Prideaux Haven to Forward Harbour

Today is all about the rapids. Yucuta, Gillard, Dent, Greene Point and Whirlpool, those are the current monsters we need to time in sequence. Heading North, it’s a challenge, as the rapids the furthest away turn to slack first.

The weather remains very favorable, and we continue to be alone on the water. As we reach each of the rapids, I except to see more boats as all of us typically want to transit at or near slack to avoid problems.

nice weather today

Dent Rapids is the key timing-wise, as it has the most aggressive activity. To our advantage, we are in a cycle of lower highs at the afternoon change, so the flows are below their maximum potential. Further, the current is with us, so we can actually transit all five rapids in one shot without stopping.

Passing through Dent at slack was peaceful as expected. What was unexpected was that there were no other boats to be seen, either going our way or opposing. That is a first for us in our 21 years of cruising these waters. We know it’s is early in the season, but we always expect to see traffic at choke points such as Dent.

We ran all 5 rapids alone. We spotted a few boats tied up at the docks at Shoal Bay and it wasn’t until we arrived at our destination for the evening, Forward Harbour, that we found two sailboats anchored in Douglas Bay.

It started to blow a bit as we went through Whirlpool rapids and the wind funneled into the anchorage. We tried to find a spot to the NE of the two sailboats, but there were two crab pots that were really in our way and the “beach” was a lee shore.  So, we went farther down the Harbour, about 3/4 of the way to the head, and anchored in 55 feet. With the winds blowing down the anchorage there was not a single area that was out of the fetch, but at least we dodged the lee-shore issue.

Our impression of Forward Harbour is that there is no reason to go there unless it happens to serve as a useful jumping off point for Johnstone Strait or when running the rapids eastbound. It was our first time in there, and we are in no hurry to return.

Prideaux Haven Lay Day

Time to relax.

oceanflyer in the foreground at prideaux haven

 All we did on this beautiful sunny day today was to take a two hour explore around the Prideaux Haven anchorage, Laura Cove and surrounding areas. During COVID people would spend months here working from their boats. Even now, it is not unusual to see vessels anchored for extended periods of time. A testament to the popularity of this anchorage. Luckily, this early in the season, there isn’t too much traffic. We explored alternate anchor spots for future visits.

oceanflyer enjoys prideaux haven

 We swung by an interesting metal sailboat called Timmie’s Run Eh.  The owners live and work aboard and apparently the interior layout has offices in the bow. They were enthusiastic about their solar power and the benefits of not needing to plug in. Named after a first date at Tim Hortons. Really cool story.

looking down homfray channel at low tide

Sturt Bay to Prideaux Haven

Weather continues to be picture perfect, making planning and travels very easy.

Still not many other private pleasure craft around, even during our transit through the Copeland Islands just beyond Lund. A first in all our years. This narrow pass is often overcrowded with vessels going both directions, making for a bit of a challenge as you negotiate your way through mariners who are not necessarily well versed in the rules of the road.

We seldom stop at the very popular anchorage of Prideaux Haven because, in season, it is very, very crowded. However, as we are so early and not seeing much traffic, we made our way there and found only 4 boats at anchor, all well-distant from each other. We were able to anchor up in the northeast end where we have great islet and snowy mountain views to the NNW down Homfray Channel. A fifty-footer was in the “ideal” location, shown by the anchor symbol on the charts, but we were happy with our spot 100 yards NE.

only a few boats in prideaux haven this early in the season

our view down homfray channel

 The entrance to Prideaux Haven is a bit of a dogleg, but well charted. The trick is to follow the chart and not get fooled by the visuals of all the little islets and rocks or how close they seem. Go slow, but with enough speed so you have good rudder authority. Everyone seems to make it in and out just fine at any tide, but if it is your first visit, mind your charts through the entrance.

Later in the day, the Northwest Explorations Mother Goose fleet showed up, Captained by good friend Bill Douglass. We flew the drone out over the entrance so we could get a shot of all the goslings as they came into Prideaux Haven. After settling in, Bill and Cindy came over for happy hour and we had a great time catching up. We covered all the fun topics – GB 49’s, parents, kids, life and boating.

Mother goose enters prideaux haven

Their duties to the flotilla made this a short visit, but it we’ll catch up again in the fall if not sooner.

sunset in prideaux haven

Nanaimo to Sturt Bay

Time to move on today now that all the provisioning is done. Budget Car Rental offered a nice perk in that I could leave the car in the car park right at the Harbourmaster’s Office and give the keys to Harbour Air. In fact, I even could arrange to get the car next time at the downtown location rather than going all the way out to the airport. Those options make Nanaimo an extremely convenient provisioning stop.

We have a good forecast for crossing the Strait of Georgia. Whiskey Gulf is active so we have to take the less than direct route to avoid the military activity.

nice ride on the strait of georiga

The season is still early, so except for the San Juan Sailing and Slowboat flotillas ahead of us and Northwest Explorations Mother Goose behind, there are almost no recreational vessels to be seen. We had a great crossing, no complaints.

Sturt Bay and the Texada Boat Club (Texada Island) are not very well known. The Boat Club has become a favorite of ours just for that reason. We can always find space on the visitors’ dock, and the sign says that if the visitors dock is full, call them and there may be room on the permanent moorage docks if members are out cruising.

everywhere you look you see the hand of the hardworking boat club members

everything you need to know

Today, there is no one on the visitors dock besides us. It was like having your own private marina.

texada boat club

There is no power on the docks, but the locals are friendly and really appreciate visitors. Over the years they have continued to improve the docks, largely funded by visitor moorage.

Texada marina view from the shore side

inukshuk in the foregroud, Anchorage in Sturt Bay in the background

The town of Van Anda is a short walk away  with a great local museum, grocery store and a couple of restaurants. We enjoyed the Mary Mary Café and shopped at the Texada Market. You can find a lot of information about Van Anda online so you can plan your visit. See our post on June 29th, 2023 for more details.

https://www.oceanflyers.com/oceanflyers/scwhp94jcbgt5nhd8atg42z4xjfa8n?rq=sturt%20bay

Provisioning in Nanaimo, Day 2

We allowed ourselves two days in Nanaimo to provision so we did not feel rushed. Very nice plan. We were all set and had everything prepped and stowed aboard by mid-day after lunch at Delicados (yum). Now we can relax and do some planning for our travels across the Strait of Georgia tomorrow.

Karen gave Winchelsea Island Control [250-468-5080] a call to see if Whiskey Gulf would be active tomorrow. They said to call back in the morning because they do not set the schedule until later in the day. We have come to prefer phoning them rather than listening on the VHF radio until the loop talks about Whiskey Gulf. The people who answer the phone are always helpful and seem thrilled that you called.

We did laundry, tidied up the boat, put on water, planted the basil and did other boat chores for the rest of the day.

Dinner was at the Modern Cafe as almost all other choices within walking distance were closed on Tuesday. It’s been a while since we dined there, but the food and service were good, and it is within walking distance of the harbour.

We learned that Commercial Street was blocked for the filming of the second season of the HBO series “The Last of Us”.  Not much to see except for some prop cars and trucks. We really liked Season 1 and it will be fun to see “Nanaimo” turned into a post-apocalyptic spot when we watch Season 2 next year.