [We have them also.] However, we much prefer to use a Clothesline [or Outhaul] mooring with an anchor. [Briefly: Drop the dinghy anchor ~30-50 ft from shore and continue to shore. Disembark, and then pull the dinghy back out to the anchor from shore. Tie off your line above the hight tide line for easy retrieval.]

This way we don't have to deal with extreme tide shifts on shore, and the local wildlife won't find it as inviting to use your dinghy to sate their curiosity... [Google: bear destroys kayak] This approach keeps the dink away from beach bonfires too...

We love traveling south into BC, and know you will have a great time.

I realize this may not be on your agenda right now, but I wanted to mention it just in case: Your 4 month timeframe is plenty to allow you to keep heading north to Alaska as well. [We meet many cruisers from WA each year in Alaska who comfortably make the round trip within a 90 day window...] Some boaters are drawn inadvertantly as they begin experiencing how solitude improves with higher latitudes.

That said, you really can't go wrong boating anywhere in the PNW... It has become the final destination for many a world cruiser...

Cheers! Bill

[desodave]

Lots of good advice already. However, it is Volume 6 of the Tide Tables that you'll need for most of your trip - everything north of Campbell River BC. Volume 5 ( suggested by Stu) covers the Strait of Georgia and everything Canadian south of Campbell River. Ports and Passes has a bit less detail; but is what we use - the official government tables are on Standard Time, P&P corrects for Daylight time. Both have current info and you'll need to pay attention to that in many places.



If you are going to go inside Vancouver Island - Desolation Sound and Princess Louisa inlet - you will have to transit Johnstone Strait and the passes leading to and from it to reach the Broughtons and mid-coast areas. Seymour Narrows is the main gateway and runs at up to 16knots on a big flood tide. You WILL be motoring. Ports and Passes has very useful information on the current patterns in Johnstone Strait - it can be an hour and a half's difference between current changes on one side of the Strait to the other at times. Peak river runoff is late May to July and there is often no surface flood tide in the Strait.


Johnstone is also notable for afternoon gale force winds especially when an offshore high is settling in. Most of the travel guides talk about these conditions.


Here is a link to Gwaii Haanas National Park.



https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/bc/gwaiihaanas/visit


You need a permit and to take an orientation session before you are allowed to access it. Hopefully the link provides all necessary info.


I'll add my voice to the "take the hard dinghy" crowd. Beaches around the anchorages are often rock many with barnacles added. Aluminum RIB's seem to be the most popular tenders here.


Enjoy the trip

[desodave]

You'll also need Volume 7 of the tide tables for the mid coast - should have noted that on my previous post

[Kelkara]

Originally Posted by desodave

If you are going to go inside Vancouver Island - Desolation Sound and Princess Louisa inlet - you will have to transit Johnstone Strait and the passes leading to and from it to reach the Broughtons and mid-coast areas. Seymour Narrows is the main gateway and runs at up to 16knots on a big flood tide.

I took Seymour Narrows this year, and maybe it's because I have a small slow boat, but I think there is very little to recommend this route ... Just getting to the narrows means dealing with currents up to 5 knots, and once you're through, with a wind against tide situation Johnstone Strait can quickly kick up a nasty chop that can be punishing to a small boat with few places to duck out and hide. And because all the commercial traffic also uses this route I found myself sharing the narrows with a log tow and a freighter - all at 4:00am.


The route via Yuculta, Dent, Green Point and Whirlpool rapids is IMHO a more enjoyable route in almost every way, especially if you've never been that way before.

[osprey877]

If you go much further north than Vancouver Island you will wish you had an enclosed dodger with remote autohelm or similar enclosed steering position. weather can be cold and wet for days at a time. You should also count on having to motor a lot and fuel stops get scarce north of Vancouver Island. Not a problem if you are transitting along the inside passage, but if you want to spend a week exploring along the way, some jerry cans on deck may give you added flexibility, depending of course on your fuel tank size. North of Nanaimo, you will find that Campbell River, Port McNeil, Port Hardy, Shearwater and Prince Rupert are all major commercial fishing/marine centres and you will not have any problem obtaining any necessary repairs/service/parts replacement etc. Hope that helps.

[JPA Cate]

@Thank you dad,

About moving a large RIB with a 15 hp engine, we use a fender for a roller. Jim lifts the bow, I plop the fender under, then we haul it up the slope till it spits the fender out at the stern. Repeat as needed. It's easier going downhill, of course. Some people install large lifting wheels at the stern, but to me they're too much in the way; however, our method is more work.

Ann

[Paul L]

We got caught way way up a rocky beach in SE Alaska with our dink when the tide went out. This is when I learnt to always take the outboard lock key with me. Lots easier to remove the outboard and then carry the dink and outboard seperately down to the waters edge.

[Scout 30]

A couple of these will make it easier:

Beach Rollers

[DeepFrz]

You might want to check out the Youtube videos of "Life is like Sailing". RCMP officer that knows the West Coast very well.

[Thank you dad]

Wow, what a wealth of knowledge. Thank you all.

we have a 35 lb rocna and 200' chain and 200' rode. There are times we anchor in catalina in 90 feet and wish i had more line but have not encountered issues either.


We dont have cabin heat and have been going back and forth on it. We feel that for our 4 months, though it would be awesome, too much work and expense to plumb the system, holes in the deck ect. If we were doing longer up there than that would change.

Our plan is to have the truck deliver the boat to Anacortes in mid april, get the boat put together before heading north of 2.5 months before 1.5 months coming back, or something like that.

We will go as far north as we make it, but not going to rush or push if we are having fun or weather not cooperating.