Johnstone Strait, BC  2001

I had gotten a group of 10 people together to go to British Columbia to paddle Johnstone Strait in August of 2001. I set up the airline schedule, lined up an outfitter, and made pre and post-paddle lodging and ground transportation reservations months in advance. Now it was time to go. We set off from Providence, RI to Campbell River, BC by air, and then took a ferry to Quadra Island, the home of Spirit of the West Adventures. I met up with John, one of the owners, who was just returning from Victoria, where he had picked up 3 brand-new Solstices for our trip (2 GT’s and a GTS). Made his van real easy to find on the ferry. We talked, and I liked him immediately. This was good. We got a ride in to the 2 B&B’s John recommended, which were wonderful, and he and I discussed the itinerary for the trip. He said that if the paddlers in the group were as experienced as I had told him, that he would allow the guides to change the trip plan to our satisfaction and paddling preference. I agreed that we would like that, as we like to cover distance as well as see the sights. You can do both if you know how. Getting better all the time…..

The view from the B&B

 Day 1, August 12th, Quadra Island, Discovery Islands (Like the "X-Files" date reference?)

We met our guides in the morning at the “Yak Shack” as it is affectionately known on Quadra Island. Fred, the younger of the two, is a soft-spoken Quebecois with an unassuming demeanor, and quick wit. He also has that air about him of a man who is simply thrilled to be alive, and doing what he loves for a living. Jim is a few years older, although you wouldn’t be able to guess his age by looking at him, and has a devilish sense of humor that he flashes in spurts all day long. He has extensive knowledge of the area, and is actually an independent contractor. He moved to BC from Ontario, where he ran a canoe guide business for several years before moving on to sea kayaks. He’s also one of the strongest paddlers I’ve ever met. And that’s saying a lot, considering some of the paddlers I’ve met over the years.

We loaded up our gear into the vehicles, took the ferry to Campbell River, and headed for Telegraph Cove, about 3 hours drive to the north. Along the way, Jim and Fred kept in contact by radio, partly to communicate, and mostly to keep us entertained with such quips as Jim telling Fred to speak as if he were from BC because “You’re not in Quebec anymore, you’re in Canada now”. An icebreaker in fine backwoods fashion. We got to talking with Jim, and found he had especially strong opinions on Canada’s policies towards BC’s forests, and human destruction of habitats in general. Most guides I have met are very opinionated on environmental issues. I’d actually be less impressed by a guide who wasn’t, because it would mean they don’t care.

Packin' to launch!

We got to Telegraph Cove, and unloaded. Now it’s time to pick a boat. I went with the brand-new red Solstice GTS. Alison grabbed a Seward Navigator, Francesca, Suzanne, and Mike all picked Solstice GT’s, Ric chose a Solstice high volume, Bill took a Current Designs Storm, Ray took a Nimbus Telkwa HV, and Frank and Cheryl paddled a Seward South Wind double, which we all named the “Queen Mary”. Jim paddled his Seward Endeavour, and Fred paddled his Navigator. We packed our boats, ate lunch, and launched into Johnstone Strait, and headed east towards Robson Bight. Just outside the cove, Cheryl yelled “fins!”. Two Doll’s Porpoises were swimming by. Not even a mile paddled, and already two whales! About 6.5 nautical miles down the shore of Vancouver Island from Telegraph Cove, we landed at Kaikash Beach, which would be our first camp. Along the way, I found that I had packed the GTS all wrong. She was heavily trimmed forward, and nearly impossible to steer. But I, being the “no rudder, no skeg” kinda guy I am, persevered without deploying the rudder through sheer stubborness. I was kind of missing my Caribou already. Oh well, my fault, my problem to deal with. Fred trolled a salmon rig all the way to Kaikash, but didn’t catch anything, despite the huge number of jumping salmon all around.

Day 2, August 13th, Kaikash Beach, Vancouver Island

I got up with the sun, and broke camp before most everyone else got up. I re-packed the GTS a little more carefully this time, and headed off into the woods to filter some drinking water from Kaikash Creek, and take a bath. Jim and Fred made breakfast, and we all ate well. Along my way to the creek, I had my critter radar on full intensity, because Jim had warned us about cougars in the area. He was attacked by one the previous year on West Cracroft island, and survived unharmed by fighting back with a kayak paddle. More guts than I’d ever have, for sure. I made it back in one piece.

We all got together to take a vote on the day’s activities. We could head across the strait, and go to Mound Island, or go to the western boundary of Robson Bight, and wait in the strait for orcas. We voted for orcas this day. Which meant camping on West Cracroft at the site of  last year’s cougar attack. Considering all the things that could happen, we were still likely safer than driving to work in the morning. We paddled down to the boundary, and landed on a beach for lunch. The warden who patrols the bight was there, and she was doing an educational presentation for another group of paddlers. All the guides in the area seem to know and like her. Robson Bight is the famous place where the resident orcas come inshore to rub themselves on the beach. Nobody knows why they do this, but it’s the only place in the world where orcas do it. So, the canadian government closed the area to anyone but commercial fishermen, so that the orcas can have a place to go and not be around many humans. It’s also to preserve a unique behavior that allows up close scientific study. More porpoises swam by as we ate lunch.

We went out into the strait, and Jim got on the VHF to get a whale report. There’s a research station in the area that tracks and reports the resident orcas’ every move in real time. Takes all the guesswork out of seeing them if you’re in the right vicinity. The whales were at the eastern boundary, heading into the bight. It was unlikely we’d see them today, but we hung around for an hour or more in hopes they’d change their minds. Nothing doing. We headed across to West Cracroft, and set up camp. After dinner, we made a fire on the beach, and sat around talking. We got Jim to tell us the whole cougar attack story. While he was telling it, I was carving a norsaq (Greenland throwing stick) out of a piece of driftwood, which unnerved Suzanne a bit. She was afraid I’d hurt myself with the knife, and Mike came to my aid by telling her “he does this all the time, don’t worry”. Hell, I carved my first greenland paddle with a bowie knife! With the huge amount of red cedar logs littering every beach in sight, I had plenty of raw material to work with. Fred went on an evening paddle with Bill, Francesca, and Frank. Bill took the GTS, which I called the “little red corvette” now that I had it trimmed out properly. Frank characterized its lines as “pure sex appeal”. I was concerned about an equipment failure – my waterproof camera fogged up inside. D’Oh! Gotta carry the good 35MM inside the cockpit in a drybag now. Not a thought I enjoyed at all, but the photos would be better if I was careful.

Day 3, August 14th, West Cracroft Island, Johnstone Strait 

Up with the sun again, and down the hill for coffee. Jim and Fred had camped on an outcropping above the strait, and found fresh bear scat there when they set up. I thought I had found some kind of animal scat, and then it moved……I had no idea that banana slugs were that big! And they come in different colors, too. Learn something every day. 

Whenever you go on an expedition style trip, there’s always a magic moment in there somewhere. As we were loading up the kayaks, I heard a puffing noise from the strait, and then Bill yelled “Orcas!” Jim had told us to yell the name of an animal we encountered repeatedly if it was threatening, so the response from the rest of the group would be appropriate. Orcas are non-threatening to humans in kayaks, but the principle works just the same. People started running out of the woods to see the pod of about 7 orcas swim by munching on salmon. I shot photo after photo with a telephoto lens, as they were just off the point, maybe 200 meters away (We were in Canada after all, so metric is appropriate). While this was going on, we heard Cheryl yell “Bear!”. A black bear had wandered into camp at the same time the orcas were going by. Several folks ran into the woods to see, and scare the bear away, so we could finish breaking camp. As I was trying to decide what to do, an eagle swooped down from the trees right in front of me, and caught a fish. All this in under 5 minutes, and simultaneously occurring. Wow. And it was only 10:00AM. 

Orcinus Orca out for a morning swim (Sorry about the poor quality of the photo)

Another group huddle and vote. We had to paddle up Blackney passage, and on to Mound Island, where we would camp for 2 days. The vote was whether or not we go to Village Island, a First Nations site, today or tomorrow to take a tour. We opted for tomorrow, as we had to wait in the bull kelp for the current in the passage to change, and pull us in. We also wanted to paddle a little more than the 2 previous days, since we were going off the beaten orca path for a couple of days. The current there runs about 5 knots or so, and there are whirlpools, and huge boils all over, just like Cobscook Bay, Maine. Gotta go with the flow, literally. We entered the passage, and paddled into Blackfish Sound. I was paddling the Telkwa this day. Way too big a boat for me. I have no idea how Ray paddled it, as I’m a bit bigger than he is. 

Anyway, we paddled up to Parson Island, and tried paddling between it and Harbledown Island. The gut between the islands was now a whitewater rapid running out with the tide, and we paddled up it, with a push from Fred. Suzanne and Cheryl were in the Queen Mary, and Suzanne got out, and towed the boat up the rapid. We continued along the passage until we came to a dead end about a half mile around. Too long a carry, so let’s ride the rapids back! Fred, Bill and I saw a huge number of crabs scurrying along the bottom, so we tried to catch them. Fred & Bill teamed up, and caught a big one. Unfortunately, it was a female with eggs, so Fred let her go. She doesn’t know just how close she was to being dinner…….  We got to the rapid, and it had gotten noticeably shallower. I hung back, and most of the people, including the double, ran it flawlessly. I, however, was in a heavily loaded single, and got hung up on a rock in the same line the double ran without a hitch. Damn, gotta get out & walk. So, somewhere in Cheryl’s photo portfolio is a pic of me walking a rapid. Oh, the shame! I wanted to put a bag over my head as I walked the kayak down. 

We paddled across Parson Bay, around Red Point, and on to Mound Island. Total paddle was just over 8 nautical miles. Decent distance in heavily loaded boats. Just around Red Point, I saw a warmly familiar sight --- a fellow Greenland paddler from Australia. He even had a norsaq in his deck lines. I shoulda mailed one of my paddles to John and Christine ahead of time! Fred gave up on fishing by this point. And there were salmon jumping all day & night, just rubbing it in. We made our nightly fire on the beach, and I pulled out a bottle of wine I had hidden in the bow of my kayak. Cheryl also pulled out a bottle, and we got a little rowdy and stayed up late. Good times. 

Day 4, August 15th, Mound Island, Village Island Group

Another early morning for me. I sat around talking to Jim & Fred until everyone else got up. Once they get to know you, Jim & Fred are great guys. They’ve led very interesting lives, and have diverse talents. Probably explains why they’re not in the corporate world – they actually use their talents. 

Alison & Ray in the Queen Mary on the way to White Cliff Islands

So, we took yet another vote. We were not paddling to a new camp tonight, so we could unload the boats, and really burn up some water today. Yee Haw!!!!  The decision was to paddle out to the edge of Queen Charlotte Strait, and come back to Village Island in time for the last tour of the day. I took the Storm this day, Francesca took the Navigator, Alison took a Solstice GT, and Frank took the Telkwa. For a big plastic boat, the Storm is a good ride. Kinda reminded me of a more maneuverable Narpa. We paddled to Berry Island, through Swanson Passage, and stopped on White Cliff Islands. These are a beautiful group of islands that look like one island from a distance, with deep fractures in the rock in between that you can paddle through. This was the boundary of Queen Charlotte Strait. I did a couple of rolls to cool off, and Jim kept trying to get me to do more by claiming he’d never seen the ones I’d done. Head’s getting chilly, time to stop before I get an ice cream headache, or worse, a brain freeze (I lose my equilibrium when that happens – don’t ask how I know this). A couple of porpoises swam by as we made the crossing to Wolf Island. We paddled trough an archipelago for a while, and stopped on Cedar Island near a fish farm for lunch. Laziness set in the moment the sun came out of the sea fog, and we lounged a bit too long…..now it would be too late to go to Village Island. Oops. 

White Cliff Islands

So, we headed back to Mound Island via Providence Passage and back to Swanson Passage. Along Swanson passage, Jim turned on the afterburners. He was 10 meters in front of me, and 20 minutes later, he was more than a mile ahead of me. And I was cranking right along myself, plastic boat or no. I only know a handful of paddlers that can do that at the end of a long day, or any other time for that matter. We landed at camp, and Mike’s GPS said we’d done 14.9 nautical miles. It was a great paddle. 

The guy who does the exhibition at Village Island stopped by in his powerboat while we were hanging around on the beach. Mound Island is also First Nation property, and he was stopping by all the campsites to see if he could sell us anything, and also just to check in. We asked him if he had any wine to sell, and he said no. He had beer (Likely bud, or something else I wouldn’t drink), and other “homemade” libations, but no wine or salmon. Oh well. Seemed like a decent guy, so if he had wine, good beer, or fish, we’d have bought some. 

Day 5, August 16th, Mound Island, Village Island Group 

Orcas on the radio! In Blackfish Sound, headed east towards Blackney Passage. Unfortunately, we were 4 miles away and heading that direction when the report was heard. We had broken camp on on Mound Island, and were headed back to Vancouver Island. By the time we got to Blackfish Sound, they had gone through the passage back into Johnstone Strait. Oh well. 

We lingered for a moment at the edge of the sound, while Fred checked the tide table and called Comox Traffic Control to see if there were any large vessels whose path we were going to cross. I like the idea of a water traffic control --- Comox Traffic keeps track of all powered vessels’ position, speed, and heading in the area, and with a simple radio call, will tell you all you need to know. Makes way too much sense to be done here in the US. As we were waiting for all this, a Minke whale was approaching us from our left. He blew several times, and didn’t alter course. So, we stayed put. The whale disappeared about 200 meters off our left. As we were trying to find him again, he surfaced and blew right next to Mike’s kayak, and swam away. Very cool stuff. 

Jim had a question for the group: Do we want to try and run the tidal rapids in Blackney Passage, or do we want to wait them out? Unanimous vote was to try it, with the option of eddying out and waiting if anyone felt overwhelmed. Fair enough. I had the GTS again today, so I was up for anything the water could throw at me. I was really beginning to like this boat. We began to ferry across the sound with the knowledge that a criuse ship would be coming down the channel in the next 30 minutes. No problem, we’ll be out of the channel in 10 minutes. The current picked up as we approached Hanson Island, and we adjusted our angle of attack as we went on. 

By now, there was a 4 knot rip running along the shore of the island, which was gaining strength all the time. We went into it, and there was a concern raised by one of the group, so Jim decided to play it safe, and find an eddy. We went into one, but there was no decent place to land, so we hopped to the next eddy, which was in front of a small cove that had enough room to park all the boats in. Fred, Mike and I sat at the eddyline watching the rip. Then, I saw a strange oscillation in the current that I’d never seen before. What do these currents do here? Turns out it was the wake from the cruise ship. I totally forgot that it had gone by. No big deal. Mike’s bow got pulled across the eddyline, and he was forced to peel out, and turn back into the bottom of the eddy. Humorous.  Fred said out loud that I appeared to be drooling at the sight of the rip. He was dead right. I wanted to run it in the worst way. 

Jim checking out the rip current; almost time to go back in!

We sat on a rock and watched the rip for about 45 minutes, and when it started to lose strength, we got back in the kayaks. Jim asked me if I wanted to join him in scouting out the rip, and an alternative route back to Johnstone Strait beteween Hanson and  a small island (Forgot the name) that separates Hanson from Blackney Passage on it’s east end. He told Fred to wait with the rest of the group, and we’d radio back whether or not it was OK, and what way to go. We peeled out into the current, and ran the rip. Personally, I like to paddle close to the eddyline, so I can play. As I was doing this a whirlpool formed just off to my left, and it sucked me in sideways. No big deal, it just spun me a little, and let me go. It was fun, actually. We got to the alternate route, and it was dead flat. There was a set of standing waves and boils to the left, and a dropoff in the current just above it. Jim swung wide, and made an eddy turn into the passage. I went over the dropoff, through the standing waves, through a whirlpool, and eddied out next to Jim. He asked what I thought, and I said he took the easier route, and the rest of the group should have no problem if they went that way. He radioed Fred, and gave him the info. We held station until everyone came down and we re-grouped. The rip was really not that strong anymore, so everyone made it to us easily. 

We went through the smaller passage, and turned right to follow the shore of Hanson Island until we were directly across the strait from our last campsite at Blinkhorn peninsula. We stopped on a beach for lunch, and there was another tour group there watching the strait for orcas. The guides for the other group came by, and we talked to them for a bit, and they also went over & talked to Jim & Fred for a while. We got back in the water, and paddled along the shore some more. Jim, Bill and I were at the front of the group, and Jim saw something on the shore that interested him. Looked like a sea cave, so we went in closer to take a peek. The way the driftwood was placed, it looked like the cave was shored up. I asked Jim what it was, and he shouted “It IS shored up!”. He got out of his boat, and took a closer look. It turned out to be an abandoned mine shaft. No sooner than Mike heard that, he was out of his boat, on shore, and had a headlamp on, ready to do some caving. 

Waiting for the spelunkers to come back

Jim took his FRS radio with him, and he and Mike went into the cave. Fred kept in contact by radio with them. Jim gave us a narrative of what they saw as they went. They got to the end of the shaft, and Jim’s signal was starting to break up. Fred suggested they come back out, so they could stay in contact. They got back out after about 10 minutes, and Mike announced that the caving made his whole trip worthwhile. They had to get back in the water fast, because there was a big cruise ship wake bearing down on us. No problem. We went around a point, and played in the surf that the wake created around the point, and some submerged rocks. Lotsa fun. 

Frank checking out the swell on the rocks

Now we crossed Johnstone Strait to Blinkhorn. The campsite is in a cove, and there’s camping on the beach and in the woods. I had offered to paddle into Telegraph Cove, and make a wine run if the general store was still open, so Jim called them on the VHF to see if they would hang around until I got there. There was no answer. It was already 5:00 PM, so we assumed they had already closed for the day. Fred had found a waterfall in the cove, and was filling water jugs with Ray and Cheryl, who were paddling the Queen Mary. We set up camp, with the knowledge that the tide was going to be higher than normal this night. I set up my tent in the woods, as did the guides and Ric. Everyone else decided to chance it on the beach. Once I had set up, I got back in my kayak, and went to the waterfall for a bath. 

Suzanne paddling along to Blinkhorn

I got back, and helped carry all the boats up high and tie them up. As I was putting on my hiking boots, I looked up to see 2 whale watch boats just outside the cove. Then I heard someone yell “orcas!”. They were right outside the cove, swimming around a group of kayakers who were camped on the beach next to us. As I was scrambling for my camera, a big bull swam through the middle of the cove, and back out, before I could get a picture. Rats! I got a bunch of shots off of the pod, and a mother and calf swimming just outside the mouth of the cove. Beautiful animals, orcas are. Not only did the folks camped next to us have the orcas swim with them, one of their group caught a 20-plus pound salmon! We thought about raiding their camp, and taking their film and their fish. I don’t think the mounties would have looked too kindly upon such an act of piracy, but they might understand why we did it……. 

Day 6, August 17th, Blinkhorn Peninsula, Vancouver Island 

Short paddling day, because we had a long drive ahead of us. We headed towards Telegraph Cove in no particular hurry to get off the water. Nobody got wet the night before, but the tide came within 2 feet of a couple of tents. We played around several small islands, and then paddled up to a huge log boom being towed by a tug, and watched it go by. The amount of logging going on in BC is just mind-boggling. 

Heading Back to Telegraph Cove

We went into the cove, sort of reluctantly, and paddled towards the boat ramp. I had one of the Solstice GT’s that wasn’t overly loaded by this point. There were people all over the boardwalk in the cove waving to us as we came in. I decided to salute end of the trip by holding my paddle straight up in the air, and capsizing in the middle of the cove. I popped off 4 or 5 rolls, much to the delight of the people on the boardwalk, and came in to unload and ride back to Quadra Island. Ray and I met a woman from Seattle on the ramp who was just leaving for a week-long solo trip, and we helped her carry her boat down to the water and launch. One trip over, another just beginning. Balance is everything in life.

Until next time........

 Back to the sea kayak page >