Overnight on the hook

[SaltyAlice]

G'day!

I'm thinking I'd like to overnight on SaltyAlice one of these days so I can put the lines in first thing in the morning. Less about the fishing and more about the experience.

SaltyAlice isn't a huge boat and I'll just be sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag, but I like the idea of tucking into some protected bay for the evening.

Where are your favourite spots to drop anchor and catch 40 winks? Does the novelty wear off pretty quickly?

Looking at options both around Howe Sound/Gulf Islands as well as Barkley Sound.

Thanks, all!

 

[RiverBoy]

I’ve done it solo on my small boat . i have a center console and i custom made a piece of plywood and put a blow up mattress on it. then i spread a tarp over top the whole thing. It was cool but the one thing i didn’t factor in was the boat swinging on the pick into shallower water than i wanted it to. boat started bumping on rocks about 3am then i had to try and move the boat half asleep and in the dark by myself. VERY unsafe.
i would throw out two anchors, one off the bow and one off the stern with lots of scope and you’ll be fine.

my plywood bed doubles as a table on the stern bow rail. setup my portable bbq, nice steaks and a nice bottle of red listening to tunes, watching the sun set is my idea of paradise.

 

[Foxsea]

If you watch the tides and weather there aren't a lot of bad places to overnight in the Gulf Islands and the Broken or Deer Group. For a good rest, stay away from the most popular places, fish farms, gill netters and log booms (they tend to move them at night.) I like a sheltered spot with a good bottom and a beach nearby, with a view to the west for the sunset, as R.B. says. Check out the San Juans, as well.

I've been boat camping for 50 years and it never gets stale. Some of the best days and nights of my life have been spent anchored out! ... and it's free.

 

[finaddict]

My cuddy allows me to overnight with "relative Comfort" (relative in that I have a little bit of cushion and a tiny closet to sleep in). The Novelty will NEVER wear off. The evenings are usually just so tranquil, but nothing compares to the stillness and murmured sounds of an early morning waking up and crawling out of the cuddy.

The very best part of overnighting is the discovery of tiny little hideaways where larger boats just are unable to anchor. The gulf islands has literally hundreds of those spots. Two anchors or an anchor and a stern line to shore works really well. As long as you are tucked away from the winds and are > 20 feet of water at low tide you can consider it as a place. Know the tide swing expected on that night, know the weather forecast and be aware of who is in the same vicinity and you will be fine. For Howe Sound, all 3 inlets on Gambier, or Keats Island are good. For the Gulf Islands, you will find hundreds of tiny little coves and protected bays to enjoy. Y

 

[Chuck]

Use canvas on the back and turn it into somewhat of a tent. Best thing ever, fish a lot longer through the day, save a ton of cash on lodges and fuel. I now stay on the hook all over the coast. Just make sure low tide will not be too low as in what you’ve experienced.

 

[Oly1]

We usually depart Prince Rupert docks, jump on the boat and that’s the last time my feet touch shore for a week. Always the best weeks of the year by far. Try to do that a few times each year and as always we can’t wait for the next experience.

Next week is the first time this year and can’t wait. Weeks worth of time that always seems to go too fast.

Oly

 

[halimark]

Just got home from 7 nights on the hook, 2 nights at home and off for another 4 nights. Left boat North Island, next trip (Mon-Friday) is fishing only. Never gets tired, yes the cuddy is cozy. Cruising the beaches looking, saw 40+ grizzly, 4 deer and untold blacks, 1 beauty came home with me. 1 anchorage had 6ft under boat at lowest tide. You need to understand the tides, currents, wind and have a spot searched out. Also backup as it sucks going into your planned anchorage and there is someone already there.

Go do it, little things make the trips, mink swam out and tried getting in with me, hummingbird in boat for rest. Making life memories. Fast forget the discomforts, but will remember these trips for life.

HM

 

[Sharphooks]

Nothing better then firing up the stove on the water, making a cup of coffee, then pulling up the anchor and dropping your gear in the water at 0'dark-thirty.

Rule number one to maintain peace of mind when boat camping to avoid the launch ramp mayhem at dawn:

Get the best anchor you can afford and size it so it's a bit bigger then your boat requires. Then shackle it to a length of chain at least 1 and 1/2 times the length of your boat and put a flagging-tape marker on your anchor line that reflects a scope of 3:1 based on dropping the hook in 6 meters of water.

That amount of scope at that depth will keep your boat off the rocks and mud on just about any tide change in the Pacific Northwest. Yes, the books will tell you to use a 5:1 scope but with the right anchor and length of chain, a 3:1 scope minimizes the swing of the boat in a tight anchorage.

One last thing--- Dropping two anchors = Bad advice. If the wind comes up, especially against a tide-change, you'll want the boat to swing with it so the bow is into the blow, especially if the waves pick up with the wind

 

[kaelc]

Great thread as I finally have a boat worth doing this for in derby's. As an aside, anyone ever overnight for Halibut on the hook? Put the old bells on the rods?

 

[Fisherman Rob]

A clothesline anchor system works great for this. You are tied to shore, as well as anchored. I connect both ropes ( two 150' braided anchor line joined with a triple fisherman's bend for 300' "clothesline") to the bow eye with a snap hook on a swivel, so the boat can still swing in the wind, but doesn't need a lot of space, you'll fit into the smallest of crannies. It hooks in really well because swinging around wont drag your anchor in all directions. You'll need to adapt it a bit so you can pull yourself out while on the boat. This site has a good explanation:

http://navigatorjoel.blogspot.com/2011/11/clothesline-anchoring-revisited.html.

When you are approaching the shoreline, at about 150' out, drop the anchor and slowly approach the beach letting out the two ropes. Then once ashore, fix the snap hook to the bow, tie to log on shore, and pull the boat back out via the clothesline. It take a bit of practice to judge the distance, and you need to keep the ropes sorted, but once you have the technique it's very straight forward and very secure. The set up works for anchoring normally as well.

Also, ear plugs.