Sooke to Bamfield

[jeffywestcoast]

Did you mean 38 Nautical Miles?? If your working in Km’s it’s more like 65km from Port Alberni to Bamfield . I agree , you would have to be doing well over 70kms/ hour to get there in less than hour

right sorry 38 miles , i have done it i. the lifetimer but as said on here the afternoon winds in the canal can make it an absolute nightmare, im usually leaving afterwork on a friday so i just take my time and go slow on the gravel from lake cowichan, takes me about 2.5 -3 hrs from lake cowichan , just need to be prepared, fullsize spare, spare bearing and the tools to change it out. once you hit Ninat the gravel is in not bad shape.

 

[N2013]

That stretch of water is called The Graveyard of the Pacific for a reason. Having said that, you can run anywhere in a boat. All depends on weather & water conditions. The Bluffs can be unsafe, hell even coming around Whiffin Spit on a ripping tide can be unsafe. I think we all have enough of a conscious to tell a stranger that they're better off trailering to Alberni. Perhaps our recommendation would be different if we knew what type of boat, power, and seamanship they had. I think it'd be a pretty cool run to do but I'd like to go with another boat, just for safety.

 

[wolf]

Well sure you can do it anyone can but ive seen it flat calm here and heard boys in renny are canceling and or vice versa last 10 years or so our weather on coast id say is well more unpredictable, a few years back a buddy of mine phoned me asked how sooke was as he was trying to get home from bamfield and he had to turn back around as beale had 15 foot seas and I said it was flat calm he had to stay for another 3 days to wait it out all the time sooke was flat calm? So you have to ask your self is it worth it?
The drive towing boat was not hard at all and the run in the canal was sweet. I guess it comes down to how much you respect the ocean. sooke to bamfied is close to 72 NM so given that on the BEST ideal conditions 3 hours being flat calm but realistically 4, and god help you if you have to rely on someone if something happens, and gravel road doing roadside repairs and changing tires on gravel doesnt sound like fun to me . sorry ill trailer it everytime on paved roads and spend the hour running up, I don't want any more STRESS in my life...

 

[Nugget]

What time do you guys find the canal starts to die down in terms of wind? Might have to run it this July and was hoping to launch in Alberni around 3-3:30pm

 

[habberdasher]

Well sure you can do it anyone can but ive seen it flat calm here and heard boys in renny are canceling and or vice versa last 10 years or so our weather on coast id say is well more unpredictable, a few years back a buddy of mine phoned me asked how sooke was as he was trying to get home from bamfield and he had to turn back around as beale had 15 foot seas and I said it was flat calm he had to stay for another 3 days to wait it out all the time sooke was flat calm? So you have to ask your self is it worth it?
The drive towing boat was not hard at all and the run in the canal was sweet. I guess it comes down to how much you respect the ocean. sooke to bamfied is close to 72 NM so given that on the BEST ideal conditions 3 hours being flat calm but realistically 4, and god help you if you have to rely on someone if something happens, and gravel road doing roadside repairs and changing tires on gravel doesnt sound like fun to me . sorry ill trailer it everytime on paved roads and spend the hour running up, I don't want any more STRESS in my life...

That’s how we used to do it just got caught in the fog once. I am not sure what the fishing is like now but we from time to time thought we would have been better off to fish Sooke. I knew a person that perished at cape Beale-