Sail Trip to Jervis Inlet

Killaine & I were invited by my colleague Andrew to sail up the Sunshine Coast on his sailboat over the long weekend.

Andrew's sailboat is the "Trident IV", a 42 foot sailboat made by Bavaria Yachts. Very comfortably outfitted, with a very cool control system, incorporating GPS, wind/air/water speed indicators in an integrated console by the helm.

To catch the tide currents, we left the marina at Granville Island in the early afternoon. We had a trailing wind out across English Bay - as we progressed up the coast, the winds were light, so we did a fair amount of motoring. Around 7pm that evening, we made anchorage in Smuggler's Cove and had an enjoyable evening of ship-made pizza, wine & many beers.

The next morning, we decided to head up the coast a bit further, then do a circumnavigation of Nelson Island - starting up through Argememnon Channel and hooking up in Jervis Inlet. Winds were once again light as we motored up the channel. But, as we passed the ferry terminal at Egmont, the winds picked up. Before we knew it, we were keeled over in Jervis Inlet, pulling 7 knots in a 10 or 12 knot wind - it was very, very cool being in a sailboat in the big, wide inlet - with the coast mountains reaching up out of the inlet. And, of course, keeled over was very exciting!

After a few tacks, we pulled into Blind Bay and made anchorage for the night in another quiet little cove. Pasta and (much) more beer was the order of the evening!

The next morning, we awoke up a little earlier, and headed back out into the channel east of Texada Island and headed back for Vancouver. The winds were initially very light, and we needed frequent use of the engine. However, the small craft warnings eventually came to fruition, and the winds slowly but steadily picked up as we passed Sechelt.

As we approached the opening into Howe Sound, the winds really came up - 20 knots and up to 25 knots! It was raining, and the waves built - all making for a very exciting ride. We fully reefed the jib and partially reefed the mainsail, and sped on a beam/close reach back into English Bay - where the winds finally lightened up, and we gently motored the last few miles into Granville Island.

... and, here's the video!



All-in-all, a very solid sailing experience! Many thanks to Andrew for taking Killaine & I out on his boat!