Repositioning Cruise - Nanaimo Harbour to Cowichan Bay

With the pandemic greatly altering our life plans, instead of moving to Vancouver for Hannah to attend Simon Fraser University, we decided to rent a lovely cabin in the woods near Duncan. Like many others, Hannah has had to start her MSc online. While we love living aboard Sea Dream of Clyde, it became clear that with no offices away from the boat to go work at, living and working aboard was just a bit to cozy. After a month of cruising around the Gulf Islands while working remotely, we got a month of moorage in Nanaimo for Sea Dream of Clyde to rest as we moved into the cabin. In the meantime, we organized moorage in Cowichan Bay near our cabin. With the month of moorage in Nanaimo coming to end, a good forecast, and perfect tides, my friend Kyle and I set sail south to move the boat down to Cowichan Bay. Wind forecasts for the Gulf Islands are very often suspect, and for this trip, they turned out to be flat out wrong.

The route down from Nanaimo to Cowichan Bay is about 33 nautical miles, and includes two tidal passages. Currents in the Gulf Islands can be considerable, with a 1-2 kts away from passages being common. Clearly, when planning a trip in these waters with a sailboat, one should factor this in when possible by following the flood north and ebb south. Numerous tidal passages dictate departure times, with Dodd Narrows being the one we had to plan around for this trip. While very narrow, Dodd is fairly straight forward when transited near slack, however, with maximum currents regularly being around 5-7 kts, and up to 9 kts at spring tides, it is a place that must be taken seriously. If you have your timing off, it can mean waiting many hours for the current to slow to a safe speed before transiting. Because turbulence during the flood is mostly restricted to the area north of the pass where it is clear of navigation hazards, when headed north through Dodd, I will happily transit an hour or so after the flood starts, or when there is about an hour left of it. When going south, I always aim to arrive as close to slack as possible as significant upwellings, back eddies, and shallow rock shelfs extending from shore can make running with a fast current very dangerous for low speed boats. 

Looking south through Dodd Narrows to Round Island.

The forecast had been consistently been calling for 15-25 kt NW, which would have been perfect, however, the forecast was way off. Instead, we got some light variable winds, followed by abrupt marginal gale force winds. Winds out of Nanaimo were light and flukey, and with a tide to catch, we motored the hour down Northumberland Channel to Dodd Narrows while enjoying a pizza we grabbed before leaving. We arrived at Dodd Narrows about twenty minutes after high slack, and enjoyed a 2-3 knot boost through to the very calm Straut Channel. With all the industrial activity along Northumberland Channel, and associated marine traffic, I always love passing through Dodd Narrows; within minutes, one leaves behind the rumblings of the city and is greeted by the serenity of the Gulf Islands that makes this place such a popular area for boating.

A slight westerly breeze kicked up as we cruised by Round Island, so we eagerly set sail. Unfortunately for us the breeze died as fast as it arrived, so we were once again motoring and wondering when the advertised NW winds might arrive. We carried on motoring until the south end of Thetis Island, where a solid SW breeze kicked up. Close hauled with a full main and the big genoa deployed, we quickly picked up to a steady 6 knots over the ground. Gradually, the wind started increasing to the point of needing to reef the mainsail. With Kyle steering, I let off the main sheet, and set a reef in the main. Within minutes, the wind increased further to around 20 knots, so we furled in some of the genoa.

With Sansum Narrows in sight, the wind continued to increase as it rushed out of the Cowichan Valley. Gusts were now reaching over 25 kts, and the direction was veering further to the south. We had hoped the wind would be funneling south through the narrows, but we were out of luck. With only an hour of daylight left, we dropped sail, and fired up the reliable old Mercedes inboard engine to motor into the wind through Sansum with the ebb giving us a nice boost.

For the most part, Sansum Narrows can the transited at anytime as turbulence is minimal, and currents rarely exceed 3 knots. With the exception of a shallow shelf that extends off of Sansum Point, navigation is simple. The steep hills rising to over 500 metres on both sides of the passage make transiting through this area feel like I have teleported away from the Gulf Islands to the high islands of Desolation Sound. Sansum Narrows is special place that I always enjoy cruising through, despite the most often flukey winds I have experience within it.

Given the hefty breeze we experienced on the north end of Sansum Narrows, I was surprised that upon rounding Separation Point into Cowichan Bay, the wind was calm. During the sunny periods in the summer, Cowichan Bay often has a steady westerly or south westerly breeze known as "The Doctor." I believe it is an extension of the strong winds that funnel in from the Pacific through Juan De Fuca Strait pretty much all summer long.

With only a tiny bit of light left, I was happy that it was calm as we approached to dock in my new slip for the first time at the Fisherman's Wharf. Everything went well, and with Sea Dream of Clyde secured, a good evening out on the water was over.

Cruising out of Cowichan Bay is a real treat; many excellent anchorages are within 2 hours, no tidal passages restrict when one can come or go, and when going out for an evening sail throughout the summer, there is almost always a good breeze. We look forward to many wonderful weekends exploring all that the Southern Gulf Islands has to offer this summer.