May 20, 2023 - Boughey Bay

 May 20, 2023 - Boughey Bay

We had an early departure that was planned for making the Yuculta and Dent rapids.  Initially the plan was to anchor at Cordero Islands however we were just reaching noon and decided to make more progress towards Cape Caution.  We motored against the current at Green Point Rapids to continue to get a better feel for the winds and sea state coming up Chancellor Channel.  It was a bit harrowing motoring through the rapids, and past Griffiths Islet, where the tide rip was in its full fury.  Reaching Chancellor Channel, even though the winds were 15 to 20 kts, the wind waves were minimal, so we decided to press on towards Wellbore Channel, our next decision point.   Along the way we notice a small sailboat, Maeve Marie, coming out of Loughborough Inlet making about 5 kts.  He hailed us and asked if we caught up to the Wagner’s flotilla to let them know he was underway and had resolved his engine issue.

 

Looking down the Channel towards Johnstone Strait, the sea state continued to look moderate with occasional white caps on the 1’ wind waves, so we pressed on and entered Johnstone Strait.  The current in Current Passage was very strong, and while we desired to be going against the current (wind and current in same direction) it was much stronger than anticipated and turned into a slow slog to make headway with another ride rip in its full fury at Earl Ledge.  Even though the progress was slow, the wind waves were still 1’ with occasional white cap.  We continued the slog and soon began to question whether it would have been better to go through the Whirlpool Rapids in Wellborne Channel and come out Sunderland Channel!

 

We are pretty sure we saw the Wagner group on AIS and they had already turned up Port Harvey, likely headed for Lagoon Cove.  It did not look like Maeve Marie had a chance of catching up with them at 5 kts and fighting the current in Johnstone Strait.

 

And as we approached Sunderland Channel, the winds began to strengthen with a peak gust of 37 kts and the sea state changed to a confused condition with 3’ waves and spray going over the hard top.  This lasted for a couple of hours with the gusts backing back down to the 20 – 25 kt range and the sea state returning to the moderate condition we had previously experienced.

 

As we came to Port Harvey, we decided to give Boughey Bay a try.  We pulled in to find a sole sailboat anchored in the southernmost corner.  We settled in 60’ of water with 260’ of chain deployed.  This gave us good holding as we were still getting occasional wind gusts of 20 kts.


Johnstone Strait - 37kts wind gusts

View down Calm Channel


Location: British Columbia, Canada

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