Sechelt (CAYHS)

At the NE corner of Trail Bay there is a conveyor pier, approx 450m in length, with outer section on moving arc, from the quarry for loading sand and gravel.

Summer.

Sechelt is located NW of Vancouver, at the isthmus between Sechelt Inlet and the Georgia Strait.

Anchorage can be obtained in the NE corner of Trial Bay off Sechelt in a depth of 27.0m, close to a bluff and clear of a rock, with a depth of 8.5m over it. The anchorage is approx 1nm W of the breakwater light and is exposed to S winds. In Porpoise Bay, anchorage with good holding ground can be obtained in a depth of 15.0m, W of Poise Island, and off the public wharf in a depth of 12.0m.

The main access to Sechelt commercial port is approached from the S side via Georgia Strait and Trail Bay. The N side of Sechelt, used mainly by pleasure craft, is reached via Jervis Inlet and Sechelt Inlet, leading to Porpoise Bay. A least charted depth of 4.6m lies over several shoals in the centre of the fairway through the Sechelt Rapids (49°44.3'N 123°53.6'W). There are shoal patches and drying flats in Porpoise Bay.

BA 4920. Canadian Chart 3512, 3514. Admiralty Pilot NP25, NP286(5).

It is recommended that vessels over LOA 40m and draught 3.4m should not attempt to enter Sechelt Inlet (N side). This is due to the tortuous nature of the fairway and strong tidal streams through the Sechelt Rapids.

Ingoing and outgoing tidal streams in Sechelt Rapids attain a rate of 16kts during large tides. It is hazardous for any vessel to attempt to navigate the rapids except at or near slack water, the preferred time being at HW slack.