We just pulled into Westview Harbor, Powell River. We’re actually in what is known as – “South Harbor, Westview Harbor” for those who might be following. It’s a nice place. Right now, there are a lot of fishing (prawning) boats, but we think they clear out during the summer. We’ll hang here for a couple days to re-provision and wait out some rain and wind before heading north to Desolation Sound, probably “Saturdayish”.
EagleCam!!
Coming out from a magical, spiritual place we were lucky to be able to stop in a couple of really nice anchorages. At Harmony Islands in Hotham Sound we met up with S/V Kingfisher, from Point Richmond, California. Turns out we had a bunch of friends in common and had a great time (thanks for the spectacular dinner, Alison!) and then on to Maude Bay for a quiet night in a nice little spot before turning the corner and heading north to Powell River – which is where we’re provisioning for our next “in the wilderness experience” in Desolation Sound. There’s some weather right now (rain, wind), so we’ll likely hunker down here for a couple days and head up to Desolation on Saturday or so. So nice to not have a timetable.
Our view from Maude Bay. Worth stopping here!
Maude Bay. Charisma is loving this!
At the end of the Princess Louisa Inlet there’s a single dock that can accommodate a dozen or so boats. Most of the rest of the inlet is so deep you can’t anchor although there are a few spots where you can drop you anchor and stern tie to the cliff. The locals do this all the time, but we’re still pretty new to that, so the dock it is. There are only three other boats here right now this early in the season, so it’s pretty peaceful. Yesterday there were more and we had a nice dock party. (Apparently Ann’s idea but surprised us that everyone was ready to make it happen!)
The real attractions though, besides the sheer breathtaking beauty are Chatterbox Falls and the Trapper’s Cabin.
We’re sitting here looking at the former (and its roar dominates the landscape), but for us, the day’s adventure meant hiking up to the Trapper’s Cabin. Hiking is a bit of a misnomer – it’s almost a climb. At times pulling ourselves up rocks and tree-root “ladders” embedded in the soil, this “path” climbs some 2000 feet in less than ¼ mile from shore. When I say, “up”, I’m not kidding! It’s billed as a two–hour hike up and we did it in exactly…2 hours. There is a sign at the trailhead near the dock stating that the trail is “not maintained, slippery, very dangerous, etc”. They weren’t kidding. Fortunately it WAS well marked. Even with frequent “blazes” of pink tape tied to trees, we still frequently missed the trail (which was non-existent in many places) and had to back-track.
Anyway, we made it. You know you’re there because the trail terminates at a huge waterfall with THE view out over the sound. Another bonus is wild salmonberries! You have to look them up. Near as I can tell, the name comes from the color, but we can attest they are delicious! We spent an hour today just gobbling them up. Yum. Can’t wait until huckleberry season in another month or so!
Beautiful hike to the "cabin".
The beauty of this place practically left us speechless.
This is for those who have been here. The cabin is about gone, but the view....
...well, the view will never go away. You can see how far we've hiked up from the water level...
Turns out we had more of that Charisma luck or mana because the day was gorgeous and pretty warm. All day today has been rainy and cold. This is one of those trails that is slippery from moss and such on a dry day. We never would have/could have done it when wet. Lucky us!
Well, it “felt” like sailing into Yosemite.
Snow-topped mountains. Vertical walls of granite rising thousands of feet straight up from the water. Dense conifers. The view was just…jaw – dropping.
Princess Louisa. Just the name has to get your attention. It’s been said that Princess Louisa Inlet will change your forever. Ann and I now believe that to be true.
A promise I made 40 years ago. Visit Princess Louisa - a magical place.
OK, gotta have a selfie in a spot like this!
Words just can't describe...
Just getting here means sailing, er… motoring (no wind whatsoever) at least 30 miles from the nearest encampment. In our case, this meant the little harbor of Egmont. Just a cove really with a couple docks, a grocery store and not much else tucked in just around the corner from the treacherous Skookumchuck Narrows. On the way we saw some of the most stunning scenery we have every encountered.
Then…the Malibu Rapids. After hiking from our moorage at Egmont, three miles downriver to witness the awesome display of the Skookumchuck Narrows – 14 knot currents, whirlpools 6 feet deep, standing waves people have been known to surf on – well, we were not looking forward to braving the last hurdle into Princess Louisa through the very narrow Malibu Rapids. Turns out our anxiety was not misplaced. When we got there, we saw “whitewater” at the entrance. OK, we were 90 minutes early for slack water, but still it got our attention. Another boat – a Canadian – was also waiting for the tide change. We drifted over to them and I casually asked whether the 3:15PM time for slack water (that I had calculated from the tide books) was what they were using. To my surprise, they answered, “No, 2:15PM, but we’re going a bit early. We like to have a little of the ebb going in”. Hmmm. Now I’m really worried. My calculations look to be an hour off! Looking at the whitewater, my answer to them was, “Well, we’re going to wait a bit”. If there’s anything we’ve learned in our years of cruising it’s, do what you think is right, not what others tell you.
So, at the appointed time – according to them – around 2:00PM, they turned in toward the pass. We watched with our binoculars hoping to see an easy passage through which we could follow. Instead we watched in near terror as their boat was slammed from side to side barely making way. Several times I was sure they were going to hit the rocks. At a few points they seemed to be going backwards, then suddenly they turned 180 degrees and were “spit” back out the way they came. Yikes! What were we thinking coming to a place like this? After they gathered their wits, they motored over to where we were drifting waiting for what our originally planned time to pass. As they came near they shouted, “We forgot to adjust the tide tables for Daylight Savings Time! We’re going to wait and follow YOU in!!”
OK, maybe we do know what we’re doing. We waited another hour and watched. Sure enough, the whitewater diminished and as the clock counted down to 3PM we decided it looked safe to pass. As it turned out, all the worrying was for naught. We breezed through.
Inside the inlet…Magic!
The entrance to Princess Louisa from Jervis Inlet.
Wow, them are some tall mountains!!
6000 feet tall mountains, and some 500 feet and more deep in the inlet. Dramatic!
Coming up to the end of the inlet. Waterfalls everywhere!
Tied up at the little dock at Chatterbox Falls. It can accommodate about 20 boats. We were very fortunate to only have a few this early in the season.
This is literally a land of make believe. We’ve been there and can almost not believe it it is so amazing.
OK, I just like to say, “Skookumchuck!”
But other than that, it’s the biggest salt-water rapids in the world (according to our cruising guide). After hiking 3 miles from the harbor at Egmont and seeing it in action, I believe it!
Eagle Cam! Ann at the Egmont Grocery Store.
We made a leisurely 12 mile run from Pender Harbor to Egmont timed to take advantage of tides and arrive at Egmont (less than a mile from Skookumchuck Rapids) at slack water. The rapids have currents up to 14 knots and not knowing the area, I didn’t want to chance arriving and having to fight a vicious current. Turns out it’s the narrowing of the inlet that really gets the rapids going and Egmont was not too bad. Although coming in was not without it’s challenge. There was only one small space at the dock. As we approached I “judged” it big enough, but knew it would be close. As we got closer and were pretty committed, it also turned out there was an eddy current that was pulling us in. OK, I put us in hard reverse to cut the building speed, then forward slowly. As the current pulled us toward to dock and it became more and more clear that this would be a VERY close fit, I put the bow in at about a 45 degree angle, then once close enough kicked in reverse. Reversing strongly the stern pulls sideways (prop-walk) as well as slows us and we slid in with 12 inches to spare on the stern. Ann’s eyes were getting large, but she was focused on stepping off and getting the bowline to the dock. The bowsprit was just even with the motorboat in front as we stopped forward motion. Whew! We made a tight one, with inches to spare.
Next day, we enjoyed a lovely three mile hike down to the rapids.
Ah, Oh! Need to watch out for bears in this country. We just bought one bear spray. It's essentially a pepper spray. The can says to deploy it, "within, 12 feet". Yipes! I've seen bears cover 12 feet in the blink of an eye. Oh well, it' something and I don't want to carry a rifle.
Crazy six foot deep whirlpools and rapids. You could take Charisma through here during the half hour of slack water. But the rest of the time? No Bueno!!
This place made our anticipation of going through Malibu Rapids into Princess Louisa very strong!
From Pender Harbor we went another 15 or so miles up one of the inlets toward our “real” destination, Princess Louisa, to literally the “last” place we could tie up and rest before the final push; Egmont Harbor. It turned out to be a cute little place, although a very tight spot to dock in.
Egmont Harbor. A lovely little spot.
Another view of the little harbor at Egmont.
Couple more shots from Pender Harbor. Nice place, lots of options. Anchoring, marinas, grocery, etc. We had a lot of fun here!
Hospital Bay at Pender Harbor. Nice place. Fuel, nice little store, etc. We enjoyed it!
Charisma time!! A lovely little spot just at the top of the dock at Hospital Bay, Pender Harbor.
Sign at Hospital Bay showing some of the distances to where we're going.