NW Explorations

2026 Vancouver Island 360 Flotilla – Day 14: Bacchante Bay to Ucluelet

Up at 6am, snaking through Clayoquot Sound's islands before crossing open ocean along Tofino. Sea otters, a humpback, kelp forests, long sandy beaches. The ride was smooth until we hit the harbor, where the swells picked up. Ucluelet offered time to s**tter—pizza dinners, the aquarium, beach walks, tide pooling, topping up groceries. Everyone chose their own adventure. Tomorrow we sneak 15 nautical miles deeper into Barkley Sound for more remote exploration.

https://www.nwexplorations.com/2026-vancouver-island-360-flotilla-day-14-bacchante-bay-to-ucluelet/

2026 Vancouver Island 360 Flotilla – Day 13: Bacchante Bay

A spectacular sunrise lit the treetops and fog against tall cliff faces. The whole flotilla met early and explored together; a waterfall, mossy forest floor, sword ferns, and rivers rushing to sea. At high tide we kayaked up Watta Creek, paddling as far as the rapids would let us. Quinn got through. John and Olivia got sucked back downstream. Tony went for a dip and laughed about it. The sun kept shining through a beautiful sunset. Tomorrow: Ucluelet.

https://www.nwexplorations.com/2026-vancouver-island-360-flotilla-day-13-bacchante-bay/

2026 Vancouver Island 360 Flotilla – Day 12: Santa Gertrudis to Bacchante Bay

Is was an exposed ride around the Hesquiat Peninsula. Some in dynamic offshore swells, others in rougher, less predictable water before all made it safely into Hot Springs Cove through impressive large swells. The boardwalk through old growth forest was rich with massive red cedars and Sitka spruces, deer ferns, banana slugs. By evening, rafted in Bacchante Bay, we watched the sun set over an estuary thick with mossy, lichen-covered trees and a boatload of mosquitos. Tomorrow: low tide dinghy exploration and kayaking up Watta Creek.

https://www.nwexplorations.com/2026-vancouver-island-360-flotilla-day-12-santa-gertrudis-to-bacchante-bay/

2026 Vancouver Island 360 Flotilla – Day 11: Tahsis to Yuquot

Low tide in Tahsis Inlet brought eight beach bears foraging on the exposed shore; some flipping rocks, others gnawing mussels, mamas teaching their cubs to eat. After a 20-mile run to Yuquot (Friendly Cove), we explored the lighthouse and old church, picked blackberries, talked with locals. Winds picking up, so we slipped around the corner and rafted up together in Santa Gertrudis Cove for the night. The water was warm—62 degrees—and the rain came heavy. Tomorrow: Hot Springs Cove.

https://www.nwexplorations.com/2026-vancouver-island-360-flotilla-day-11-tahsis-to-yuquot/

2026 Vancouver Island 360 Flotilla – Day 10: Bunsby Islands to Tahsis

The light played on trees and rocky islands through mist and fog. Dynamic weather patches of blue mixed with heavy rains and greys. As we left the protected islands, the wind picked up and we had a blast navigating choppy conditions. In Tahsis Narrows, a family of orcas were socializing and playing: a young one breaching and splashing again and again, elders slapping their tails and swimming upside down. The flotilla was beaming and laughing along with them. That evening in Tahsis village, everyone gathered at Westview Marina for dinner, trading stories and observations over a full day.

https://www.nwexplorations.com/2026-vancouver-island-360-flotilla-day-10-bunsby-islands-to-tahsis/

2026 Vancouver Island 360 Flotilla – Day 9: Bunsby Islands

A cozy day tucked in the Bunsby Islands, waiting out southerly winds and rain. Most stayed aboard catching up on sleep and novels; some baked and shared. At low tide, the keeners went exploring, discovering giant green anemones, ochre stars, shaggy mouse nudibranchs, and sculptins. The rugged beaches and forested mountains overwhelmed with beauty. Wolf s**t on the sand, their little forest trails hidden in the salal. Bones that might belong to a sea otter. Quinn patched new leaks while everyone rested. Tomorrow we head to Tahsis.

https://www.nwexplorations.com/2026-vancouver-island-360-flotilla-day-9-bunsby-islands/

2026 Vancouver Island 360 Flotilla – Day 8: Bull Harbour to Bunsby Islands

Day 8: 92 nautical miles of open ocean in a weather window. We crossed the Nahwiti Bar, Cape Scott, and the Brooks Peninsula—three major crossings that had Quinn and Olivia holding down breakfast while the experienced sailors shared chipper voices over the radio. Sooty shearwaters, albatross, tufted puffins appeared. Salmon sharks swam calmly past our bows. The Brooks Peninsula loomed and impressed. By nightfall, tucked behind Brooks in the Bunsby Islands, everyone was ready for rest.

https://www.nwexplorations.com/2026-vancouver-island-360-flotilla-day-8-bull-harbour-to-bunsby-islands/

2026 Vancouver Island 360 Flotilla – Day 7: Port Alexander to Bull Harbour

A quick 15-mile run to Bull Harbour to gear up for tomorrow's ocean passage. A transient orca bull swam past as they left. That evening, fishing for halibut came up empty-handed, but trolling rewarded us with pink and chum salmon so full of Dungeness crab larvae the bay's whole food chain was visible in one stomach. Bull Harbour is shallow and positioned perfectly for tomorrow's crossing—72 nautical miles to Klaskino Anchorage at slack tide. The ocean passage begins tomorrow.

https://www.nwexplorations.com/2026-vancouver-island-360-flotilla-day-7-port-alexander-to-bull-harbour/

2026 Vancouver Island 360 Flotilla – Day 6: Port McNeill to Port Alexander

We waited for a weather window in fog, tried and failed to anchor, and ended up raft-tied in Port Alexander instead, where a mama sea otter floated her fluffy pup on her chest in the kelp, and coho salmon hunted young herring everywhere. Quinn and Dougray caught their first salmon on the first bite. That night, they feasted together on Athena. On shore, the intertidal was alive—sea stars, anemones, hermit crabs—and deeper in the forest, a trail opened up through wetland and peat moss. S**t with small bones and hair, perhaps from a coastal wolf. In God's Pocket, a truly beautiful place for us to spend some time in.

https://www.nwexplorations.com/2026-vancouver-island-360-flotilla-day-6-port-mcneill-to-port-alexander/

2026 Vancouver Island 360 Flotilla – Day 5: Forward Harbour to Port McNeill

Johnstone Strait was glassy; so unusually smooth that even John and Olivia had never seen it that way. Pink salmon were jumping like mad in the current. Then Strait Watch radioed: Northern Residents moving through. The flotilla slowed, changed course, and 14 to 16 whales came directly toward them—a healthy family unit of young ones, large bulls, and females. What a thrill. Tomorrow we're heading to God's Pocket, where the water gets wilder and the nooks get more remote.

https://www.nwexplorations.com/2026-vancouver-island-360-flotilla-day-5-forward-harbour-to-port-mcneill/