Union Passage to Dunn Passage

We awoke to very calm weather and breaks in the sun. Also, our black bear was back and spent the entire morning foraging in plain sight.

The weather continued to improve as we awaited our departure at Low Slack based on Hartley Bay’s tides. We ended up leaving around noon, about an hour before slack water in Peters Narrows.

**looking out Outer Cove, Union Passage**

The departure back through the narrows was easy. We saw about 1-1.5kts of current on the stern and a lowest depth of 22.5’ on a 5’ tide at Hartley Bay. Flow is very laminar.

Despite Karen’s misgivings (because nothing was written about our route), we then went through another narrow pass, Hoey Narrows. It’s so close to Peters Narrows, I knew it would be slack-ish there as well. This pass is narrower but well charted, and we barely had any current to contend with. Lowest depth was about 24.5’. Going through Hoey Narrows into Payne Channel cut .4nm off the trip, which was estimated to be just over 2 hours.

We had a very easy passage, with calm seas and low winds. As we passed Tuwartz Bay, we saw a few pleasure craft fishing.

We anchored in Dunn Passage in exactly the same spot we did 2 years ago. It affords nice protection, but also has 360 degree views. In bad weather, I would anchor further back at the head and give up views for additional protection from wind and fetch. As we entered Dunn Passage, we saw a small sailboat and a commercial crabber. The latter laid a line of numerous crab pots between his “start and stop buoys”, we were glad we saw those being set so we didn’t stray into dangerous anchoring territory.

With the sun shining and few clouds in the sky, we launched the dinghy for a two hour exploration.

We were at a +9 foot tide, so the opportunity to transit drying or shoal areas and go deeper into the small coves makes for good snooping.

Although many of the areas we explored look small on the chart, some are surprisingly large. I’ve marked some areas on the chart below with numbers and I’ll reference that as we share some interesting areas.

1. The well protected large lagoon can hold many boats in 30 to 60 feet. The wind might funnel in depending on direction and strength, but it’s unlikely to be uncomfortable. We chatted with the singlehander on the sailboat we saw when we entered. He had moved into the lagoon and was also exploring. He mentioned seeing wolves here the last time he visited.

2. At the head of the lagoon in the North Arm’s green drying area is an interesting lake-fed creek. We could approach the rock pile, dam-like structure at its mouth with 5 feet under the dinghy. Beyond that we could see the creek but couldn’t tell where it went or if it was passable in a dinghy. With three more feet of water, I think we could have gotten the dinghy over those guardian rocks, but not for long. Kayaks would be a better vehicle and you could always portage over the rocks at lower tides.

3. Here’s another opportunity to poke your nose in a smaller lagoon off the main lagoon. It is also well charted and we saw no less than 4 feet on a 9 foot tide, but there are a several large rocks that guard either side of the kelp lined channel. Not a hard passage, but definitely keep a lookout and follow the current flow to stay in the fair water.

4. I spotted this large drying channel that leads out to Estevan Sound and wanted to give it a go. At our +9 foot tide, we saw no less than 4 feet, but there is a lot of kelp and large rocks that impede the channel. Keeping a sharp lookout. We made it out to the Sound and enjoyed the very calm conditions as we turned back into Dunn Passage.

After the grandeur of Culpepper Lagoon and Khutze, this is a change to more low-lying territory, but still quite pretty. We had a peaceful evening and even a nice sunset.

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Union Passage to Dunn Passage

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