Last Saturday, Robyn and I joined 9 other Nanaimo Paddlers for a trip from Chemainus to Penelakut Island. This paddle was a bit of a home coming for Robyn as her parents once had property on nearby Thetis Island located on the cut between the two islands. Both of us have fond memories of the islands but back then Penelakut was known as Kuper Island.
The weather and wind forecast was perfect for the 6 km (3.23 nm) crossing and we could sure feel and see Spring making its way onto the south coast.
As we approached Hudson Island the BC Ferry MV Kuper came into view. I don't know how many times we used this means of getting to Thetis Island in the past but today was our first by kayak. It seemed so long of a crossing way back then but now we realize how fast our kayaks can also make the crossing in about 40 minutes.
Heading through Telegraph Harbour we made our way towards the cut. The cut actually is a very narrow and shallow channel with very little tidal influence. At low tide, a massive mud plain is exposed and during extreme low tides the cut sometimes cannot be navigated through.
The weather and wind forecast was perfect for the 6 km (3.23 nm) crossing and we could sure feel and see Spring making its way onto the south coast.
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| Heading out from the Kinsmen Park in Chemainus |
As we approached Hudson Island the BC Ferry MV Kuper came into view. I don't know how many times we used this means of getting to Thetis Island in the past but today was our first by kayak. It seemed so long of a crossing way back then but now we realize how fast our kayaks can also make the crossing in about 40 minutes.
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| Robyn in her Delta Expedition 15.5 and Ross Turner in his Delta Expedition 17 with the MV Kuper in the background |
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| The house with the white roof in the center of the picture used to belong to Robyn's dad. Lots of great memories! |
Exiting the cut we headed over to Penelakut Spit for a rest stop and it was another one of the magical places to visit. Penelakut Island is a Hul'qumi'num-speaking First Nation of about 300 individuals and permission to visit the nearby Tent Island can be arranged by contacting the band office and sending a donation of kind all on the honor system.
We made our way south along the eastern shoreline of Penelakut and landed near the tombolo on Tent Island for our lunch stop. Here the group was out of the increasing SE wind and in the full Spring sunshine.
After lunch the group split up into two as some of the paddlers wanted to circumnavigate Tent Island and some like Robyn and I chose to head back to Chemainus. For us we needed to watch our time as we had another scheduled stop that day in Campbell River so we paddled back with 3 others. The main core of paddlers arrived back at the put in location just as we were about to pull out of the parking lot.
Since we were almost half way to Campbell River, we made arrangements to pick up our new addition to our kayak fleet. We knew it was going to be a long day but since it was Saturday we thought let's Get 'Er Done!
For the past couple of months I have been keeping an eye out for a used Delphin 155 and one came up on WestCoastPaddler and it was such an amazing price that we had to take advantage of it. The best part is that the kayak had only been used in a lake 3 times and seeing it in person for the first time it simply was in near new mint condition. Sweet!!!!
Kayak Instructor Ken Bueckert of Campbell River made the deal possible for us and the rest is history as we loaded her on the modified Yakima rack with the new "J" rack. It was along day as we pulled into our driveway just after 10:30pm
The next day was Sunday ..... yes we played in the Delphin. But that's another blog post :-)
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| Rest stop on Penelakut Spit |
We made our way south along the eastern shoreline of Penelakut and landed near the tombolo on Tent Island for our lunch stop. Here the group was out of the increasing SE wind and in the full Spring sunshine.
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| Lunch at Tent Island tombolo. We have to come back here one day and spend the night. |
After lunch the group split up into two as some of the paddlers wanted to circumnavigate Tent Island and some like Robyn and I chose to head back to Chemainus. For us we needed to watch our time as we had another scheduled stop that day in Campbell River so we paddled back with 3 others. The main core of paddlers arrived back at the put in location just as we were about to pull out of the parking lot.
For the past couple of months I have been keeping an eye out for a used Delphin 155 and one came up on WestCoastPaddler and it was such an amazing price that we had to take advantage of it. The best part is that the kayak had only been used in a lake 3 times and seeing it in person for the first time it simply was in near new mint condition. Sweet!!!!
Kayak Instructor Ken Bueckert of Campbell River made the deal possible for us and the rest is history as we loaded her on the modified Yakima rack with the new "J" rack. It was along day as we pulled into our driveway just after 10:30pm
The next day was Sunday ..... yes we played in the Delphin. But that's another blog post :-)
2013 Paddle # 12 Penelakut Island
Distance: 22.89 km (12.36 nm)
YTD: 127.74 km (68.97 nm)
YTD: 127.74 km (68.97 nm)
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