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On the Wild Side
by John Lund
Barkley Sound’s island-studded waters await your voyage of discovery
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Who can resist the call of the wild on Barkley Sound?
Twenty miles long and 15 miles wide, this captivating cruising area 90 miles north of Victoria, British Columbia is an adventurer’s paradise.
Within Barkley Sound are hundreds of islands and islets to explore -- seemingly arranged in three rows, with passages in between.
The outside islands facing the Pacific are broken rock, carved by the ravages of time and the open sea. But inside, you can find many cozy anchorages where you can be alone with eagles, orcas, seabirds and little else.
Once, this boating outpost on the west coast of Vancouver Island was the exclusive domain of the world’s most experienced and adventurous boaters -- and sport anglers willing to take on the challenge of the open Pacific and the rough Strait of Juan de Fuca. However, as the number of vacant anchorages in the protected waters of the Inside Passage has diminished over the years, the wild country to be found in Barkley Sound has begun attracting more savvy West Coast boaters each year.
This is rugged country -- and although it is within the Pacific Rim National Park, there are no amenities in the sound itself, other than nature at its finest.
This is a place where the world-weary traveler can truly get away from it all; spend hours exploring the many beaches and tidepools; fish for the famous salmon, rockfish and halibut to be found nearby; or dive among the area’s many reefs, in search of sea life and shipwrecks that date back to the 1800s.
Historic Origins
Barkley Sound takes its name from Charles Barkley (the explorer, not the basketball player), who discovered the sound in 1787, when he came here in search of valuable sea otter pelts aboard the British trading vessel Imperial Eagle. His voyage was made more notable by the company the 26-year-old skipper brought with him: his 17-year-old bride Frances Hornby Trevor, the first European woman to step ashore on Vancouver Island.
Since the Barkleys’ arrival, little has changed mid-sound -- and you may well enjoy the feeling of being an early explorer yourself. Fortunately, today’s boating visitors have the added comfort of navigating with charts -- and it is highly recommended that you have the Broken Islands Group chart (Canadian Hydrographic Service Chart #3638) if you are going to cruise in this region. It’s also wise to have the companion Chart #3670.
Some of the favored anchorages among the Inner Islands are Turtle Bay, Nettle Island and the large lagoon formed by Jaques and Jarvis islands, which is totally protected. The most protected anchorage among the outer islands is Effingham Bay, where Imperial Eagle first anchored.
There are many more Broken Islands anchorages than space allows mention of -- but each one requires careful study before approaching, to identify rock and reef positions. As this is an area subject to extremes in weather year-round, and fog in late summer, it is imperative that you know exactly where you are at all times when navigating this region.
Having said that, there is no reason why a knowledgeable skipper and crew in a well-found vessel cannot enjoy the adventure of discovering some of the most incredible wilderness anchorages on earth.
While there are some who enjoy staying out in the wilds for as long as supplies last, there are those of us who need the comforts of coming ashore to more civilized surroundings from time to time. Fortunately, Barkley Sound has the small port communities of Bamfield to the south and Ucluelet to the north, to answer the need for provisions -- and shore leave.
Ucluelet
Pronounced “You-CLUE-Let,” this community of 2,000 people gets its name from an American Indian word meaning “safe harbor.” Ucluelet residents’ main occupations are fishing and logging, but the community is experiencing many changes in its local economy, thanks to a recent influx of tourists. Most come here to watch the annual migration of 20,000 gray whales along the coast.
One of the area’s biggest charter sportfishing operations is a fleet of 43 and 52 foot offshore cruisers run by the Canadian Princess Resort, which features a restored survey ship that serves as a restaurant and hotel. The resort runs continuous sportfishing charters, plus whale watching and nature cruises from the boat basin.
Ucluelet is the main boaters’ supply center for the Barkley Sound region. Entry to Ucluelet Inlet is clearly marked with spars and buoys, so finding the several public docks located in the inlet -- along with two fuel stations -- is an easy task.
A good launch ramp is located next to the Trans Pacific Fish Wharf. Because the road that takes motorists from the east side of Vancouver Island to the west coast -- Highway 4 -- is paved all the way to Ucluelet, trailerboating is extremely popular here.
Across the inlet on the eastern side, cruising visitors will find two public docks at the Indian reservation, should moorage be tight in town.
Within walking distance of the city’s public docks, boaters will find groceries, a liquor store, a post office, a bakery, laundry facilities, restaurants, arts and crafts galleries and every type of marine repair and ship chandler a boater could need.
If hiking is something you enjoy, you may want to follow the local hiking trail out to Big Beach or even farther out to Amphritite Light, to get your land legs in shape.
If you get a chance, catch a ride to incredible Long Beach, to see its 12 miles of sandy beaches and huge surf that rolls in all the way from Asia. There is no moorage or shore access for boaters, so you’ll need to arrange land transportation from Ucluelet. If you arrive at Long Beach in the late afternoon, you can walk on the beach, then have a seafood dinner at the Wickaninnish Center and enjoy the sunset.
Bamfield
Just 22 miles across Barkley Sound, tucked in behind Mills Peninsula, is the boardwalk-fronted village of Bamfield, population 300. Bamfield was named for the region’s first European resident -- William Eddy Banfield -- but the earliest townspeople evidently had a spelling problem.
The small community occupies both sides of the inlet. The main modes of transportation here are boating or walking along the boardwalks that wind along the shore.
Bamfield has long been popular with sport anglers intent on catching the premier chinook salmon that can be found right off the entrance to the inlet. This year, however, the local chinook fishery is catch and release only.
Anglers are prohibited from keeping any chinook caught on the west coast of Vancouver Island during 1996. The Canadian department of fisheries has declared that the chinook stocks are too low -- despite the fact that sport anglers’ catches amounted to less than 1 percent of these fish stocks last year. Go figure.
Fortunately for fishing fanatics, there is still abundant fishing for coho, rockfish and halibut in Barkley Sound.
Boaters will find several public docks here. They can get quite busy at the height of the season, but there is ample anchorage available farther into the inlet, if needed. The ideal arrangement is to tie up in a spot where you can explore the many shops along the boardwalk, then sample the fare at one of the local restaurants.
The local general store is just above a public dock near the Bamfield Search and Rescue Station, one of two on the west coast of the island. (The other is located in Tofino.) Farther south is a Red Cross nursing station, with a float of its own.
Over on the east side, visitors will find a fuel dock, a government dock, a machine shop, a liquor store, a pub and hotels. Logging roads connect Bamfield to Port Alberni, and there is a boat launch on Grappler Inlet.
On the east shore as you enter the inlet, you’ll see a large concrete building on the bank. This building was once the eastern terminus of the Transpacific Cable, from 1902 to 1959. The connection from Bamfield to Australia -- with its longest run being a 4,000 mile stretch from Bamfield to Fanning Island -- completed the first around-the-world telegraph link.
Today, the building houses the Bamfield Marine Biological Station, operated by a consortium of Canadian universities that conduct marine research here.
If you decide to cruise to Bamfield, but want to meet friends there after you’ve already made the long passage north, you may want to have them drive up from Victoria and catch a ride on Lady Rose, a small freighter that makes the 30 mile journey from Port Alberni four times a week. It carries up to 100 passengers as it drops off mail, supplies and kayakers along the way.
Bamfield is the northern terminus of the famous West Coast Trail, or Shipwreck Trail, which has become an extremely popular trek for hikers each summer. A 30 minute walk will take you to Brady’s Beach, one of the most photographed spots on the coast, with sandy beaches and pillar rocks.
The West Coast Trail begins at Pachena Beach, 3 miles by road from Bamfield. Or, you could hike further to the Cape Beale Lighthouse. Built in 1873, it was the first light in service on the coast and still guides vessels to safe haven in Barkley Sound and Bamfield.
There’s a lot to see and do in the Barkley Sound area, for boaters who love the wide-open spaces. Consult your charts carefully, then get ready for some spectacular scenery in the sound’s remarkable cruising waters.
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This article first appeared in the September 1, 1996 issue of Sea Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
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