Route for 2019

NOTE (7/13/2019 update): The following route is NOT what will happen during the 2019 Raid. The specifics are TBD, but the dates are set, the start and finish is in Heriot Bay, and the rough route is a adventurous circumnavigation Cortes Island.

The Barefoot Raid course & schedule

Click on legs (orange = AM; purple = PM) for more details, including date and destinations. Click upper right corner icon to view full-size chart.

Pre-raid schedule: Full-moon Regatta (optional)

A few days before the Raid, a fair portion of us will begin to socialize and warm up our racing muscles by participating in the Full Moon Regatta on July 16. This self-organized sailing race (no human power allowed!) runs in a triangle course (~9 nautical miles) with a start and finish along the northeast side of Marina Island. The route map above includes a rough estimate of the course and the start time is around noon. Before and after the race, there will probably be some camping on Shark Spit and trips to Gorge Harbour!

Raid schedule

On most days of the Raid, the fleet will race (or cruise) through two legs: one in the morning; one in the afternoon. Boats will typically raft together for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and will either raft up at anchor for the night with the motherships or go ashore to camp.

Here’s the daily itinerary for 2019:

Day 1: Mon Aug 19

Heriot Bay > northeastward…

Day 2: Tue Aug 20

Day 3: Fri Aug 21

Day 4: Thu Aug 22

Day 5: Fri Aug 23

Day 6: Sat Aug 24

Day 7: Sun Aug 25

Day 8: Mon Aug 26

Rebecca Spit > Open bay, Quadra Island, 2.5 nm

Shark Spit > Gorge Harbour > Shark Spit, 5 nm

Shark Spit > Rebecca Spit, 6.5 nm

Open Bay > Lake Bay, Read Island, 4.5 nm

Lake Bay > Carrington Bay, Cortes Island, 5 nm

Carrington Bay > Penn Island, 3 nm

Penn Island > Teakerne Arm, Redonda Island, 11 nm

Teakerne Arm > Squirrel Cove, Cortes Island, 7 nm

Squirrel Cove > Copeland Island, 6.5 nm

Other possible legs:

  • Manson’s Landing, Cortes Island > Shark Spit, Marina Island, 2.5 nm
  • Shark Spit > around Marina Island, 9 nm
  • Copeland Island > Willow Point, 15 nm

The daily cycle of Salish Sea glee

  • 07:00 boats and crews raft together for breakfast
  • 08:00 skippers meeting
  • 09:00 start the morning leg
  • Boats race under oar, or sail, or pedal or paddle, until the designated spot
  • Lunch served on the motherships
  • Afternoon leg starts shortly after the slowest boats arrive
  • Crews then race to the pre-determined spot for the evening
  • Spend the night either:
    • at anchor, alone with their thoughts and blisters
    • rafted with the motherships, sharing stories of the days triumphs and losses
    • camped on the beach, communing with B.C’s rugged wilderness, and the intertidal zone
Come raft up to the Poor Man’s Rock for coffee and a hot breakfast!

The days will dawn bright and full of promise, and the cycle will be repeated. A score will be awarded for each leg according to the order of finish (1 for first, 2 for second…) The boat with the lowest score at the end of the Raid receives eternal glory, and a nifty prize…