Weblog: Kayaking: Swartz Bay - San Juan Island - Mayne

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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 2½ 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:

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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 2020 at Mayne Island, BC, CA