Desolation Sound
Desolation Sound (French: Baie Desolation) is a deep water sound at the northern end of the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia, Canada. Flanked by Cortes Island and West Redonda Island, its spectacular fjords, mountains and wildlife make it a global boating and sea kayaking destination.
Provincial park[edit]
The Government of British Columbia created Desolation Sound Provincial Marine Park in 1973, under the advocacy of MLA Don Lockstead and the NDP government, out of an area comprising 8,449 hectares (32.6 sq mi) and over 60 kilometres (37 mi) of shoreline.[1]. Its many inlets, islets, coves and bays attract many pleasure craft each summer, [1] when it is not uncommon for a hundred boats to share a small anchorage.[2] The sound is home to a wide variety of wildlife and still relatively free from development, although some areas, such as Theodesia Inlet, show signs of clear-cut logging.[2]
Major anchorages[edit]
- Prideaux Haven, a cove on Homfray Channel (no facilities)
- Grace Harbour
- Tenedos Bay
- Gorge Harbour, Cortes Island
- Camp Cordero
History[edit]
Desolation Sound was inhabited by tribes of the Mainland Comox prior to the arrival of Europeans. In the summer of 1792, two expeditions led by Captains George Vancouver, Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores arrived and cooperated in mapping the sound. Vancouver named it Desolation Sound, cryptically claiming that "there was not a single prospect that was pleasing to the eye". [3]
Coordinates: 50°00′00″N 124°52′30″W / 50.000°N 124.875°W
References[edit]
- ^ A Dreamspeaker Cruising Guide, Volume 2, Second Edition, Anne & Laurence Yeadon-Jones, 2006
- ^ a b Exploring the South Coast of British Columbia, Third Edition, Don Douglass & Reanne Hemingway-Douglass, 2009
- ^ Robson, Robson (2007). "Hakluyt edition of Vancouver's journals". W. Kaye Lamb, editor, Vol. 2, p 609. Archived from the original on 2007-06-22. Retrieved 2007-07-27.
External links[edit]
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Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Desolation Sound. |
