Total Desolation

Here are a few photos from our just-concluded three-week cruise to the Desolation Sound area of British Columbia.* No hurricanes to speak of but if the ice age that created the scenery comes back it's going to be hell on the boaters up here.....

Marin,

Thanks for a great post.* The Admiral and I have been talking about bringing our little ship up to the Sound next year with a couple others, and pictures like this certainly bolster that dream.*

Mike Wiley
34' CHB
ChristyLee
Brookings, Oregon

Absolutely stunning pics Marin. I bet they look incredible in full size resolution. I have been wondering where ya been. Thanks for posting!!!

I agree with John....If there is a more beautiful cruising ground on this planet, I have yet to find it. Thanks Marin!

In another thread we've been discussing navigation system reliability and what we'd depend on. We made this cruise with a navaid that hasn't been included in that discussion, and that's another person (or couple in this case) who's been to the area before.

We did this three-week cruise in the company of the sailboat rafted to us in the first photo. "La Mouette" ("The Gull") has cruised Desolation Sound several times and last year our friends took this Newport 30 all the way up the Inside Passage to Juneau and back. My wife and I have overflown the Desolation Sound area several times in the floatplane but that's a way different deal than navigating and anchoring a boat in it. Having an experienced couple along took some of the pressure off us to get it right the first time and as a result I think we had a much more enjoyable and relaxing time.

I'll be up there (if all goes well) next summer. Planning on 3 weeks. Our plans got cut short this summer and never made it out of the 'Juans, which is, of course, not a bad place to be. Who knows, with the current financial crisis looming, I may have more time on my hands than I know what to do with = longer cruising!

Hmmm... are these the Photoshopped pictures of New Zealand that the charter companies use???



You must be in good standing with the weather gods - missed the August wet & windy spell, and the September w & w too.

Aw shoot, Chirs, you found me out I debated using south island New Zealand photos but I figured it's safe enough now to show the real thing since fuel is $15.67 CDN a litre once you get north of the border. That plus all the bear, cougar, raven and orca attacks should suffice to discourage people from thinking they might like to boat up here.

Here's a few more just for grins.* The first shot is how you line a dinghy up a too-shallow inlet against the current.* By manipulating the bow and midships lines you can use the current to position the dinghy anywhere you want in the channel as you pull it upstream or let it downstream.* This doesn't work with an inflatable---you need a boat with a keel or hard chines to do this.







-- Edited by Marin at 02:50, 2008-09-27

FWIW, a couple of shots taken by the friends we did our Desolation Sound cruise with. The Coast Range of British Columbia in the background makes for a pretty scenic place to be messing around in boats....

Beautiful!!!!