First overnight trip - help and advice appreciated please
- Thread starter the butcher
- Start date
Sir Reel
Well-Known Member
Its just a whole bunch easier and less stress about anchoring. The dock becomes an extension of your boat
SpringFever552
Well-Known Member
All good advice above,
Ill add, if your traveling with a member of the female gender and dont have a toilet on board, bathrooms at the dock in the evenings/ mornings are soo very important
reeltordarius
Well-Known Member
Somewhere that hasn't been mentioned yet that is a fantastic place.....Plumper on Keats! Althought it's not in the Gulf Islands, it's a fantastic spot to learn the ropes with overnighting. There's a great dock and plenty of mooring buoys, in addition to the fact that there's also unreservable camping (if the kids want to be in a tent instead of on the boat). It's been a go-to place for us for the last few years in our 17' Arima....and this year in our Tolly we've already been there 3 times. Gibson's is also a 5 minute boat ride away, great restaurants/beer/ice cream etc. Also, there's a nice simple hike on Keats that will take you to a Barnabus....the ice cream spot that the kids will kill for. Good luck!
dmurph
Well-Known Member
This would be a good option also, I’ve done this minus the Barnabus and it’s enjoyable some good eats at Gibsons just watch out fir the ferry wake in the outside side docks on plumper, almost ripped by boat off the dock lol. Close run from the north arm though.
reeltordarius
Well-Known Member
There is a "coveted" spot @ Plumper....something I'll keep to myself....
Oh that is very exciting. I'm heading out with my 7 year old for our annual father/son in 2 days, we are going to the broughtons but we are old hands at this (i started when he was 3) and we always have a hoot. its my favorite type of vacation! alot of great advice here, a couple extra pieces of advice from experience:
1. get the biggest anchor you are comfortable carrying. And make sure its a quality one, i started with a "hooker" anchor, it was a POS, dragged all the time and i bent it bringing it up with my old boat (25hp) once. Now i have a genuine casted danforth and it always gets a good hook. Quality and Size is your friend for newbies.
2. Make sure you have at least your boat length in chain before the rope. I use 30 feet for my 24LOA and it works perfect. Heavier to bring up mind you but the chain is almost an anchor on its own.
2. 19 feet is tight but i have a 22 and it works just fine. The kids just need stuff to do. Bring some toys or whatever else they like, but no ipads or iphones they will love it. just advice. bring a rod and reel and they can practice casting, my son last year kept hooking into 15 pound dogfish in this one anchorage at nootka island off the bow it was hilarious they kept snapping the line on his crappy tire rod but it kept him busy long enough for me to make dinner!
3. Anchor drag: i dont use this generally, in case your gps barfs at night it could go off uncessarily, and let me tell you nothing gets you awake like that damn alarm going off at 3am. I set the depth alarm with a range instead, more reliable, and did work to keep me off the rocks the first time i did it 5 years ago at Jedediah and my lousy anchor slipped. That was a rough night, 1 year old screaming, etc lol fun times!
4. I wont lie to you, no one really sleeps well on their first few anchor sets, especially if there is wind blowing in. I watch the wind like my life depends on it, especially in a smaller, lighter boat. The con of small boats is that they get sloshed around and make it hard to sleep but the pro is that you can tuck into tight spaces where bigger boats cant go, and get you the protection you need from prevailing winds.
5. bring a dinghy or some sort of flotation thing to get to shore. i haul around a 9 footer with a 4hp which is awesome to do adventures but its really fun and keeps the kids busy.
6. The stern line is great and in tight spaces you will need it, especially in the overcrowded gulf islands. this is why i always go far, we barely ever see anyone where we go (Desolation, Clayoquot, Nootka and now broughtons so far). I have 600 feet, which allows me to take it to a anchor loop or tree on shore and bring it back to the boat. never tie a knot to the shore (dont ask me how i know), always bring it back to the boat, and it makes leaving way easier you dont need to go to shore.
7. when you set the anchor start in shallower water like around 10-15 feet at low tide to make it easier to get a set. make sure you check your tides so you dont end up high and dry at LT in the middle of the night. When you drop the hook the chain will follow it down like a lead balloon try to avoid just piling it like that go slow on release while you're in reverse otherwise the chain will make a rats nest on the anchor and cause it to fail (again, dont ask how i know this haha)
HAVE FUN! i'm so excited for our trip.
1. get the biggest anchor you are comfortable carrying. And make sure its a quality one, i started with a "hooker" anchor, it was a POS, dragged all the time and i bent it bringing it up with my old boat (25hp) once. Now i have a genuine casted danforth and it always gets a good hook. Quality and Size is your friend for newbies.
2. Make sure you have at least your boat length in chain before the rope. I use 30 feet for my 24LOA and it works perfect. Heavier to bring up mind you but the chain is almost an anchor on its own.
2. 19 feet is tight but i have a 22 and it works just fine. The kids just need stuff to do. Bring some toys or whatever else they like, but no ipads or iphones they will love it. just advice. bring a rod and reel and they can practice casting, my son last year kept hooking into 15 pound dogfish in this one anchorage at nootka island off the bow it was hilarious they kept snapping the line on his crappy tire rod but it kept him busy long enough for me to make dinner!
3. Anchor drag: i dont use this generally, in case your gps barfs at night it could go off uncessarily, and let me tell you nothing gets you awake like that damn alarm going off at 3am. I set the depth alarm with a range instead, more reliable, and did work to keep me off the rocks the first time i did it 5 years ago at Jedediah and my lousy anchor slipped. That was a rough night, 1 year old screaming, etc lol fun times!
4. I wont lie to you, no one really sleeps well on their first few anchor sets, especially if there is wind blowing in. I watch the wind like my life depends on it, especially in a smaller, lighter boat. The con of small boats is that they get sloshed around and make it hard to sleep but the pro is that you can tuck into tight spaces where bigger boats cant go, and get you the protection you need from prevailing winds.
5. bring a dinghy or some sort of flotation thing to get to shore. i haul around a 9 footer with a 4hp which is awesome to do adventures but its really fun and keeps the kids busy.
6. The stern line is great and in tight spaces you will need it, especially in the overcrowded gulf islands. this is why i always go far, we barely ever see anyone where we go (Desolation, Clayoquot, Nootka and now broughtons so far). I have 600 feet, which allows me to take it to a anchor loop or tree on shore and bring it back to the boat. never tie a knot to the shore (dont ask me how i know), always bring it back to the boat, and it makes leaving way easier you dont need to go to shore.
7. when you set the anchor start in shallower water like around 10-15 feet at low tide to make it easier to get a set. make sure you check your tides so you dont end up high and dry at LT in the middle of the night. When you drop the hook the chain will follow it down like a lead balloon try to avoid just piling it like that go slow on release while you're in reverse otherwise the chain will make a rats nest on the anchor and cause it to fail (again, dont ask how i know this haha)
HAVE FUN! i'm so excited for our trip.
