More than 6 years ago I bought some maps to plan a kayaking
trip. The destination was Vancouver
Island. The attraction was seeing Orcas.
And the wait was worth it...
The maps I'm referring to were of British Columbia and
Washington State. The important paper
references were John Kimantas' book
"The Wild Coast 3" and Coastal Waters Recreation maps of
Broughton Archipelago and Johnstone Strait .
More recently, www.bcmarinetrails.org and innumerable web pages from
others who have made similar trips have augmented my research.
The Orcas were most likely going to be in Johnstone Strait
and Blackfish Sound. Both of these areas are visually somewhat uninspiring and
subject to wind and tidal current issues.
Broughton Archipelago was visually stunning, more protected, but had
much lower whale sighting odds. Between
these areas lies Hanson Island. The
currents through Weynton Passage and Blackney Passage on the west and east side
of Hanson can exceed 5 knots and are subject to complicated rips.
The area is also subject to overcrowding. During the summer numerous outfitters run
multi day tours in the area. This
implied June or September were the desirable times to be there. The research showed late summer was more
favorable for the whales.
Finally, the area seemed a little more than Keri and I could
do safely as a pair. So we needed some
others to come out and play with us!
One of Keri's strengths is advanced planning. She had frequent flyer miles that were going
to expire so she said "pick a week in September" and we'll get
tickets to Seattle. (Actually we
scheduled two weeks. And the vacation in
September was to coincide with one of those birthdays ending with a ZERO.) I've never successfully used my frequent flier
miles before... Keri managed to get us a non-stop flight out and a 1 stop first
class ride back! All at very reasonable
times of the day. And all for $15 each!
Next was the search for partners. Our friends Jody and Scott signed on. Their neighbors, George and Donna followed
suit. Unfortunately, none of these 4
were highly experienced paddlers. What
they were was very skilled campers. They
were willing to take on the adventure.
And as I found out, they happily persevered through some of the more difficult moments.
Jody and Donna took the lead on meal planning. I was the paddle planner. Keri, George and Scott were usually the highly
important "voices of reason".
Early on I learned that typical weather in Johnstone Strait in
September is foggy until 11 AM and windy from the NW from 12PM on. This left only one reliable hour of paddling
a day!!!! Additionally, the tide would
be ebbing out of JS against the prevailing wind most afternoons of the week we
were paddling. Ouch... I wished I had
looked at the tides before choosing the week... damm. Every blog I read told of at least one day of
being "weathered in" per week.
Also, the water is cold year round and large vessels like cruise ships
and commercial barges use the shipping lanes that we would need to cross.
The crux of paddling in the area is getting by Hanson
Island. A group of experienced paddlers
could probably run with the currents if the winds were reasonable. Our group would have to time the passage at
slack water. Ideally, it would be slack
water turning to the direction of travel.
Of course, during our week it would be slack water turning against us.
An early realization was that we couldn't schedule to do
these crossings twice. The "voices
of reason" decided that we'd do the crossings outbound and schedule a
water taxi to pick us up for the return trip.
This opened up the option of traveling out further into Broughton
Archipelago. (We also knew that if the
weather was bad we could have the water taxi drop us off in Broughton
Archipelago and skip the crossings altogether.)
Our travel plans would get us to Telegraph Cove near mid day
on Sunday. I wanted to do a short paddle
into Johnstone Strait that day so that we could see what it was like and get a
feeling for the conditions beyond what I "imagined" they'd be
like. It would also allow us to perfect
our kayak loading and assess everyone's capabilities.
My plan was as follows:
Sunday: Telegraph Cove
to Blinkhorn Peninsula before the currents turned against us at 4PM (3 miles)
Monday: Cross Johnstone Strait and station in the Plumper
Islands near the 10AM slack water (this is an area with high currents and tidal
rips). If all went well we'd get to the
north side of Hanson Island. (6
miles) If we were late, we'd stay on the
south side of Hanson and try again at 11AM the next day.
Tuesday: Cross Blackfish Sound near 11AM slack. Camp on Owl Island on the lower end of
Broughton Archipelago (6 miles)
Wednesday: Paddle
along the Queen Charlotte Strait side of Broughton Archipelago to Crib
Island. (5miles)
Thursday: Paddle up
Fife Sound with the tide and wind after 12 PM to Burdwood Group Islands. (12
miles)
Friday: Paddle down
to Echo Bay with the tide before 1 PM (3 miles)
All the mileages were very doable. I was assuming we would add to them with
explorations or make up for lost time by doing two day's paddles in one day.
At any time we could fall back to the more protected inside
of Broughton Archipelago if needed. The
shortest path distance from Telegraph Cove to Echo Bay is only 22 miles so
worse case we could do it all in two days of paddling. If it took us too many days to get around
Hanson Island we'd just stay in Johnstone Strait. There seemed to be plenty of fall
backs. We'd "go with the
flow". (Keri and I also had the
fall back to take a whale watch boat ride after paddling if we didn't see
whales.)
We arrived in Telegraph Cove before noon. Lunch, kayak rental details, and boat loading
went surprisingly smooth and we were on the water before 2:30. In a little over an hour we had traversed the
3.5 miles to Blinkhorn Peninsula, our destination for Sunday night. The weather was a nice, the winds were light. The current, late in the cycle, had some
speed but only the smallest of rips and a hint of an occasional slow
whirlpool.
The forecast was for some wind building through the evening
and high winds possible the next day.
The three couples set up their tents in a semi-protected area above the
"high tide grounded logs" that we would so often see. Dinner and an early bed was our preparation
for our first crossing the next day... if the weather would let us.
About midnight Jody got up and realized that the dromedary bags
that we left near the high tide line were at risk of floating away. There are no reliable sources of water once
you leave Johnstone Strait and we had to
carry 4 liters per person per day with us.
What a tragedy that would have been to lose our fresh water on the first
day. Jody moved the dromeys to higher
ground then she and Scott pulled the boats up higher. Soon she woke Keri and I telling us our tent
was in imminent risk of being inundated by the tide that was sneaking around
the higher ground to the lower spot where we had pitched. Did I mention that the week we chose also had
moon tides? It was at 12:30AM the first
day that I realized why I needed to know when high tide was not just the slack
water times. The slack water is not at
the same time as the high tide like we are used to in Narragansett Bay because
of the large and distant bodies of water that need to be flooded through Johnstone
Strait and other passages. Fortunately
we were within minutes of high tide so the water would not be rising any
higher.
In the morning there was a breeze of about 10 knots and it
was overcast. (It sprinkled a bit over
night.) To be sure we made our timing we
packed our boats without having coffee or breakfast. There was a 1 and 1/2 foot beam chop on the crossing of Johnstone. George and Donna in their double were
zig-zaging +/- 30 degrees to the chop the whole way. We all reached the other side safely. We were now in the protection of the Plumper
Islands on the West side of Hanson Island.
The group was watching seals and eagles and starting to talk about
breakfast. I suggested that we keep
going to the north side of the island while the tide was in our favor. Before I knew it we were in a rip with chaotic
short 1 footers. We were already late
making our passage. Jody seemed happy as
a clam. I was worried about the
group. Keri was singing "I don't
want to be here" songs but paddled through confidently with a little
encouragement. George and Donna were generally behind us and
recognized the rip and avoided it all by staying far left.
We were now less than two mile from what would be our camp
site. But the winds had picked up to a
steady 15+ knots and the seas were near 2 foot and choppy as new waves can
be. We made it about half way and there
was some concern about going on. I
was "pretty sure" that we
could pass the next point inside of Spout Island, the small island off the
point. The available charts in this area are 1:40,000 which is fine for open
water kayaking but marginal if you are trying to decide where the rock garden
passages are. Passing around the outside
of Spout Island in these conditions could have been beyond the capability of
the group. There was a general
"lets tuck in this cove for safety" call.
We pulled up on a muddy beach to make our breakfast at about
11AM. There was some sun but the wind
was deeply chilling me in my wet cloths.
We looked for a potential camp site in this cove but the options would
give us a long carry out of a muddy cove when we left the next morning at low
tide. After we ate we all got back into
the boats to see what the conditions would look like. I gathered everyone in the lee of an island
and checked on the willingness and confidence of the group. They were willing, I was questioning the wisdom
of doing it. I held the group again In
the lee of the last island. I went out
into the open water and made a decision.
I knew the group could make the short passage into the next cove. If there were any issues we could probably do
it rafted up. If anyone went over we
would drift into shore not out to sea. I
suggested we go....
There was some excitement but everyone made it no
problem. Scott and I were visited by a
sea lion. He didn't hang around and we
couldn't pause to watch him. As soon as we
rounded the point we were in a beautiful cove.
The cove was protected from the wind and in the warmth of the early
afternoon sun. We looked around for a
camp site for nearly an hour. Combined,
we got in and out of the boat about eight times. We passed inside one more island into the
next cove and found a beautiful camping spot.
(This passage was protected unlike the previous one.) Home at last for Monday!
The open water of Blackfish Sound was about a half mile away
out of the cove. Somewhere in the late
afternoon while we were all sunning ourselves on the beach I thought I saw a
black spot on the water. I ran up and
got the binoculars to have a closer look.
Within about ten minutes I was certain that I was seeing a whale. Over the next hour we could see (and hear)
Humpbacks and Orcas. They were about a
mile away but we could still tell that there were male, mom, and baby orcas out
there.
I couldn't wait to get on the water the next day. We were departing at low tide so the carry
was long. But unlike the rocks on the
first morning, the bottom was sandy with
seaweed. I leaped ahead of the others to get views into Blackfish Sound. It quickly became clear that there were about
6 Humpbacks in a two mile radius of us.
The question became where to situate ourselves to encounter whales
without chasing whales. It was flat calm
and the group seemed content to linger in the center of the channel watching
the spouts and tails around us. I was a
bit concerned that we were sitting in the middle of a shipping lane. I was monitoring Chanel 71 on the marine
radio to check for shipping but honestly was finding it difficult to figure out
what the communication I was hearing really meant. (All large ships have to call in before
passing through the area to avoid collisions in the tight passages, some of
which have blind corners.)
Eventually we made it far enough across to the Swanson
Island side. It was near this shore
that we had our closest encounter. This
Humpback sat at the surface within 100 yards of us for a minute or so. We could see it rising and sinking as it
quietly inhaled and exhaled at the surface.
Then it dove with the characteristic flair of its tail. We were thrilled.
In total we spent
about 75 minutes with the whales. We
rounded the top of Swanson Island right before the currents turned to insure we
wouldn't have to fight any currents or rips just to get out of Blackfish Sound.
For the rest of our afternoon we practiced our map reading skills to figure out
where we were. We knew we were around
the islands in the entrance of Knight Inlet but which island was always a
little in doubt.
We stopped for lunch at one of the camp sites on Owl Island. It was nice but shady and I was pretty
cold. The other site on Owl was reported
to have a shallow cove so we looked at a spot on Cedar Island. This one was unimproved but beautiful. It faced the west and was warmed by the
sun. Home for Tuesday night! A dry sunny day when the wind never really
picked up. Lucky.
The forecast for Wednesday was marginal. Our plan was to paddle the Queen Charlotte Strait side of the islands if
the weather allowed us. The fall back
was the appropriately named Retreat Passage.
In the morning there was no sign of wind so we headed out across Spring
Passage and into the maze of small islands off Bonwick Island. There were more Humpies near Arrow
Passage. They weren't very close but we
could hear them vocalizing and spouting. I also watched one tail slap about a
half dozen times.
There were very strong currents in some of the passages in
our approach to a lunch (and potential camping) site in Sunday Harbor. We discussed our destination for the
evening. The recon indicated there could
be Orca in Fife Sound so we wanted to set up camp on John Island. We had paddled a leisurely 7 miles before
lunch. John was still 6 miles away. The
group was comfortable with continuing on.
The views just kept getting better and better. The small islands on the edge of Queen
Charlotte Strait were giving way to larger, taller islands. The open water was gone and we were oscillating
between tight passages and small bays.
We were pretty tired by the end of Misty Passage but still had a few
miles to go.
The views around John were as beautiful as any. The beach at the camp spot was smooth with white
shells. Unfortunately, a place to set up
a tent, let alone three, was nonexistent.
I crunched through the woods while the others appreciatively got out of
their boats. Nothing. I checked the GPS waypoint and sure enough we
were in the right spot. There was a tree
down right where the most promising site was.
Maybe the site had fallen into dis-use.
We had to try the site on the other side of the island.
The site on the other side was the same story. Right spot, no place to put the tents. This time Scott got out to give a look. Back around the island to the first
spot. George, Scott, and I all trudged
around looking. Meanwhile the women were
preparing themselves to go back to Insect Island. We hadn't actually looked at that site when
we passed it earlier but they were convinced it was our best option. By this time we are at the highest point of
current flow out of Fife Sound. The
receding 20 foot tide had left our heavily laden boats high and dry. We have no idea what direction or how strong
the currents will be in the 200 foot wide passage we need to go back through.
We did 4 and 6 person lifts to re-float the boats. It all went smooth but by the time we got to
Insect Island we had done a 17+ mile day instead of the 12 mile day we
expected. However, this home for
Wednesday night was our best spot yet! And
again the whole day had been sunny with little or no wind, despite the dire
forecast.
The plan for Thursday was to get to the Burdwood Group. This would put us beyond our Friday
destination but set us up to ride the ebbing current to Echo Bay on Friday
morning.
Thursday's paddle was in extremely light air and again sunny
and warm. The only wildlife was seals
but we didn't mind. The camp Thursday
night was the best yet. A white shell
isthmus connected our island to smaller islands. We had a protected Cove and a view
overlooking mountainous islands that faded into the BC mainland complete with
snow caps and ice fields. The wind did
pick up a bit in the evening. But it
didn't affect our paddling.
Friday's paddle was only 3 miles. Short of a hurricane, we would have no
problem and the forecast was actually benign.
We made the short paddle at a relaxed pace and cooked a
"brunch" on the beach in Echo Bay while we waited for the water taxi
to pick us up on the dilapidated government pier.
James from Silver
King Marine arrived an hour early which was great. We weren't quite ready for him but we were
ready to be ready! What a mound of stuff
we loaded into the boat. We had never
before seen all the stuff that fit in 4 singles and one double in one
place.
On the ride back James saw birds working in Blackfish
Sound. He stopped the boat and shut down
the engines so we could watch and photograph Humpy's feeding. The whales were coming vertically to the
surface with mouths agape, one time two
whales together. It was awesome. There was a chance that we could have
intercepted (legally of course) Orcas but they had already headed up Johnstone
Strait before we arrived in the area.
Back in Telegraph Cove we returned the boats and
equipment. It was time for showers and a
decadent meal at the local restaurant. The
week had been far better than we could have realistically expected. Sure, the Orcas didn't come visit us up close
but now I have a reason to go back and try again.
Some other details:
We rented from the boats from North Island Kayak. They were Seaward Aurora's (17.5’x24”). The double was a Seaward Southwind
(21’x30”). They were fine, I was
reasonably comfortable in the boat and with its loading and handling. I spent most of the time with the rudder up. The spray skirts were neo but loose and
leaky. The paddles were as you expect
for a rental (I brought my own 4 piece Lendal).
We carried 20 liters of water each for the 5 full days out
(4 liters per day/person). We used less
than 3 liters per day per person. But,
we didn't dump out any cooking water (like when cooking spaghetti) and we
washed and rinsed dishes with salt water and cleaned ourselves with baby wipes. No regrets on bringing that much water.
The weather was well beyond what it should have been. The locals said "this NEVER
happens" (a string of 5+ nice days).
I personally was cold at times when wet and out of the boat. I'm not sure how warm I could have stayed if
it had rained multiple days in a row.
The water is cold. I
did not measure the temperature but I could not leave my hands in for very
long. As a group of six I was
comfortable paddling within a mile of shore in "fleece" vs wetsuit or
drysuit. If it was just Keri and I we
would have had to wear immersion clothing.
Jody, Scott, Donna and George all took the kayaking
seriously and practiced wet exits, bracing, and rescues before the trip. A
capsize in real conditions is different from in the pool/lake but the awareness
would have definitely helped if a problem had occurred.
We were quite capable of doing this adventure unguided. I am certain that we had a better experience
on our own. However, we all did a lot of
advanced planning and preparations.
September was a good
choice if you desired solitude. Tuesday
was the only day we saw a significant number of kayakers (a tour group). Most days we saw about two or three over the
course of a day.
And most telling... I would go back and do it again in an
instant.
