Bandwagon, Big Food, Hornpipe & Rowan do the Broughton Archipelago

[Alan Cohen]

Alex and Hornpipe, on the run.

Alex, do the other blokes ever get jealous that you have the sexiest boat on the water?

[AJZimm]

Alex, do the other blokes ever get jealous that you have the sexiest boat on the water?

I think they might dispute that. Everyone's in love with their own boat. We all get compliments and questions at the dock and on the beach.

Also, the longer I hang out with other boats, the more I see the beauty in utility as well as form. It's hard not love a rig that goes from oar to sailing in 90 seconds and vice versa. Even with my new yawl rig, I'm not quite that fast yet.

[Alan Cohen]

I think they might dispute that.

It's a free country; everybody is entitled to be wrong.

I get what you mean about utility. But that just means you need to spend more time on the water.

[James McMullen]

Yeah, c'mon, Alan. It's not the boat, it's Alex. He'd make any boat look sexy.

[Alan Cohen]

Yeah, c'mon, Alan. It's not the boat, it's Alex. He'd make any boat look sexy.

It's the hat...

Talk about utility, it's gotta help on a run.

[James McMullen]

One inescapable point of order: a full 75% of the participants have a new boat build either in the planning/design stages, or actually underway. And a full 100% have tweaks and modifications in gear and techniques in play. All of this stuff is still evolving and spiraling in closer and closer towards the best fit for our specific mission.

[Skegemog]

You guys have really figured out a great way to cruise; while hoping to try my hand at a little sail & oar expeditioning here on the east coast I'm jealous of your proximity to all those amazing cruising grounds.

As to fishing, I've been very curious, do any of ya'll troll as you're sailing and/or rowing or is that more of a campsite activity?

[PeterSibley]

One inescapable point of order: a full 75% of the participants have a new boat build either in the planning/design stages, or actually underway. And a full 100% have tweaks and modifications in gear and techniques in play. All of this stuff is still evolving and spiraling in closer and closer towards the best fit for our specific mission.

The specifics of those tweaks and modifications would be of wide interest at some stage James, I keep trawling the threads for ideas but some kind of index of mods available to all the isolated newbies out here in cyberspace setting up small lug yawls for sail and oar or even for largely sail with a little bit of oar.

[davebrown]

Wonderful. Thanks Tim. More photos if you have them. I want to see the biggest fish James has ever caught.

[Eric Hvalsoe]

You guys have really figured out a great way to cruise; while hoping to try my hand at a little sail & oar expeditioning here on the east coast I'm jealous of your proximity to all those amazing cruising grounds.

As to fishing, I've been very curious, do any of ya'll troll as you're sailing and/or rowing or is that more of a campsite activity?

Well I was not the fisherman on this expedition, but some trolling was done while rowing. Don't think under sail, but James can correct me. Otherwise hanging out near the edges before or after campsite acitvities jigging with rods for bottomfish.

[paulf]

What is the best way to trailer to that launch? And, would the PA ferry be a good way? I've gone to Victoria on the passenger only boat and wonder about the Black Ball out of Port Angles.

[mick allen]

I see you guys were also spotted and written up by kayakers who took pictures too:

http://www.westcoastpaddler.com/comm...p=78462#p78462

[James McMullen]

Salmon was caught by trolling. The rest were caught jigging off the edge of the kelp.

I remember those paddlers. One of them was very interested indeed, so we sic'd Eric on him.

[James McMullen]

Paul, yes you can get to Port McNeil via the Coho. . . eventually. That's a long, long drive.

I would not encourage you to do this until you have built up a substantial body of practice and experience though. This is the most challenging place I have yet cruised, and we got hugely lucky with our weather. This is not a place to take casually. It could kill you pretty dead awfully easily if you misjudged a crossing or screwed up your timing through a pass. The water is both colder, and more active. And no help is on the way. You should be really on top of your game before you make that drive north.

[paulf]

Paul, yes you can get to Port McNeil via the Coho. . . eventually. That's a long, long drive.

I would not encourage you to do this until you have built up a substantial body of practice and experience though. This is the most challenging place I have yet cruised, and we got hugely lucky with our weather. This is not a place to take casually. It could kill you pretty dead awfully easily if you misjudged a crossing or screwed up your timing through a pass. The water is both colder, and more active. And no help is on the way. You should be really on top of your game before you make that drive north.

Got that! I'm in no hurry to cash in just yet.
I wouldn't do this alone ether. But to know it's there when I'm ready adds fuel to the already raging fire.

[TerryLL]

I went up in August and will agree that the transit through that area was a challenge. From Port Hardy I went due north through the islands and just made the north shore ahead of a SE squall. I spent two days hunkered down in a little rocky hole in the back of Shelter Bay while it blew and rained. I made it to Alison Harbor on the third day and then Around Cape Caution on the fourth day. Lots of wind and rain, whitecaps and spray. Not a fun part of the trip.

[AJZimm]

Here's another perspective on the Orcas that passed by us on the first day in Johnstone Strait. They weren't quite as close to me as the other guys but I did get some video:

[KMacDonald]

Alex, trained orcas in captivity have been known to kill their trainers. I wonder what wild ones are capable of.

[gilberj]

Alex, trained orcas in captivity have been known to kill their trainers. I wonder what wild ones are capable of.

There are three basic types of Orca. Resident Orca eat fish pretty much exclusively, mainly Chinook salmon.
Transient Orca live in the same area but eat mammals, seals, sea lions, dolphins, and occasionally other whales.
What is really interesting is these groups do not interbreed and have not for tens of thousands of years, despite living in the same waters.
There is a third group called offshore Orca which have recently been identified as being separate as well. These last eat sharks.
I suppose the transients might eat a person....but the whale in captivity that killed two handlers was probably psycho after years of captivity.

[Jamie Orr]

What is the best way to trailer to that launch? And, would the PA ferry be a good way? I've gone to Victoria on the passenger only boat and wonder about the Black Ball out of Port Angles.

From Sequim that's the only logical way. And that is the best all-round cruising area I've seen anywhere on Vancouver Island to date (althoughI haven't finished looking). If you decide to catch the Coho one day, send me a PM, happy to help at this end.

Jamie

[Max F]

Thanks for sharing guys.
You´re feeding my longing to soon get on a next trip.
That is a beautifull place! Your mentioning of bears made me shiver though.

[Yeadon]

Thanks for sharing guys.
You´re feeding my longing to soon get on a next trip.
That is a beautifull place! Your mentioning of bears made me shiver though.

I only saw one black bear on the trip. He was wandering along a shore where we just had been tied up to a kelp bed while waiting for the current to reverse direction, or at least ease, in Blackney Pass. Eric figured the bear was dong his morning rounds along the tideline, looking to see what washed up overnight. About an hour before there had been a group of five or six kayakers on the beach.

Eric and Alex have a handful of good bear stories. Aex also has a wolf pack story that involved him on a beach protecting himself with a kayak paddle. Good story. These stories help me realize just how sedate Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands really are.

[Don Kurylko]

Thanks for posting your adventures guys. Wilderness cruising is the best!

[Gerarddm]

I only saw one black bear on the trip. He was wandering along a shore where we just had been tied up to a kelp bed while waiting for the current to reverse direction, or at least ease, in Blackney Pass. Eric figured the bear was dong his morning rounds along the tideline, looking to see what washed up overnight. About an hour before there had been a group of five or six kayakers on the beach.

Eric and Alex have a handful of good bear stories. Aex also has a wolf pack story that involved him on a beach protecting himself with a kayak paddle. Good story. These stories help me realize just how sedate Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands really are.

When one goes into the wild ( basically ), one expects some adventure, no? ;-)

Say, you guys were not armed were you?

[Yeadon]

When one goes into the wild ( basically ), one expects some adventure, no? ;-)

Say, you guys were not armed were you?

As far as I know, McMullen is the only one of us who owns a firearm. Regardless, we do not carry firearms on these trips. I carry bear spray. Alex has a belt that he made years ago that contains bear spray, bear bangers, and a knife. I'd probably want to assemble a similar belt for a longer trip.

Being bear safe is probably something that we as a group should study a bit closer. We don't usually travel in bear country, though we will very likely do more adventures in the near future.

[Eric Hvalsoe]

Some of us had bear deterrents.

Shoot, I never heard the wolf story.

Black bears can be found on the islands. I'm told grizzlies can be found on the mainland.

[Yeadon]

Usually, we just sleep on the boat and it really isn't an issue. I think that cooking on shore and sleeping on the boat solves a lot of problems. You don't to sleep in your kitchen.

[paulf]

From Sequim that's the only logical way. And that is the best all-round cruising area I've seen anywhere on Vancouver Island to date (althoughI haven't finished looking). If you decide to catch the Coho one day, send me a PM, happy to help at this end.

Jamie

Thanks Jamie, sure would like to explore that whole inside coast from the San Juan's through the gulf islands and beyond. And all those inlets on the mainland BC.

[rgthom]

I am scared of bears also, but many more people kayak the coast and don't sleep aboard. Only a few get eaten.

A friend just got back from a bear photography trip in Lake Clark Park. The guides told them they were OK if they stayed in groups of 3 or more. He showed me a cell phone video of grizzlies fighting over a salmon, which then panned back to show the 8 photographers huddled tightly together not 20 yards away, with their lenses all pointed at the action. They all came back.

[chas]

Grizzlies can be found on any of these islands and even on Vancouver island. They show up in sayward quite frequently. I've seen them twice myself while out in the Discovery Islands. You do not want to fool with them. Wolves are also a regular feature. Being bear aware is not just a concept up here.
I appreciate the sharing of these trip details with the rest of us but mourn the fact that there will be increased traffic into this unique wilderness environment. Grab the experience while you still can. / Jim

[AJZimm]

RE: good bear-safe food practice. I have a light line / throw bag / pulley arrangement for getting a light line up over a tree branch to hoist a heavier line with a net bag containing the food bags, that I developed for hanging up my food that I use while kayaking. I brought it along on this trip but didn't use it, as most of time we had the boats out on a mooring. Also, as I'm a runner and the other guys are not, I figured I could outrun them if it came to that.

There are also cougars on those islands and although we didn't see any sign of them, that doesn't mean they didn't see us. A few weeks prior to my first kayak trip to the area a dozen or so years ago, a cougar jumped out of the bushes at a beach campsite just around the corner from where we stayed our first night, and grabbed a 9 year old girl. The adults were able to beat it off, but it could have been ugly.

[Breakaway]

Thanks for posting, guys!

Kevin

[paulf]

Gives Big Food a whole new meaning!

[gilberj]

Grizzlies can be found on any of these islands and even on Vancouver island. They show up in sayward quite frequently. I've seen them twice myself while out in the Discovery Islands. You do not want to fool with them. Wolves are also a regular feature. Being bear aware is not just a concept up here.
I appreciate the sharing of these trip details with the rest of us but mourn the fact that there will be increased traffic into this unique wilderness environment. Grab the experience while you still can. / Jim

....Being bear aware is necessary. Most will stay away, but.....Black bears are actually considered a little more dangerous than Grizzlies. The coastal wolves feed almost exclusively on the shore, shellfish, and crabs etc., and are not a threat to people as far as I know. Interestingly, where they share territory with wolves that hunt land based larger game, (further north on the mainland side of things) there has been no genetic mixing between the two groups for thousands of years. This reflects my own experience, when I encountered a pack of wolves on a beach up north. They ignored me completely.

[Don Kurylko]

RE: good bear-safe food practice. I have a light line / throw bag / pulley arrangement for getting a light line up over a tree branch to hoist a heavier line with a net bag containing the food bags, that I developed for hanging up my food that I use while kayaking. I brought it along on this trip but didn't use it, as most of time we had the boats out on a mooring. Also, as I'm a runner and the other guys are not, I figured I could outrun them if it came to that.

The running part would probably work. The hanging line, not so much.