arly in September 26 boats with 98 crew As you leave the city of Vancouver and sail were advised to fully provision the boat be- from 11 different yacht clubs, including further north, it becomes more and more re- fore starting the cruise – no mean task given 25 from the RSrnYC, met to cruise in mote and the mountains grow higher and the a crew of 6 or 7 for 10 days! Ecompany in Vancouver Sound, proving this water deeper. However, the navigator must year’s ICOYC Cruise more popular than ever keep a sharp eye on the charts, as sea moun- before. tains occur unexpectedly, rising several hun- The Royal Vancouver and Seattle Yacht dred metres from the sea floor close to, and Clubs combined forces to organise this event sometimes just above, the surface. – and a magnificent job they made of it, with A second hazard are the logs – hundreds local skippers guiding the eight chartered of them, from small branches to entire tree boats around these remote and challenging trunks. The highwater line of every beach is waters. Preparations were immaculate, with piled high with them and many are encoun- full details of all the arrangements and de- tered at sea floating, sometimes vertically tailed passage plans for each day circulated (dead-heads), low in the water and ready to well beforehand. damage your propeller should you hit one. Vancouver Sound is actually a mountain So, a constant ‘log-watch’ is essential. range rising to 8,000 ft, intersected by deep Another peculiarity of sailing in such deep valleys scoured out by successive ice ages fiords is the wind; which has only three op- and now flooded to depths reaching 500 me- tions – dead on the nose, dead astern, or no tres, providing hundreds of miles of idyllic wind at all. Typically for the first half of the cruising among a myriad of islands and in- cruise when we were heading north, the gra- lets. Walls of granite rise near vertically from dient wind was a north westerly, i.e. on the the water, with every surface covered by pine nose, and for the return half of the cruise it and fir trees, providing a stunning backdrop had switched to south-easterly – yes you’ve to every passage. guessed it – on the nose again. THIS YEAR’S ICOYC CRUISE IN VANCOUVER SOUND Our route took us from Vancouver to Gam- The Malibu Rapids are an S-shaped, bier Island, then Pender Harbour and Egmont, 30-metre wide passage into the Princess before the final leg to Chatterbox Falls. After Louisa Inlet. At peak flow the current reaches a lay-day at the falls we retraced our steps 8 knots through here, with whirlpools which back to Pender Harbour, then Secret Cove and grab the boat and take control. We had timed Snug cove on Bowen Island, before finally re- our arrival to make the transit close to slack turning to Vancouver, after covering a total of water, when the current is only 3 knots and 220 miles. we were led through in line. Even so, the Both clubs have ‘outstations’ at prime lo- transit was pretty scary but all the boats cations up and down the coast of British Co- come through safely. lumbia; usually equipped with walk-ashore Then it’s half an hour up to the pontoon at pontoons, power, water and toilet facilities Chatterbox Falls where we tied up as the rain and sometimes even washing machines and continued without mercy. But the weath- cooking facilities. The more remote stop- er was compensated by the view. The falls overs were ‘au naturelle’, a pontoon or an- are backed by a sheer rock wall hundreds of chorage in an idyllic setting. feet high, down which plunge five waterfalls, Our ultimate destination was the Mali- merging at the bottom to produce a magnifi- bu Rapids, gateway to Chatterbox Falls, at cent spectacle. the head of the Princess Louisa Inlet, over But having got into this inlet, we now had 110 miles of sailing from Vancouver. The only to get out, through those rapids again. It was facility there is a short pontoon – no human a very early start, 0515, leaving the pontoon in habitation, other than a small ranger’s cot- half-light in order to make the rapids before tage, and 34 miles from the nearest village the ebb grew too strong. store. This was the first time our hosts had risked taking a flotilla of non-local sailors to such remote areas. Because of this, crews 54 55 There are no navigation marks or lights leaving everyone spellbound. Unfortunately, down Princess Louisa Inlet, so we proceeded there were only two seals left by the time we in an orderly line, navigating by chart plotter, arrived and no sign of the orcas, but we did see with an experienced Royal Vancouver skipper grey necked herons, sea otters and one crew leading the way. Fortunately, the rapids are saw a whale as it dived close to their boat. much quieter on the ebb than the flood and, The people were incredibly welcoming – with more light now, all the boats got through whenever we stood on a street corner exam- without incident and began the return to ining our map, it was never more than 30 sec- Pender Harbour as the rain passed through onds before someone stopped and enquired if and blue skies returned. we needed directions. None more so than the members of the Royal Vancouver and Seattle clubs, who put so much effort into making this cruise such a success. Ten Seattle boats made the 150-mile jour- ney simply to join the cruise and then, had another 150 miles to get the boats home again afterwards. By the time of the closing dinner, everyone knew everyone else, so it was a very jolly affair, with short speeches thanking our hosts who had opened all their facilities to welcome us and done a magnificent job of organising this An added bonus to these cruising grounds event; especially John and Val Robertson and is the profuse wildlife. Grey seals are every- Chuck and Pam Lowry, the cruise organisers. where, with our first sighting just 30 minutes Would I go back again? You bet! Des- after casting off in Vancouver. Our early boats olation Sound beckons; which is meant to arrived at Gambier Island in time to watch a be even more stunning than the unfor- pod of orca’s attack the seals which were sun gettable experience we have just enjoyed. bathing on an adjacent log boom. All the action Graham Nixon took place within metres of the moored boats, PARTICIPATING YACHT CLUBS Seattle YC Royal Southern YC Royal Vancouver YC Royal Sydney YS Annapolis ROYAL SOUTHERN YACHT CLUB - Nylandska Jaktklubben Members on the cruise Royal YC of Tasmania Bryan & Britt Hughes, Geoffrey & Christine Sydney Amateur SC Wort, Russel & Helen Tribe, Richard & Norddeutscher RV Francesca Button, Peter & Christine Tanner, St Francis YC Graham & Virginia Nixon, Kenneth & Linda Royal Perth YC Munro, Martin & Chris Hoar, Angus & Annette Newton, Dudley Stock, Terry Anne Slater, Total: 11 clubs Gillian Milton, Maggie Widdop, Pat North. 98 crew 56 57.