Kayak Bill Camps - Cockle Bay

Bill had been out for nearly four months and was taking his time getting back to Shearwater to resupply.  On October 2, 2003 he experienced a “Perfect traveling day along Swindle Island shore” while paddling from Higgins Pass Camp to Dallas Island nudged on by a light westerly breeze.

Eastbound on Higgins Passage

After two nights on Dallas he did a surprising thing.  A man who considered 25 NM an average day traveled just under 4.5 NM through Moss Passage to the Heiltsuk Cabin located on the eastern shore of Lady Douglas Island in Cockle Bay.  

Bella Bella 2 Prince Rupert 2015

Image by Dave Resler

McLoughlin Bay to Quinoot Point

July 27 / Day 1

Overcast with showers, Winds calm raising to SW @ 12 knots, Calm to 1’ wind waves, Seas rippled

Launching from the rocky beach adjacent to the ferry dock took me back 10 years to my last visit to McLoughlin Bay and first trip to the BC coast.  Dave and I had been drawn together during the ‘70’s by our love of hang gliding.  I had sold him his first glider and we had shared many thermals, windy launches and LZ’s but Dave’s move to Idaho had separated us geographically and we hadn’t stayed in touch.  Then in 2004 Dave contacted me.  He was back in town and it turned out that we shared an interest in paddling.  He had taken a couple of kayak trips with Larry Longrie and Keith Blumhagen and wanted to share the experience with me.  He had brought me to this very beach in July 2005 and introduced me to the magic of the Wild Coast.

Bella Bella 2005   

By 2007 we had convinced my co-worker, Greg Polkinghorn, that he should come along with us, which he did,  and he was returning now for his 4^th trip.  This was my 7^th and Dave’s 9^th. 

Klemtu 2007

Inspired by Washington paddler Chuck Curry’s accomplishment of paddling the outer coast to Sitka, we set the modest goal of paddling the outer BC coastline between Prince Rupert and Victoria.  We would do it in bits and pieces.  Emboldened by the “Outer Coast Guides” published by Glenn Lewis with the help of Harriet Rueggeberg, Reale Emonds, Karina Younk, Geoff Mumford and Ursula Vaira we felt the time was right for us to take a sizable bite out of the elephant and paddle the outer coast of Athlone, Price, Aristazabal, Estevan Group, Banks, Porcher and Stephens Island.  I liked the fact that we were starting this trip where my BC coastal explorations had originally begun.

We shared the beach with two Canadians who were bound for Port Hardy in a double.  Their plans called for spending the night, close to Shearwater, on Rainbow Island so that they could start their trip after an evening of pizza and beer.  I suspect that their double, like a good horse, knew its way back to the barn and could deliver the cowboys safely to their camp.  Sounded like a decent idea to me but we were off to the Heiltsuk cabin on Quinoot Point for the first leg of our journey.  

McLoughlin Bay to Quinoot Point Chart

Port Hardy 2 Coal Harbour 2013

Image by Dave Resler

Dave and I planned to paddle from Port Hardy around the north end of Vancouver Island…..sort of.  I say sort of because normally there are months of detailed planning that precedes these trips but both of us were so busy with family and work that planning was crammed into very short, individual and last-minute time slots.  Dave, the fastidious planner, would normally have three routes carefully worked out with different timelines for each.  We would pick one as conditions presented themselves and stick with it.  I had learned a lot from him and incorporated his style into my solo trip plan in 2012.  During that trip, however, I found that I was very comfortable going off-plan and switching from one to another as conditions and opportunities presented themselves.

Our basic plan was to paddle up Goletas Channel towards Cape Scott, the far end of Vancouver Island, and down the west coast to Quatsino Sound ending in Coal Harbour.  Conditions and whim would determine our exact path to Cape Scott and our daily distance, overall.  We weren’t pressed for time as we had three weeks. We could finish early or afford to get pinned for days somewhere with no way to get off the beach.

Ultimately, tides, winds and sea state would dictate progress and we could choose to cross Goletas Channel to the God’s Pocket complex, Nigei Island and Hope Island areas to just poke around and hide from high winds and weather or just hang out.  We could also choose to benefit from the favorable morning ebbs that should push us up the channel and on our way.  Current in Goletas Channel runs up to 3 knots with intersecting currents running to 5 knots providing an environment where rips and ragged water can be generated.  Throw a west wind against the ebb and progress could become arduous and busy. 

Between Vancouver and Hope Islands Goletas Channel escapes into the open Pacific where Nahwitti Bar rises up from the depths to confound and anger the current, winds and swell.  Vessels of all size consider conditions on the bar and it can go off.

Klemtu 2 Port Hardy 2012

I had no burning desire to take a solo trip.  It was just that my paddling partners weren't available to travel and I did have a burning desire to go north for a bit, so solo it was.   I liked the idea of being able to dictate my own schedule, poke around instead of focus on mileage, change my route without debate, take a day off or not as the spirit moved me, etc.  The solo-thing meant, to me anyway, that I would need to select a route that wasn't too ambitious and that I would really have to pay attention to the conditions so that I stayed within my skill set.

The route would be an "Inside-Outside" sort of thing with plenty of familiar locales to provide comfort plus some new sights and exciting challenges.  Since I had never spent much time on the Inside Passage I would start by flavoring some of the long deep reaches.  I would be passing four Kayak Bill camps and hoped to find his last camp on Gosling Island clean enough to camp at.  The outside of Calvert had called to me for years so, conditions allowing, I would spend a couple of days checking that out.   Finally, I had spent some time discussing the crossing of Queen Charlotte Strait with Glenn Lewis of Nanaimo and, if I lost the usual number of days to foul weather, I would be making that crossing when currents were running high in Gordon and Goletas Channels so a different tact would be employed.

Klemtu to Sarah Island

7/27 Friday, Day 1

60 degrees, Overcast, calm winds and seas

I met the Nanaimo Paddlers at the Bear Cove dock.  Really a nice bunch of folks who were heading for the outside of Aristazabal, Price and Athlone and who would spend the next the 12 or so hours trying hard to convince me to come along with them.  Made for a very enjoyable ride to Klemtu.

Northern Expedition in Bear Cove

the Outside Passage 2009

A chance encounter with Chuck Curry in 2007 set our minds in motion and inspired this trip that we embarked on July 17.  We were camped at the west end of Higgins Passage on July 18, 2007 when Chuck stopped by to chat.  A Puget Sound paddler, he was going solo from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert.  He had crossed Milbanke Sound earlier that day in the same dense fog that Greg had unerringly led the 15.2 NM route from Milne Island to Higgins.  After about 20 minutes Chuck paddled off towards the west.  He still had some miles to make.  We would meet up with him later in Seattle and learn that he had taken a route outside of Aristazabal, Trutch and Banks Islands.  He had intended to go outside of Porcher, also, but ducked inside because he was running out of food.  We were inspired to attempt his route, in reverse, and that is what we spent the previous two years planning.

An extremely rough sketch of our intended route was to go through Edye Passage at the north end of Porcher Island and hang a left, keeping open ocean to our right until the time came to cross Queen Charlotte Strait for Port Hardy.  We didn’t have the expectation that conditions would allow that but it was still the dream.  The BC Coast isn’t known for producing the perfect stretch of weather it would take to allow us to consider that a viable route so an Inside/Outside Route is what we ended up doing and we made choices each day as to what route to take.  We had a two week hard-date where we had to get Greg to Klemtu or Shearwater for his ferry ride back to Port Hardy so we couldn’t afford to get pinned down by inclement weather.

West Coast British Columbia

Map from Encarta World Atlas

For the benefit of family and friends Dave carried a Spot Satellite Messenger on his back and we “sent off a Spot” each morning when we launched, at lunch if we put ashore and again when we reached a campsite.  When we had no option to get out of our boats for lunch we activated it on Dave’s back or not at all.  These devices seem to have had some reliability issues, however, Dave’s worked perfectly and posted each Spot that we sent.  For safety’s sake I wore an ACR Terrafix EBIRB that we would rely upon if we required extraction.

Seattle to Prince Rupert

At 2:15 AM on the morning of July 16 Dave arrived at my house.  We loaded the truck and started north.  Two hours to Tsawwassen, 30 minutes on the dock, a two hour crossing to Nanaimo and five more driving up the island would bring us to Port Hardy.  On the way up-island we made a stop at Campbell River to pick up Dave’s fishing license and to mail the food supply for the second half of our trip (55 pounds) to Klemtu where we would pick it up two weeks hence. 

Waterfront Park

Individual Daily Meal Plan

Breakfast

2 servings of instant oatmeal             320 calories

Starbucks Via                                       50 calories

                                                          370 calories

Snack

ProBar                                              370 calories

Lunch

1 large flour tortilla                        180 calories

Landjaegar                                       190 calories

Cheese                                                110 calories

                                                         480 calories

Snack

Protein Bar                                        270 calories

Dinner

Freeze dried                                       550 – 650 calories

Daily Total Calories                         2090 calories

Additionally, I carry a jug of Hammer Gel that holds the equivalent of 8 individual 100 calorie servings.  I use this to top up between meals and planned snacks.

15 NM = 5 hours of paddling = 2125 calories burned

18 NM = 6 hours of paddling = 2550 calories burned

21 NM = 7 hours of paddling = 2975 calories burned

About Me

Growing up in Seattle.  I learned to swim, walk logs, build, borrow and steal rafts.  With two home-built dinghies, a hydroplane and a run-about I explored the lakes and shorelines of the Greater Seattle area.  When a friend introduced me to white water kayaks in the mid-70's it stuck. 

I have spent the past 20 years exploring British Columbia's outer coast and chasing down Kayak Bill Davidson's many camps while putting together bits and pieces of a route from Olympia to Prince Rupert, BC.  I don't have the desire to do it in one fell swoop so it is a trip here and a trip there.  When complete it will encompass the entire Canadian west coast.  In the meantime, it is a collection of visits and learnings as time allows.  

I recently retired after #OptingOutside as an REI employee for 47 years.  REI enabled me to hike, climb, cycle, ski, hang glide and kayak.  I enjoy writing and I am a member of Washington Water Trails, BC Marine Trails Association, BCMTA Coastal Journey Team, The Mountaineers and North Sound Sea Kayaking Association.  Currently I paddle a Sterling Grand Illusion.  When I’m not paddling I write what pleases me.

 

I also have another blog that nearly dodges kayaking altogether.  It is a smattering of things that amuse me.  Visit it here: Flashbacks - Rumors, Myths, Legends and Lies