Chatterbox Falls

Janine Mott
May 29, 2023
3 min read

Wow. I really don’t know where to begin. Quoting the 2023 Waggoner Cruising Guide, “All the superlatives have been used up on lesser subjects.”

I’ll start with the planning. Getting to Chatterbox Falls means transiting Malibu Rapids. This a narrow channel between Jervis and Princess Louisa inlets, and can be treacherous if boaters don’t plan carefully. Most boats must enter or exit during a small window around slack tide. Some of our group chose to transit during the day’s first slack, which meant they had to leave Egmont around 5:30am. ToG and a few of the other boats chose to leave a bit later, mosey up Jervis and transit the rapids at the second slack, around 4:30pm.

The cruise up Jervis was nice, with beautiful sunny blue skies and calm water. Keep in mind, these are deep water fjords so the water is indeed…very deep. We lost sonar once at around 1200 feet but the chart read 1640 feet. Then our depth read 11.6 ft. which was obviously not the case. (Sonar gets a little confused in very deep water.) The surrounding mountains are up to 3000 feet. I spent a lot of time, when I wasn’t taking my turn at the helm, sitting on the bow enjoying the sun, watching the scenery, and listening to the water lap at the hull. (Easy to hear at a slow 5 knot pace.)

A sailboat was near us the entire time up Jervis Inlet. It took me a while to realize the captain had not one stitch of clothing on. Yes, naked sailing is a thing.

Here are two photos out the window as Nick took the boat through Malibu. I was in charge of hailing our imminent passage over the radio. It was still a little squirrelly when we got close. We had watched a small-ish sailboat go through so thought it was time to give it a go. Three of the Ranger Tugs were waiting and told us later we gave them courage to make the transit. It was fine, really, but not the most comfortable thing to do for newbies, and the tide was low.

Malibu Club, a youth Christian camp, is located at the rapids.

Princess Louis Inlet:

We originally thought we would anchor at the head of the inlet near the falls but decided not to after doing a little research. (After looking around the next day, we decided that it could be done with the use of the stern tie pins already in place. Might be a little tricky…but doable in a pinch. The water right to the left of the falls, where the pins are, is not too deep.)

Anyway, there was space at the dock for everyone, so we tied up and spent two nights. We met new people and caught up with some we already knew, enjoyed happy hours on the dock, looked (and listened!) to the falls, dinghied around, kayaked, and generally thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We had a bit of a show the first night, as this small barge boat came in to deliver building materials to the park ranger. It was a very small space and it was fun to watch the maneuvering – both getting the boat in and out, as well as getting the materials offloaded on to the bank. The boat was between all of us on the inside of the dock, and shore.

Some people saw a small black bear on the beach eating barnacles and muscles off the rocks. We missed it. But we did see a lot of jellies, schools of herring, and seals.

We had a bit of a task as Waggoner Cruising Guide Field Correspondents. We were asked to take photos and verify the number of mooring balls. Easily accomplished.

McDonald Island, not far from the falls, with 4 mooring buoys. (Don't look too closely, you might see naked sailor.) A dinghy dock on the mainland is another park landing spot, leading to a short loop hike.