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| RESEARCH CRUISE 2008, WEEK TWO
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July 1, 2008.
The Rapids. This report begins at the end, meaning the rapids north of Desolation Sound. There are five sets of reversing rapids along a 28-mile stretch: the Yucultas (pronounced “Yew-cla-taws”), Gillard Passage, Dent Rapids, Greene Point Rapids and Whirlpool Rapids. On a flood the rapids flow southward, from the top of Vancouver Island to Desolation Sound. On an ebb they flow northward toward the top of Vancouver Island.
Those who have never run this section are rightly concerned about the challenge. At full force on a large tide, they can be like whitewater mountain streams, filled with overfalls, boils and whirlpools. Even at slack water, currents can hit the boat and turn it suddenly. It’s okay to be intimidated.
But each year thousands of boats run the rapids without incident, so there must be a way to do it. And of course, there is. Here is our approach, which is about the same for most boats.
Northbound, plan to take two days. The rapids turn from north to south, from Whirlpool Rapids to the Yucultas. If you hit the Yucultas at slack, Whirlpool and Greene Point rapids will already have turned and will be running full force by the time you get to them. So do the Yucultas, Gillard Passage and Dent Rapids one day. Overnight at Shoal Bay, Cordero Lodge or Blind Channel. Next morning, do Greene Point and Whirlpool rapids.
A variation on this plan would be to run just the Yucultas at the end of your last day in Desolation Sound and overnight at the Stuart Island Community Marina in Big Bay. Or (if your credit card needs a workout) the elegant Dent Island Lodge a short distance beyond. Next morning, run Gillard Passage and Dent Rapids.
You’ll have company. At least during the season, you won’t be alone. Boats stack up, waiting for the right time to go. Work out your own timing, but if you are the only boat there, check your work. It should be quite a parade. Don’t be shy about calling other boats on the radio to ask their advice. Often, simply monitoring VHF channel 16 will tell you all you need to know.
Don’t follow the lead of the high-speed water taxis and the fishing guide boats. They have the power, speed and skills to go when you shouldn’t. You want to go through with the 8-knot trawlers and the sailboats.
Like minds reach the same answers. This expands on “You’ll have company,” above. We overnighted at Blind Channel Resort this year. Next morning, nearby Greene Point Rapids was predicted to turn from flood to ebb around 0730. We decided to get up before breakfast and depart at 0630. We would go through Greene Point Rapids at the end of the flood and carry the new ebb through Whirlpool Rapids. At 0625, engines fired up all along the docks. Everyone had come up with the same plan. We were quite a group, marching along.
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Gorge Harbour. No new docks this year. Approvals for the expansion plans have taken longer than hoped, but the first approval arrived in the mail the day we visited. The expanded docks proposal is about an inch thick, with three CDs showing that the new pilings and docks would not affect sea life. Meanwhile the docks have all new 15 and 30 amp electric power. The laundry room has all new machines, the store is well stocked, and Mark Ferguson, the chef, will be running the restaurant for the fifth straight year. Barb and Grant are doing a great job at Gorge Harbour.
Squirrel Cove General Store. Since the store serves island residents year-round the stock is good, including fresh vegetables in the walk-in refrigerator room. Wireless internet is available, although the signal might not reach the docks. The signal is excellent in the laundry room, though. The Cove restaurant will be open seven days a week beginning in July.
Refuge Cove.Upcoast Summers wasn’t open (health problems), but Darren and Carol O’Hara and daughter Meghan have moved their imposing 1920s barge, with Boat Stop Café, to Refuge Cove. It was tied to the fuel dock, but Darren told us they plan to move it a short distance away, connected to shore by stiff legs. We had thick, messy and wonderful hamburgers for lunch. Plan to have supper late. Lunch will last. The store has good stock, including a wide selection of cruising guides and books about local history. The docks are in good shape, the laundry is tidy and the fuel dock was busy.
Toba Wildernest. Several boats were there, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. The new dog is named Teddy. He loves everyone. Daughter Rowan is three years old now, and bilingual in English and French. Kyle built a new dock last winter, using floatation acquired from a fish farm that was closing. The dock is solid and stable. Excellent job.
Stuart Island Community Marina. Roger and Cathy Minor got their liquor store license, and the booze counter is a busy place during slack water in the Yucultas. There isn’t much profit margin in the private liquor store business, but local lodges are putting their (extensive) orders through Stuart Island, so the enterprise is doing okay. Cathy Minor has stocked the store with a selection of needed grocery items, emphasizing small sizes wherever possible. Most of the gift items are local. This includes locally knitted wool sweaters, locally made jewelry, even locally made knives, everything of high quality. Cathy has a good eye. She carries things not found elsewhere.
The docks are in fine shape, with yet one additional long float coming.
Dent Island Lodge. Everything about Dent Island is first-class, including the rate structure. The docks are wide and stable, the power is 30 and 50 amp, the water is unlimited, the grounds are manicured to perfection. The restaurant is impeccable, and the staff is well trained. Justin and Trish Farr are the managers. Their kids, Olivia (5) and Ty (2 ½), have little jobs there, but aren’t underfoot.
Oleo’s. Ever since Leon died we’ve not known what to expect at Oleo’s. Everything is on floats, tucked behind a little island in Frederick Arm. Ruth is still there, cooking her suppers for guests. Daughter Katerina got married last September and has moved to Alberta, where she’s doing drywall work for good pay. Son Paul finishes his landscape work on Stuart Island by 3:00 p.m., and runs up to Frederick Arm to help Ruth at dinner.
Shoal Bay. Mark MacDonald’s wintertime business brokering race horses from England to California has suffered, and isn’t producing enough to underwrite Mark’s ambitions for Shoal Bay. Ed Handja has the property listed for more than $2 million in an ad in Pacific Yachting. Mark says he hopes no one steps up.
Meanwhile, Mark’s amazing vegetable garden grows larger, and work proceeds on the guest cabin he’s building. A marten got into the hen house this spring and killed all the chickens. Mark was heartbroken. The chickens were a lot of company.
The grass that Marilynn is shown mowing in the 2008 Waggoner is growing high, with mowing now confined to walking areas, the horseshoe pitch and some little sitting areas. The wind was very light when we visited, but Mark says a fresh breeze blowing out of Phillips Arm makes the grass wave like the surface of the ocean.
Laundry from a visiting boat was hanging on the line when we were there. There’s nothing like sheets that were dried in the sun with the wind blowing through them.
Cordero Lodge. Busy as usual. Three fishing guideboats from Dent Island brought their patrons in for lunch. Doris’s German cooking is superb. We had lunch. Reinhardt looks good. A guest from Germany was staying in one of the rooms, and was in the restaurant with Reinhardt, watching World Cup soccer on television. Doris spoke to the guest in German, then began speaking to us in German. Halfway into the sentence she caught herself and apologized. No apology needed, of course.
Blind Channel. They redid all the power over the winter, including a new generator. The docks now have 15, 30 and some 50 amp electricity. Up in the store, six loaves of Jennifer’s bread were fresh out of the oven, still warm. We bought a loaf. Dinner in the restaurant was excellent. Marilynn had a bumbleberry crisp for dessert and I had a slice of hot apple pie, both made fresh by Jennifer. We could not imagine how they could have been better. Eliot and his wife Laura, third generation of family ownership, are as comfortable as a pair of slippers.
That’s it for the second week. Next week, the Broughtons, Sointula and Port McNeill.v
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