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Mitlenatch Island - A wildlife paradise

7K views 26 replies 8 participants last post by  jrd22 
#1 ·
This is Mitlenatch Island, Located in the middle of the Salish sea on the inside of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Many unusual qualities make Mitlenatch Island what it is and there are no other islands anything like it in the Strait of Georgia.

Mitlenatch Island...very near the 50th parallel is where the currents around Vancouver Island meet. South of this island, it floods from the south and north of here, it floods from the north. On a big southeaster and a large flood looking north you will see very large confused seas caused by the seas piling out of discovery pass and looking south it will look quite manageable. Sometimes it can be quite dramatic.



Mitlenatch is a wind swept island in a rainshadow with very little percipitation during the year which gives it quite a different ecosystem than most others.



The best anchoring (I definately don't recomend overnight) is off the beach on the north side which seems to be pretty good. I usually anchor on the east side and in the small bay but I don't recomend it unless you are very comfortable with a couple of feet under your keel and a very short rode.



Here is the video I put together and I know it's long and drawn out but if you get about halfway through it you will see a gull that is pretty beaten up but should be OK. This is the result of fighting with eagles which during nesting season is quite common as the eagles will regularly attack the nests with some success. The gulls in turn seem to gang up on the eagles and chase them away. I drifted a little too close to the sealions in some of the footage which is obviously an annoyance to them and is a real no no which I'm fully aware of, but I figured I wouldn't waste the footage so I included some of it.



Sometimes loosely described as "The Galapagos of the Georgia Strait" many of the locals just call it "Bird Island". In any event, Mitlenatch is like no other island in the strait. Mitlenatch is an uninhabited seabird sanctuary with the largest seabird colony in the Strait of Georgia. It's a rocky island of mostly small shrubs, many different species of flowers, cactus, snakes and much more.







This is the bird blind located up one of the trails. Inside this blind you will see some bird identifying posters which are very handy.



The next two photos show the north side anchorage area that I would recommend particularly during a light to moderate Southeasterly but anything more, it's time to get out of there.







This island is spectacular at any time of the year and always chock-a-block full of wildlife but nesting season is the best.

 
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#3 ·
You won't be disappointed John. It's a little out of the way unless your heading up Johnstone Strait, Hoskyn or Sutil Channels but worth it. The best time to go is on a very calm day...it really comes to life. If you have time to kill to wait out the change at Seymour Narrows, this is the place to do it.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Great post, Steve.. That's one we've passed on so far.

Mittlenatch for us has always been that @&#%$* white rock you can see for hours before you actually get past it!:( :)

btw.. is that a local artist on your soundtrack?
 
#6 · (Edited)
Ha! Good description Fast. I think we will have to make a dedicated day trip out of it, maybe anchor at Cortez Bay and after taking the dog to shore (no dogs allowed on Mittle) in the morning high tail it down there and explore it and then either find a spot at Savary or the Copelands or Sturt B. It'll probably have to be on the way south because I can't see us taking the time to detour while going north when that close to Desolation and warm water for a swim:))
 
#8 · (Edited)
find a spot at Savary or the Copelands or Sturt B.
I have been by Mitlenatch way too many times to count. I do need to go sailing without having to conduct a course and do what I want to do.

John - I would make Savary my last choice. I have anchored there but with great trepidation. There is one spot near Indian Point that is OK, but there are many smaller boats on mooring balls taking up much of the space. There is one shallow (70') spot off the government dock. It is not really on the chart, I found it with a depth sounder. I used 200 feet of chain and 100 of nylon. I was working with a client who has a summer home there. We brought his boat up from Sidney to teach the kids to sail.

Why not go into Lund and enjoy Nancy's in the morning after a night in the pub, or the Laughing Oyster?
 
#7 ·
Faster, your description of Mitlenatch is about right and exactly how I quite often see it. Mittlenatch is likely my most regularly used aid for determining my position out there.

I often take day trips there from Campbell River or stop there on my way to the sunshine coast and even then it's a bit out of the way and seems to take forever to get there. By the way, there is a very old log cabin on the island and I believe it is the old Manson Family cabin from the days this island was used for sheep farming until I guess they figured the environment was a bit harsh in the winter. The cabin is wide open and filled with all kinds of treasures to look at or add to. During the summer, volunteers take turns camping on the island and basically act as watchmen and I think there's actually a waiting list.

John, your right...it's just that far out of the way that it needs to be a day trip there and back to somewhere sheltered. There are so many places to explore around here and a person can hit multiple spots all in one day as this one requires an entire day getting there, exploring and getting back so it's quite understandable and probably fortunate not to many cruisers go there. The beeches there are covered with some of the largest oysters around but unfortunately no touching. :(
 
#10 ·
Jack/Ron- Lund seems like an awfully tight squeeze to get in and out of the marina, do you tie to the outside of the floating breakwater or go inside?
The government dock always seems to be pretty full too when we've taken a look, no Impulse III to raft up to :))
 
#11 ·
Always go inside. The outside can pretty rolly as the water taxis and other boats start their morning runs. I have rafted up; contact the wharfinger, she will let you know where to go.

The hotel dock is really exposed.
 
#12 ·
As to the Laughing Oyster, it's on the Malaspina inlet side, right above the Okeover public dock.. so you can catch that without spending the night in Lund and hiking/cabbing over.

Honestly it's been years since we spent the night in Lund itself, lately we've just been using it as a drop-off/pick-up point for guests. It does usually look pretty crowded in season.
 
#15 ·
Cheers for sure John...it's just around the corner you know:D . This little bit of white will be all gone in a day or two. I need some sunshine, my boat is in dire need of some britework and re-bedding real bad I tell you.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Andrew, I suppose you could stay the night but it's very exposed and it can pipe up pretty quick and sometimes pretty big. Only 3 spots that are any good and all three are exposed to the most common winds. No trees on the island of any substantial height, just stunted fir so any wind will whistle right over the island and get you. It's really only a day trip unless very settled weather.
[edit] Oh ya, and the holding is iffy. The bay on the east side is very small, shallow, tricky and should really only be used in calm conditions.

[Edit] There are so many real good anchorages and little hidey holes real close to each other up and down this coast with such few boats, it's not really not worth staying here.

 
#18 ·
Now if I could get the roughly a month to go up that way with my little 30'r......twould be worth the stop. There is an island similar to this one east of Crane, SW of Orcas near Fishermans bay too. Not sure it is legal to walk on it tho..........

Marty
 
#20 ·
Marty...a month:confused: I think it takes JRD 3 days if I'm not mistaken. A couple of weeks would give you time to hang around Desolation Sound for a while.

Ya, I see Crane on my chart. I should get down that way again soon. I sailed to Friday Harbour back around 2004 or so, very nice place, really liked it.
 
#21 ·
JRD's boat probably goes 2-3 knots faster than mine! I ave 6 under power, 6.5 is hull speed. so probably 4-5 days for me one way from Edmonds, a day south of JRD! so add at least one day that way....... a month to visit etc and get back home........

Spent a summer installing a patio plus for a client on Crane. Pretty place.

marty
 
#24 ·
Marty- the island you are thinking about is Yellow Island, which is just west of McConnell, which is just west of Crane. It's a nature preserve and you can go walk around on it but there isn't much wildlife, most famous for it's carpet of yellow flowers in the spring.
Oh, and while I wish it were true that our boat goes 2-3 knots faster than you, we generally motor at around 6.25 K. Three days to Roscoe Bay if we point the nose north and don't get distracted on the way:))
 
#26 ·
So I would probably be 4+ with one day to the SJ's, then 3 plus depending upon how fast we motor at etc, usually upper 5's to 6 or so knots. Then one had currents...........

IT could be Yellow Island. One of them near it has a small train or appeared to have a train track running around it using binocs from the west sid of crane where I was working.

Marty
 
#27 ·
That would be McConnell Island. Apparently the original owner of the island built a small scale railway all around the island and had a small train that he used to run on it. He gave each of his three children a 1/3 of the island and you are correct, you can see parts of the railway if you look closely.
 
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