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.