Sailing the Salish Sea 2023

It took 40 years to return to this magical place, Princess Louisa Inlet in British Columbia's sunshine coast. 
Chatterbox Falls, at the head of the Inlet, gathers waters from the snowfields and mountain meadows above the Princess to cascade throughout the year into the Inlet.
Me (Tim) and my dad sailed here when I was 17 and anchored at the foot of the falls, swam in the warm water making a core memory. 40 years later returned to this magnificent place to share with Lynette. 
It feels like Yosemite at sea level. The cliff to the left of Chatterbox falls is a 3,000' vertical granite wall similar to half-dome. Glaciers are seen in August atop the mountain range surrounding us. As the crow flies, Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort is less than 20 miles away. 
The passage through Malibu Rapids was tricky and required timing at slack water. We went through at low tide, which is 16' lower than high tide. Which meant we were motoring through a rock hallway with much less water and room for error.

courtesy of www.princesslouisa.bc.ca

After the first day, the weather was very nice, 80-85 degrees which warmed the water to 75. The sun beats down on the large granite faces throughout the inlet and the tide goes up and down twice per day, transferring heat into the top 3-4' of water. We swam comfortably for 20-30 minutes. ​

Getting there was more about motoring than sailing. Two factors played into that fact. The winds are either too light or on the nose. Once you cross the Strait of Georgia, you enter the fjords where the wind funnels around and is inconsistent. The second factor is you are timing tidal gates. Which means we have to be at narrows between islands to pass through at slack water. Dodd Narrows near Nanaimo can have very turbulent currents in excess of 9 knots. Every boat gathers on each side to make that window which lasts about an hour and it's one at a time and you take turns inbound or outbound. 
The 32 mile run from Harmony Island to Malibu Rapids takes about 5 hours and there are no real places to stop along the way. So timing is critical to arrive at slack water. 
The tide charts are very good up there, but other factors like rain can change the timing over an hour. Since we are a deep draft sailboat, we had to wait until the water was not moving. Several large motor yachts had taken turns before us and radioed back with the conditions. It was still ebbing at over 3 knots with big whirlpools 30 minutes after the reported slack tide. As we waited the chances of us getting a coveted spot on dock was ebbing too. 
We finally made it through as we were at eye-level with starfish and sea urchins on the rocks, while sea otters played and people watched from Malibu Lodge the stress was intense. 
Motoring the last 6 miles we did as quickly as possible, we're not a speedboat and have a limited rate we can travel. The dock looked really full as we approached, but maybe there is a spot on the inside. Sure enough, one spot, and with some tricky maneuvering, feet away from rocks, we got a spot. We were welcomed by the park ranger, she was really nice.
The community on the dock was amazing too, a nice mix of Canadians and Americans, all who love this spot. Being in a fjord with soaring cliffs on either side, we had no communications at all. The boat next to us had a Starlink antenna...for $20 I got a day to get some business done and bought a fishing license. 
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We absolutely loved this spot and would go again in a heartbeat. Charter options are available if you'd like to join us. You could embark in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island or Powell River on the mainland, then allow a week round trip.