Barb Thomson

Special to Black Press

On a sunny August long weekend in 2022, we counted over 91 boats anchored in Tenedos Bay in Desolation Sound.

Jet skis and water skiers honed their slalom skills around rafts of water toys and ginormous pink flamingos. We were anchored in the northeast cove nearest the trail to Unwin Lake, where essentially, we had positioned ourselves at the narrow end of an aquatic megaphone. The fun was too much to bear.

鈥淚t鈥檚 quieter at home,鈥� I said and resolved to come back in the off-season.

That would be now. The Wagonner Cruising Guide advises off-season boaters to have 鈥渁 good understanding of the weather and a warm, dry boat.鈥�

The reason you will have Tenedos Bay all to yourself at the end of October is because the days are shorter, colder, and likely wetter. Add to that solitude is a required level of self-sufficiency expressed by writers Jennifer and James Hamilton in Cruising the Secret Coast: 鈥淲e鈥檙e big believers in redundancy.鈥�

This means carrying spare parts, extra food, and warmer clothing if a sudden turn of autumn weather turns your weekend anchorage into an extended week of waiting for calmer seas.

Environment Canada meteorologist Owen S. Lange wrote two great resource books on British Columbia鈥檚 coastal weather: The Wind Came All Ways and The Veil of Chaos. Lange identifies the autumn season as September, October, and November, with coastal winds primarily from the southeast, not as a rule, but providing 鈥渢he overriding signature, or tone, of that season.鈥� An informed sail plan would recognize that some popular anchorages like Hornby Island鈥檚 Tribune Bay that are sheltered from summer鈥檚 predominately northwest winds would now be fully exposed to autumn鈥檚 southeast wind. And if your sail plan includes stops at marinas and fuel docks, call ahead to confirm their off-season hours, or if they鈥檙e open at all.

So why go out when most cruising boats are put to bed? When we returned to Tenedos Bay in late October, the morning quiet was broken by the breath of two humpback whales circling the empty bay.

Alone in Grace Harbour, we heard the wolves at night; in daylight we watched otters play on the shore. Even in the fog, rain, and cold, there is a poignant tension between the unpopulated past and the present-day volume; a liminal autumn place where you are touched by the timeless rock, wind, and water.

Barb Thomson is a boating enthusiast who writes regular columns for the Comox Valley Record.

Sources:

Waggoner Cruising Guide (2019) Bunzel, Mark, Editor & Publisher, Burrows Bay Associates

Waggoner Cruising Guides: Cruising the Secret Coast (2008) Hamilton, James & Jennifer

The Wind Came All Ways (1998) Lange, Owen S., Environment Canada

The Veil of Chaos (2003) Lange, Owen S., Environment Canada