Kiskosh Inlet

Where Next?
Bob Williams
Wed 27 May 2015 05:14

Position: 53 30.83 N 129 15.36 W
At anchor Kiskosh Inlet
Wind: Calm.
Weather: sunny, mild
Day's run: 59 nm

We had an early start this morning, as I wanted to make the best use if the tide. The midpoint for the tidal stream in Grenville Channel was fifteen miles ahead of us, and the tide turned there at approximately ten o'clock. If we could get there at about that time then we would carry the flood tide up until that point, then the ebb tide would also be in our favour once we were past it. Consequently last night I set the alarm for sun rise at 5.30 and we were aweigh and under way at six.

Initially the day started overcast, chilly and misty with a light but favourable wind.  Once back into the channel with the wind and tide behind us we were sailing wing on wing and making good a satisfactory four knots. Later in the day the mist cleared, patches of blue sky appeared and the sun started to break through the cloud. The wind gradually picked up and we in fact arrived at the tidal midpoint right on time. >From here Sylph quickened her pace even more. As the ebb started to get into full flow I think we must have had about three knots of current with us, and for a period of about two hours we were making up to eight knots over the ground. But then, when we had only about five miles to go to the southern exit of Grenville Channel, all of a sudden the wind momentarily faded and then switched through 180 degrees to become a head wind. This I had not anticipated.

I had only moments earlier been contemplating getting to anchor early and maybe putting the dinghy in the water and going ashore for a bit of exercise, but now a head wind was going to slow us down considerably. We could have motored of course, and I would have done so, but after a couple of tacks with the tide still in our favour I was well satisfied with Sylph's progress so decided to continue sailing, And I must confess to feeling a little smug when a rather upmarket looking US sailing boat, named Wings, motored past us going the other, with a tail wind and her wings all folded and indeed still under covers, while old Sylph was showing her style as she tacked back and forth across the channel. Mind you, I think we rather annoyed a cruise ship, named 'Disney Wonder' of all things, all very flash and pristine, with gold lacework decorating bow and stern, as she entered the narrow channel to find a small yacht tacking back and forth in front of her.  She sounded a long blast to indicate her displeasure.  I thought it best not to push a point, so I started Sylph's engine and luffed up into the wind for five minutes to let the cruise ship with her many passengers lining the rails, the world a Disneyland before them, past.

At four o'clock and after eleven tacks we finally cleared the channel and as we sailed out into the more open waters of Wright Sound the wind freshened some more from the south east. The anchorage I had planned on using for the night only lay a few miles of the north of us, behind Promise Island, but it now occurred to me that the anchorage was open to the south east and would be unsuitable for this unexpected wind direction. I stood on for a while considering options. The next nearest anchorage that lay along our path was over thirty miles away. That would make for a long day indeed. I eventually decided to investigate the original anchorage and if that looked unsatisfactory to continue on through Stewart Narrows and check out the marina at Hartley Bay which lay just to the north of Promise Island. Hartley Bay is a small Indian village with a fuel dock and a small marina tucked away behind a stone breakwater. However, as I sailed past it I decided that it did not look a very suitable place to stop for the night, and I was also loathe to spend fifty dollars which I presumed is approximately what it would have cost to stay the night. I had another look at the chart.

Some five miles further north lay Kiskosh Inlet. It was a little out of the way but it looked well sheltered from the south east and with the wind behind us an hour later we rounded its southern headland and coasted another three quarters of a mile inside its sheltered waters where, at ten minutes to seven we dropped anchor in six meters of water. I have since had dinner, a wash and a shave, the blog is hereby complete, and now it is time to contemplate the plan for tomorrow.

All is well.