Sail Plan: Broughton Archipelago 2011

For our friends who may like to hop on, this is a really rough guestimate of where we'll be and ways to get there.  We're pretty sure we will be up to Port McNeill / Port Hardy area around August 9th and remain in that area until we start heading south again around the 27th.  Port McNeill & Port Hardy are the closest points to civilization to the Broughtons.  Flights are about $140 each way from Vancouver to Port Hardy.  It's about a four and a half, five hour drive from Nanaimo to Port McNeil.  We should be in cell phone / internet range most of the time, so drop us a line if you're thinking of coming up.  (The boat's full prior to the 9th, probably full prior to 15th)

Sail Plan:  Broughton Archipelago 2011
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
July 24	25	26	27	28	29	30
					Ladner	Vancouver
31	August 1	2	3	4	5	6
Garden Bay		Cortes_Bay	Campbell River	Octopus Provincial Park	Thurston Bay Marine Park	Shoal Bay Music Fest
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
		Port_McNeill	Broughton Archipelago	T'sasala Traditional Native Dance
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
	Broughton Archipelago		Shawl Bay Marina (who knows what day )			OrcaFest Port McNeill
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
	Broughton Archipelago					Port_McNeill
28	39	30	31	Sep 1	2	3
			Cortes_Bay
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Ladner
Locations accessible by transit			plane: bus:		ferry: car:

day 4 – Cortes to Cordero Channel (Lo50°26.7’L125°28.5’)

At the crack of dawn the crew was awake. As silent as thieves in the night, the boat was untied and the motors fired up, leaving behind Cortes Bay in the rising sun. The crab trap provided nothing but 2 small souls to throw back to the deep. The prawn trap, however, collected 20 bright eyed contributions to tonight’s dinner. In celebration, two members of the crew were ceremoniously awarded their red toques. A quick stop in Squirrel Cove for ice, veggies, bread, beer and propane and we headed off for the day’s journey through Lewis Channel, Calm Channel, and Cordero Channel. We passed some pretty big fishing and wilderness resorts near Big Bay on Stuart Island. The Rapids of Yuculta and Dent, and the legendary spot known as Devil’s Hole were calm today, but their potential to get gnarly with spring run-off and prevailing winds was appreciated by Captain and crew. After rounding the northern tip of East Thurlow Island, we settled into a small, unnamed Bay tucked into the British Columbia mainland. Anchor down into 10 feet of water so clear you could see the bottom, and so cold it could take your breath away. Captain caught his crew 4 cod in about half an hour from the dinghy, then proceed to scale and fillet them for us too. Thankfully the horseflies, who swarmed us when we arrived, temporarily invaded the ship, then endured quite a battle for territory, finally left us in peace. A calm night in cold waters.

day 3 - Copeland Islands to Cortes Island (Lo50°00.0’L124°48.0’)

In our private hidden anchorage nestled in the Copeland Islands, we took our time making breakfast and enjoying our surroundings before lifting anchor. There was even some time to throw a hook off of the stern, which reeled in 2 rock cod and a baby ling cod. The rock cod became prawn bait, the lovely ling cod was unhooked and thrown back to the sea. A short but super-awesome journey up to Cortes Island was complete before lunch time. We dropped a prawn trap in about 300 feet of water outside Cortes, and a crab trap in about 50 feet of water just outside Cortes Bay. As we pulled up to the marina, 4 ships much larger than ours departed on their own journeys, freeing up some highly coveted dock space. The crew was treated to warm showers, a hike on the island, and a swim in a local fresh water lake. An evening feast of locally caught prawns with friends who live on Cortes completed our day. We slept tied to the dock, knowing that our next day's journey was going to be another long one.

Maps of our journey so far...

Day 1 - Ladner to Thormanby Island

Day 2 - Thormanby to Copeland Islands

Day 3 - Copeland Islands to Cortes Island