Union Passage to Dunn Passage

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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.

Black Bear Breakfast Buffet

Who you looking at!

peaseful morning in Union Passage

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.

Dunn Passage Points of Interest

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.

Rockpile stops the dinghy

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.

it’s going to be a nice sunset

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.

dunn passage sunset

Provisioning in Nanaimo, Day 1

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Nanaimo is a mandatory stop on our way up. Here we can top off our U.S. provisions with items we cannot bring across the border. Also, boat maintenance items can be sourced here at the great chandlery.

I was up early this morning to get a “Uride”, BC’s homegrown version of Uber. I had to pick up the rental car at the Nanaimo Airport this morning so we could provision with ease. Nothing but praise for “Uride” . You can set up a ride in advance, and my driver was on time and friendly.

Our key provisioning stops:

The Harbour Chandler Ltd – Walking distance from the docks. They have it all. Very well equipped for the fisherman. This year we bought prawn bait.

SaveOn at the Country Club Plaza – There are lots of good grocery stores, but this is our first stop and seldom do we have to scout something at another. There is a Thrifty Foods within walking distance of the docks. It’s good if you don’t have a car.

Nesvog Meats & Sausage Co. at the Terminal Mall. They have another location, but this one has better hours.  We fax in our meat order for the trip, and they have it all wrapped and frozen and ready for us when we arrive. No hunting from one store to the other to get what you want. If they don’t have it, they will try to get it for you. Super nice people.

McLean’s Specialty Foods – Special Bacon and imported cheeses and all manner of things you don’t see anywhere else.

Green Thumb Garden Center – Fresh Basil plants and potting supplies so Karen can have fresh basil all summer long.

We also went to Costco, Home Depot and Canadian Tire – Nanaimo is a real city and there are a ton of shopping options. And don’t forget London Drug – sounds like a drug store but has all manner of things from TVs to phones to cameras.

Butedale to Outer Cove, Union Passage Marine Park

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The FUBAR 24 fleet, as they call themselves, scheduled their departure for 8am. Being rafted, we had to depart sooner.  So at 7:45am, we fired up our engines and cast off from Lahaina Sailor.

Conditions were calm and the sun peeked out from the broken cloud cover, a welcomed change. There were lots of waterfalls on both sides of Fraser Reach that caught our attention. The FUBAR 24 fleet, not far behind us, turned up Ursula Channel toward Bishop Bay Hot Springs and we continued our way alone.

beautiful passages

We saw Hartley Bay in the distance as we entered Wright Sound. This body of water can be rough – or at least confused – as it is at the confluence of Whale Channel, Lewis Passage, McKay Reach, Grenville Channel and Douglass Channel. But not today – it was amazingly calm. We saw Fin whales traveling south as we crossed Whale Channel. We saw one large whale and a mom with a calf. Their fins are very distinctive.

We have never been to our destination today, Union Passage Marine Park. You can enter from either Grenville Channel or Cridge Pass. Both ends are guarded by Narrows where you need to enter at slack. Karen chose Peters Narrows off Cridge Pass, as it has a slightly lower flow (max 7 kts) and is deeper.

We entered at 12:02 (low water slack was estimated to be 12:19) and saw less than .5kts of current ebbing. Lowest depth was 14.5’, but mostly we saw depths in the low 20’s. The narrows is very well charted, and we liked entering at low tide to clearly see the obstacles.

Our original plan was to anchor temporarily in what the Douglass’s call “Outer Cove”, which is just beyond Peters Narrows, and then move into Farrant Lagoon later when the tides were more favorable.

We really liked the look of Outer Cove.  It was very cozy feeling without being closed in. There were several “bear beaches” that looked promising, especially at the head of the cove. So, we settled in to relax before going out for dinghy exploration, as there is a lot of territory to look at.

cozy Outer Cove

we love these types of anchorages

First up was an exploration of Farrant Lagoon. The very few references we found to this area was that the Lagoon was a “ bombproof” and very remote-feeling anchorage. There is a narrow “neck” leading into the Lagoon that has about 1 fathom at zero tide. When we entered (2:48pm on a +5.3-foot tide), we saw no less than 19 feet, though that could vary a lot depending on the route you choose. The lagoon itself is extremely large, and the winds were such that there was fetch from one direction that clashed with the flood tide. It certainly could hold several flotillas, but to us the Lagoon was nowhere as pretty as our spot in “Outer Cove.”  So, on we went.

Next stop was to check out the other entrance, Hawkins Narrows, which leads to Grenville Channel. The current was running when we arrived, estimated about 4.8kts of inflow when we let the dinghy drift. This narrows is less wide than Peters, and has a rock in the fairway.  We’d bring the big boat in at High Water Slack. We took a brief spin out into Grenville Channel, and then went back the way we came. We did see a sea lion pop its head up to look at us as we went past.

Perhaps our favorite part of the exploration was back near Outer Cove, when we looked at the outlet to 2-mile long Tsimtack Lake. We were able to go a short ways toward the lake before being blocked by rocks, abandoned equipment and rapids. We dropped the anchor in the outflow current so I could take some pictures, and then returned back to OceanFlyer to warm up. Total miles for the dinghy trip: 7.6 nautical miles.

as far as we can go

a closer look at the abandoned equipment that bock our way

Later that evening, we spotted a large black bear near the creek outflow at the head of the anchorage.

Khutze Inlet to Butedale

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Before we started on our day’s journey, I wanted to see if I could replace the impeller on the 20kW generator. This generator is one of the hardest things to access on the boat and I hate working on it. After removing sound shield panels, spare oil and numerous other obstacles, I was able to reach the water pump and remove the impeller. Unfortunately, along with the impeller (which was still intact and clearly not the problem) came the entire impeller shaft. Apparently, it had sheared clean off.

OOOps!

Emails go out to Shearwater Marine to see if they can get the part and schedule us for the installation in about 10 days when we start to head back south.

Thankfully, all but one other boat left Khutze early this morning in the rain. So, as I did battle with the generator, Karen enjoyed the return to solitude and watched for mamma bear and her three cubs to appear at the waterfall.

As we were leaving Khutze Inlet, we saw four boats on the AIS about two miles ahead of us.

We followed them and Karen started to worry that they were also headed to Butedale, putting potential dock space at a premium because these were fairly large boats. As we continued on, they turned up up Butedale Passage and clearly set a course for Butedale proper.  As they turned into Butedale, I called them on the radio and asked if they were just sightseeing or planning to spend the night.  Turns out they had received permission to stay overnight as we had.

The four of them took up the whole length of the dock, but M/V Lahaina Sailor was kind enough to offer a raft with him. She is a 58-foot Cape Horn, so how could we turn down such a solid berth? It was very nice of them to offer rafting to strangers, and they greeted us with open arms and friendly smiles.

Oceanflyer rafted to FUBAR 24 fLEET AT bUTDALE

It turns out this group has travelled together before, in Mexico. They call this year’s trip FUBAR ‘24, and they have the t-shirts and other swag to show their affiliation. This is their first trip north to Alaska, so we were able to share with them some ideas of places to go and things to do. They are a warm and friendly group who seem to be having a great time together.

It has been eleven years since we were last at Butedale. We have very fond memories of being given a “tour” of the dilapidated facilities including the power generation house,  which used older wooden flumes and newer metal pipes to divert runoff from the large lake to the power generating system. We then were also able to tour the large abandoned cannery building and the caretaker’s house.

IN THE BACKGROUND IS THE LAKE THAT MAKES BUTDALE WHAT IT WAS AND COULD BE

Since that time, the property has been purchased by Inside Passage Marine. There are lots of plans for future development and the property is for sale or joint venture. There has been a lot of decay since we were last here, and some of the buildings have been completely removed. The most visible improvement is the dock, which is now large and secure. When we were here so long ago, it was a bit of a waterlogged, narrow, moss covered, half-submerged mess.

not many buildings left “standing” at Butdale

you can see whats left of the old docks on the left

I still hope, as I did back then, that investors can make a go of fulfilling their vision for Butedale as a major boating destination to and from Alaska. It’s such a convenient stop along the main route and has a storied history. The waterfall is amazing and we’re told the lake is breathtaking.

I flew the drone and got some great pictures of the boats on the dock with OceanFlyer rafted as well as the property itself and the waterfall. We encouraged the folks on Destiny who wanted to see bears to take their high speed chase boat 12 miles back down to Khutze Inlet, and indeed, they saw a bear!

bARN SWALLOWS LOVE OUR RAILING, EVEN IN THE RAIN