First Trip: Clam Bay and James Bay

On the way to Clam Bay

The Sandheads Lightstation used to be staffed with personnel

       It was time to ”Just go Boating”!  We were both nervous starting our first trip together on the boat.  Murray had accompanied me on the first trip and I was somewhat nervous going out on my own.  I wasn’t worried about the navigation or boat handling at all.  But the vessel systems were new and daunting to me.  What if something should go wrong?  Secondly Pam gets anxious if I’m nervous.  She’s not the reassuring type.  Anyways, the weather was hot and conditions favourable so we decided to do a one week trip to the Gulf Island in the Strait of Georgia BC.  We left Steveston mid-morning on Wednesday, July 17.  The crossing was uneventful. 1-2’ chop.  Jenny wasn’t too sure about it but she settled down.  There isn’t a lot of room in Porlier Pass and the flood tide sets towards Virago Rock so we gave that lots of room.  After some discussion, we found a nice spot to drop the anchor.  

Route to Clam Bay via Porlier Pass

Porlier Pass

Clam Bay

Jenny  a 7 year old mix is the “DIC” AKA Dog-in-Charge!  And she is in charge!  She had never been on a boat before, and we introduced her to the experience slowly.  We got her aboard at the dock and let her explore the boat.  She really enjoys the foredeck with the high vantage point over the water and surrounding area.  There’s lots going on around the moorage to keep a dog interested—cats, ducks, seagulls, swans, people, boats.  It was a couple of weeks before I fired up the engine, which caught her off guard.  She is now resigned to lengthy trips on the boat.  She’d rather be ashore and doing something different, but when we are travelling, she lays on the pilothouse floor.  Occasionally, Pam will bring her outside on the leash when the weather is calm and the sun is out.  However, she feels she really needs to be on-deck when we are docking or anchoring.  It’s pointless to try and keep her inside the boat when the engine RPMs drop down and Pam is on deck.

Toy destroyed in minutes!  Death was certain!

"This is nice!"  A comfortable dog!

On land she goes for at least 3 walks a day:  The morning walk is a short one after her breakfast and prior to morning coffee.  The afternoon walk is usually an hour or so.  The evening walk around 8-8:30 pm is prior to the evening cookie.  We accommodate all of these on the boat and when anchored, it involves use of the skiff.  At first Jenny, viewed the skiff with fear.  However, once she learned it included a walk and a nice look around, she anxiously awaited every opportunity to get on the skiff.  We had to be careful to ensure she only got on when the skiff was ready for her. All in all Jenny has adapted well to the boat and is quite comfortable going to her stateroom when we are in the saloon.

Where are we going next?

We spent 4 days on anchor in Clam Bay.  Not particularly adventuresome, but we found that the “tank full” warning light for our waste tank came on after 2 days.  Hmmm!  After much review of the situation, which included determining if water was coming in via the sea-cocks (it wasn't), we came to the conclusion that the Tecma toilets were using a lot of water.  We revised our usage such that “liquid only” was flushed via the forward head and directly to sea.   Twice we had to move away from anchorages to pump out.

            We took Jenny on the skiff for walks on to Penelakut Spit.  A lovely beach to wade along. This is on Penelakut First Nation Land, so we were respectful of their space and quiet.  Our skiff is a FRP 11' Seaskiff  by Sterling. We cannot always bring it up onto the beach so we use a stern anchor on a long bunee cord called an "Anchor Buddy".  I use this in several situations. Jenny is either lifted off or jumps off.  I set a bow line to shore and then throw out the stern anchor in deeper water, taking tides into account.  I then pull the skiff back to shore, jump off and the bungee pulls the skiff back to deeper water.  This works very well and means we don't have to drag it along the rocks.

Penelakut Spit

We decided to move to the south on Sunday July 21 and took a leisurely run down Tricomali Channel to James Bay on Prevost Island.  TWe debated long and hard about which anchorage to use on Prevost: James Bay, Selby Cove or Annette Inlet. We chose James Bay.  Further exploration by dinghy indicated that all spots are nice.  We will try Annette Inlet at a later date.  

Clam Bay to James Bay Prevost Island.

James Bay was a beautiful spot.  There was a bit of wake from passing vessels but there were only 2 other vessels on anchor there during our first trip.  James Bay on Prevost Island is part of the Gulf Island National Park of Parks Canada and there is an old orchard with apple trees on shore.  It's a lovely walk to Peile Point amongst the arbutus and oak trees.

Phoenix Hunter in James Bay

We went back to Steveston on Tuesday July 23, via Active Pass.  Active Pass has a lot more traffic, particularly ferries, but it is wider.  We monitor both Channel 11 (Victoria Traffic) and Channel 16 when we transit Active Pass.  All larger vessels are visible on AIS on our plotter (Coastal Explorer).