Emanuel Borsboom's Weblog

Mon, 21 Sep 2009: Back from central coast kayak trip

2009-09-21

I got home from my trip north on Saturday night, a day that involved 11 hours on ferries plus 5 hours in a car. All in all a great trip, even if the weather was rainier and windier than I had hoped it might be (but to be expected in September). I paddled a total of 225 km, with my longest day covering 42 km; encountered humpback whales, porpoises, sea otters and sandhill cranes; paddled in 4 meter swell, albeit only for about ten minutes before I chickened out; and saw rugged open Pacific coastline and mountain-backed ghost towns. Here are some impressions:

View from Kynumpt Harbour (click to enlarge)
Taken on Sun, 6 Sep 2009

Sunset at Kynumpt Harbour (click to enlarge)
Taken on Sun, 6 Sep 2009

Macmullen Group islands (click to enlarge)
Taken on Thu, 10 Sep 2009

Macmullen Group island (click to enlarge)
Taken on Thu, 10 Sep 2009

Macmullen Group island (click to enlarge)
Taken on Fri, 11 Sep 2009

Sagar Lake beach (click to enlarge)
Taken on Sat, 12 Sep 2009

Rocky outcropping (click to enlarge)
Taken on Mon, 14 Sep 2009

Abandoned cottage at Wallace Bay (click to enlarge)
Taken on Mon, 14 Sep 2009

Lobby of abandoned building in Ocean Falls (click to enlarge)
Taken on Tue, 15 Sep 2009

Dam at Ocean Falls (click to enlarge)
Taken on Tue, 15 Sep 2009

Abandoned house in Ocean Falls (click to enlarge)
Taken on Tue, 15 Sep 2009

Scrap heap and the abandoned Co-op supermarket in Ocean Falls (click to enlarge)
Taken on Wed, 16 Sep 2009

Posted on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 at Mayne Island, BC, CA

Fri, 4 Sep 2009: Two week central coast kayak tour

2009-09-04

I'm heading out for a two week paddle in B.C.'s central coast region. I'll be catching the ferry from Port Hardy to Bella Bella on Saturday evening, and returning on the 18th. My progress will be tracked this map (updated on Sep 20 with final route):

View Larger Map

Posted on Fri, 4 Sep 2009 at Mayne Island, BC, CA

Mon, 20 Jul 2009: Kayaking: Swartz Bay - San Juan Island - Mayne

2009-07-20

For a while now, I've wanted to paddle from Swartz Bay back home to Mayne. I've also wanted to check out some of the San Juan islands. Last weekend, I figured I'd combine the two. To make it in the 2� days available, timing was paramount because I had to make a number of crossings at slack tide to avoid strong currents. My route was also limited due the few ports of entry available to touch land after crossing the international border. Unfortunately, that meant I didn't have very much time to explore the various islands I visited. Here's an interactive map of my route:

View Larger Map

To reach my starting point at the �A� Swartz Bay public dock, I walked my kayak onto the ferry from Village Bay. I exited the Swartz Bay ferry terminal via the alternate vehicle exit (keep left after disembarking the ferry), and continued left to the dock.

I needed to pick up some supplies, so my first stop was a �B� small beach in Sidney, right next to the wharf at the end of Beacon Avenue, and walked up to Capital Iron and the Fairway Market. Next, I headed to �C� Sidney Spit, taking some evasive action when Washington State Ferries' M/V Chelan rounded the corner on its way into Sidney. I remember going to Sidney Spit as a child in a canoe with my parents, although I was confused why it was called "Sidney's Pit" when there didn't seem to be a big hole there. This time, I took a quick walk around (still no pit), and then continued on my way.

From a distance, I could see an island that didn't look like the others - no trees except for a lonely snag in the centre. Going somewhat out of my way, headed to �D� Mandarte Island, the suitably named Bare Island Indian Reservation, noticing quite a stench as I got closer. Aside from the snag and a forlorn, dilapidated cottage on the shore, there was nothing but thousands upon thousands of seagulls. Being a reserve, I just paddled along without stopping.

I had intended to stop at Halibut Island, which the CRD Map Viewer indicated is part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. However, the island was surrounded by rather strict sounding "no trespassing" signs, and I chose to continue on to D'Arcy Island. A later check of the official GINPR map confirmed that Halibut Island is not included in the park, so I guess the CRD's data is incorrect. As I reached the south end of Sidney Island it was getting dark, and I decided I'd better stop at at a small beach near �E� Wymond Point. This part of the island is private property with a number houses along the shore, so I slept on the beach.

In the morning, I left around 08:30 to catch the slack tide across Haro Strait to Henry Island. Partway across, while I was waiting for a tug to pass ahead of me, an official looking plane flew low and directly overhead. Whether that was border security, or the coast guard checking that I was okay, or merely a coincidence, I can't say. Since Haro Strait is an international border crossing, I couldn't touch land until I checked in with U.S. Customs at �F� Roche Harbor on San Juan Island. Once the formalities were taken care of, I landed at the beach and one of the caretakers of the resort (who was kind enough to not bother collecting the "premium" for crossing their land) was pretty surprised that I'd even bothered with customs.

Roche Harbour is... well... have you seen The Prisoner? It is eerily like "The Village", with little pointed arrow signs, cobblestones, landscaped gardens, people riding around in carts, and kind of a fake mediterranean-meets-west coast old town feel. I headed up the hill out of the "village" and was relieved to make it out without being suffocated by a big white balloon. I had several hours to kill until the next slack tide for crossing to Stuart Island, so I rented a moped and explored San Juan Island. I got some lunch and groceries in Friday Harbor, ate tasty lavender-chocolate ice cream at a lavender farm, picked up some alpaca spinning fibre for Alexis at an alpaca farm, checked out a restored lime kiln, and enjoyed beautiful views over farmland and ocean.

I was a bit late getting back to Roche Harbor and was close to missing the best tide window for crossing Spieden Channel, and the wind was picking up, but I departed for Stuart Island anyway and aside from a couple of tide rips had mostly good conditions on the water. I went round to the north side of Stuart Island so I'd be ready to cross Boundary Passage in the morning, but I regretted it because the camp sites in �G� Prevost Harbor weren't very nice, and the drunk boaters in the bay were making a racket. After setting up my camp, I walked over to the sites at the head of Reid Harbor, which catered to paddlers and were much quieter and secluded. To my surprise, camp fires were allowed even in this dry summer, which is unthinkable to me as a Gulf Islands resident. I do wish I'd had more time to explore the rest of the island, which doesn't have ferry access or paved roads, but has a long history of inhabitation, with an old school and lighthouse.

In the morning, I left at 09:30 (once again to catch a slack tide), and had a long but uneventful crossing of Boundary Passage to Pender Island. I checked in with Canada Customs at �H� Poet's Cove Marina. There were no agents there at the time, but there were booths with phones that made a direct connection to a CBSA call centre. The agent had no idea how to enter a kayak into their system (since it has no registration number) and had to get her supervisor. Aside from that, all she wanted was my name and birthdate, and that was that (so much for border security). As at Roche Harbor, people were surprised that I bothered with customs.

It's just a short walk to Greenburn Lake from Poet's Cove, so I went up there for a swim (I'll take any chance I can get to swim in fresh water, since Mayne has no lakes and I'm not a big fan of ocean swimming). After that, I continued into Bedwell Harbour, passing Beaumont Marine Park along the way, which looks like a lovely place to camp sometime in the future. I passed through the Pender Canal to Port Browning, and then crossed Plumper Sound to St. John's Point on Mayne. There were some fun currents through Georgeson Passage, and got to practice my eddy hopping and ferrying skills to get to the �I� beach on Samuel Island that faces Curlew Island, where I spent some time soaking up the afternoon sun and dipping into the water. And from there it was just a quick jaunt back to �J� Spud Point, the end point of my journey.

Posted on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 at Mayne Island, BC, CA

Tue, 7 Jul 2009: Manny's Tables: free Current Atlas chart lookup tables

2009-07-07

Having been frustrated in my efforts to find Murray's Tables in stock at any retailers, I finally decided to roll my own since the calculations are actually quite simple. Using the output of xtide and a few Python scripts I wrote on this rainy morning, I've produced and posted my own chart lookup tables for the Canadian Hydrographic Service's Current Atlas: Juan de Fuca Strait to Strait of Georgia. I've also posted the scripts I used to generate them, in case anyone finds them useful. Enjoy, kayakers!

Posted on Tue, 7 Jul 2009 at Mayne Island, BC, CA

Mon, 6 Jul 2009: Kayaking Prevost, Active Pass, and northwest Mayne

2009-07-06

I've been getting fairly serious about kayaking lately. I first started paddling on Parker Island, since there were kayaks available to use, but didn't really know what I was doing and mostly limited myself to the immediate area of Parker Island. Since moving to Mayne I'd been missing it, so after taking a friend's boat out a couple of times and loving it I picked up a used Delta 15.5 in February. I've also taken a few courses to build my skills and feel comfortable paddling in more the more challenging conditions around Mayne Island.

The main allure of kayaking for me is that it extends my range, allowing me to reach places I hadn't been able to before, which is a plus as hiking and camping opportunities on Mayne are limited. I've done overnighters to D'Arcy (from Sidney), Valdes (from North Galiano), and Tumbo/Cabbage (from Mayne), as well as various day trips. I regularly pop over to Sturdies Bay on Galiano to get take-out Indonesian food. I'm also increasingly enjoying paddling for its own sake and improving my skills.

My latest trip covered the south shore of Prevost, Active Pass, and the north shore of Mayne. I encountered perfect conditions, orcas, beautiful bays with pastoral meadows, the feeling of travelling back in time, and achieved by-far the longest distance I've ever covered in one day (29km, according to my GPS). Here's a map of my route from my GPS track logs:

�
View Larger Map

I started at �1� Village Bay on Mayne at around 6pm on Saturday. The plan was to cross over to Portlock Pt on Prevost, which always feels a bit treacherous on a Summer weekend due to the amount of ferry traffic through the channel. About halfway across, I saw a whale watching vessel rapidly approaching, so I looked around and lo-and-behold, there was another one hanging around Dinner Bay. Ok, must be something worth seeing there, so I sped back toward Mayne and kept a polite distance as I watched a �2� pod of orcas playing around the rocks off Dinner Pt. I was trying to take pictures as they headed north-west along the shore but gave up and decided to just enjoy the show instead. Just as I finished putting my camera away, I heard a loud snort to my left and saw two orcas coming up not more that 5 metres from me! This has to be every paddlers dream (maybe nightmare for some?).

Once the orcas were out of sight, I proceeded to the �3� Red Islets, a couple of islets with some nice shell beaches, where I camped for the night. It was high tide when I arrived and pulled onto a small beach that looked like a good landing site, but in the morning I discovered a major disadvantage: the beach is on a shelf, and at lower tide there was a five foot vertical dropoff to reach the water. I ended up carrying the kayak halfway around the islet to find a put in.

I hadn't had a plan when I left on Saturday afternoon. In fact, I wasn't even sure I wanted to take the kayak out since I was pretty tired and had some blisters on my fingers from stacking hay the last couple of days. I figured I'd just camp at the Red Islets, have a restful Sunday morning and maybe explore a bit of Prevost and then head back home, but in the morning I was feeling energetic decided I'd continue around Prevost. I paddled along the south shore, enjoying the many bays and coves with pastoral meadows at their heads. I had such a groove going that by lunchtime I'd hatched the idea of continuing through Active Pass.

I stopped for lunch at the �4� James Bay campground, consulted my current atlas and listened to the marine weather forecast, and decided the plan was a go. I wanted to hit Active Pass a little before slack tide when there would still be some flood current to help me through, but not enough to be dangerous. That gave me a couple of hours to kill, so I explored a bit of inland Prevost on foot. I'd seen a lake on my topo map that I wanted to check out, although I didn't end up having enough time for a swim. Walking on the old tracks through the woods above the fields with cows made me think of what Punch's valley on Mayne must have been like in the old days, and I'm so glad that most of Prevost still retains that character; it felt like going back in time.

Crossing over to Collinson Pt, I was "racing" a sailboat that was trying to run under sail power in almost no wind. I was beating it handily, when it decided to switch to the motor and soon passed me. This was my first time through Active Pass (although I've crossed it several times), and I had a lot of fun with all the eddies and playing on ferry wake. I stopped at �5� Sturdies Bay on Galiano and picked up some take-out Nasi and Bami Goreng at Max & Moritz, the amazing Indonesian/German lunch stand at the ferry terminal, to have for dinner with Alexis after I get home. Originally I'd intended to finish up at Oyster Bay on Mayne, but I was still feeling energetic, the current had switched to a favourable ebb, and it was still early in the afternoon, so I figured I'd just keep going until I felt like stopping. I followed the north shore of Mayne, rounded Edith Point, and finally stopped at �6� Spud Pt at around 6pm. From there it was just a few minutes to home.

I like to listen to audio books while paddling, and finished listening to Titus Alone by Mervyn Peake, the final book of the excellent Titus trilogy. It was written by a contemporary of JRR Tolkein and CS Lewis, who is less well-known but IMO a far superior writer, and who has a very different take on fantasy. I've heard it described as Tolkein meats Kafka, but that isn't the half of it. I've also been listening to VALIS by Philip K. Dick, which is just... wow. Wow. I mean, what else can you say? Wow.

Posted on Mon, 6 Jul 2009 at Mayne Island, BC, CA