Broken Islands - British Columbia West Coast

Big surf · 13 July 2005, 18:12

A true paradise for small boats and kayaks. Located offshore of Vancouver Island, next stop Japan, you can experience the 20 foot open ocean swells, and near glass calm among the 100 or so small islands in the national marine park.

We spent a week camping there, my 15 ft Aluminum Rib is inthe forefront.

boatster · 14 July 2005, 20:18

More pictures. More story please.

tim griffin · 14 July 2005, 20:32

Is that near where Kevin Tomsett has his school for the Canadian Coast guard

Pookay · 14 July 2005, 21:36

Drove past all the islands on the way to and from Whistler this year. Looking out at the sea, was very inviting -even tho Feb and would have been bloody cold.

Very envious- which you don't say veryoften with the Solent and Priory onmy doorstep.

prairie tuber · 15 July 2005, 06:17

How do you Like the Polaris? Is that the 4.75m aluminum hulled Spirit? I met Guy at the Langley Plant about a year and a half ago and was totally impressed by the construction quality of their aluminum hulled RIBs. Please post up more pictures.

Big surf · 15 July 2005, 16:56

Pookay, I believe you drove up Howe Sound to get to Whistler, the Broken Islands are on the west coast of Vancouver Island, you need to take a ferry over to the big island, drive across Vancouver island (3 hrs) to the west side, launch from an old logging road in the middle of nowhere and cross a few miles of open ocean to get the Broken Islands. It's not quite the end of the earth, but you can see it from there. Incredible fishing for halibut and salmon if your into that. If you enjoy diving, the area is known as the graveyard of the northwest pacific. Within the Broken Islands, a car carrier from korea? with no navigation electronics entered the area in the 1980's, hit a reef, and sat for years above water at low tide, with hundreds of Dodge Colts on board. Most were eventually salvaged but one day the carrier broke in half and sunk to a shallow depth. Divers can sit in Dodge Colts still on board. The Broken Islands is also near the northern terminus of the famous West Coast Trail (at least its famous to German's who seem to flock there in abundance), which again was originally built in the late 1800's to help the many shipwreck victims survive if they did eventually make it to shore. It is about a 70 km hike along the coast along the beach and through old growth rainforest. No towns, no road access and marginal boat access. Just you and your pack for 5-7 days. I did this hike and it was quite the remote feeling. Three days we didn't see a soul. However it is quite popular now and I believe they limit numbers and charge fees etc. If you got a month to kill this area would be a great place to do it. Time, time, never enough.

Big surf · 10 August 2005, 20:09

Another pic of same area for your enjoyment

Big surf · 10 August 2005, 20:15

OOps, I'll try again

prairie tuber · 11 August 2005, 06:12

Tell us about the Polaris RIB!!!

Big surf · 11 August 2005, 18:00

Yes it is the 4.75m Aluminum 2003 "Spirit" model. They have a web site if your interested.

I like the aluminum hull, the only disadvantage being a less sophisticated hull design compared to fiberglass, less chines, etc and likely a less appealing interior versus the molded lockers etc you can get with fiberglass. I'm not sure why they are less popular, they do cost a bit more, however they are virtually indestructible and probably have four times the strength of fiberglassd and somewhat lighter. Great for beaching on stone , pebbles etc, I never worry about that stuff. Ten years from know it will look exactly the same.

The boat does 33 mph max with the Honda 50 and cruise nicely at 25 mph @4500rpm using 7 liters/hour. If I was to do it again I would have went one foot longer (would still fit in the garage) and power with the new fuel injected Yam 60 , giving about 5 mph more. The Honda's a good motor but I have some idle issues to resolve.

I don't think you can find much better construction than Polaris, I looked at many. The transom/tube connection is the best I've seen, using a 1/3 circumference foot wide aluminum curve, welded into the transom, into which the tube snugs into. Because the aluminum can be formed thin, the reinforced rubbed material used to hold the tube on forms right over the aluminum and then onto the tube giving a very large contact area. 19" tubes as well, a little bigger than most for this size boat. Almost all their business is word of mouth, which tells you something right off, no distributors or dealers and they sell every boat they can make.

They only negatives I would guess for my RIB is it could use a bit more bow deadrise, the fit and finish, although well done, sturdy and functional is less appealing than comparably priced formed fiberglass hulls, and a bit more hull speed would have been nice. I've had zero quality issues with the boat. The seaworthiness is impressive, five foot seas provide little concern. I took it through a four breaking wave (where the Fraser river meets the ocean) with an instructor in order to swamp it, had the wave break right over the nose and fill the boat, gave her gas and she lifted and drained right over the transom before the next wave. The bilge pumped out the few remaining gallons and we were away. I was impressed, although my legs were wet.

If you have specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them. I spent about 24K CAD on the boat, kind of pricey, but operating costs are low. It is difficult to find them relatively new, yet used, and the price doesn't seem to drop much.

prairie tuber · 12 August 2005, 04:38

Thanks for the info Big surf. That is very helpful, I'm considering some various options right now.