The year-round cruising of the Salish Sea has a lot to do with the temperate climate as much as it has to do with the protected waters. Tucked in behind Vancouver Island, the protected waters of the Inside Passage have a 17-foot tidal exchange so many of these waterways can only safely be navigated at slack or smaller tides. The most famous

of these is Seymour Narrows, which is potentially the roughest natural waters in the world, flowing with a Reynolds number of around 1 billion.

To give you some perspective, water is deemed turbulent with a Reynolds rating of 2000. What causes this turbulence in addition to the large tides, is the shape of the archipelago and Vancouver Island

funneling the water to and from the Pacific Ocean at speeds in excess of 15 knots. Passing through the narrows at this speed, reflecting off the shores in various directions, causes friction between water layers and even large cavitations.

Although it sounds dangerous, simply paying attention to your tide charts and navigating these areas at slack tide makes the trip through the narrows quite pleasant. This wasn’t always the case; before its demolition in 1958, Ripple Rock, the twin-peaked mountain, was just 9 feet below the surface right in the middle of Seymour Narrows. Since the first known ship sank there in 1875, 119 vessels have sunk, taking with them 114 lives...

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