The island’s western shore abuts the Pacific open-water hops, spending several days between Ocean—the first landfall to the west is Japan. This hops in protected waters. While each sound has less-traveled outer shore, known simply as “the west settlements of various sizes with facilities for diesel, coast,” is the challenging part of circumnavigating gas, and water, the area was decidedly rugged. Some Vancouver Island. Conditions are among the most facilities do cater to pleasure craft, but for the most dangerous in British Columbia. Its ocean exposure part, cruisers either anchor out or moor at public means the region receives plenty of nasty docks. Supply sources are limited, so self- weather. Winter storms can produce sufficiency is a requirement. For us, this was sustained 70- to 80-knot winds, with gusts part of the attraction. Fewer facilities meant to 95. In the summer, 40-knot gale force fewer boaters—we rarely shared an winds are common. On good days, a anchorage the entire trip. constant ocean swell rises; on bad days, The west coast summer cruising season ships go down and lives are lost. runs from May through September, when But the west coast also is one of the winds are lighter. We went in August. We Pacific Northwest’s best cruising destina- made most open ocean runs early in the tions. Attractions include sea caves, sandy day, because the typical summer pattern is beaches, hot springs, sea otters, historic minimal morning winds with afternoon ruins, archipelagos, quirky settlements, westerlies of 20 knots or more. Fog is grand scenery, and countless sheltered common in the mornings, too, particularly anchorages. Hundreds of boaters have in August and September, but it usually circumnavigated the island successfully, burns off by afternoon. and doing so is very rewarding. But still, The guidebooks provided boat setup sailboats dominate; fewer trawler owners advice and equipment suggestions. Because tackle the west coast. we boat year round, our winter cruising Although traveling the west coast is more safety and backup systems exceeded demanding than the sheltered Inside Passage, recommendations for this trip. As we do for we found the trip manageable in our well- all major trips, we made sure everything equipped Bayliner. In fact, two of the three was in working order before we left. major cruising guides for the region were Although we had a few failures en route, all researched aboard small coastal cruisers: a were fixable, and we wouldn’t make any Circumnavigating Tollycraft 26 and a Nordic Tug 32. changes to our setup if we went again. A major decision in planning a trip TRIP PLANNING around Vancouver Island is which way to The west coast may be “out there,” but it This totem pole in go. Most cruisers go counter-clockwise, in is well documented. Our main reference the mining town of the direction of the prevailing wind and Vancouver Island was the Waggoner Cruising Guide, but two Zeballos is a tribute current. For sailboaters, this is particularly STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY JENNIFER AND JAMES HAMILTON other books also cover the territory: to the rich history important. Even in a powerboat, it’s a lot Exploring Vancouver Island’s West Coast, by of the area. smoother to go with the swells than against Don Douglass and Réanne Hemingway- them. We, instead, went clockwise because Douglass, and Cruising Guide to the West Coast of we wanted to spend any time we might have to any trawler owners believe the west coast of Vancouver Island is only for ocean-capable Vancouver Island, by Don Watmough. We had no spare at the north end of the island, which we have Mboats. And until recently, we were among them—believing the west coast was not a shortage of information. Our biggest problem was fewer opportunities to visit. (The south end is only place for our 40-foot trawler, Dirona. time. It is roughly 730 nautical miles around the about a half-day cruise from our home port in Then, in summer 2003, we cruised the Inside Passage to the north of Vancouver Island, getting island, not including side trips. We had only 3 weeks Seattle.) Given similar time constraints, we would some open-ocean experience in small doses. The swells took a little getting used to, but we soon to cover the whole west coast (plus a week for go this way again. felt comfortable enough that the experience inspired us to take on the circumnavigation of weather delays and to travel the east side). Four We began our trip in Victoria, on Vancouver Vancouver Island the following summer. weeks would have been better, and 6 weeks would Island’s southeastern tip, casting off just before dawn Vancouver Island—at 12,000 square miles, the largest island on North America’s Pacific Coast— be ideal. for Barkley Sound, 92 nautical miles away. (We also lies along 300 miles of British Columbia coastline, starting at the border with Washington State Five sounds and several inlets indent the west could have left from Sooke, 20 miles west of and running halfway to Alaska. The island’s mountainous spine and eastern flank form a major coast, allowing for open-water exposure in Victoria.) Port Renfrew offers shelter halfway to portion of the sheltered passage to Alaska from the lower 48 states. Thousands of boaters cruise controllable amounts. The longest run without Barkley Sound from Sooke. Conditions were near this area each year. shelter is about 40 nautical miles. We cruised in perfect, with clear skies and smooth seas, and Reprinted with permission. Copyright 2005 © Dominion Enterprises (888.487.2953) www.passagemaker.com Reprinted with permission. Copyright 2005 © Dominion Enterprises (888.487.2953) www.passagemaker.com Vancouver Island Vancouver Island interest are endless. We spent four nights several fishing vessels safely through fierce N there, but we could easily have spent storms. These steel-plated monsters reached almost 3 weeks in a different spot every night. to our bow pulpit and were quite different from the One of Barkley Sound’s major attractions small, recreational buoys at Inside Passage marine is its archipelagos, particularly the Broken parks. We had to step onto the buoy to pass the Group, part of the Pacific Rim National line through. Park. The southern islets in the Broken Hot Springs Cove is a highlight of any west coast Group are exposed to the ocean, which cruise. A boardwalk leads 2 miles from the park has carved extraordinary sea caves into dock through lush rainforest to the hot springs. A ANAD t C r the islets’ outer shores. Several caves Following a long-standing tradition, boaters swap a a SA h U c were large enough that we could take board in the walk for one carved with their date of c e t l e the dinghy all the way inside. Barkley visit and boat name. Hundreds of carved boards, b o N Sound is an ideal destination for those some very creative, are already in place. At trail’s a m who would like to try the west coast but end, the park’s namesake springs—122 degrees o r f d aren’t sure about taking on the whole Fahrenheit—flow over a small cliff and into several e t p a circumnavigation. large pools of varying temperatures. We enjoyed a d A long soak in our own private pool! CLAYOQUOT SOUND remained so the entire day. The ocean swell was less Our 25-mile run in open water to Clayoquot NOOTKA ISLAND AND NOOTKA SOUND than 3 feet, and hardly noticeable. Dirona took on a Sound was just as enjoyable as our first exposure to Nootka Island sits just off Vancouver Island, gentle undulating motion as we proceeded to the ocean on the way to Barkley Sound. The sun providing sheltered passage along its east and north Barkley Sound. Navigating through such swells was was out and swells were minimal as we passed a few shores and forming the western shore of Nootka easy and soon became almost relaxing. Conditions humpback whales and several sailboats running Sound. Three towns are nearby: Gold River (pop. were nothing like the steep tide rips that form close wing and wing. 1,700), Tahsis (pop. 900, before its sawmill closed to our home port. Clayoquot has the second largest population of recently), and Zeballos (pop. 300). Gold River is As we entered the Pacific Ocean near Port the west coast sounds. Fuel and moorage are 9 miles from the water and doesn’t cater to the Renfrew, a “superpod” of about 50 killer whales available at Tofino (pop. 1,600) and Ahousat (pop. cruising boater, but Tahsis and Zeballos have fuel, overtook us. We were exhilarated. 400). Tofino has most of the facilities you’d expect water, moorage, and supplies. to find in a port town, while Ahousat has a small We began the 30-mile open-water run to Nootka The Pacific Ocean has carved many extraordinary sea caves BARKLEY SOUND store, a café, and marine ways. Sound at 0630. Shoals and rocks lie well offshore, into the islands on Barkley Sound’s outer shoreline. We took Barkley Sound, the southernmost sound on When we turned into Templar Channel toward and the area has a reputation for sudden squalls, so the dinghy deep inside this cave to get a better look. Vancouver Island’s west coast, is among the best Tofino, we felt that we’d entered a time warp: The we wanted to get through early. The swells were cruising territories in the Pacific 188-foot barkentine Concordia was 2 to 3 feet, but widely spaced, and we comfortably Columbia coast.