Nanaimo River to Jack Point

After a busy Christmas we headed to the Living Forest Campground in Nanaimo to bring in the New Year.  This is our annual "US" time that lets us recharge so to speak. A couple days ago the weather was stunning (and still is) so we geared up and launched in the Nanaimo River which is right at the campground and headed out towards Duke Point also known as Jack Point.

I found this little bit of information on the City of Nanaimo website. Jack Point is named after Jack Doholt (1819-1905) who was a resident on the point for 40 years (he supplied Nanaimo with milk and hay). Jack Point used to be an island at high tide, but is now connected to Duke Point and Biggs Park.

This is interesting because from our campsite we can see the lowest point in the peninsula where the tide would have flowed through.

Taking our trusty relaxing Delta 15.5 Expeditions out for a tour around the Nanaimo River Estuary.

The tide was high as we paddled across the shallow estuary over to Jack Point in search of crabs. Yes we attempted to catch craps again without any luck but we did however find a couple of really nice oyster beds and I was able to harvest a dozen really clean small ones which would be great for lunch back at camp.

Paddling across the estuary out towards Jack Point. There would be no water here on our return.

One of the things about Jack Point is some of the amazing sandstone galleries that can only be seen from the water. They are actually pretty amazing and we love visiting them every time we stay at Living Forest.

Paddling to the end of the point I dropped the crab trap (no luck) and we continued along until we could see the Queen of New Westminster as she was departing from the Duke Point BC Ferry Terminal. The bulk carrier Trade Vision arrived a couple of days ago and is anchored between the tip of Duke Point and Protection Island.

After only a couple hours we noticed the tide dropping pretty fast in the estuary so we headed back towards the Nanaimo River looking for the channel that would take us to the campground. If you look on our track, the route we took out was now high and dry.

Paddling in only a couple of feet of water (sometimes inches) we made our way towards the campground and located a channel that flows along the shoreline right to our put in. It's kind of like a puzzle trying to figure out which channel will let you through without having to portage over sand bars. :-)

Nobody home at the Purple Martin houses today

Back at camp we enjoyed the batch of oysters on the BBQ that we harvested. Simply let them steam open, remove the top shell, add Tabasco and Parmesan cheese and close the lid until they are golden brown. Yum!!











It is interesting to see how the gravel bars have moved since the Google Earth image on our track was taken. If you look at our 4nm point it looks like we paddled over a gravel bar but in fact we paddled around it. The bar has moved south and is now situated between the 4nm and 1nm points.

This will be our last post for 2015 but there is lots more Nuchatlitz trip blogging to do in January. So from Robyn and I we wish everyone and very HAPPY NEW YEAR and all the best in 2016!!

2015 Paddle #42 - Living Forest

Distance: 5.75 nm (10.65 km)
YTD: 256.15 nm (474.39 km) Needs editing once Nuchatlitz blogs are complete.

Getting Back At It!

Belated Merry Christmas! Where did December go? The last thing we sort of remember it was the middle of November and we were just starting to ramp up things while volunteering with CFAX Santa's Anonymous. Although we didn't find the time to get on the water outdoors we did manage to cram in a few evening pool sessions to work on rescue skills. But it's not the same as being at sea :-)

After the Christmas celebrations were over we headed up to Living Forest R.V. Park in Nanaimo where we are spending the rest of 2014 in the comforts of our trailer. We have a couple of paddles planned while we are here so we thought that we should spend some time on the water today to limber up the dormant muscles.

In all the times we have paddled here we have never been able to complete the loop of the Nanaimo River estuary either because the tides weren't right or the there hasn't been enough water in the river. Today was perfect with a high tide and plenty of water flowing down the river. Just to make sure, we headed up the river and made our way into the smaller channel that runs through the middle of the estuary and simply let the flow carry us out towards open water.

Paddling out of the Nanaimo River with freighters out in the distance off Nanaimo

Sandstone petroglyph at the waterline 

Leaving the river we made our way over to Jack Point to take a look at the modern petroglyphs carved in the sandstone that can be seen from the water. You can actually see the effects of erosion from the sea water on one of them at high tide.

Nanaimo in the background as Robyn  paddles along Jack Point

Happy to be back on the water again ... Ya!!!

Crossing back over towards the campground we made our way through the log booms and into the Chase River Estuary. We have never been able to paddle into the Chase River system before due to low water levels but this time we managed to paddle right up to the pump house. (Note: a few hours after we go back to our campsite, low tide revealed nothing but mud from the log booms all the way to the put-in except for a narrow river leading the way out to the open sea. Our track photo below shows the mud plain that is visible at low tide)

Hummm .... it needs a bit of work but I think we'll pass on this one.

Entering the Chase River there was a bit of a current flowing under the train trestle that we had to paddle through but that would just make the return trip fun :-). Entering the estuary we found a number of vehicle relics that had been dumped here many decades ago. Robyn also commented that there was a Geocache nearby and sure enough when we got back to camp we found out that it was an Earthcache. Now all we had to do was answer the questions and submit a photo of ourselves .... which another geocacher managed to capture for us in her photo. Now that's a photobomb!

A unknowing Geocacher caught us in her picture while at the Earthcache. Nice!

The year isn't over for us in terms of paddling. We are hooking up with some of the Nanaimo Paddlers on Dec, 30th and Jan. 1st. It sure feels great to be back on the water!

2014 Paddle # 54 - Living Forest - Nanaimo River Estuary

Distance: 4.43 nm (8.20 km)

YTD: 288.39 nm (‪534.09 km)