Howe Sound Cruising 2009

SEA WEASEL at anchour in Centre Cove off Gambier Island.

The last time I had been on a true cruise in 2009 was February so I felt like I needed to get out of dodge and out into the wild blue. The only problem was scheduling. Everyone was working and too busy to commit to a 4 day weekend. Luckily this presented no problem for me so I arranged to single hand my boat out to Gibsons where I could meet my companions, Dave and Cheryl, at on Sunday.


Our 4 days in Howe Sound.

The plan worked beautifully I sailed/motored over on Saturday with a brief stop to retrieve the Mark I had left out the day before on a Thursday night. While I was handling the boat myself, my cousin Paul opted to come for a one way trip out to Gibsons to keep me company. We had good wind from the west until we hit Point Atkinsons, surprise, surprise. From there we motored to the north end of Bowen where we picked up a inflow and reached over to Keats Island where we resumed our motoring. All in all it was a easy passage taking about 4 and a half hours.

Arriving at Gibsons I moored at the marina, and said good bye to my cousin Paul. It was one of the more enjoyable nights I have had afloat. I rigged the chair hammock above the foredeck, grabbed a few beers, and sat back with a book. I spent something like 6 hours dangling in the sun and gentle breeze only interrupted by the drunken racist rantings of a fellow boater a slip down from me. I took the time to tell him off and then resumed my enjoyable evening.

In the morning I prepared the dinghy as I awaited Cheryl and Dave's arrival. By the time I was ready to go they arrived and we set about unmooring the boat. At this time I dropped my sun glasses ($200 Oakley's - okay 9 years old but hey). I saw them drop into the water and slowly sink. I missed them with my hand and then in a split second said "not today" and dove into the water head first next to the dock after them. The water swirled around me sending the glasses back up to the surface where Cheryl recovered them. The water was surprisingly warm and I surfaced grabbing for the swim ladder on the back of the boat. Dave being the friend that he is lowered it but not before snapping a picture of me in my moment of shame. I recovered my sandals which had landed in the water and the neighbours boat and laid my wallet out to dry; but hey I got my sun lasses!


My sunglasses are worth a whole lot more to me after diving head first into the ocean after them.

From Gibsons we motored over to our old favourite stomping ground Plumber Cove. There we snorkeled the waters in the cove just to the north and hiked the trails in the park. It was perfect. We had sun, breeze, and a fantastic time. I even got a chance to dive the boat and found the prop alone was the only fowled part below the water line; the keel looked great. For dinner we (Cheryl) burned some ribs which were still good. We ate assure in the picnic area and perfected the opening of beer bottles on Dave's new bottle opener saddles (this must be seen to be fully appreciated.

A-okay mister Jones.

Following dinner we retired to the boat for a rousing game of toss the penny in the cup because "someone" forgot the cards. At this point the sun and the fluids we had been consuming took their toll and we settled in for a pleasant evening in the cockpit.

The sun, beer, and rum have their predictable effect.

A beautiful twilight from Plumber Cove off of Keats Island.

Kingsley is rudely awakened with his ears inside out.

The next morning we returned to Gibsons which was jam packed with boats so we anchoured off the government dock and rowed ashore in SPARKLES. In Gibsons we had lunch and said good bye to Cheryl who had to return home for work on Monday. Dave and I provisioned the boat for the next day and set off again for Gambier Island's Centre Bay. We settled on anchouring in the lee of a small island just North West from McKenzie Cove.

While we I am sure are not the first ones to find this little gem. This small island on the east side of Centre Bay was my idea of paradise.

The location we decided on to anchour was a tricky one. The bay is really deep but close to shore has a shelf. We decided to anchour on the shelf length ways and stern tie to the small island so that we were in the lee of the island in the event of the likely inflow. This was hard because the boat wanted to swing around towards shore risking a grounding after we anchoured. The other challenge was the fact that we had no stern line so we cobbled together one out of spare anchour rode. Dave rowed backwards and set the stern line just in the nick of time. In the end it was a very pretty job.

Stern tying was a challenge as we were anchouring on a shelf and at low tide we would be very close to the steep shore to our right. Alls well that ends well right?

The island was idyllic. It was probably no more than an acre all told but had high cliffs and some flattish areas. We found a perfect swimming hole, a few cliff jumping areas, a camping area, and even a few "tree forts" (platforms up in trees accessed by rope or ladders).

Kingsley is quite concerned when Dave returns to the ship for provisions.

A swimming hole between the small island and Gambier.

Looking from the swimming hole into McKenzie Cove.

SPARKLES tied up at high tide.

Looking north you can see the Centre Bay Yacht Station.

Kingsley oversees the hanging of the chair hammock.

We tied the hammock at the same location as the rope swing. This looked like the perfect place for some acrobatics.

We opted for to spend the night ashore. We brought our BBQ, food, sleeping gear, and mattresses out of the boat. We even rigged up the hammock chair off a high up overhanging tree. We explored the tree forts and ate dinner. Kingsley spent his time running about the island as the largest predator he sought out all the adventure he could get in.

Dave swam around the island looking at the cliff diving options. He found the perfect spot and jumped from 40'+ cliff and splashed down safely. As night set in we had a campfire, the island had no "private property" signs or "no fire" signs so we felt we were in the clear. At this point I decided to slash my thumb up badly on some broken glass. The cut was quite deep and I bled profusely. I staggered my way in the dark back to the dinghy and too the boat leaving a thick trail of blood behind me. At the boat I got into the first aid kit and was able to stop the bleeding.

Returning to the island we bedded down for the night in the open. It was pretty awesome. Awesome until 3 am when 30+ knots blasted us from the south. We tried to sleep through it but it was useless. At that hour all three of us retreated to the dinghy in the pitch black with no flashlight. I lost my sandals and ripped my feat. We stumbled aboard the boat and crashed.

The chair hammock from above.

Dave scopes out the cliff diving location from the water.

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Kingsley takes his rightful place as the largest predator on the island intent on making some deformed squirrel babies.

BBQ Maple Salmon and Veggies.

Dave thinks reflects back on his days as a male escort. Fond memories indeed.

SEA WEASEL at sunset.

The sun disappears behind Gambier.

Looking South out into Howe Sound.

Dave scales one of the many "tree forts" on the island.

Ghost story time around the fire.

In the morning we did a damage assessment. I was sour all over from numerous bruises, cuts, and sun burns. Dave wasn't much better. We also found ourselves at a low tide having lost 18' of depth and leaving us about 20 feet from the shore to our sides.

Exhausted we retrieved our gear from the island, which was all soaking wet now, and hauled anchour. The return trip took us over five hours with the wind in our face we tacked our way out of Howe Sound and into English Bay. Breakfast was made underway and went down well. In the end we tied up to the dock looking like we had retreated from Moscow, but hey it was fun.