Campbell River

It was nice getting to the dock at Port Neville yesterday afternoon. As the evening came on, the winds were really howling out of the WNW at almost 30 mph. I was happy to be on the inside, or east side of the dock, and even better, another big trawler came in and docked on the other side from me, blocking more of the wind! It did die down over night, and today I had calm seas. I did have a 1.5 – 2 mph current on my bow and a couple times saw my speed slow to just shy of 3 mph. I finally put C-Traveler on plane and went over next to the shore, which seemed to have less current, allowing me to hold around 5 mph. However, that opposing current was only for about an hour and a half, and then I picked up a flood current. This was pretty much after passing Helmcken Island in Race Passage. As I passed Ripple Point, I was really picking up a nice push, of almost 5 mph for a while. With the tidal current, there were lots of eddies and what’s best described as boiling water, abeam Walkem Islands. I am currently anchored in Plumper Bay, waiting for Seymour Narrows rapids to slow down a bit. Right now the current is running 17 mph through there. I’ll wait until it’s less than 12 mph. Or until I see a local run it so I know exactly what path to take for the calmest water. (The wharfinger at Alert Bay said he ran it at that speed in his sailboat. So I think I can handle that…) With the current flowing that fast, there will be whirlpools and eddies on the other side. There is a Tug and barge (The Gretchen H), that is actually waiting until 5pm, when the current will be at 8 mph. He was running faster, a ways ahead of me, and hoping to make it earlier to catch the narrows after Low Water slack, before it picked p too much. High Water slack is at 6:15p. I left Johnstone Strait when I turned the corner at Chatham Point into Discovery Passage. Discovery Passage ends near Campbell River, into the Strait of Georgia. That’s another body of water, wider than Johnstone, that has a reputation for getting rough in wind. (Break. I’ll finish this later this evening.)

I ended up following Gretchen H and a fishing boat through when the current was showing to be 8 mph. I think I could have ran it faster. There was a lot of eddies on the other side, but nothing that the boat couldn’t handle. In fact, I did watch one larger yacht go through when the charts said it was running 17 mph. I’m not sure those charts are accurate. While it showed 8 mph when we went through, I only picked up about 5 mph… Right after the narrows/rapids, there is a turn to the left. That’s where most of the turbulence happens, and then the eddies continue for a mile or so. I pulled into Discovery Harbour Marina in Campbell River at 6pm, but the marina offices closed at 5. I did not have reservations, nor did I know which slips were reserved and which might be open. I ended up going across the channel to behind Grouse Island, but decided it would be too deep to anchor and not enough swing room with the amount of scope I’d want to put out. However, I did fine plenty of room a mile away, behind Gowlland Island. Coming into the bay behind the island, passed an interesting marina with what looked like an old military ship… here is the information I found about that ship: The Fortune 151 (formerly known as HMCS Fortune, Greenpeace Two, and MV Edgewater Fortune) is a historic 152-foot Bay-class minesweeper. Originally built for the Royal Canadian Navy in 1953, the vessel was famously chartered by Greenpeace in 1971 to protest US nuclear tests in Alaska.
Note: To see video coming out of Seymour Rapids, link to my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsjhBzBITAoRead more