Also from Brisbane

Hi there, sadly many hours perusing vids, pics and articles on Trawlers, Tugs and passagemakers and lots of wishful thinking has not made one of the above appear in a berth down at Manly harbour unlike some of the lucky folks on here.

My wife and i are taking our first steps in seeing if a bigger boat is for us by chartering a Ranger 27 out of Vancouver this coming september, we are hoping to explore a little of the desolation sound area in the 10 days we have the boat. Having owned smaller powerboats/runabouts this will be a change of pace and a less expensive way of testing if the cruising life is appealing than jumping in with a purchase(although we had no complaints on a 10 night charter in the whitsudays on a big cat).

Im hoping to have a few questions on anchorages/sights to see a little closer to departure date and that the kind folk on here may have some good advice to share.

Kind Regards

Mick.

Welcome aboard Mick. You will find plenty of information here, and people happy to help if you ask for it, locally, and in Pacific North West (PWN) for your Canada venture.

Ranger tugs are neat wee boats. I was just recommending them to someone just minutes ago. They can be trailered, and that opens up cruising grounds that otherwise might well not be feasible, e.g. inland lakes, or places realistically too far to sail to on their own bottom. We made good use of a large maxi trailer yacht to do most of the North Island lakes and the Bay of Islands in NZ when we lived there, for example.
Ranger Tugs R-27
Welcome to the forum as another Aussie based boatie. It's funny, Mac does't like the expression boatie, and always tried to make it boat tie, or boater, which is the North American version.

Hi Brissy,

Welcome on board, we are also in Manly, QLD and moor our Ray Kemp TAS built bay cruiser/motor sailer there. Only got the boat three weeks ago after two years of looking and down sizing our expectations.

We are happy as with our final choice, which is my Avatar photo. Patience in searching will reward you at the end of the day.

MG

Thanks

Hi and thanks for the welcome messages, im sure i will find a wealth of info on the site, Mark i will keep an eye out for your boat as i occasionally paddle in the marina when the wind on the bay is up.
Cheers
Mick.

Brissy said:

Hi there, sadly many hours perusing vids, pics and articles on Trawlers, Tugs and passagemakers and lots of wishful thinking has not made one of the above appear in a berth down at Manly harbour unlike some of the lucky folks on here.

My wife and i are taking our first steps in seeing if a bigger boat is for us by chartering a Ranger 27 out of Vancouver this coming september, we are hoping to explore a little of the desolation sound area in the 10 days we have the boat. Having owned smaller powerboats/runabouts this will be a change of pace and a less expensive way of testing if the cruising life is appealing than jumping in with a purchase(although we had no complaints on a 10 night charter in the whitsudays on a big cat).

Im hoping to have a few questions on anchorages/sights to see a little closer to departure date and that the kind folk on here may have some good advice to share.

Kind Regards

Mick.

Click to expand...

Hi Mick,

Yet another welcome from a Manly based member. I am keen to hear from you re the charter - we are thinking of it for a portion of the ICW but haven`t done any investigation yet.

I`ll keep an eye out for you in the marina

Having done Whitsundays, the Barrier Reef a few times up as far as Thursday Island, and then a lot around the PNW, I can comfortably say I think you will love it up here. Not as warm to be sure, but an enormous number of safe and beautiful anchorages.

Vancouver to Desolation is a ways. Between the two are months' worth of cruising and exploring locations if you wanted. We usually bypass them all (been there done that) and do a single long day to maximize time in Desolation. There are options for chartering from Comox instead of Vancouver too, Comox being far closer.

September is back-to-school up here so everything will be far quieter than July/Aug, and the weather can still be fantastic.

Study up on your tide tables - there is a big range in many anchorages - but the real thing to be mindful of are currents. Some of the spots you will be going past, and the northern sections of Desolation, have some currents that demand respect!

There is a wealth of experience on the forum. Post your plans as you form them and you will get some great input!

Have fun. You will have a great time.