Mike, Just consider the car driving and boat travel days into and out of Desolation as part of the vacation adventure, not lost time!  This would be 4 days of your vacation.  That still leaves 3 or 4 days in Desolation.  That's amazing for a one week vacation.  You could drive to Tsawwassen and take the ferry to Duke Point, then drive up the Island to the charter base in Campbell River or Courtney.  On the way back you could take the ferry to Westview, http://www.bcferries.com/travel_planning/maps/ and then drive down the Sunshine Coast and through Vancouver.  It's such a pretty drive you might want to take more than a day coming down the Sunshine Coast.

Hi Mike,

There are two modes to go places as Elsie and Steve Hulsizer say:  Cruise mode and Travel mode!

In travel mode you check the tides, and go long days to make miles.  In this mode, one day makes the San Juans from Seattle.  Day two crosses the border, and makes the Silva Bay, Gabriola Island vicinity.  Day three crosses the Strait of Georgia, and ends in the vicinity of Smugglers Cove or Pender Harbour.  Day 4 ends in Desolation Sound.   It might be possible with great crew, weather, and tides to shave a day off that schedule.  I have done Desolation Sound a couple of times.  Once  I did the cruise with new crew driving  in my station wagon, meeting the boat at the end of each week.  One crew came for the first week going as far North as Pender Harbour.   This includes the longest Day getting to Hope Island, Deception Pass.  The remaining Days are much shorter - under 4 hours motoring per day.   The second Crew came for a week in Desolation.  The longest days here are going up Malaspina Strait to  Westview/Powell River, Lund or Desolation.   If rain is encountered in Desolation, head west to Cortes Island, away from the wet mountains! The third crew was aboard for the cruise home from Pender Harbour.  Lund and Westview are other change-over points closer to Desolation.  Crew changes provide an opportunity for boat parts to be brought in!  The second time I took Carmanah to Desolation was with our own kids, that was also a three week cruise.  The Sunshine Coast, including Princess Louisa Inlet, Malibu Rapids, and Chatterbox  Falls, can be done in a nice 2 week cruise.  Desolation is a possibility for this year - are you taking Kittiwake?