Sechelt Rapids Skookumchuck Narrows
Sechelt Rapids. On large tidal exchanges, Sechelt Rapids can run 16.5 knots, the world record holder. Sechelt Rapids, also known as the Skookumchuck Rapids provides the only water access to Sechelt Inlet.
Times of turn and maximum current are shown in the Tide and Current Tables, Vol. 5 and in Ports and Passes. Sechelt Rapids can be extremely dangerous except at or near slack water. At full flow, the rapids are boiling cauldrons with 8-foot overfalls and 12 to 16-knot currents. Even an hour before slack, when many other rapids may have calmed down, the Sechelt Rapids can be menacing. Traverse the rapids only at slack water. Be aware of where you are time-wise in the lunar cycle. When close to or on a full moon or a new moon, the period of slack water is short. When the rapids are running at full strength this area is deadly.
lacking prior experience, do not go through without accurate charts for Sechelt Rapids and Secret Bay. Sailing Directions says the best route through the rapids is west of Boom islet (choked with kelp, but safe) and west of the Sechelt islets light.
We, however, have run a dogleg course without discomfort through the middle of the channel, between the Sechelt Islets and the unnamed islets directly north of the Sechelt Islets. This area is where dangerous whirlpools can develop on ebbs, so be careful. Give Roland Point a wide berth, especially in a flood.
Either direction, Sechelt Rapids are just fine at slack, and if you time it well (easily done) you’ll slide through with no problems at all. But when the rapids are running, their roar can be heard for miles. Lives have been lost there.
Before making your own entrance it can be instructive to walk to the rapids for the public dock in Egmont to watch the channel in full boil.
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