Hi all, I just got back from a three week cruise through the Broughtons Archipelago. If you're not familiar with the area, it's an amazing group of islands and inlets located between the northern end of Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. There were four of us on the trip, two M17's, a San Juan 21, and a Compac Eclipse. This is a group of friends that I've cruised with many times before through the San Juans, the Gulf Islands, the Sunshine Coast with Princess Louisa Inlet, and Desolation Sound. The Broughtons is a beautiful area to cruise and certainly worth the trip up there. We had pretty little anchorages every night, whale sightings (both Humpbacks and Orcas), at least 10 bears, bald eagles, king fishers, and Pacific White Sided dolphins that played and swam along with us. The salmon were starting to run and the fishermen were bringing in some very nice springers (king salmon). Every day was a new area to explore and all the people we encountered were very friendly and impressed that we were cruising up there in such small boats. Fortunately we had very nice weather - cool foggy mornings, sunny afternoons, and incredible stars at night until the fog moved back in. There are some things that make a cruise up there in small boats challenging. There are some crossings where bad weather or strong winds against the currents could make conditions very tough - crossing Johnstone Strait, Knight Inlet, Kingcome Inlet, and others which have to approached with caution at the right time. Fortunately, we hit them all in very nice weather and calm conditions. That nice weather, however, let to other problems. The islands depend on very frequent rains to replenish their water supplies. By the end of our three week cruise they were experiencing a water shortage. The few marinas that are there were out of water. No showers, no laundry, not even toilets. The water normally available up there is not potable in most places anyway, so we were prepared with adequate supplies, but we were counting on being able to get a hot shower and do laundry every week or so. So... we did laundry in a bucket, had our shorts hanging all over the rigging, and put our sun showers to good use. Another issue to deal with up there is that there is not a single place to get rid of your garbage. Be prepared to haul all your garbage with you the whole time. Most of the other cruisers up there are in large power yachts. We usually only saw them when we stopped at a marina, where they packed in pretty tight. The little anchorages we usually had to ourselves. Fish farms are numerous up there, and in some areas clear cut logging has left ugly scars on the hillsides, but away from those areas it is one of the most beautiful areas I've cruised in. Larry Yake M17 CornDog