West Coast of Aristazabal, Price & Athlone Islands
Includes Rennison and Anderson Islands
A Field Guide for Paddlers
Why?
This guide is chapter 2 of an effort started in 2011 which sought to fill in
some gaps in the Wild Coast series of guides by John Kimantas.
The 2011 effort resulted in West Coast of Banks Island – A Field Guide for Paddlers. Like the Banks Island guide, areas covered in The
Wild Coast Volume II are not included in this chapter, except by reference.
Who?
In 2012 nine members of the Nanaimo Paddlers club decided to survey the western
shores of Aristazabal (including all of Rennison Island and Anderson Islands),
Price and Athlone Islands. It was a good
test for the campsites as eight tents needed to be accommodated. All members of the group contributed to the
gathering of information. Most of the
photographs were taken by Geoff Mumford and Karina Younk. Most of the pre-trip survey preparation and
post-trip organization of the information was done by Reale Emond and Glenn
Lewis.
Overview of the surveyed area
From Oswald Point on the northwest corner of Rennison Island to Cape Mark
southwest of Athlone Island is about 80nm going more or less directly. However, those wanting a shorter open water
crossing of Laredo Sound at the south end of Aristazabal and an alternative to
the 8-9 nm crossing of Milbanke Sound at the south end of Price will need to
paddle an additional 15-20 nm. The area
is isolated but not so remote or unoccupied as Banks Island. Sports fishers from the North King Lodge
located in Borrowman Bay on Aristazabal Island will be seen from the north end
of Aristazabal down at least as far as Clifford Bay. Similarly, the West Coast Resorts lodge near
Athlone Island spread their guests between Cape Swain and Cape Mark. In an area that is several hours away from the
life boat stationed in Bella Bella, the presence of sports fishers provides
some additional support should an emergency arise.
The survey area is uniformly quite flat and is largely part of a formation
known as the Milbanke Strandflat. This
means that shallow waters extend west of the main shore line. Between Cape Mark and Oswald Point there are
between 500-1000 islands or islets and perhaps twice that number of rocks and
reefs, mostly within a mile of the main islands. Most of the time, paddlers will be either
fully or partially protected from sea states farther to the west. Another benefit of the low topography is that
most of the clouds that will drop rain on the hills and mountains to the east
carry on by without stopping. Ocean
swell that was often substantially blocked by Haida Gwaii further to the north
becomes more noticeable as one moves south from Clifford Bay on Aristazabal.
We found the area relatively easy to paddle for a western exposure, mainly due
to the large stretches of inshore paddling available that were fully protected
and the relatively short exposures to the open ocean. Paddling the area does require open water
crossings of Laredo Channel (about 4.5 nm), Laredo Sound (about 6.5 nm from the
south end of Aristazabal over to Price going directly), Milbanke Sound (about 5
nm from Langford Cove on Price Island to Salal Island or 8-9 nm going directly
from the south end of Price Island to Athlone Island). Aside from the presence of sports fishers,
the area shows few signs of human use except for two cabins near the northern
end of Aristazabal and a whale observation post at Ulric Point. Weather information comes from the Klemtu
repeater in the northern sections and the Calvert Island repeater further
south; reception is generally quite good.
