Small Inlet
20 June 2017 | Quadra Island
Colin
Our next obstacle leaving Campbell River was transiting Seymour Narrows as we headed up Discovery Passage. The current here can rage at over 15 kts, with whirlpools and over-falls. So it is important to hit Seymour Narrows in the 30 minutes or so when it goes slack between tides. It's now a wide channel, but there used to be a big rock in the middle, but back in the 1920's they dynamited it with what is still considered the largest non-nuclear explosion in history. There is an impressive sequence of photos in the Campbell river museum showing the blast.
Due to the tides we got there early and tucked in behind Maude Island to wait a few hrs for slack. Here we had a great hike to view the narrows at full tide and later in our little backwater we watched eagles snagging fish right in front of the boat.
When the time came, we transited Seymour Narrows uneventfully and proceeded to Small Inlet on Quadra Island for the night. This was actually a pretty big inlet surrounded by parkland and almost entirely landlocked except for a narrow channel with about 10 ft of water in it. Once through the channel we had one of our prettiest anchorages to date.