Desolation Sound, May-June 2008
Squeezed between mainland British Columbia and the central part of Vancouver Island, from Desolation Sound in the south-east to Broughton Island in the north-west, lies a labyrinth of islands and channels that provide a fascinating cruising ground, wild and spectacular, though not the true wilderness to be found further north. The guide books divide the islands into several groups: Desolation Sound, Discovery Islands, Blackfish Sound, the Broughton Archipeligo. All present similar landscapes: passages from miles wide to just a hundred feet, on each side rocky mountains with trees growing wherever they can get a toe hold, islands and waterfalls.
We found many cosy anchorages inside the narrow entrances and walked miles of trails through the rain forests, often getting lost in the process. Gateway to the area from the south is the pretty former fishing village of Pender, now a

community of weekend homes and yacht facilities for people from Vancouver. An aerial picture shows what a good natural harbour this is. Here we met the only other British yacht we saw in this area, Integrity II, with young English/Irish couple Kathy and Noel aboard. They had bought it in Canada and had spent a year preparing it for crossing the Pacific via Hawaii. He had been a crew-member on Endeavour, the British Antarctic Survey Vessel, though their sailing experience seemed not much more than a one-day crossing of the Georgia Straight. The yacht looked well-found, they were full of enthusiasm, had done a Competent Crew course and felt ready to go. It poured with rain all day so we stayed put and spent time together going over charts and books. We wish them well on their travels.

"Wherever you go, do not miss Princess Louisa Inlet", Al Hester told us. "It is a Mecca for us Vancouver yachtsmen." The inlet, to the south of Desolation Sound, is breath-taking. A narrow high-sided fjord with snow-capped mountains rising straight out the sea to 7,000 feet, sheer cliffs, many waterfalls including the Chatterbox Waterfall at the head of the fjord, where a small dock was moored for visitors. Otters and seals played around us. Here we met Chuck on Loch Fyne, Ken and Betsy on Dragon's Tale, and Peter. After we had ‘happy hour’ together, we all clambered aboard one side of Peter’s yacht to tip it far enough over that he could cut of large ball of weed tangled around his propeller.

Desolation Sound (right) is so called because on first sighting it in 1792, the bad weather, absence of people, poor fishing and difficult anchorages prompted George Vancouver to write in his log “A more desolate spot is scarce to be imagined”. Still in bad weather when we arrived, we know how he felt! No more people live in the islands now than did in 1792. Campbell River is the last place of any size going north. Although there are still a few more towns up to the Alaskan border, they have a raw, frontier feel, where First Nations (Indian) people predominate.
Alert Bay is one such, where people from the Kwakwaka'wakw tribes have settled after the demise of smaller traditional native village communities. The U’mista Cultural Centre here, opened in 1980, houses one of the finest collections of historic native artefacts such as ceremonial headdresses, which were confiscated in 1921 when potlatches (tribal gatherings and celebrations) were suppressed, but returned in the 70's on condition they were kept on display. The picture is of the tribal graveyard at Alert Bay.
Many communities, even on the mainland, are inaccessible by road, and rely on float planes for communication. This is the mail plane, a lifeline for the remotest spots. At Port Neville the last remaining permanent resident is the postmistress, Lorna Chesluk. "Watch out on the pontoon," she warned us, "a black bear was down there this morning." All we saw was this family of otters (far right). Lorna's family have lived in Port Neville for 100 years, where they once ran the village store. Now with no other customers, we imagined her writing and sending letters to herself through the winter months.
Throughout the narrow channels, there were no shortage of attractive vistas whenever the sun came out ...

No account of this area would be complete without mention of the tidal currents, the strongest in the world, as tides sweep round each side of Vancouver Island and then rush through constrictions in the long, deep passages. The Nakwakto Rapids has been known to reach 24 knots on high spring tides but there are many places where more than 10 knots is reached on an average tide. It is not possible to get north without passing through at least one of these rapids. Ken and Betsy had told us that to many yachtsmen they present a barrier to further progress north. We noticed how many more visiting yachts were in the Desolation Sound area than the other island groups, since this area alone can be reached without passing through rapids.
Not until twenty years ago were accurate tide tables produced for the times of safe, slack water. It is not just their speed but the turbulence, producing overfalls, standing waves, and whirlpools of very aerated water which will not support a heavy boat and seem to suck it down. A hundred boats are known to have been lost this way in the Seymour Narrows, just north of Campbell River, the widest of the through passages and so the most used by shipping even though currents reach 16 knots. The situation there has been much improved since an underwater rock was blasted by the world's largest non-nuclear explosion, greatly reducing the turbulence. It was still quite exciting as Sentinel shot through, an hour before slack, with 6 knots of current under us. It was one of six rapids we traversed, including the Dent Narrows (right).		Attr. Mike Woodward (Canada Hydrographic Service).

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