Sooke is a large, well sheltered harbour filled with dangers. The entrance needs leading marks to keep boats from hitting the rocks and bars in the middle of the channel. Do not enter the harbour until you see the two daymarks line up, one above the other. Keep them in line as you approach until […]
Port Renfrew is the name of the town at Port San Juan, a 2km by 6km bay on Vancouver Island facing the straight of Juan De Fuca. The bay is large and free of harzards except close to shore at the entrance. The bay gradually shallows to a beach and there is plenty of room […]
Bamfield is a small town that surrounds a narrow inlet. While smaller than Tofino or Ucluelet, it is bigger than the other towns on the west coast of Vancouver Island. It has a year-round restaurant, store, offices, and a coast guard station. There is a boardwalk along the inlet, but there are also roads inland. […]
Being urban-dwellers, Ucluelet was what we expected all Vancouver Island towns to be like. Ucluelet has dock space for about one 30 foot boat for every building, and has about 100 of each. There are several hotels, restaurants, and other tourist infrastructure. There is also a functioning commercial fishery, something that was entirely absent everywhere […]
Tofino is a town catering to tourists. By west-coast-Vancouver-island standards it is a city. It has all services. We tried and failed to eat out in Tofino. In the summer there are more tourists than seats in restaurants, so you’ll need reservations and expect to pay C$30-40. If you’re sailing down the coast and you’re […]
Hot Springs Cove ( 49°21′N, 126°16′W ) is a provincial park with a 2km-long boardwalk leading to a natural hotspring. The boardwalk is longest, best-maintained, most-scenic one that I’ve seen in BC. It leads through temperate rain forest and hundreds of planks have boat names carved in it. The hotsprings trickle by large bolders forming […]
Friendly Cove is at the village of Yuquot, on Nootka island. Yuquot is incredibly small, I believe that no services are available. Friendly Cove is very small. There were only two other boats anchored there yet there was little space. Luckily the depths are under 10m, otherwise only a single boat would fit. There were […]
Zeballos is a proper town. It has several stores, hotels, restaurants, post office, police, and even a museum. Zeballos is at the end of a long fyord, about 10km from the main channel in Esperanza Inlet. It is a bit out of the way, but we preferred to travel further to take in some “urban” […]
Kyuquot is a village that surrounds Walter’s Cove. Walter’s cove is hidden behind a small island just off Vancouver Island. There is an extensive group of barrier islands, then a sizeable channel. The entrance to Walter’s Cove involves a series of slalom S-curves around buoys and daymarks. The route is clearly marked by the buoys, […]
Klaskino anchorage ( 50°18′N, 127°49′W ) is a little off the beaten path. Sailing Directions recommended it as well sheltered, and we were eager to find a well sheltered spot as a gale was forecast. We were not disappointed. The entrance is a bit difficult: there are buoys marking the channel a couple kilometers way, […]