Cruising Kootenay Lake

I've got my 60th birthday coming up in a couple months, and decided to take a trip back to where I grew up. The Kootenay region in south central BC, Canada.

The highlight will be cruising on Kootenay Lake with friends and family on a 54 foot trawler that we are renting. It's a custom built steel hull, single engine boat. A fairly plain fitout, but that shouldn't take anything away from the fun. Kootenay Lake is a 100 km long lake surrounded by mountains with much of the coastline only accessible by boat. Great fishing, beautiful scenery, hotsprings, and serenity.

Looking forward to the trip immensely!

Looks like a hoot!!

Should be spectacular with warm weather and lots of snow left in the mountains.

Never heard of this company before...much more interesting than those large shoe box things they rent in the Okanagan.

The Fleet – KASLO SHIPYARD CO.

For those unfamiliar with the area:

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Ko...0eca3dcaf0f8d!8m2!3d49.5700937!4d-116.8312394

Greetings,
Mr. AC. Sounds fabulous! I haven't heard the name "Kaslo" for years. We visited many years back and it is indeed a wonderful area. I also worked, many moons ago, with a fellow who spent a part of his childhood there as a guest of the Canadian Government. https://canadianjapaneseinternmentcamps.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/life-at-internment-camps/

I took photography at Selkirk College many moons ago. Unfortunately, they had moved the school from Nelson to Castelgar but did enjoy exploring the south east corner of the Province.

RT - Those internment camps certainly have an interesting history.

The one up the road at New Denver was also used to house children taken from the Doukhobor community. They were considered the terrorists in the early 1960's. The Doukhobors blew up the HV power line which spanned Kootenay lake and also bombed the Nelson courthouse in an effort to get their children back. The government finally relented after they did a nude march from Nelson to Victoria.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doukhobors

Murray, Nelson is my favourite city in the Kootenays. We started a backpacker hostel there which we ran for 6 years. Met plenty of colourful people.

Growing up, I lived in Creston, Nelson, Thrums, Grand Forks, and Cranbrook, in the Kootenays. All were completely different, especially considering how close they are to one another.

Finally time to head back to beautiful BC.
I won't be missing much boat time in Adelaide, as the week ahead has forecasts of 10+ foot waves every day and 35 knot winds.

Looking forward to some calm, glassy water for a change.

I still have lots of cousins and in-laws in Creston.
My wife was a Creston girl until she found out what
the Coast had to offer.
Ted

Ted said:

I still have lots of cousins and in-laws in Creston.
My wife was a Creston girl until she found out what
the Coast had to offer.
Ted

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We could be related, Ted. I’ve got 5 generation of relatives in Creston.

We had a great time on Kootenay Lake with the boat from Kaslo Shipyard.

We chartered MV Ariadne; a 50 foot steel hull full displacement cruiser. It was very old-school with virtually no electronics, a 125 hp Isuzu diesel, 8 berths, a well equipped galley, single head with separate shower and a big pilothouse.

It was heavily built in the early 70’s and has undergone little change since then although the boats are well maintained.

I was somewhat surprised that use of the anchor was not recommended except in emergency situations. The normal "anchorage" is done by beaching the boat on a sandy or gravel shoreline and stern tying at a 45 degree angle to steel posts driven into the ground on a steep beach. (sledge hammer and posts supplied) A boardwalk was also supplied to walk down from the bow to the beach. It all worked well, although weather was good so the anchoring wasn't really tested.

AusCan,
Sure is nice to not have to deal w the tide.
My wife has a brother in Nelson and has a sailboat.

Welcome home

AusCan said:

We could be related, Ted. I’ve got 5 generation of relatives in Creston.

Click to expand...

Uh oh. I was born in Creston.

Nomad Willy said:

AusCan,
Sure is nice to not have to deal w the tide.
My wife has a brother in Nelson and has a sailboat.

Click to expand...

Yes - no tide, no swell, very little wind.

The only real hazard was the smoke from the tree farm fires.

Conrad said:

Uh oh. I was born in Creston.

Click to expand...

Ah ha. Best not to dig up too much and find out you are related to both Ted and me, and possibly Eric, as well.

MurrayM said:

Welcome home

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Thanks, Murray.

Its always nice to return home, and look at the changes that have occurred. Some for the the better and some not.

AusCan,
One of my fathers relatives was a well know baseball player in BC. His line came from Russia to Sweden to Canada.

The was extremely happy with the layout of the boat we chartered. I will certainly miss the spacious engine room. Here’s a couple pics.

The only negative of the trip was the smoke from the burning of thousands of tree farms. Luckily most of our time on the water was accompanied by only light smoke. Since then it has only become worse.