The Conway Narrows to Malpeque Bay Passage

I have paddled and sailed most of the waters along the PEI sandhills between Alberton and Cabot Park (40 km). But, this summer, I realized that I’ve never gone through from the Conway Narrows to Malpeque Bay via the Hardy channel. If it were practical to sail from Seaweed Road to Malpeque Bay, it would give me an alternate way to explore the Malpeque sandhill (Bill Hook or Fish Island), Lennox Island, Bird Island, and Hog Island.

Hardy channel bypass route options

There are two options to make the passage through the huge Hardy sandflat. There’s the deep marked channel used by the Milligan Wharf’s fishermen. This deep route follows the sandhill shore and eventually goes out into the gulf.  But, there’s also a deep narrow channel that leads into Malpeque Bay (see blue line on GE map). This sandhill route would be difficult to follow with a sailboat, so it’s better as a paddling route.

Kayak track, 12.5km

The other route is to follow the mainland shore all the way through. This is the area I set to explore this summer, so I made two trips to the area.  The first outing was by kayak from Milligan’s Wharf to assess the water’s width and depth in this area for sailing. It could be tight, but I think that my 16ft OSC would be able to sail through assuming high tide and some favourable winds!

OSC track, 12.9km

On August 10th, I launched the OSC at Seaweed Road (Conway Narrows) and headed SE hoping to get to SHA70 on Malpeque sandhill (i.e. Bill Hook Island). Initially, the wind was great as I progressed towards Milligan’s Wharf, but it didn’t last.  I went ashore after Milligan’s Wharf for a walk and to pick-up a bowl-shaped rock that I’d seen on my kayak trip a few weeks earlier. After thinking that the winds were done for a while, I decided to start heading back under sail and paddle. An hour later, as I was approaching Seaweed Road, a nice breeze came. So I headed towards the sandhill (SHA55) for a short walk and lunch on the beach (gulf side). Afterwards, it was a nice sail straight across Conway Narrows to Seaweed Road (1.6km).

Definitely looking forward to next summer to try that sail plan again!

	Milligan's Wharf
	Bowl-shaped stone

References: Some history of the Hardy channel area and lighthouse.

1) Lighthouse Friends, click Here.
2) PEI Lighthouse Society, click HERE.

Pics below from my July 27th kayak trip to the Hardy channels.

What could be better for a sail!