Prideaux Haven to Forward Harbour

Today is all about the rapids. Yucuta, Gillard, Dent, Greene Point and Whirlpool, those are the current monsters we need to time in sequence. Heading North, it’s a challenge, as the rapids the furthest away turn to slack first.

The weather remains very favorable, and we continue to be alone on the water. As we reach each of the rapids, I except to see more boats as all of us typically want to transit at or near slack to avoid problems.

nice weather today

Dent Rapids is the key timing-wise, as it has the most aggressive activity. To our advantage, we are in a cycle of lower highs at the afternoon change, so the flows are below their maximum potential. Further, the current is with us, so we can actually transit all five rapids in one shot without stopping.

Passing through Dent at slack was peaceful as expected. What was unexpected was that there were no other boats to be seen, either going our way or opposing. That is a first for us in our 21 years of cruising these waters. We know it’s is early in the season, but we always expect to see traffic at choke points such as Dent.

We ran all 5 rapids alone. We spotted a few boats tied up at the docks at Shoal Bay and it wasn’t until we arrived at our destination for the evening, Forward Harbour, that we found two sailboats anchored in Douglas Bay.

It started to blow a bit as we went through Whirlpool rapids and the wind funneled into the anchorage. We tried to find a spot to the NE of the two sailboats, but there were two crab pots that were really in our way and the “beach” was a lee shore.  So, we went farther down the Harbour, about 3/4 of the way to the head, and anchored in 55 feet. With the winds blowing down the anchorage there was not a single area that was out of the fetch, but at least we dodged the lee-shore issue.

Our impression of Forward Harbour is that there is no reason to go there unless it happens to serve as a useful jumping off point for Johnstone Strait or when running the rapids eastbound. It was our first time in there, and we are in no hurry to return.