Princess Louisa Inlet is one of the crown jewels for boaters and this past year we were able to basque in her beauty. Unfortunately we were a little unlucky in our timing as by the end of August 2018, the British Columbia wild fires had grown so tremendously that it set a record. Although we experienced the fjords in the thick of the smoke, we were still in awestruck.
Knowing that we had to transit through Malibu Rapids at exactly slack tide we spent the previous night in Deserted Bay. The bay definitely lived up to its name as there was no one around and with the thick smoke it was especially eerie.
The next morning we woke to some excitement and nerves as we knew one of my bucket list items was a short 2 hour motor away. We made the rapids at about 10 mins after slack and The Skipper handled the 2-3 knot current with ease. Boating traffic was fairly minimal and everyone radioed their approach respectfully.
Even with the smoky air, you can see and feel the surrounding beauty. Since this was our first time and eyes were keeping watch on everyone coming and going, I was more comfortable picking up a mooring buoy at MacDonald Island as oppose to tying up to the dock or anchoring right in front of Chatterbox Falls. Looking back I wished I had more confidence in anchoring. Sleeping to the sound of Chatterbox Falls would have been a once in a lifetime experience.
We had quite a bit of privacy at MacDonald Island with only one other yacht on the opposite buoy. Once all was in place we stretched our legs ashore and did a little exploring. Chatterbox Falls indeed lived up to its reputation. We were both hypnotized and ended up spending a fair amount of time just being present.
Since it was later in the season there didn’t seem to be much of a crowd…which we LOVED.
The one great thing about these types of places that are only accessible by boat (and seaplane) is that it does limit the crowd size.
We ended up only staying one night in Jervis Inlet since we knew it would take most of our day to head back out of the inlet and north towards Delosation Sound.
Although our time in Princes Louisa Inlet was brief, we felt it’s enormity and left feeling so fortunate to have experienced its beauty.
Fair Winds,
City Girl
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