After about 2 hours of boat travel through the most amazing pristine wilderness at cruising speed(30knots), we came upon Malibu Rapids. This picture shows some of the structure that sits above the rapids and entrance to Princess Louisa Inlet. There is a beauitiful resort for Christian kids that once use to serve as a get-away for the stars(hence the name Malibu). We researched our trip and found that all boaters must enter Malibu Rapids at slack tide.
We ended up going through Malibu rapids at anything but slack tide. It was a few minutes of fun/terror all in one. We made it through the 10 knot rapids and entered the calm, sheltered ocean waters of Princess Louisa Inlet. The inlet is about 1/2 a mile wide, 1000' deep with 7,000' mountains surrounding the entire inlet. Throw in a world class fresh water waterfalls and campsite/dock at the end of the 7km inlet and you've found paradise.
After entering Princess Louisa Inlet through Malibu Rapids, we cruised approximately 7 Km until we came to the end. This is what is at the end. Chatterbox Falls is a beautiful fresh-water waterfall that drops into the salty ocean waters. In summer the water temp can get up into the 70's making it great for swimming. There is a huge government dock that is very populated in summer. When we arrived, there was no room the dock our boat.
This is the view we had from our private, secluded campsite. After seeing all the boats at Chatterbox Falls, we left looking for a more secluded spot and came upon Malibu Camp 2. We watched a large group of youths and adults packing up gear. We approached the dock and asked a few questions and found out the campers were leaving and the spot was empty and all ours. You can see our boat docked in the bottom left of the picture.
Melinda and Mandy are swimming in our private little swimming hole. Our tent was about a 30 second walk from our swim zone. Out of all the boaters that were down at the crowded Chatterbox Falls, only one figured out what we had. We ended up having a nice older American couple dinghy over from their yacht to join us at our campfire for a night of boating stories. They had travelled up from California by boat and were planning on living aboard their vessel for 6 months.
If you have been to Mandy's Home Page, you know that she loves swimming. Any trip we take in the boat involves her swimming one way or another. It's funny to watch the look on her face when she samples the water and realizes that it's pretty salty. We had to go to nearby small waterfalls by boat to obtain our fresh water supply. We boiled any that we consumed just in case although it looked crystal clear. There is no store for hours.
This is the boat that got us up there. It is an 18.5' Glastron with an inboard 165 Hp mercury engine. It is a straight 6 cylinder that eats gas. It has a full cover (top and back), 10Hp kicker motor, equipped with global positioning system navigation (GPS), depth sounder, fish finder, 6 sleeper seats, cb radio, am/fm cassette/cd detachable deck, air horns, automatic bildge pump, full interior and exterior lights, swim ladder, 2 huge marine batteries, handheld spot lights and a big onboard fuel tank.