Did a 3-night trip through some of the Gulf Islands (adjacent to Vancouver Island) last week.
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Started with a ferry trip from Tsawwassen to Saltspring Island. Was fortunate to see a pod of orca on the way:
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The Long Harbour was supposed to have a kayak launch that I had looked at online (map and photos) - a steep concrete ramp just outside the ferry terminal.What I hadn't seen or read was that the bottom did not go all the way to the water - the ramp ends at a set of steps. No way was I going to get a 17' kayak loaded for a 3-day trip down them... sigh.
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So, unpack the boat, lug everything down, then trundle the boat down on my homemade 'cart'.A good samaritan (also a paddler) happened by and offered to help me get it into the water, and I gratefully accepted.Floated the boat, reloaded it, wrestled into my drysuit, and I was off.
My destination was Prevost Island - just a short distance away, and a fairly brief passage of open water. Since I was only getting on the water in the afternoon, I didn't want to travel too far, and the distance to Prevost was ideal.
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The campsite at James Bay is a former orchard, planted in the 1800s. The trees are a little far apart for a hammock, but fortunately within the reach of the daisy-chain straps I had packed.
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The island is home to a population of deer, who apparently consider the orchard their personal larder. They wander about, eating windfalls and leaves from the trees, with little regard for the humans transgressing in their dining room.
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One of the joys of kayak camping is the ability to bring a few extra items to increase comfort - in this case, my tree table, my helinox knock-off chair, and my bushbuddy wood stove, and a homemade cooler for frozen and fresh food.Steak cooked over applewood embers, anyone...? And still-cold beer....
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The next day was a 15+km trip to Portland Island, with 2 crossings. The first was across to Saltspring, and I used the Channel Islands in Captain Passage to ease the crossing. It's nice to be in closer reach of land should anything go wrong, and also to block the wakes of the large cruisers and ferries.
On the way, a dolphin briefly crossed my bow, and a sea lion bull bobbed up surprisingly close. Man those things are huge!
After rounding Beaver Point and it's lighthouse, another crossing - to Portland Island, but I had to wait out a large container ship. It, plus a few large cruising yachts made the water pretty choppy, but otherwise, wind and waves were minimal.
The Arbutus Point, at the north tip of Portland island has a nice sandy beach to land at, and a great campsite with abundant trees for a hammock. I had the place to myself, and selected a site with a great view:
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I pretty much chilled out for the rest of the afternoon, and heated up some fried chicken from my cooler for dinner.
The next day was a surprise - a stiff wind from the southeast had driven in smoke from wildfires in the U.S. My next destination - Rum Island, was no longer visible - in fact, I could barely see Moresby Island (on the left), so thick was it. And I wasn't crazy about paddling directly into that wind for 15k:
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So I consulted my map, and decided just to head round to the south end of Portland, where there were two more campsites. I leisurely paddled around on the lee side of the island, and arrived at Shell Beach, a pretty small campground, but with no hammock-able trees.So I relaunched and went around to Princess Bay campground.
Again - no trees at all! What to do?
The site is adjacent to yet another orchard - this time planted by Hawaiian immigrants, of all things - in the 1880s. It was bordered with a rope 'fence', so I'm pretty sure it was off-limits for camping.
So I snuck off to the far side of the orchard, where it bordered on the forest, and found an apple tree and a large smooth-barked tree (really need to bone up on my tree types as a hammocker). Despite a visit from Parks Canada maintenance workers, I managed to stay under the radar.
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The next morning, it was time to head for the Swartz Bay ferry - but where was it? I had to launch by compass...
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Eventually, islands emerged from the smoke/fog, and I was also consulting Google maps on my phone. A bit unsettling, knowing that ferries ply that stretch of water, and neither of us could see each other - and I can't exactly get out of their path quickly...
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But no problems. I landed at a dock adjacent to the terminal, and began trundling my boat up the long winding road to the ferry terminal, at which point, one of my wheels fell off! Somehow, the cotter pin had fallen out, and I couldn't find it... A bit of spare cord slipped throught the hole and knotted together, and melted with my lighter, held the rest of my way home.
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