鈥淭he only thing moving was the tide, slowly dropping and soundless. If I listened very closely, I thought, I would probably have been able to hear the trees growing.鈥�
- Sam McKinney, Sailing with Vancouver
Desolation Sound Marine Park might be better known as Destination Sound in the summertime.
The post-Covid southern border reopening and ease of access to an area BC Parks describes as having 鈥渟pectacular vistas and calm waters鈥� have resulted in busy, often overcrowded anchorages. One summer I counted 91 boats in Tenedos Bay.
If you鈥檙e ready to escape the flotilla of merrymakers rafted alongside your boat, don鈥檛 let the challenge of tidal gates to the Broughton Archipelago Park hold you back from exploring B.C.鈥檚 largest marine park.
This maze of islands and islets in the Mount Waddington Regional District is bordered by the coastal mainland at 51掳 north and reaches to the southeastern end of Queen Charlotte Strait. Passage from southern waters requires navigational planning. That鈥檚 a calm way of saying whatever watery route you choose to get up there, each one will present its challenges of timing current, tides, and wind.
Ports and Passes, 2024 The Pacific Northwest Tide and Current Guide is one of the best, but not the only, comprehensive guide to figuring out when you want to go through a narrows or rapids. Timing it wrong will result in going in circles 鈥� either waiting for slack or caught in whirlpools. Timing your arrival during slack current will generally make you wonder what all the fuss was about.
So why don鈥檛 more boaters go to the Broughton鈥檚? For a few reasons:
- Cooler, often wetter weather. Fog.
- Bugs. Deer flies.
- Distance from assistance. Be prepared to help yourself.
- Limited marinas with limited resources: power, water, groceries, etc.
- Spotty or no cellular service
- Level of seamanship skills
And why do some boaters choose the Broughton鈥檚? For nearly all the same reasons some boaters don鈥檛 (except for the bugs). What isn鈥檛 there allows for what is there: solitude in the wilderness.
In Sailing with Vancouver, Sam McKinney tells the story of his own voyage retracing George Vancouver鈥檚 1792 coastal exploration with William Robert Broughton, captain of the HMS Chatham.
When McKinney reached the Broughton鈥檚, he described a morning in Tribune Channel: 鈥淚t was that scene of a mystical fog-washed fjord that artists try to capture in paint, but I was looking at the original and natural masterpiece.鈥�
Worthy of all the reasons to go there.
