Haida Gwaii– Our Cruising Impressions

Once a day’s sail out of Sandspit, this is wilderness cruising.  These waters are very lightly traveled.  We seldom saw more than one other yacht during a whole day.  There are no services in the park reserve, so plan accordingly.  No propane, diesel, gas, groceries, etc. are available until you either return to Sandspit or cross back to some settlement on the BC coast.  This point is worth emphasizing again, perhaps in another way.  When cruising in Gwaii Haanas, a boater should either have aboard any spares, tools and expertise required to maintain critical systems, or have an alternative solution – or be prepared to go without.  This is why, for example, we carried a full set of paper charts in addition to the appropriate chart chips for our chart plotter.

There is fresh, surface water available in many locations, and a couple of hoses for the benefit of passing boats.   However, the water quality is suspect and boiling is strongly recommended.  The kayakers we met at our orientation session planned to use backpacking filters that would remove material down to less than 2 microns – including giardia. 

The weather here is even more changeable and dynamic than that along the BC mainland.  Fortunately, we were able to receive the continuous marine weather broadcasts throughout our travels in Haida Gwaii.  The ocean buoy and light house reports were always useful, although the forecasters often had trouble keeping the 24 hour outlook in sync with the evolving weather patterns.

If your cruising style normally includes marinas, restaurants and regular hot showers, then this is probably not your cup of tea.  However, if sailing through rugged, forested inlets and riding to anchor in secluded coves reaches some part of your inner being, then don’t miss it.   This area will have a special appeal to those of you with an interest in the history of the NW coast, the fur trade and the Haida.

Here are some of our suggestions for those that might consider cruising here:

*  Work down into the park reserve from the north.  That way it just keeps getting better and better.

*  Skedan is outside the park reserve, and thus easily accessed (i.e. a permit and orientation session are not required).  Hence, they get lots of visitors.  It is still administered as a Watchman Site so do request permission before going ashore.  It was on our Must See list.

*  Be sure to make the effort to get ashore at Tanu and Windy Bay.  This may require waiting for a suitable weather window, but it is worth the effort.

*  Juan Perez Sound – wonderful rugged island vistas and great whale watching.  Generally better winds for sailing as well.  Most of the forest is now old growth.

*  Hot Springs Island – natural hot springs bathing just doesn’t get any better.

*  Dolomite/Burnaby Narrows – on the must see list, but see it at a low tide.

*  Skincuttle Inlet offers fine vistas all around, possibilities for whale watching and wind for sailing. 

*  Heading south from Skincuttle, the archipelago rapidly shrinks to its most rugged few remaining islands.  The capstone of most visits – SGang Gwaay – is near by.

We spent 11 days out from Sandspit before crossing back to the BC coast, and traveled about 215 miles through the southern portion of Haida Gwaii.  This was enough time to get a good flavor of these islands and see all the things on our Must Do list.  However, we left a lot of beautiful coves and inlets to be explored another time.

Boaters who are comfortable doing passage making may chose to return from the south end of Gwaii Haanas to Vancouver Island (Port Hardy or perhaps Winter Harbor on the outside).   This will be about a 160 mile passage, but can save a week or more in getting home.  Otherwise, the return will entail crossing back to the BC coast and then on down to some settlement for resupply.   

We opted to cross back to the BC coast from near the south end of Moresby Island to an anchorage in the Estevan Group (between Banks and Aristazabal Islands).  Then, we continued on down to Klemtu for fuel and water.  This was about 140 miles in total from Moresby Island.  Had we chosen instead to return to Sandspit Marina for resupply, and then crossed back back from there, we would still have needed sufficient fuel for about 110 miles.  Hence, to explore the islands as we did required provisions and propane for 14 days and diesel fuel for at least 360 miles.