Sailing in Vancouver

[davel]

It's on the list as a potential summer charter destination.
Does anyone have any advice or recommendations for the area?

<hr width=100% size=1>Dave L.

 

[Rowana]

I seem to remember an article in one of the mags quite recently where someone had chartered here. Could have been either YM or Sailing Today. If I have time over the next couple of days I'll have a look and see if I can find it. From what I remember, it got a good write-up.

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[Trevethan]

Great place to sail. My wife's family are from there. Lots of places to explore and most it pretty sheltered, at least if you stay inside the islands.

Weather is pretty good in summer. Hotter than the UK nornmally, though it can rain like mad at times.

Main hazard seems to be logs in the water that escape from booms floated down the rivers.

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[AndrewB]

Its one of THE top cruising areas worldwide, a great holiday playground in the summer. Not so much Vancouver itself, as the nearby chain of islands known as the Gulf Islands on the Canada side and the San Juan Islands on the US side. Also the creeks and islands north of Vancouver, in the Desolation Sound area.

I chartered there in 2000, met locals, and was invited back to sail with them in 2001.

In summer the weather is more reliable than the UK with little rain, the wind rarely gets above F5, usually sufficient but can be light at times. At other times of the year the weather is not quite so good and the area is prone to fog.

Loads of beautiful sheltered anchorages with wooded islands and interesting villages to explore, a sprinkling of marinas. The water is too cold for swimming, but unbelievably good fishing. The log problem of former years is now very much reduced, though sailing at night is still a bit dodgy (often no wind anyway).

All eyeball navigation, a continuous weather broadcast on VHF. The only navigation problem is the very complex tides, which result in quite strong currents, exceptionally so in a few well known spots that are best avoided.

Americans will tell you the area gets crowded in the summer, but it certainly isn't by our standards.



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[malcp]

I chartered from Sunsail out of Vancouver about 2-3 years ago, for a week. Thoroughly enjoyed it and can recommend it. I spent the time in the Gulf Islands between Vancouver Island and the mainland.
Echo the comments from other above re logs. Essential to keep a constant watch as they can be very hard to spot. They are solid trees and if they've been in the water some time they upend and you only see about the top 6 -8 inches.
Also the tides need watching, especially when passing between some of the Islands as stated above.
Very beautiful scenary. I went in August and it was meddy heat, but little wind. Ended up motoring most of it. A local suggested June as a better time. I would not recommend swimming either. Water very muddy brown / black.
There's the San Juan Islands further south (on the US boarder), but this is getting close to the Juan de Fuca strait (if memory serves) and this is reputedly quite windy with much larger seas. This requires passing US immigration, and vice versa when you come back to Canaian waters again. You'll likely need more than a week to do the San Juans comfortably, same as if you try for Desolation sound.
When looking for a place to anchor watch out for the seaplanes taking off and landing in some of the marina areas! Can be quite entertaining. No problems though.
Do it. You'll enjoy it.
As an idea could do a week sailing and a week touring in the Rockies. That's what I did.


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[global_odyssey]

We chartered from Island Cruising (Sidney, on Van Isle) mid October just gone.
Our boat was well equipped - I would certainly use them again.

Island Crusing picked us up from Swartz bay Ferry terminal on Van Isle (75 minutes across from Tswassen Fery terminal, itself, a 30 minute Pacific Coachlines shuttle bus trip from Vancouver International Airport.

We hade a great time, even though the weather broke after 3 days sunshine and we had 6 months worth of rain in about 5 days! Summer would be our choice next time. The people are generally very friendly, the scenery is fantastic and the wildlife is everywhere.
In spite of storms and gales the Gulf Islands were very sheltered and we could have done with more wind most of the time. The run-off due to the rain increased the amount of debris and logs in the water - especially at meeting tidal streams.

We were short-handed (me +wife) which made things less relaxing from a look-out point of view. A boatful would improve this, sharing out the work.

However, we enjoyed sailing in BC so much that we now in the process of relocating there permanently.

I hope that's a good-enough recommendation!

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[Viceroy]

Dave, as a Canuck who cruises the B.C. coast regularly, I'll be happy to assist with information and suggestions. (Similarly, if anyone else has amibitions to venture out this way, let me know.) A private e-m has been sent. Cheers, Richard.

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