central coast anchorages

In 2024 we traveled through the central coast of British Columbia to get to us se alaska, we gathered notes on several anchorages that we've stopped at on this page.

See also more detailed posts: fury cove.

To view all of stops, see Summer 2024 route

Blunden Harbour

After leaving Allison Harbour, we moved over to Blunder Harbour to cut the distance to trip to Port McNeill the next day. 2 boats lay at anchor in the bay, there was already quite a bit of wind in here, we anchored way south of the boats in 50 ft. There was some fetch back there, but the whole bay appeared windy. We had read a comment somewhere about Blunder Harbour, saying that laying at anchor here was like anchoring out in Queen Charlotte Strait, minus the wind waves- we found that to be accurate. 15-20 knots were blowing outside, and 15-20 knots made it inside. It made for a very breezy day at anchor. Other boats came into the bay later in the day, but we had the south end to ourselves. The holding was good in mud. We were there in early August, the typical pattern in the summer is for the wind to abate at night, so we had a very quiet night at anchor. Blunder Harbour may be more pleasant with less wind, it's not especially scenic, either, it is very useful though as a stopover on the way to somewhere else, because it is big there will always be room and that is a comforting thought.

Allison Harbour

In early August, after rounding Cape Caution we came to anchor here. We went to the head of the bay, anchoring in 30 ft. The wind was coming into the anchorage that day, we thought it strange for 15-20 NW winds to enter the bay from the entrance - we later found out the forecast had changed to 15-20 SW winds - either way, we held fine on the mud bottom, but there were a few wavelets entering the anchorage. We would have preferred a quieter spot to anchor, but overall it was fine. The boat was enveloped in fog come morning, it dissipated before we left the anchorage, thankfully. The chain and anchor came up very, very muddy, took a while to clean off afterwards.

Millbrook Cove

We stopped in Millbrook Cove on our way north(May) and south(August). In May, we shared the anchorage with 2 other boats the first night, then just one. We stayed for 2 nights because of strong NW winds in the forecast(25-35 NW). Millbrook Cove doesn't protect well from strong winds, it is very gusty in there, but we did not drag anchor. We anchored in 30 ft both times. Southbound, we found 2 other boats at anchor, wind was 10-20 out of the NW. We entered Millbrook via the pass on the west side, it helps to cut some distance when entering the anchorage from the north. Even if it's a gusty anchorage, we wouldn't hesitate to stop here again, it is well placed, and the holding is good in mud. There are a few obstructions in the anchorage, like a few pillings, but all are in the shallower areas.

Shearwater

We spent one night at the Shearwater Marina in late July, to fill our water but also to stock up on groceries and dispose of trash and recyclabes. It costs us 72$CAD(with tax, our boat is 33 ft), we didn't take power. It is not super cheap, but it is a very convenient stop. On the docks there is both potable and non-potable water, each hose is well marked. If someone else is filling their tank on the dock the flow of water will be very slow. The grocery store is well-stocked, with a lot of bulk quantities for things like flour, cornmeal, peanuts, pasta etc. The bread is all frozen, there is a limited but good selection of fresh produce, we bought carrots, zucchini, cabbage etc. Their recycling system is very well-organized, everything is separated. They provide a space for compost too, a very rare thing in marinas. Shearwater has a boatyard adjacent to the marina, it's possible to dispose of trash and oil there(next to the recycling). Near the grocery is a really nice laundromat(lots of machines, unlike most marinas), along with showers(1$ for 2 minutes).

Shearwater was a very worthwhile stop, the fuel dock is right next to the marina, they have diesel, gasoline, and even propane. Note that fuel here is way more expensive than in Port McNeill or Prince Rupert.

Kwakume Inlet

We entered the bay with some NW winds, some swell was entering the anchorage(just wavelets), so we didn't anchor in the south part of the entrance, we went further into the bay and anchored south of the rock in the back bay(not the inner cove). We get a bit more NW winds here than if we hugged the northern shore, but we were expecting a few days of southerlies so settling near the south shore made more sense(we don't like to move).

The depths here are very reasonable, we anchored in 27 ft at LW(37 ft at HW) in what appears to be mud. A rock lies just in the middle of the main entrance to Kwakume Inlet. Because we entered at LW, we could see the rock in the back bay, it was also very obvious because a single seal was laying overtop. The seal stayed a long while, until the rock was near-submerged, making it appear as if the seal was floating above the water.

Kisameet Bay

Kisameet Bay is on King Island in Fitz Hugh Sound, it's a well-protected set of islets, with reasonable anchoring depths in the northeast corner, but unfortunately another sailboat was already anchored there when we arrived, spots astern of the boat were a bit deeper so we went to the west of the little islet, just north of some submerged reefs. We didn't try and anchor past the sailboat because was saw a large mooring buoy there, as well as a crab pot. A dock also lies on the northeast corner of the bay. At high tide we were anchored in 55 ft.

We were there with 10-15 NW winds, it came through the gap in the islands to the west, but it was still very well-shieded. We saw a momma bear and her cub swimming across from the little islets back to the main island one morning, I would have missed it if Devine hadn't pointed them out to me(I was busy pulling in the anchor rode at the bow).

Codville Lagoon

Codville Lagoon(52°3.667'N, 127°50.278'W) is located on the western side of King Island, past Fitz Hugh Sound in Fisher Channel. It's a neat place, a big bay carved into the side of the island. The entrance is straightforward, even if a rock borders its northern half. Looking at it on a chart, it is narrower than it looks, there is plenty of room, even with the rock blocking part of the way. A thing to note though is that the flood seems to flow into the anchorage, rather than out. It wasn't too strong when we exited, but we did slow down a little.

There are many different spots to anchor in, but the east cove is the most popular because that's where a trail head to Sager Lake begins. The bottom there appears to be rock, we had no trouble with holding, even when wind started to funnel in from the entrance, putting us into an uncomfortable lee shore for a short time. The wind never stayed, but it did put us stern to shore a few times that day, it's never nice. We were there on May 23rd, it may be nice and relaxing in the summer, we didn't get to go hiking because the weather was terrible, and the wind putting us stern to shore wasn't reassuring, we didn't think it was a good idea to leave the boat alone. Still, this is a very scenic anchorage, it is worth stopping for. Prior to entering the lagoon, some humpback whales were jumping out the water in the north part of Lagoon Bay, south of Nob Point. We had cell reception here, it wasn't always 100%, but we were able to check messages and the weather.

Lizzie Bay

Lizzie Bay(52°3.179'N, 128°5.227'W) was not our first choice, we had aimed to get to Discovery Harbour that day, but we didn't realize that in Lama Passage, the current floods east. The flood from Lama Passage meets with the flood from Fitz Hugh Sound somewhere between the east entrance to Lama Passage and Fog Rocks, past that point it flows north(and ebbs south). We fought the current for a while to get through, it wasn't too strong, but it wasn't ideal. Because the current wasn't in our favor, we decided to stop in Lizzie Bay on the north of Hunter Island, an anchorage in Lama Passage (early in the passage). The entrance to Lizzie Bay is a bit tricky, because there are many obstructions in the entrance, but the worse is that there are two uncharted rocks, reported as notes on Navionics by a local fisherman. The rest of the tricky bits are well documented in Waggonner and other cruising guides.

This bay is not especially scenic, but it's well shielded from weather(we had 20-30 NW winds), and the holding is good. Floating buildings lay in the south east part of the bay, not documented on charts or on Navionics(you can see it partially on the satellite version if you have internet) occupying a lot of room. There is also a small dock on the southeast side. We found plenty of room to anchor in 30 feet, near the floating docks. We had excellent cell reception here, due to the anchorage's proximity to Bella Bella and Shearwater. We caught the ebb the next morning and headed for Seaforth Channel. Note that in Seaforth Channel, the ebb runs west, and the flood runs east, the current is strongest near Dryad Pt, at the opening to the ocean it didn't appear to be especially strong.

Higgins Passage

Our anchoring spot: 52°28.437'N, 128°44.452'N.

After sailing around the bottom of Price Island, we aimed our bow northward and tucked into Higgins Passage, entering from the west. Higgins Passage also has an eastern entrance, but only for small or boats with shallow drafts on big tides. We had aimed to go to Parsons that day, but we were tired and chose to go there instead. The entrance, like many anchorages on this coast, are full of reefs, both seen and unseen. When the waves are rough they break on the unseen ones, making them visible. The obstructions are all charted, but you have to pay very close attention to where you are going, especially if like us, you chose to enter through the path that is closest to shore (52°27.685'N, 128°46.332'W -> 52°27.911'N, 128 46.097'W -> 52°28.357'N, 128°56.982'W -> 52°28.497'N, 128°45.632'W -> then you're home free). There are many many reefs to avoid, and I mean many. We had south winds blowing, but a spit of land just south of the pass kept the waves down. The easier path is east of Kipp Islet (52°28.564'N, 128°47.062'W).

Higgins Passage feels huge, it's really well protected from weather and seems like it would be really fun to explore by dinghy. While we entered, we spotted some kayaker's on the beach. We had 25-35 knot winds from the south and felt very safe here, holding was excellent. I can't stress this enough, this place is absolutely lovely, we would love to see it in calm weather.

On exit, you can take the Kipp Islet pass, but because we exited with some south winds so we took the north pass to get a bit of protection from the many islands and reefs along the shore (our rough path: 52°29.028'N, 128°46.219'W -> 52°29.124'N, 128°47.098'W -> 52°29.271'N, 128°47.422'W). It does get rough there, the waves are very messy once past the protection of the reefs. If you choose to do this, be very, very careful. We wanted to leave with south winds so we had to endure it, we motor sailed out just to be certain that we kept control of the boat, so as to not drift too far towards the shore. All was fine in the end, exiting from Higgins Passage with a north wind ought to be easy. No problems with VHF reception, no cell reception.