Trip to the Broughton Archipelago Summer 2024
General Boating Chat
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Look how tiny our boat looks anchored in Kwatsi Bay way up one of the inlets on BC's mountainous west coast.
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More scenery and highlights from our summer 2024 trip into the Broughtons between the northwest tip of Vancouver and the BC mainland. In this installment, we look around two small anchorages and our travels between them. loveyourrv.com/madrona-is
I’m amazed at how few boats there are up here compared to the waters to the south in the Discovery Islands and Desolation Sound. We hardly saw another soul in either location for days except for the odd kayaker. You feel embedded in your natural surroundings, and the wildlife becomes used to your presence coming closer. The ocean is full of life!
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Some more shots from Kwatsi Bay. Beautiful morning, we've got a great weather streak going. My next video will be the most scenic so far!
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In this video, we putter out of the Eden Pool anchorage as the early morning fog begins to lift. Our couple-hour journey takes us up Tribune Inlet to a gorgeous anchorage at the head of Kwatsi Bay. We’ll be nestled in a sheltered bay surrounded by treed mountains, rock cliffs, and waterfalls. As an added bonus, the bay is a favorite feeding location for Pacific White-side dolphins. loveyourrv.com/most-sceni
I’ll show you the scenery along the way, including the pretty Burdwood Group of Islands and Lacie Falls. Unfortunately, it’s the dry season, and the falls aren’t flowing with much volume, but they are still beautiful.
Once anchored in Kwatsi, we take a dinghy ride to an abandoned marina that was once a popular stopover for boaters to mingle and enjoy the views. All in all, I think this is my most scenery-packed video of the trip so far. Enjoy! Cheers Ray.
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We moved to a new anchorage yesterday. It is at the head of Simoom Sound and offers a great view of Bald Mountain.
Today, we explored the area in our dinghy and spotted a black bear foraging on the shore. I'll post some video footage later today.
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We were passing by in our dinghy, and this black bear was kind enough to let us watch it forage along the shore for a while.
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Interesting find on our dinghy explorations of the shoreline today. Mussels and barnacles had attached themselves to a tree that had fallen into the ocean and died. Nature is amazing!
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After an enjoyable stay at Kwatsi Bay, we motored back down Tribune Channel and up Simoom Sound to anchor in O'Brien Bay. O'Brien Bay is located at the head of the sound and is relatively protected from the winds.
As we made our way up the sound, we were disappointed to see that many of the hills were logged and felt this mightn't be a very scenic place to anchor. But once anchored, we looked back, and Bald Mountain highlighted a gorgeous view. Each day started with fog and low clouds, but the summer sun burned it off slowly, exposing the beautiful mountain scenery. Other highlights of this quiet anchorage were swimming, fishing, pretty green water, and a pair of black bear sightings!
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Loving it up here in the Broughtons so much! Yesterday, we headed back to Port McNeill for more fresh foods, water, and fuel so we can cruise and explore a couple more weeks. Along the way a good size pod of Orca passed right in front of us, and we saw a huge raft of Sea Otters! So cool. I've always wanted to see that.
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After an overnight and restocking of fresh supplies, fuel, etc., in Port McNeill, we recrossed Blackfish Sound back into the Broughton Archipelago Marine Park and anchored in Dusky Cove right on the edge of Blackfish. It's a fair-weather anchorage, so we are taking full advantage of the low winds forecast for the next few days. The crossing of Blackfish to and from Port McNeill was terrific regarding wildlife viewing. Multiple Orca sightings, dozens of Humpback whales, with lots of tail slaps and breaches! And more cute fuzzy sea otters. Video in the future from me and keep watch on Anne McKinnell Photography for her photos, but it will take some time to edit, waiting for the next cloudy, rainy day. Got to take advantage of fair weather up here. A few pix from today, just a gorgeous dinghy ride with a sighting of a momma black bear and three cubs.
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After Simmon Sound, we headed to cute little Echo Bay Marina, thinking we could resupply with fresh food and water, but not so much. The marina's amenities weren't great, so we'll head to Port McNeill again. But we did get to visit Billy Proctor's Museum and talk with the famous Billy, who has authored several books about his life on the BC coast. He is nearly 90 and full of interesting stories. Anne's 95-year-old dad used to pal around with him back in his fishing days, so it was special that Anne could meet him and have an in-person chat. We also toured the small museum with Billy's collections of treasures. Lots of cool old stuff in there. Worth a stop if you're ever in the area.
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Anne Almost Caught a Humpback Whale! 😄
As Anne reeled in her catch, to her surprise, a Humpback Whale surfaced very close to us! But luckily, she only caught a Kelp Greenling. :)
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After we visited Echo Bay in the last video, we motored a short distance south to a pretty little anchorage among the islets between Seabreeze Island and the larger Gilford Island. We spotted a black bear rolling over huge rocks on the shore as we entered the anchorage via a narrow channel.
Black Bear on the Beach Gilford Island BC
Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t great for the next two days, so we spent most of them inside the boat. Some calm weather was on the horizon, and we were running out of fresh food, so we decided to make the couple-hour trip to Port McNeill to resupply once more. An overnight stop at the North Island Marina allowed us to shop at the nearby IGA grocery store plus fill our fuel & water tanks.
In this video, you’ll see all the wildlife we were treated to.
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There was a lot of rain this afternoon, but it was very pretty with the fog off the ocean when it subsided, and the sun peeked out a little. Scenes from Lady Boot Cove on the BC coast, north end of Vancouver Island.
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A moody start to the morning in our sheltered little cove in the Broughtons. Lots of rain yesterday as a summer storm front moved through, but the sun is back! Although a stiff southeast breeze is still out there, so we have decided to stay another night before moving on. Stay tuned. :)
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This video features scenes from our two-night stay in an anchorage called Lady Boot Cove. Located in the Broughtons on the British Columbia coast, this small cove is known as a bomb-proof anchorage that protects from winds in pretty much any direction.
We chose it because a quick-moving storm front was on the horizon, and the winds were predicted to change quickly from northwest to southeast. It was a great spot as we experienced very little wind, just a day of on-and-off pouring rains. After the rain, as the sun peeked through, it made for a moody scene as fog drifted off the water and through the trees.
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We returned to Kwatsi Bay a few days ago, as it looked like a good soaking of rain was on the horizon. With the steep mountains all around, it's supposed to be awesome when the waterfalls run. Well, we got a ton of rain, and sure enough, the spigots were turned on! Oh, and the dolphins were back. :) Here are a few snapshots, working on a video soon.
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A couple of weeks ago, we anchored for a few days in remarkable Kwatsi Bay. The views are stunning as the bay is surrounded by steep hillsides and rock faces. Pacific White-sided dolphins even came to visit. The only thing missing was the waterfalls. We've heard that, at times, the hills will be littered on all sides with streaming waterfalls. But being the dry summer season, they were, for the most part, run dry.
Therefore, with the weather forecast indicating a very wet day ahead, we decided to cruise back up Tribune Channel and revisit Kwatsi Bay. We hoped the waterfalls would turn on for us. Happily, we weren't disappointed, as 20-30 mm of rain fell over the course of 12 hours, and waterfalls began to appear all around us! To top it off, the dolphins reappeared for another visit. This video features footage of the falls, dolphins, and our travels through Tribune Channel, Bond Sound, and Knight Inlet, ending up at our next anchorage in Cracroft Inlet.
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We have left the Broughtons and are returning to the lower Discovery Islands and Desolation Sound for September. Temps will be warmer, and there should be less fog and cloudy days.
This video features footage from a long 8-hour day cruising Vestri down most of Johnstone Strait. We took advantage of mostly benign sea conditions, though it was a cloudy, coolish summer day. The brisk southeast wind drove us off the flybridge and to the lower helm most of the way.
We pulled in and anchored in Charles Bay off Blind Channel about 6 p.m., just before the rain started. The rain lasted a good 16 hours and added up to several inches, but we look forward to a sunny, warmer forecast in the coming days!
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The clouds are clearing, and some sunny, warm weather is on tap. We've made our way down the coast a bit to a favorite little anchorage called Charles Bay in Blind Channel. Fed by several little freshwater creeks and flushed by the tidal currents, it has a ton of life, amazing clear water, and a cute little islet called Eclipse. Gonna stay a few days and enjoy some late summer warmth. :)
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Look what floated into our anchorage at Charles Bay in Blind Channel BC today. A huge jelly called a Fried Egg Jelly! Took some underwater video footage for the next video. It's the first time we've seen one.
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September 1st, 2024: I was enjoying a summer day aboard our boat Vestri, anchored in Charles Bay, when, out of the corner of my eye, a flash of color in the water attracted my attention. It was a large Fried Egg Jelly! youtu.be/7zYShkX37es
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We left Charles Bay after another enjoyable visit and crossed over to the Blind Channel Marina to refuel and fill up on fresh water. Tied up tonight at the government dock at Shoal Bay. What a gorgeous view down Philips Arm. Tomorrow morning, we will transit tricky Dent and Yaculta rapids areas known for strong currents and deep whirlpools. We have to time the tides just right! I have faith in Captain Anne. :)
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Today, we left Shoal Bay at 9:30am to time our passage through Dent and Yuculta Rapids. A picture-perfect summer day on the BC coast, with low wind and temps up to 25C. Anne and I have never seen this part of the coast. WOW! The scenery is gorgeous. The richie rich folk know about it, though, as the shores are dotted with huge estates and fancy lodges/resorts, and look at that yacht!. I took lots of video footage of our transit through Dent and Yaculta Rapids and Gillard Passage, so I will have a video out soon after I edit the footage from Charles Bay. Falling behind. :)
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Highlights of the wildlife and nature beauty from our recent stay in Charles Bay along Blind Channel, BC. Last summer, in late August, we anchored for over a week in a lovely little bay across from the Blind Channel Marina. We loved the scenery, abundant wildlife, and clear waters.
So this year, a return visit was high on our list. After several long boating days south from the Broughtons, the little bay was a welcome place to hang out, relax, and recharge our batteries. The first day was breezy and rainy, but after that, the weather warmed up, and we once again thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. This video contains a collection of nature/wildlife highlights from our stay. Enjoy! youtu.be/_HvhL9qFFg8
