Port Browning to Prevost Harbor

Prevost Harbor is only about an hour from Port Browning, but today’s short passage comes with an international border. After four months away, less one day, OceanFlyer and her crew are heading back into the United States.

That means clearing U.S. Customs, a task that the CBP ROAM app usually makes quite simple. Open the app, submit our arrival information, and wait for clearance. We have settled into a comfortable routine with it.

This morning, the app had other plans.

As we made our way into Plumper Sound, I opened it to find that all our saved information had disappeared. No boat details. No crew details. As far as the app was concerned, we were starting from scratch.

My iPhone had updated overnight, so that is where I’m placing the blame, fairly or otherwise. Whatever the cause, the remedy involved deleting the app, reinstalling it, and reintroducing it to OceanFlyer and her crew. An hour-long passage feels considerably shorter when part of it becomes a technical support session.

Fortunately, everything came together, and our arrival clearance came through with thirty minutes to spare before reaching Prevost Harbor. Just when you think you have the cruising routine sorted out, a small reminder arrives that there is always room for improvisation.

busy summer day in prevost harbor

The reward for that bit of morning housekeeping is two days rafted alongside Navigator, catching up with friends we have not seen since last year. After months of choosing anchorages around weather, tides, and the next stretch of water, it is a pleasure to have a destination chosen simply for the company.

rafted in navigator’s spot in prevost harbor

lynn checks out karen on the hobie peddle powered kayak

the quest for the perfect homemade cinnamon bun continues

sierra, the cat, makes herself at home on oceanflyer

There will be plenty to catch up on after a year apart. With the boats rafted together and two days set aside for visiting, we can settle in and enjoy the company.

A fitting way to spend a couple of the final days of our spring and summer cruise.

Nanaimo to Port Browning

Home port is beginning to feel close.

Port Browning usually bookends our Canadian cruising season—the first stop after we cross into Canada and the last before we return to the United States. Arriving here on the southbound trip brings a familiar mixture of satisfaction and reluctance. We’re nearing home, but we’re also running out of reasons to pretend the summer will go on indefinitely.

This morning began a little earlier than usual to catch slack water at Dodd Narrows. We arrived about eighteen minutes ahead of slack and passed through with three knots of current pushing us along from astern. At high water, the ride was smooth and uneventful, just the way we like our narrows.

The favorable current stayed with us for much of the trip, finally giving up its assistance as we made the turn into Port Browning.

Along the way, the approaches to Active Pass provided the usual ferry-watching exercise. As we entered Navy Channel, ferries seemed to be arriving from several directions at once, each with somewhere to be and a schedule to keep. After enough trips through these waters, the choreography becomes familiar, though it still deserves our full attention.

Port Browning had the feel of late season. There were plenty of boats at anchor, but the bay had settled down from the busier days of summer. Room to breathe, and a comfortable place to pause before the border crossing.

the sunrise at port browning was worth getting up for

Once settled, our attention turned to a less scenic part of international cruising: the contents of the refrigerator.

We had spent considerable time sorting through what we could bring back into the States, including several conversations with AI to help make sense of the restrictions. The resulting meal plan for our final two days in Canada was becoming an exercise in inventory management.

Breakfast ashore at the Copper Otter was the first casualty. We had eggs aboard that needed attention. Even a visit to the pub seemed unlikely, given the meals already planned and the provisions we hoped to work through.

Then our friends aboard Eagle’s Gig called. They were arriving in Port Browning on their way north and wondered whether we would join them at the pub for dinner.

Of course we would.

The carefully arranged menu immediately required another revision. Tonight’s dinner aboard became an afternoon cooking project, with a few portions destined for the freezer while we went ashore to enjoy a meal with friends.

There are practical reasons to make plans, and equally good reasons to abandon them.

Ours remain written in sand—with an invitation to the pub apparently all it takes to rearrange the lettering.

port borwning bids us a fond farewaell until next time

Tribune Bay to Nanaimo

There comes a point in a long cruise when the chart begins to look familiar again. The places ahead are places we visited on the way north, and each stop brings us a little closer to closing the loop. Today, that place was Nanaimo.

With the wind and current at our stern, OceanFlyer made quick work of the run down from Tribune Bay. We tucked into Departure Bay and continued south through Newcastle Passage, hoping to find room at the Newcastle Island docks. Given the holiday crowds, we knew we were asking quite a bit.

Still, there is always that moment on approach when you peer between the boats, willing an empty space to appear.

None did.

A quick call to Nanaimo Harbour secured us a spot at the Cameron docks, and we settled into an entirely different sort of stop from the one we had imagined. The island trails would require a dinghy ride, but the city was now right outside our door.

Nanaimo usually means provisioning for us. We arrive with a list, make the rounds, and return to the boat carrying enough bags to make the walk back feel considerably longer than the walk out. With this year’s cruise nearing its end, however, the cupboards needed nothing. For once, we could step ashore without an errand.

That small change made quite a difference.

We often walk the waterfront promenade, but somehow Harbour Air has always marked our turnaround point. Today, with no particular destination or reason to turn back, we kept going. Beyond our familiar stretch lay a lovely waterfront park, with tree-lined paths and water features that invited us to slow down and linger.

After so many weeks of forest trails and rocky shorelines, there was something pleasantly novel about a walk someone had thoughtfully paved.

Newcastle Island offers the other side of a Nanaimo visit. A short dinghy ride puts you back among the trees, with trails to wander and sandstone beaches to explore. The city remains in plain sight across the water, yet it takes very little walking to feel removed from it. Even without a place at the island docks, we could still enjoy what had drawn us there.

I think everyone will always call it new castle island

the docks at new castle

many nice pathways overlooking the sandstone beaches

We have always appreciated Nanaimo as a useful stop. This visit gave us time to appreciate it simply as a place to be.

Soon we will continue south, retracing more of our spring route. For now, it was good to leave the shopping bags aboard, walk a little farther than usual, and discover something new in a familiar harbour.

Refuge Cove to Tribune Bay

Today we got serious about heading south. Tribune Bay lay five hours away, enough of a run to put some miles behind us and bring us back to the western side of the Strait of Georgia.

We left Refuge Cove with the forecast we wanted: northwesterlies for the next two days. Weather determines whether Tribune Bay makes our itinerary. This broad anchorage on Hornby Island opens to the southeast, and even light southerlies can soon make us wish we had chosen somewhere else.

With the right forecast, however, there is plenty to like. The bay offers room to spread out, comfortable anchoring depths, and good holding. Ashore, a long sandy beach gives way to sandstone ledges, while nearby Helliwell Provincial Park offers trails along the bluffs with expansive views across the strait.

tribune bay is a very large achorage open to the Southeast

Getting ashore requires a little thought. The beach slopes so gradually that a low-tide dinghy landing can leave you with a considerable stretch of sand between the boat and your shoes. This visit, the tides were cooperating as nicely as the wind. The high tide would be followed by a higher low only about three feet below it—a modest drop during the hours we planned to be ashore.

That made the sandstone formations at the northeast corner of the bay particularly inviting. We could step out of the dinghy with dry feet and leave it where it would still be floating when we returned from our three-hour walk.

The park supplied the scenery and the exercise. Hornby Island Bakery & Pizzeria was supposed to supply the reward.

Helliwell Provincial Park has breathtaking views

the cliffs overlooking tribune bay

After our walk, we carried on past our landing spot and headed into “town,” where a small collection of seasonal shops and places to eat adds another attraction to a Tribune Bay stop. We had pizza firmly in mind. Hornby Island Bakery & Pizzeria is renown, voted 3rd best pizza in all of Canada in 2023, and we were ready to contribute our own assessment.

Closing time was seven. We arrived at six-thirty, feeling reasonably pleased with our timing.

The friendly fellow behind the counter explained that they had sold out of pizza.

I cannot imagine what our faces looked like, but three hours of walking and the sudden disappearance of dinner must have registered fairly clearly. After a little cajoling, he graciously agreed to make us some wings and one large pizza.

We were saved.

The pizza lived up to our expectations, and we gained a better understanding of the instruction on the website and menu: call early to order. Apparently, arriving before closing and arriving before the pizza runs out are two different things. If pizza is part of your Tribune Bay plan, make the call.

Our second morning began with another easy sandstone landing, this time at the northwest corner of the bay. A short walk back toward the Pizza shop brought us to the bus stop.

Hornby’s summer community bus opens up considerably more of the island to visiting boaters. With a recommended donation of $2 a ride, it is an inexpensive way to venture beyond walking distance. The Co-op serves as a useful hub, with service connecting it to the ferry landing and Ford’s Cove, plus less frequent runs serving the Tribune Bay Outdoor Education Centre, Whaling Station Bay, and Helliwell Park. Those park trips take a little planning around the return schedule, but it make exploring without a car quite practical.

The Hornby Island Co-op is also well worth knowing about. It is a remarkably well-stocked store, and we have met fellow cruisers who make this their first major provisioning stop after entering Canada. Between the groceries, nearby shops, and bus connections, there is quite a bit available just beyond the anchorage.

Meanwhile, the holiday weekend was gathering around us. More boats arrived and settled into the bay, while the beach filled with people making the most of the remaining summer days. In the shallows, swimmers splashed and paddleboarders worked on varying degrees of balance. It was an altogether cheerful scene.

That afternoon, the calm water tempted us farther afield. We took the dinghy around the corner for the 4.5-mile ride to Ford’s Cove, trading the broad beach and busy anchorage for a small marina with a restaurant above its store.

ford’s cove marina

resturant and store overlook ford’s cove marina

A couple of fellow Grand Banks were tied up at the docks, which naturally encouraged a closer look. Ford’s Cove may find its way onto a future itinerary.

We had come to Tribune Bay to make progress south. Between the walking, the island exploring, and a dinner rescued at the last moment, we were happy to let that progress pause for a couple of days.

Laura Cove to Refuge Cove

It had been a long time since we last visited Refuge Cove, long enough that our memory of the place was mostly centered on one thing: the store.

That has changed.

Refuge Cove has grown into a much more complete cruising stop, and almost everything we saw was an improvement.

The community is organized as a cooperative, with both residents and local businesses participating as members. That cooperative operates the docks and helps support what has become a surprisingly complete collection of services for such a small place in the middle of Desolation Sound.

the sancuary know as refuge cove

There is fuel, a floating trash dock , a grocery store, gift shop, gallery and restaurant. Water is available on the docks, although there is no shore power. Visiting boats can also tie up for as long as four hours at no charge, which makes Refuge Cove an easy stop for cruisers who simply need to reprovision and move on.

There is, however, a rhythm to the place.

The rush begins around 10:00 in the morning and continues until about 3:30 in the afternoon. Boats arrive, crews scatter ashore to buy groceries or fuel, perhaps have lunch, and then cast off again for their next anchorage.

Come before or after that window and finding a space on the dock is usually much easier.

Naturally, we arrived around noon.

Despite hitting Refuge Cove right in the middle of the busy period, we were still able to find a place for OceanFlyer and tie up.

oceanflyer finds a spot in the cross dock, still room for more

From there, we joined the routine.

We stocked up on groceries, wandered through the gift shop and gallery, filled our water tanks and made a trip to the trash barge. By evening, with most of the daytime traffic gone, things had quieted considerably and we settled onto the restaurant patio for dinner overlooking the cove.

good look at the layout of reguge cove docks

Rather than leave, we decided to stay overnight, paying $2 per foot for moorage.

What struck us most was how useful Refuge Cove has become.

From anchorages throughout Desolation Sound, it is close enough that cruisers regularly make the trip by dinghy. From Laura Cove, where we had spent the previous night, it is an especially easy run. Others arrive by boat from nearby anchorages simply to take on supplies, dispose of trash or enjoy a meal before heading back out.

the cove to the NW is a pleasent anchorage

It has become something of a small oasis for cruisers moving through Desolation Sound.

That was not how we remembered it.

On our last visit, the store was the primary attraction. Today, Refuge Cove feels like a real cruising hub—still small, still informal, but now offering enough services to make it a genuinely useful stop.

the garbage floating dock just off the entrance island. $2 a bag.

Some places we revisit are best left as memories.

Refuge Cove was better the second time around.

We’ll be stopping again.