BCMTN Site Assessments - Discovery Islands Group

The weekend of March 7th & 8th Robyn and I joined other members of the BC Marine Trails Network Board of Directors on a site assessment expedition into the Discovery Islands Group located northeast of Campbell River. 

My three girls for the campout ..... lucky me! :-)

Leaving Victoria at 5:45am on Saturday morning we drove to the Quadra Island ferry terminal in Campbell River where we met up with Paul Grey, Reale Emond and Gene Gapsis to catch the 10:15am departure. Paul is the BCMTN Project Manager for the Discovery Islands Group and he had previously identified a number of sites that he wanted our group to take a closer look at.






Reale and Gene are the Stewardship Managers for the BCMTNA and they have been refining the Site Condition and Site Assessment Reports that the organization will be using in the future. It was also a hands-on training session on how to conduct site assessments which Robyn and I were looking forward to learning.

Moulds Bay with Breton Islands in the distance.

Our put-in location was at Moulds Bay just north of Heriot Bay which put us in close proximity to a number of the sites that Paul wanted to check on Quadra Island, Bold Island and a couple other small rocky islets.











The kayaking gods couldn't have given us a better weather forecast to deal with as there was no wind, no clouds, lots of sun and warm temperatures. This weekend would be our first overnight campout of the year and with clear skies and a full moon we wondered if there would be freezing temperatures overnight. Not to worry as we simply loaded everything we needed (like mexican blankets) into our Delta 15.5 Expeditions. We were only going for one night but we could have stayed out there for a couple of weeks with all the gear we took. LOL

Low tide meant that we packed up on the rocky beach about 100 meters from the cars. 

Paul was our expedition leader for the day and couldn't stay with the group overnight so we checked out 3 locations before he had to leave. The first site was in a small bay called Shellaligan that was covered in oysters at low tide and had several areas that could be developed into campsites if need be.

Possible beach camping in a couple of places

Paul and Gene documenting and taking pictures of the site.

Our next spot to check out was Bold Island, a small island that didn't look like much from the water and even looked like a tough place to land on the rocky beach at low tide. At first we thought maybe it would suit as a rest stop location but on further exploration we spotted an area that would make a great little campsite for 2 or 3 tents. I think Robyn and I have officially put "dibs" on this spot to do the site work should the BCMTN be granted this location.

At low tide it's a rocky approach but doable.

The good thing about doing the assessments at low tide is that we got to visualize what the different landings might be like as the tide changes or in weather conditions.

Heading towards the uplands to check out what amenities might be available.

The view was awesome too!

Our next site to check out was a very small islet called Dunsterville Mini Islet which from a distance looked like a perfect place to set up camp however on closer inspection we soon found out that landing a kayak at high or low tide would be very challenging. Unfortunately this little islet will not make the list of sites that will be submitted for review.

As it was now getting late in the day we escorted Paul back to Moulds Bay as he was unable to finish the weekend with us. Reale, Gene, Robyn and I then headed to Breton Islands to set up camp for the evening. Breton Islands campsite is located on crown land and although it looks like it is heavily used, we were the only ones here today.

Heading to our overnight stop at the Breton Islands

Since the weather forecast was for no rain we set up our tents in between the logs on the beach and watched the sun slowly sink over Vancouver Island.

Our first overnight for  2015. It doesn't get any better than this!

Before we got to the task of making dinner, Robyn and I took the opportunity to go find a geocache that is on the NE side of the island. The cache in question had only been found a few times since being placed there several years ago and it wasn't long before we located it. The view from the cache site looking northeast deep into the Discovery Islands Group was stunning. Tomorrow we would head that direction and do more site assessments but first it was time to head back to camp and make dinner.

The sun setting on the Discovery Islands Group 

When we landed at the campsite we noticed that a small fire just above the high water line was still smoldering from recent guests so we burned off the partially burned wood as darkness surrounded us. Being the beginning of March we were prepared for a possible cold night but just as the marine forecast predicted it was almost like a midsummer night in paradise. The full moon started to show itself above the tree line of the island as we headed to bed and set our alarms for 6:00am. The next day was going to be a long one and we needed to be on the water at first light to put in the miles.

OMG!!! The 6am alarm clock woke us up and it was still dark as we crawled out of tents and started the process of loading up the kayaks. With daylight savings clicking in overnight it actually was 5am but we had work to do. Breakfast and coffee was made using our headlamps as very slowly it started to get light. Just after 7am we were on the water and heading towards Read Island to check out some sites that Paul had asked us to assess.

The sun starts to rise above the marine layer that settled in overnight.

There are advantages to getting up early and being on the water. Paddling as the sun rises does something to the soul and it takes all your troubles and worries away as the new day approaches. Back to work :-)  Reaching Read Island we explored the beautiful rugged coastline checking every small bay or cove for potential sites.

We came across a small pebble beach located deep inside a cove which is called Read Point East and after landing we explored the upland for possible places that tents could be set up. This end of Read Island is a Provincial Park but at some time in history there must have been a homestead here as we found the remnants of an old garden. This would make a great campsite location as there is room for several tents in a couple of areas.

A good landing area

A garden from the past ...

Our next site was one that Paul wanted us to check on and it was a possible location that we were considering as using as our base camp the night before. Located in a very long cove the site is designated Lake Bay as a small creek flows from Rosen Lake in the park on Read Island. Entering the cove the view deep inside is wonderful with steep rocky walls all way to the landing area of small rocks. Once on land we soon realized that beyond the piled up driftwood there was a pretty substantial marshland hidden from view and almost nowhere to put up a tent. Maybe it was a good thing that we didn't paddle here the evening before as finding a location to put our tents would have been a challenge.

Deep inside the walls of the bay we landed on the beach of Lake Bay.

Lots of driftwood debris would make setting up camp difficult. 

While we were completing the site assessment at Lake Bay, another paddler entered the cove and came ashore. It was Al Dunham who lives in Campbell River and had been in contact with Reale the evening before while at our Breton Islands campsite. Al had gotten up early, took the ferry from Campbell River, launched from Rebbeca Spit Marine Park near Heriot Bay and tracked us down here.

Our next couple of sites to check out were 4nm north of Lake Bay and so the five of us headed off towards Hill Island which was about the half way point. The sun slowly started to burn through the marine layer revealing another amazing day with hardly a breath of wind. Early March on the west coast and it felt more like early summer.

Heading towards Hill Island and beyond for our next assessment sites

Reale, Al and Robyn gliding along on the glass like surface of the water.

Whale Passage dead ahead and the Penn Islands to the right.

While Gene, Reale and Al started to check out a site at Whale Passage, Robyn and I headed over to Frederic Point to check out a potential site there. We found a location to land in between a field of large boulders and made our way up to the high water line. Looking back from where we came we could see the snow cap tips of the Vancouver Island Ranges in the distance.

Everywhere we looked the views were spectacular.

The beauty of venturing deeper into Discovery Islands is that the sites that we started to assess were in many cases totally untouched. Such was the case at Frederic Point as we saw no evidence of previous camping at this location. With care, a couple of tent sites could be established at this location in the future.

Possible tent site with some clean up required.

Completing the assessment on the beach 

One of the purposes of this trip was to check out potential BC Marine Trails sites in the Discovery Islands Group but it was also an opportunity to use the recently developed laminated Site Assessment Report.

We simply used the provided grease pencil to complete the report and took a few photographs (Robyn's idea) of it to save the data. I then wiped clean the laminated report for use at another site later in the day.













After completing the Frederic Point assessment, Robyn and I joined the others at the Whale Passage site just a few hundred meters east. The Whale Passage site has been used in the past as a paddle in campsite and it offers fabulous views and a clearing beneath the trees just above the landing area for tents. This would be our lunch stop before pressing on to a couple more sites before heading back towards Moulds Bay.

Whale Passage camp site.

A couple of minutes after I took this picture the kayaks were high and dry. Big water movement in the Discovery Islands.

Al, Reale and Gene relaxing in the sun on the bluff at Whale Passage.

Rounding the point at Whale Bay the view up towards Bute Inlet was stunning. The area has a feeling of being so remote and would be a wonderful place to do a multi day trip in the future. Another bucket list destination.

I really wanted to turn left and disappear for several days deeper into the Discovery Islands Group.

The next site we visited was called Penn Islands Central. At first glance it looked like landing might be difficult due to a massive oyster bed in the small bay that was exposed during the receding tide.

Oysters anyone?

But like most of the sites that we visited, high water will allow landing on a beach consisting of small rocks and bedrock.

A possible old oyster lease. In the distance you can just make out a fish farm.

On one side of the small bay we explored the mossy bluffs and identified a number of places that would be suitable for a few tents.

Checking out the topography of the site for tent locations.  

Robyn took this one of me completing my Site Assessment Report. 

On the other side of the bay our exploration efforts located the remnants of what looks like a make shift camp established to harvest the oysters. It obviously hasn't been used for quite some time but could be easily be cleaned up to become a good site.

The remains of an old camp. A little work in this area would make it an ideal inland location for tents.

Our last site was at Penn Islands Southwest and once again, medium sized boulders at low tide to land on. From the water it doesn't look like much but once on the beach the possibilities reveal themselves for camping above the high water line and even up high on the bluffs nearby.

From the water it looks a little rough but ......

From high above, the site creates opportunities.

Robyn on the bluff surveying the landscape.

In order for Robyn and I to make it back to Victoria before midnight we needed to be heading towards Moulds Bay by no later than 2:00pm. With the paddle back to the put in, unloading of the kayaks, drive to the Quadra Island ferry (which we missed the 6pm), we finally made it home just before 11pm. The whole way back in the car we talked about how magical the experience to paddle the area was and the planning process has begun on doing an extended multi day trip into the Discovery Islands Group in 2016.

2015 Paddle #10 - BCMTN Discovery Islands

Distance: 24.64 nm (45.63 km)

YTD: 84.94 nm (‪148.53 km)

Port Renfrew February 22nd.

Just catching up on some blog posts that have been sitting in a pile on my desk. This has been happening too much with my (our) volunteering duties the past couple of months. :-)

Anyway, on Sunday February 22nd, Robyn and I managed to finally paddle at Port Renfrew for the first time and we were treated to a spectacular day of weather, sea conditions, rock gardening, BCMTN Site Condition Reporting and of course great fellowship.

Only 2 hours from home we met up with Reale, Janice and Beverely at the Gordon River Pacheedaht First Nation campground for a day of exploring along the north side of the inlet. Up to this point we had only heard of how great the rock gardening and sea arches are in the area.

The surf zone by Gordon River. Not much action when we first arrived, only a couple of surfers waiting for sets to come in.

As you can see in the picture above, not a cloud in the sky, no wind and just enough swell that would make our rock gardening interesting. Leaving the beach at 11:00am the plan was to follow the shoreline up to Thrasher Cove where we would have lunch before heading back.

Robyn coming through a swell after exiting a cave. You can just see Reale's helmet inside the opening.

The tide was pretty low on the way out and some of the arches didn't have enough water for us to paddle through but never the less we explored almost every nook and cranny.

Janice and Robyn check out one of the many arches.

We had some great rides through the surge channels and it was interesting to see how a calm channel would suddenly explode into turbulent foaming turquoise sea underneath our kayaks. It was a great place to use a variety of paddle strokes to navigate through some of the tide spaces between islets.

A few seconds ago it was flat calm and then ........

By the way, an update on my Jackson Kayak Happy Seat. This was the first real test of it in dynamic conditions and I can't say enough about how it helped the feel and control of my kayak. The additional thigh bracing that it provides allowed me to effectively use my legs to pull the kayak around rocks and through some tight spots. If fact, on Monday I was wondering why my core was so sore and then I realized that I was using core muscles more than I have in the past. Yes ... I am sold on using it in my play boat!

After a couple of hours of play we arrived at Thrasher Cove which is on West Coast Trail route of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. The 75 km West Coast Trail is part of the ancient paths and paddling routes used for trade and travel by First Nations.

Lunch stop at Thrasher Cove

A great beach to land on with a few campsites in the upland area.

Reale and Janice check out the sites and take pictures for the BCMTN map page.

The long, very long stairway up to the West Coast Trail. The sign next to me indicates the tsunami evacuation route. Tough to haul our kayaks up in an emergency. LOL

Janice and Beverely enjoying the sunshine while Robyn, Reale and I explore the beach.

How big are west coast trees? Robyn and Reale are dwarfed by it's size.

The only thing that didn't happen on this paddle was doing a little surfing. I was hoping that maybe there would be some action when we arrived back at the beach but there wasn't any waves being generated. Maybe next time. Oh yeah .... and this amazing weather is in February! Looks to be an early spring for us on the west coast. ;-)

2015 Paddle #9  - Port Renfrew

Distance: 5.97 nm (11.56 km)

YTD: 60.30 nm (‪102.90 km)

Happy Seat To Cattle Point

Last Saturday (February 21st) Robyn and I went for an early spring paddle from Gyro Park in Cadboro Bay to Cattle Point. Nothing but sunshine and 13C temperatures to greet us as we explored the coastline while Robyn worked on some of her maneuvering skills.

Robyn and I paddling through the Royal Victoria Yacht Club marina. Photo by Gary Jacek

The Happy Seat fitted into the cockpit of my P&H Delphin

For me it was an opportunity to try a Jackson Kayak's Happy Seat that I installed in my cockpit earlier in the day. Recently I have been having some hip and knee issues while paddling my P&H Delphin on long flat water paddles and I saw this device in kayak at our local club (South Island Sea Kayaking Association) meeting last month. Since then I have been improvising by using my blow up paddle float partially inflated under my thighs to allow me to relax my legs a bit. It made a huge difference in the pool and on our last paddle over to Discovery Island, so I decided to get the real thing.

The Jackson Kayak website describes this device best. The Happy Seat is an inflatable bladder that goes under your legs just in front of your existing seat. It has two purposes. 1. It gives you more control in the boat. 2. It makes your legs more comfortable, taking some of the pressure off of your knees, hips, and butt. The Happy Seat comes with a cord to attach the front of it to your floor support, and the back end attaches by Velcro straps around your seat.  You should make sure it doesn't impede exit from your boat in case of emergency.

GoPro adhesive mount works great to tie down the Happy Seat

Installation was quick and easy and since I don't have a front tie down post like a whitewater boat might have I just used a spare GoPro adhesive mount that I stuck to the floor of my cockpit. Once on the water I inflated the bladder with the nice long air line and made sure that I could exit the kayak very easily. One of the features that I love about the Happy Seat is that when you drop one knee the air transfers from one bladder side to the other allowing the lower knee to be removed from under the cockpit thigh braces.





As we paddled towards Cattle Point I spotted someone in a sheltered cove taking pictures of what I thought was wildlife but soon figured out that it was our paddling friend Gary Jacek. Gary was out on a bike ride and he managed to spot us from Beach Drive as we paddled through the Royal Victoria Yacht Club just after leaving the beach.

Gary spotted me coming through the islets just as I spotted him taking pictures of us.

We landed our kayaks in the little cove to talk with Gary for a while and Robyn noticed on her GPS that there was a Geocache very close by. So off she went to make the find before we continued on our way. That's a pretty good selfie of Robyn with our kayaks, Gary and myself in the background. :-)

It's not often that we get photos of both of us together. Thanks Gary!

While the rest of Canada is frozen in winter at this time of year we sure have it tough on the west coast. They say that April showers bring May flowers but for us it's more like January's showers (no snow) bring February's flowers. Yes.... spring has arrived in Victoria!

Oak Bay and Willows Beach (right) in the sunshine

2015 Paddle # 8 - Caddy to Cattle Point

Distance: 3.96 nm (7.33 km)

YTD: 54.33 nm (‪91.34 km)

Discovery Geocaching

What did we do on Valentine's Day? We went Geocaching by kayak over to Discovery Island to look for a new cache and to place our (RVTraveller's) latest cache. It was also a good opportunity to do some cache maintenance as well while we were there.

Robyn paddling through the passage between the Chatham's and Discovery Island.

It was an awesome day to head across Baynes Channel and paddle through the Chatham Islands on our way to the BC Parks Marine Provincial Park at Rudlin Bay on Discovery Island. Slightly overcast skies with no wind and a slack tide on the way over made it a nice lazy paddle as we kept our eyes open for the lone wolf that has taken up residence on Discovery. Ready with my GoPro Hero 2, I started to video as we passed the lighthouse in hopes that we would catch a glimpse of her.

The lighthouse on Pandora Hill at Discovery Island.  In 1996 the
lighthouse was automated after having been manned for 110 years

We made a quick stop before reaching Rudlin Bay to locate a geocache that was placed only a few weeks ago. Lots of places where the cache could be hidden but with the GPS we found it fairly easily.

Robyn has the Geocache coordinates for GC5KXCA Paradise View on her Garmin Oregon 550.

A selfie of us taking our selfie because ......

Yes we found Paradise View cache!

We forgot to bring a pen or pencil with us to log the cache and the cache container didn't have one in it so we decided to simply take our selfie and use the picture as evidence that we found the cache.

And then it was time to get down to business to find a location to hide our geocache called Plaque Discovery (GC5MTAA). Although not really difficult, the cache takes you to a couple of plaques dedicated in memory of Captain E.G. Beaumont who donated this beautiful property to the Province of BC.

Now where shall we place Plaques Discovery? Will you find it one day?? 

After finding a nice hidey hole for Plaques Discovery we headed off to find a cache that Robyn adopted a few months back and do a little cache maintenance. I still had my GoPro running in case we came across the wolf but today we didn't get to see her. We did however find lots of evidence of her on the trail out to Commodore Point in the form of scat and where she recently clawed away the moss on the trail.

No camping here, no fires here, no wolf here too! Maybe on our next visit.

Someone is watching us.

Can you see it? We came across this Bushnell HD Trail Cam that has obviously been set up to capture images of the wolf when she passes by it. We got a little closer in hopes that our selfie would be seen by whoever owns the camera. :-)

 We located GCW31H Discover Discovery Island just where we thought it was and it was in great shape. Nice and dry too!

Originally placed in 2006 by another Geocacher, Robyn adopted the cache when the owner was no longer able to take care of it. We are so glad that we could help keep this cache active after 9 years since it was hidden on the island.

So close to home and yet when you come here it seems so far away.

The wolf was here. Fresh paw scrapes showing the claw marks in the moss on the trail

After a quick bite to eat we started to head back towards Cadboro Bay but we came across something on the beach staring at us. Was it the wolf? No it was a totem pole!

Hello?

I wonder what the totem is depicting? 

I'm not sure if this is a First Nations carving but it might be since it is on the north side of Discovery Island which is part of Discovery Island Indian Reserve 3, under the control of the Songhees First Nation. In any case we respected First Nation's law that prohibits landing on the beach. From our vantage point in our kayaks we were able to get close enough to get a good view of the totem.

Robyn practicing in the current in an area which we have nicknamed "Yves' Slough"

We headed back through the "slough" where the ebb current was flowing. It was a chance for Robyn to work on her ferrying skills. This is the place that Robyn and I first took a currents course with Yves of Go Kayak 3 years ago and we now call it Yves' Slough whenever we come through here.

The paddle back across Baynes Channel was just a little bit of a workout in the ebb to finish off another wonderful visit to Discovery Island.

2015 Paddle # 7 - Discovery Island

Distance: 9.50 nm ( 17.59 km)

YTD: 50.37 nm (‪84.01 km)

Practice Time For Robyn

Ever since we got back from our Paddle Canada Level 3 / 2 course in the fall Robyn has been working very hard to get ready for her Level 3 Assessment in April. In fact her skills advancement has been amazing to watch in the pool over the winter and now it's time to transfer those skills to the ocean.

A couple weeks ago Robyn asked me what she should work on and I said "Let's work on paddle strokes". So off we went to Cadboro Bay just to work on edging and paddle strokes with a focus on core rotation. For this paddle I put the GoPro on her kayak so we could analyse the session later at home. This is just a sample of her paddling for the day. :-)

2015 Paddle # 6 - Cadboro Bay

Distance: 3.85 nm ( 7.13 km)

YTD: 40.87 nm (‪66.42 km)

East Sooke Rock Gardening ... The Video

After 3 plus years of writing about our kayak adventures I have to admit that I kind of lost the "mojo" to hammer away on the keyboard after a long day or weekend on the water. Inspired by The Hurricane Riders' Rowan Gloag and Marty Perry I decided to try and tell the story of our latest adventure out to East Sooke by creating this video. Enjoy!  

        If you want to watch it in HD click on the YouTube link.

2015 Paddle # 5 - East Sooke

Distance: 9.31 nm ( 17.24 km)

YTD: 32.02 nm (‪59.29 km)