Last summer, my wife Shira and I sailed from Vancouver, Canada up into the heart of the British Columbia coast's pristine wilderness aboard our 20' HC. I was on-board for 21 days straight (Shira joined me part way up the coast for 17 days). Desolation Sound is a very beautiful marine park with spectacular fjords, mountains, pretty coastline and wildlife. Although it's over 100 Kn miles North of Vancouver, the semi protected waters up North are quite warm in summer for swimming. At the same time its amazing to look up and see majestic snow-capped mountains. The waters are clear and clean, and it feels "out there", especially in a small boat, making it an exciting get-away destination. Our highlights were kayaking, swimming, waterfalls, whale watching (including a humpback breaching nearby while under sail), cool anchorages, and of course lots of sailing - with a number of epic runs.
Throughout our journey, we saw we were definitely the smallest vessel up there. I enjoyed outfitting and provisioning so that, other than periodic stops for fuel and water, we were completely self sufficient. Shira spend over a month methodically preparing all our meals and dehydrated them ahead of time. All our meals fit in a few grocery size bags with no need for refrigeration. I creatively stowed 5 extra fresh water containers.
This approach worked very well. So much cool stuff to share that we were inspired to write a full article with pics that was just published in the latest Latitudes and Attitudes magazine (thanks to Bob). Anyone interested in doing some extended HC cruising might be interested in reading it. It's a really nice magazine published 4X / year with real sailing stories like ours.
https://latsatts.com
One other detail is both Shira and I have spinal chord injuries, and are unable to stand or walk on our own, which adds a whole other dimension to the adventure! But since we are both former Paralympic athletes, it was just the kind of challenge we are up for.
This year, we are planning an extended summer trip South to the American San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest.
Happy 2020 Season all. Jeff
Jeff,
Would love to read your mentioned article but can't seem to locate it on link provided. What should I search for to help find it.
Thanks Don
Sounds like an awesome trip! I cannot wait to read the full story. As a fan of the show Alone, on the History Channel, I have a new appreciation for that neck of the woods.
Can't find it either. Would love to read it if there is a link.
Sounds like a fabulous trip. I too would like to read your story, but was also unable to find it on the web site.
Andre
Hi all, the article is in the latest Latitudes and Attitudes magazine which requires a subscription. But I will post our own version of the article shortly - thanks for your interest! Jeff