Princesa Channel West Coast Vancouver Island

Princesa Channel West Coast Vancouver Island.  Princesa Channel runs between Bodgea Island and Strange Island, and connects Tahsis and Kendrick inlets.  A route through Princesa Channel gets a boat out of the Tahsis Inlet chop and cuts some distance off a passage for southbound boats heading to Friendly Cove, but the Tahsis Inlet entrance to Princesa Channel is narrow and partly guarded by underwater rocks.

From Tahsis Inlet to Kendrick Inlet (east to west) the problem is the flood tide.  The flood current flows northward into Tahsis Inlet, and a boat entering Princesa Channel will find a definite northward set to its course.  This northward set will tend to put the boat onto a submerged rock charted about 200 feet north of the Princesa Channel light, at the east entrance to Princesa Channel.  Don Douglas, in his book Exploring Vancouver Island’s West Coast, believes the rock is closer to 100 feet from the light.  Whether 100 feet or 200 feet, the rock is not far away.  The goal is to wrap around the Princesa Channel light but avoid yet another charted rock south of the light, while not being set onto the rock 100 to 200 feet north of the light.  Chart 3675 shows the rocks clearly.  Study the chart and you will understand not only the challenge but the decisions required to meet the challenge.

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