Fall 2012 Coast&Kayak Magazine

FALL 2012
FREE at select outlets and

online or by subscription
Volume 22, Issue 3
www.coastandkayak.com
How a week on
water created
a true river
woman
Yukon River
P
M

4
1
6
8
7
5
1
5
A look at Jason Lewiss
remarkable 13-year
human-powered odyssey
Around the globe
Magazine
The magazine of coastal adventure and recreation
12fa_master.indd 1 7/26/2012 9:55:06 AM
2 COAST&KAYAK MAGAZINE FALL 2012
Huge end of summer
sale starts August 25
Deep Cove Outdoors
deepcoveoutdoors.com / 604.987.2202
Exclusive Distributors
of Sterlings Kayak
Home grown kayaks for
West Coast Paddling
Check out our fall rental fleet sale
Great deals on used Single
& Double Kayaks
Visit our store
352 Lynn Ave, North Vancouver
12fa_master.indd 2 7/26/2012 9:55:07 AM
FALL 2012 COAST&KAYAK MAGAZINE 3
One world, six stories 8
8
28
44
The Uchuck Years 28
Rolling down the river 16
Coast&Kayak Magazine presents images and
vignettes of Jason Lewiss 13-year odyssey to
circumnavigate the globe solely by human
power.
Many kayakers and other coastal explorers will be well familiar with the Uchuck III, or
perhaps even its earlier counterparts. Coast&Kayak Magazine is proud to be able to
oer excerpts from the new book The Uchuck Years, A West Coast Shipping Saga by
David Esson Young.
First Word ....................................................................... 4
News .................................................................................. 6
Destinations:
South Gulf Islands ................................................ 24
North Gulf Islands ................................................ 26
Haida Gwaii .............................................................. 27
West Vancouver Island ............................... 28-30
Desolation Sound/Discovery Islands ........31
Various destinations ........................................... 32
SKGABC column by Liam NcNeil ..................... 33
Whales by James Dorsey ...................................... 34
New Gear ..................................................................... 38
Kayak shing by Peter Marshall ........................ 40
Skillset by Alex Matthews .................................... 42
Instruction directory ............................................. 43
Wildlife by Neil Schulman ................................... 46
Inside
Follow Inga Aksamit as she lives one of hers dreams,
to follow the Klondike Gold Rush path from Alaska
to the Yukon, retracing the steps of the hardy (or
perhaps foolhardy) Argonauts of the late 1800s. This
leg of the trip involves paddling 450 miles down the
Yukon River in northern Canada.
12fa_master.indd 3 7/26/2012 9:55:09 AM
4 COAST&KAYAK MAGAZINE SUMMER 2012

Fall 2012 Volume 22, Number 3
PM No. 41687515
A product of:
Wild Coast Publishing
PO Box 24, Stn A
Nanaimo, B.C., Canada, V9R 5K4
Ph: 1-866-984-6437 Fax: 1-866-654-1937
Email: kayak@coastandkayak.com
Website: www.coastandkayak.com
Physical address: Aboard the Rainy Day,
Somewhere on the Pacic Ocean
2012. Copyright is retained on all material (text, photos and graphics) in this magazine.
No reproduction is allowed of any material in any form, print or electronic, for any purpose,
except with the permission of Wild Coast Publishing.
Some elements in maps in this magazine are reproduced with
the permission of Natural Resources Canada 2010, courtesy
of the Atlas of Canada. Also, our thanks to Geobase for some
elements that may appear on Coast&Kayak maps.
Advertising rates and submission guidelines
available at www.coastandkayak.com
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While Coast&Kayak Magazine is made available
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ISSUE AD DEADLINE DISTRIBUTION
Winter 2012 Oct. 1 Nov. 6
2013 schedule to be determined
Im having a whole bunch of new problems lately that never occurred while
kayaking the coast. Plumbing leaks, varnish issues, which radar system is best... Its a
whole different skillset, and Im hoping Im not going astray in a bid to get closer to
the water by opting to expand my life on the water.
The background: Coast&Kayak Magazine, as of April, is being operated out of
a boat a Canoe Cove 36. The idea is to take a boat, add some new technology
and eventually work remotely on the Pacic coast using
telecommunications to keep in touch with the world. This
raises the possibly of getting to quite remote locations, thereby
running a busines while doing what we love most (exploring the
coast) without the need to scurry back to the ofce every few
days while being less expensive than running the old landlocked
Commercial Street ofce.
Im not there yet. In fact, as of writing this, I have yet to take
the boat out of its Nanaimo moorage slip.
I have a new boat owner joke, and it goes like this: I told
my friend I bought a boat. He asks, Have you been out yet? I reply, Yes, 20
or 30 times. He says, Thats fantastic! Where have you gone? I answer, To the
hardware store.
Its funny because its true.
My attraction to kayaking has always been and always will be the simplicity. I
learned a lot about what is truly important in life by spending entire summers in a
kayak, and Ive incorporated that minimalist wisdom into my overall outlook in life.
But unfortunately the realities of the world are often quite at odds with a desire to
remain unfettered. And nothing fetters quite like a publishing business ofce.
Add a boat to the equation and things can quickly become complicated. For
instance, somewhere between the bridge and the helm is a wire problem involving
the VHF radio. There goes possibly a day due to a broken wire somewhere. And its
a long list of similar woes that could each take days to resolve.
I view it as an investment. Fix something well and it will probably remain xed for
years, so once most problems are solved Leanne and I will potentially be free to enjoy
the ideal image we originally had in mind, which is heading away, paddling from a base
aboard the boat while still publishing a magazine. (Though the fallback isnt bad its a
beautiful sunny day on the water as Im writing this from the ofce aboard the boat in
the moorage. Compare that with the old downtown ofce. You cant.)
Theres a part of me, of course, that yearns to simply get away: paddle to the next
horizon, put up a tent and enjoy the view. It doesnt get easier, and in most cases it
doesnt get better. I dont want to lose sight of that.
Of course, the new vision is good too. Anchor somewhere exceedingly beautiful,
spend weeks paddling around getting to know the area, then move elsewhere with no
worries about needing to return home to run the business.
Will it work out that way? Ill keep you posted.
- John Kimantas
editor@coastandkayak.com
Another way to enjoy the water?
COAST&KAYAK MAGAZINE is an independent magazine
available free at hundreds of print distribution sites (paddling
shops, outdoor stores, paddling clubs, marinas, events, etc.),
and globally on the web. Also available by paid subscription.
Articles, photos, events, news are all welcome.
Find back issues, articles, events, writers guidelines and
advertising information online at coastandkayak.com
Cover Photo:
Jason Lewis scopes out his
route on his way around
the world. His 13-year trip
led him around the globe
powered only by his own
energy. See page 8. Kenny
Brown photo.
General queries: kayak@coastandkayak.com
Editorial: editor@coastandkayak.com
Advertising: kayak@coastandkayak.com
Coast&Kayak Magazine is dedicated to making self-propelled
coastal exploration fun and accessible. Safety and travel
information is provided to augment pre-existing safety and
knowledge. A safety course and proper equipment are advised
before any exploration on water. See a list of paddling instruction
locations at www.coastandkayak.com
The new Coast&Kayak mascot,
Yakky, wreaking havoc aboard our
neighbours dinghy. Bad Yakky!
Contact Us:
The First Word
12fa_master.indd 4 7/26/2012 9:55:11 AM
12fa_master.indd 5 7/26/2012 9:55:11 AM
Steve Rees, Wave Vidmar (in the brown cloak) and a Passat G3 receive a blessing from
Stzuminus elders at Transfer Beach in Ladysmith prior to Waves trip from California to Hawaii.
BOAT BLESSING Ocean odyssey
The morning was an unusual one in
June when Transfer Beach in Ladysmith
was transformed by a traditional Stzuminus
blessing for a kayak.
This wasnt just any kayak, though, but
a Seaward Passat G3 being used by Wave
Vidmar to paddle from California to Hawaii, a
5,000-km journey.
Wave was on Vancouver Island prior
to the start of the expedition to oversee
the construction of the highly customized
Passat. Prior to leaving for his launch in
California both Wave and his kayak received
a traditional blessing by Stzuminus First
Nation elders.
Joining him in the blessing was Seaward
Kayaks owner and trip sponsor Steve Rees.
Meanwhile, Waves departure from San
Francisco was still to take place by press time
for this issue. His plan is to spend somewhere
between 45 and 56 days on open water to
complete the journey. To help, the kayak is
outtted with comforts such as a desalinator
for drinking water, solar panels and one less
bulkhead to allow him room to lie down to
sleep.
The trip has been completed once before:
25 years ago by Ed Gillet from Monterey Bay
to Maui, a shorter route.
Wave has also been planning a North
Atlantic solo crossing by rowboat later in
2012 from Cape Cod to Great Britain. A
previous accomplishment includes a solo
expedition to the North Pole.
www.pacickayaker.com
News
PROTEST BY PADDLE Tanker tra c
How big are the supertankers that
will travel the Great Bear Rainforest to
Kitimat? Kayakers gathered in Nanaimo in
a rally on July 22 to demonstrate the point
graphically by forming the shape and
dimensions of a supertanker.
The rally coincided with Nanaimos
largest community event, the Nanaimo
Bathtub Festival and the world
championship bathtub race that has its
nishing line at Nanaimos Departure Bay.
The supertankers are 388 metres long.
www.dogwoodinitiative.org
EXPEDITION Arctic traverse
A four-man team is attempting to be the
rst to row across the Arctic Ocean through
2,000 kms of ice-choked water.
The route will take them from Inuvik,
Canada to Provideniya, Russia, and will take
30 days.
Paul Ridley, Collin West, Neal Mueller
and Scott Mortensen have partnered with
Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation
and The University of Alaska Fairbanks to
collect data and conduct research about
Arctic conditions along the way.
www.arcticrow.com
12fa_master.indd 6 7/26/2012 9:55:44 AM
News
12fa_master.indd 7 7/26/2012 9:55:51 AM
Adventures
One world,
six stories
Coast&Kayak Magazine presents
vignettes and images from The Expedition,
Dark Waters, the 13-year, self-powered
around-the-world odyssey of Jason Lewis
Into the Big Blue, day one of
the Atlantic crossing. Photos
by Kenny Brown.
12fa_master.indd 8 7/26/2012 9:55:51 AM
Jason Lewis
ITS INCREDIBLE isnt it, how no
ones thought of it already?
As hed already pointed out, the
Earth had been circumnavigated using
everything from sailboats, to airplanes,
to hot air balloons. Yet the purest, most
ecologically sound method of all and for
centuries the most achievable without
using fossil fuels was still up for grabs.
It may even be an original frst, he
continued excitedly.
So, you reckon all the other big frsts
in exploration and adventure have been
done? I asked.
Steve had clearly done his homework,
proceeding to reel o some of the
more notable feats of the last century:
Amundsen beating Scott to the South
Pole in 1911; Hillary and Norgay
summiting Everest in 1953; Armstrong
setting foot on the moon in 1969. By
1992, however, it was slim pickings with
the exception of the deep oceans and
outer space. Nearly every square inch of
the planets surface had been trampled
upon, sailed across, fown or driven
over. Explorers and adventurers were
fast becoming a rare breed, increasingly
reliant upon passing o a variation
of a well-worn theme as something
genuinely dierent.
It wont be long before the media
runs a story about the frst blind-folded
transsexual to snowboard down Everest
in a thong, he fnished o dryly.
I smiled. Thats been done already.
Not on a trashcan lid.
M
Y OLD college pal Steve Smith and
I were slumped on the kitchen foor
of his fat in Paris, drinking Kronenbourg
1664 at two in the morning. A map of the
world lay between us, paddled by the
slowly revolving shadow of an ornate
ceiling fan that gave the apartment an
air of French colonial panache. Steve
had just pitched the most ingenious,
hair-brained, inspirational, irresponsible,
guaranteed-to-give-your-mother-a-
cardiac-arrest idea I had ever heard:
A human-powered circumnavigation
of the planet
Those few words hung suspended in
air, like a spell, putting goosebumps on
my skin. To travel as far as you can go over
land and sea, to the very ends of the Earth
itself, under your own steam. No motors
or sails. Just the power of the human
body to get you there and back again. It
had to be the ultimate human challenge.
As Steve continued outlining
his plan, my head flled with wildly
romantic images: riding bicycles across
the barren steppes of Central Asia;
trekking through the frozen wastes of
the Himalayas; staring into the fames
of a roaring campfre after a hard
day hacking through the Amazonian
rainforest. What about the oceans?
I wondered. Rowing? Swimming?
Paddling a boogie board?
And why was Steve asking me, of all
people, to join him?
I had absolutely no experience as a
so-called adventurer. I owned a window
cleaning business.
I shot Steve a sidelong look. You
sure you want me as your expedition
partner?
He nodded.
And itll take around three years to
complete, you say?
If we can fnd sponsorship.
Okay, Ill do it, I said.
Steve grinned. Great!
There is, however, one other
question I have before signing on the
dotted line. I stabbed at the Atlantic
and Pacifc oceans on the map. These
blue areas...
Yes! Yes! The big wet bits, he
interrupted enthusiastically.
Right, the, um, big wet bits. How do
we get across those then?
Easy. Well kayak.
Youre crazy. Neither of us has
kayaked before!
How hard can it be? I mean, all
youve got to do is go like this, and well
get there eventually. And with these
reassuring words, he lurched to his feet
and began whirling his arms around
his head in the manner of a paddling
kayaker.
I roared with laughter. I was wrong.
Youre not crazy. Youre insane!
Clearly, neither of us had any idea of
what we were getting into. But, as we
found ourselves reminding each other
frequently from that point on, lack of
experience isnt a good enough reason
not to try. Besides, as the sagacious old
comic strip character Hagar the Horrible
once noted, Ignorance is the Mother
of all Adventure. And if Id known what
I was letting myself in for, I probably
would have never agreed to join.
Cape St. Vincent, Portugal: the last
view of Europe.
Moksha departs across the Pacifc.
Steve Smith, left, Jason Lewis, right.
Surfng storm waves on the Atlantic.
Moments later, Moksha capsized.
Riding through the Belly of Stones,
Djibouti, Africa.
Nepal, looking northwards to the
Himalayas.
12fa_master.indd 9 7/26/2012 9:55:55 AM
Mokshas humiliating
maiden voyage, Exeter, England,
November 1993
It had been a busy year
since meeting up in Paris.
Although we still had some
3,200 kms of on-the-job kayak
training ahead of us, the idea
of kayaking from Scotland to
Canada had been shelved early
on to the great relief of our
families.
After listening to Steves
ambitious circumnavigation
plans, a naval architect from
the Exeter Maritime Museum
offered to design a human-
powered vessel from scratch.
Calling on his extensive
knowledge of the twenty or so
rowing boats that had crossed
the Atlantic since 1896,
Alan Boswell drew up the
blueprints for an eight-metre
craft, powered by propeller,
with enough storage space to
sustain two people with food
and provisions for up to 150 days without
resupply.
By the end of two days of sea trials,
we would know two things: whether the
strange-looking contraption, christened
Moksha, would oat; and whether its
customized propulsion system, comprising
the A-frame of a cannibalized bicycle
ipped upside down and bolted to the keel,
could move it though the water.
What happened next was one of the
most humiliating episodes in the entire
expedition. The idea was to pedal Moksha
around a sheltered canal basin while
the press documented the worlds rst
two-man ocean-going pedal boat being
put through her paces. Cautiously, I took
Moksha out into the muddy-brown river,
swollen and turbulent with recent rain.
Can you give us a wave? yelled the
Western Daily News.
Steve leaned his head into the cockpit.
Did you hear that, Jase?
Yup, just give me a second. I shoved
the rudder hard over. Nothing happened.
Err... Jason... We need to turn around,
mate.
I I cant! The rudders jammed or
something.
The ood run-off was sweeping us
sideways down the river. And now there
was another sound like low, rolling thunder.
Jase! shouted Steve. Theres a
waterfall!
Pedalling like the clappers, the
best I could do was head broadside
to the current, aiming for a concrete
wall bordering a builders yard.
KERRUUNNNCH! The sickening sound
of splintering wood echoed across the
basin. Our disgrace was complete when a
noisy black inatable appeared and plucked
us off the lip of the dam just in time.
The next morning a short article
appeared in The Daily Star tabloid:
PEDAL SUB SUNK! According to the
hack, A pedal-powered submarine was
swept out to sea by high winds...before
capsizing and sinking.
As well as learning a lot about the
nefarious workings of the press that day,
we made our acquaintance with an essential
feature of the operational workings of
the boat. Steering depended entirely on
something called a centreboard, that metre-
long piece of timber wed left behind in the
workshop.
Adventures
A capsize drill in Exeters canal basin to ensure Moksha
would self-right mid-ocean.
Some places in this world are still
wild, remote and untouched. The
outer coast of Vancouver Island is
one. Through maps, photography
and route descriptions,
the BC Coast Explorer Vol. 1
provides the building blocks for
the adventure of a lifetime. On
foot or by paddle, this volume will
take you to places rarely seen and
yet too beautiful to miss.
Buy on location: Abbotsford
Western Canoe and Kayaking
Campbell River Outdoor
Addictions Comox Comox
Valley Kayaks Duncan Buckys
/ Alberni Outpost Millstream
Valhalla Pure Nanaimo, Duncan,
Comox Alberni Outpost North
Vancouver Deep Cove Outdoors
Many, many more.
Order online: coastandkayak.com
12fa_master.indd 10 7/26/2012 9:55:57 AM
Northern France, cycling through the Somme
region, August 1994.
After a successful crossing of the
English Channel, Moksha was plucked
from the water and popped back onto her
trailer for the 2,600-km overland journey
to the Algarve Coast. Steve and I would
cycle the same distance the length of
France, over the Pyrenees to Spain, then
hang a right into Portugal where Moksha
would be waiting.
On the evening of July 19, we camped
in a small wood near Amiens. It had been
a long day ninety-ve miles. Id spent
most of it wrestling with the bafing
arsenal of new equipment apparently
required for long distance cycling: 21 gears
distributed with umpteen sprockets and
levers, a computerized odometer and SPD
pedals that were murder to clip on and off.
The next morning we found ourselves
slipping effortlessly along an exquisitely
smooth road, Northern France unfurling
before us as a quilted patchwork of
brightly coloured squares: luminous green
elds of cabbages, chocolate earth under
plough, mile upon mile of butter-yellow
Crossing the Atlantic, a 111-day journey,
October 1994
We were a week into what we naively
assumed would be a three-month journey
across the Atlantic, beginning to adapt
to our strange new world of water. The
rst few days had been horrendous. Any
attempt to hold down food was quickly
followed by a violent episode of vomiting
into the drink. But now our stomachs had
stabilized and condence in Moksha was
growing daily. We were getting the hang
of how she moved on the ocean, twisting
and turning with dolphin-like grace in
response to each passing wave. It was like
riding a mechanical bull: hips gyrating,
upper bodies constantly compensating to
maintain balance.
After a few days of experimenting, we
settled on two-hour pedal shifts during
the day, and three at night. Darkness, we
discovered, brought its own special avour
to our strange dollhouse existence.
Pedalling without a moon was like being
immersed in a sensory deprivation tank
total blackout. Only the peristaltic rhythm
of the sea gave a sense of kinesthesia.
Up. Down. Side to side. Now rolling.
Now pitching. Wed run out of time to
t a compass light, so navigating required
lining up a lone star with the corner of the
hatchway to keep on course. Every thirty
minutes or so a different pinprick had to be
chosen to account for the Earths rotation.
Only the navigators keystone, the North
Star, remained stationary.
A big incentive for having someone
constantly on the pedals, eyes scanning the
horizon 24/7, was the drastically reduced
chance of colliding with another ship. With
the horizon only eight miles away, one of
our biggest fears was waking to the throb
of diesel engines and capsizing under a
giant bow wave. Massive propellers would
nish the job, pulverizing us into pured
sh food. Apart from a skipped stroke in
the engines cadence, the crew would never
know theyd hit anything.
But for Steve and I, that was what the
expedition was all about: getting closer to
the edge, that ne line between comfort
and calamity, where life and the experience
of living it starts to get more vivid and
more interesting. And we would soon
discover how dangerously close to that
edge we had become.
I wanted to know this same truth.
Could I hope to nd it in the merciless
quarters of the ocean wilderness, I
wondered?
sunowers thronging the roadside, their
plate-sized heads bobbing approvingly as
we passed.
Seventy-eight years previously, the
landscape looked very different: scarred,
blistered, and pulverized out of all
recognition by the 1916 Somme Offense,
the rst day of which the British alone
suffered 57,470 casualties.
I imagined in that briefest of moments
going over the top, death lying face
down in the mud a few paces away. Life
would have been revealed in its most raw
and vital form. And how the experience
of being, and of what ultimately mattered
of what really mattered would have
come hurtling into hard sharp focus.
Henry David Thoreau once said,
Rather than love, than money, than fame,
give me truth. I sat at a table where were
rich food and wine in abundance, and
obsequious attendance, but sincerity and
truth were not, and I went away hungry.
Jason Lewis
Jason a month into the Atlantic crossing.
12fa_master.indd 11 7/26/2012 9:55:58 AM
BC Destinations
Across America on inline skates, July 1995
After pedalling for 111 days across the
Atlantic from Portugal to Miami failed
to attract a sponsor, Id hoped the PR
potential of my bid to be the rst person
to inline skate across the U.S. would.
It had been a eeting whim on the
Atlantic, one Id given more serious
thought to after studying the migratory
patterns of bronze-legged beauties
gliding up and down Miamis South Beach
boardwalk. As well as setting another
record, I was interested to see how
different modes of human power altered
the experience of travel. Wed already used
bikes in Europe, and a pedal-powered boat
for the Atlantic. Would rollerblades, as
unconventional as they were, be a catalyst
for new experience and adventure in small-
town America? It would help test a theory,
that the slower you move, and the more
unorthodox the means of locomotion,
the richer the journey. I asked Steve if he
fancied the idea.
Sod that for a game of soldiers! was
the knee-jerk response. The thing is Jase,
how practical do you think itll be biking
and rollerblading together?
He meant the difference in speed. But
he could easily have been referring to an
even greater cause for doubt, one hed
magnanimously chosen not to mention.
Id never skated before.
The decision was made to take two
different routes across America. Steve chose
a southerly route across country, hugging
the Gulf Coast to New Orleans, then
bisecting Arizona to Southern California. I
would take a more mid-country trajectory,
skating the Deep South as far as Oklahoma,
cutting northwest to the Kansas prairie, and
crossing the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
All things being equal, we aimed to
rendezvous in San Francisco mid-October
before the mountain passes of the Sierras
closed for the winter.
Something about the act of separating
felt odd, though, almost taboo.
Of course, there was no way of
knowing that wed be seeing each
other much sooner and in more dire
circumstances.
Sales -Rentals - Instruction - Day Tours - Info Station
2012 Fleet Sale
Kayaks, Canoes & SUPs
starts Aug. 15
www.comoxvalleykayaks.com
Comox Valley
Kayaks
( Fleet Sale )
NEXT EXIT
HWY 19
Adventures
Jason skating State Road 710 to Lake Okeechobee, Florida
Day 50 of the Atlantic crossing, November
1994
Saltwater sores plague our every
waking move. As well as the enormous
one on his bottom, Steve has a couple of
fresh ones on his left kneecap leaking a
steady stream of creamy discharge. I, too,
have a huge Mt. Etna-like thing on my
right forearm that hurt like heck when I
hit it against the bulkhead earlier.
The evening routine began like any
other. At six oclock we made ready to
change position, a procedure as awkward
on this, the ftieth day of the voyage,
as it was on the rst. Steve, coming off
his late afternoon shift, ung a sweat-
soaked towel to the front of the cabin
and shunted the pedal seat forward a
few inches to jam a chock of wood
behind it, compensating for my shorter
legs. Another minute of squirming and
we made the switch, shufing past each
other in the narrow space like two crabs
locked in a ritual dance. This almost
always resulted in the exiting pedaler on
this occasion Steve having his calves
raked by the serrated teeth of the pedals.
Changeover complete, we settled
down to enjoy our favourite part of the
day. Following the afternoons roasting,
the temperature was now perfect and a
light breeze wafted in through the hatch,
cooling our tenderized skins. The setting
sun seemed to hover for a moment, then
lower its smoldering mass onto a pillow
of low-lying clouds that sealed the ofng
as a grey weld. The western horizon
ignited with an iridescent wash of re
stretching far over our heads to the east,
and for the next thirty minutes we were
treated to one of natures most well
rehearsed recitals: gentle brushstrokes
massaging a canvas of living art from one
masterpiece to the next, until the curtain
of night nally fell.
Steve with a cup of tea at sunset the nearest either came to getting out of the house and
going for a walk.
12fa_master.indd 12 7/26/2012 9:56:00 AM
Jason Lewis
Sales -Rentals - Instruction - Day Tours - Info Station
2012 Fleet Sale
Kayaks, Canoes & SUPs
starts Aug. 15
www.comoxvalleykayaks.com
Comox Valley
Kayaks
( Fleet Sale )
NEXT EXIT
HWY 19
12fa_master.indd 13 7/26/2012 9:56:00 AM
Adventures
Kayaking the Lombok Straits, Indonesia,
Sept. 2005
Eight hundred miles of paddling from
Dili had led us to this point. I tugged at
my beard, now thick and tangled with four
months unrestricted growth. If we can
get going really early and paddle like hell,
we should be able to get two-thirds of the
way across before the tide changes.
We were sitting on the highest point of
Gili Trawangan, one of three islets off the
northwest coast of Lombok, overlooking
the biggest and most hazardous water
crossing of the entire trip.
I looked up from the chart resting
on my knees and studied the dark tidal
streams snaking through the silvery water.
Privately, I put our chances at around
50/50. Ever since poring over the charts
in the embryonic planning stages, Selat
Lombok had lled me with the greatest
uncertainty. And when Id asked Simon
from the Blue Marlin Dive Centre earlier
in the day whether he recommended a
support boat, hed answered Absolutely
yes before Id even nished the sentence.
But the cheapest quote from any of the
Indonesian skippers was four million
rupiah, the equivalent of $450, nearly half
our remaining budget.
What to do?
If we decided to wing it, and the Libra
capsized and ooded, we were on our
own. Bobbing out there in our lifejackets,
either the sharks would pick us off or the
tide would suck us down into the dreaded
Selat Badung.
This was my biggest fear, the doomsday
scenario of ending up in the narrow
neck of water between Nusa Penida and
the southeast coast of Bali, a gurgling,
roiling, saltwater nightmare of contra-
owing currents jostling for space,
creating tidal rips, standing waves and
terrifying whirlpools. Every twelve hours
during spring tide, at the height of the
ebb, a monster vortex formed off the
southwestern tip of Nusa Penida. Our
bodies would be swallowed by the deep
and ushed out the U-bend of the strait,
expelled from the archipelago into the vast
emptiness of the Indian Ocean.
Of all the risks Id taken since leaving
Greenwich, this would be the biggest
yet. Id always counted on the universe
mitigating such leaps into the abyss, rising
up to meet them halfway. But this time
it was different. No quarter could be
expected from such a malevolent body of
water. And there was the added factor of
another persons life at stake.
The shadow of the tree we were
sitting under merged with the night
reaching in from the east, and I became
intensely aware of the crickets buzzing
lazily in the long grass, the birds trilling
in the branches, the leaves rustling in
the onshore breeze, and the last colours
bleeding from the western sky. All the
little things that made up the experience
of being alive, all of them amplied,
enhanced, resonating, as though ltered
through some psychedelic prism. Time
slowed to a crawl, and I was overcome
by an almost Samadhi-like sense of being
in the present. No past. No future. No
sense of self. Just a seamless coupling
with my surroundings. And with it, the
fragility of life fell into sharp focus, and
the realization of how I habitually took it
for granted.
I toyed with the Ocean Ring I'd
superstitiously been wearing on my left
ring nger since the beginning of the
ocean crossings. Despite being worn and
faded with time and saltwater abrasion,
I could still make out each cresting wave
forming a wheel of aqueous innity. And
I wondered. After all these years, would it
still bring me the same luck?
Sea of Cortez, Baja California Peninsula.
12fa_master.indd 14 7/26/2012 9:56:02 AM
Jason Lewis
The previous pages were excerpts from The Expedition: Dark Waters, True Story of the
First Human-Powered Circumnavigation of the Earth, available Aug. 1. The rst in an adventure
trilogy, Dark Waters charts one of the longest journeys in history, circling the world using
only the power of the human body. The work has been hailed by the London Sunday
times as The last great rst for circumnavigation.
Prompted by what scientists have dubbed the perfect storm as the global population
soars to 8.3 billion by 2030, adventurer Jason Lewis used the expedition to bring attention
to our interconnectedness and shared responsibility of an inhabitable Earth. Jason
has been a contributing author to such popular books as Chicken Soup for the Travelers
Soul, Flightless: Incredible Journeys Without Leaving the Ground, and The Modern Explorers. He
now shares his message on global sustainability to audiences from all walks of life. For
speaking availability contact Tammie Stevens at BillyFish Books at 1-888-750-7887.
Kenny Brown has been shooting stills, lm and video for over 20
years. Originally from Scotland, he has worked for the BBC and other
news outlets in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Chechnya and for
documentaries, feature lms and commercials. He is also the director
of The Expedition, a documentary feature lm about Expedition 360.
Visit http://theexpeditionlm.com
Jason Lewis and The Expedition
Photographer Kenny Brown
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12fa_master.indd 15 7/26/2012 9:56:04 AM
Destinations: Yukon River
Taking advantage of
favourable current
and fat water by
relaxing canoe-style.
Rolling down
the river
How the Yukon
can transform
a traveller
12fa_master.indd 16 7/26/2012 9:56:05 AM
by Inga Aksamit
Rolling down
the river
H
AVE A GOOD TIME,
see you at the other end,
the outftter said cheerily
with a wave after wheeling our well-
stocked canoe to the riverbank on a dolly.
I gazed at the swift current in the
middle of the broad river. It suddenly
seemed to be moving faster than it had
before. On the other side was a towering
clay riverbank topped with stunted spruce
trees. I wondered what I was getting
myself into.
We fussed over the canoe, tying
everything down and making sure
everything was there life jackets, sponge,
bucket and paddles. We stuffed our
clothing and supplies into large dry bags
and pushed our freeze-dried food, fresh
fruits, vegetables and bottles of wine (all
too few) into the food barrel. I waited for
last-minute instructions about government
regulations or life-saving tips, but the
outftter had turned away and was walking
back to the street, whistling happily.
I stepped resolutely into the
bow of the canoe, making sure
not to tip it, and glanced back at
my husband, Steve, who looked
gleeful and carefree as we pushed off
from the muddy beach. We were in the
middle of the small town of Whitehorse,
a town bisected by the Yukon River. I
quashed any concerns about not feeling
ready and reached for my paddle. It was
too late for a panic attack.
We were living one of our dreams,
to follow the Klondike Gold Rush path
from Alaska to the Yukon, retracing the
steps of the hardy (or perhaps foolhardy)
Argonauts of the late 1800s. This leg of
the trip involved paddling 450 miles
down the Yukon River in northern
Canada, just the two of us.
4
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12fa_master.indd 17 7/26/2012 10:06:27 AM
Destinations
P
RIOR TO THIS our sole paddling
experience had been a two-hour
guided tour in infatable kayaks on the
Dart River in New Zealand and some
quiet afternoons canoeing on Green Lake
in Whistler. Fortunately we possessed a
great deal of wilderness experience and
an abundance of enthusiasm as we set
off to explore the relatively uninhabited
Yukon. Ten percent larger than California,
the Yukon Territories has only a minute
fraction of Californias population,
sprinkled lightly across just 12 tiny
communities. The Yukon is one of the
very few remaining places where one can
experience boundless wilderness.
The amount of bureaucratic red tape
required to gain access to many wilderness
areas in the U.S. is staggering. Most trails
begin with a welcoming sign followed
by a lengthy list of what not to do. In
contrast, our Yukon River expedition
began without any regulation-laden
preface: no menacing signs, orientation
sessions, forms, permits or imperatives
in our way. I could tell this was going to
be a different kind of backcountry trip.
Locals are necessarily self-suffcient in the
north and they presume that if you need
information youll ask for it, otherwise the
assumption is that you know what youre
doing and can take care of yourself. Off
we went, full of energy and perhaps some
trepidation as we embarked on a journey
into true untamed wilderness.
Over the last 15 years Steve and I
developed a fascination with the history
of northern settlers, from the ancient
crossing of the Bering land bridge that
landed the frst aboriginal people here
20,000 years ago, to the gold seekers a
century ago. Both found the freedom of
an unpopulated land, and with it much
to celebrate and curse. The ample natural
resources of the land are tempered by
harsh living conditions, particularly in the
long, dark winters. However, in summer,
as we were experiencing, the weather is
mild and forgiving, allowing exploration in
relative comfort.
We pushed off from the bank and
gingerly paddled to the middle of the
six-knot current to get our bearings. One
good thing about the largely roadless
Yukon is that we couldnt get lost on the
river if we tried. For a while we could hear
comforting sounds of trucks from town
trundling in the background, reminding
us that civilization was near. Scores of
eagles soared overhead, their white heads
contrasting with the jet-black ravens that
competed for airspace. The fap of broad
wings and shrill cries flled the air. Paddling
was easy in the swift current. No tipping
yet. So far so good.
That evening we found an obvious
campsite with little trouble and feasted on
our fresh food, starting with appetizers
of sharp cheese and peppery salami, then
supplemented our reconstituted freeze-
dried meal of beef stroganoff with a salad
of cabbage, crisp carrots and radishes
smothered with ranch dressing, and
washed it all down with a glass of pinot
At the half-way point, Carmacks.
Husband Steve.
A sandbar makes an ideal campsite.
Low, rounded hills
near Whitehorse.
12fa_master.indd 18 7/26/2012 10:06:28 AM
Yukon River
noir. For dessert we enjoyed a crunchy,
sweet apple and a piece of rich, dark
chocolate.
After dinner we sorted our gear on the
beach and pulled the canoe out of the
water so it wouldnt foat away. A gentle
rain during the night taught us a valuable
lesson, as it flled the canoe with puddles
of water. After that we turned the canoe
over each evening so the interior stayed
dry.
The next day, after a flling breakfast of
instant oatmeal, a cup of hot tea, orange-
favored Tang and a slice of salami, we
paddled north towards the Arctic Circle.
As signs of civilization receded we noticed
fewer houses, then fnally none at all. We
saw no one and heard nothing but our
own voices, the water dripping off our
oars and the cries of eagles. We spoke
in hushed tones, our voices sounding
unnaturally amplifed as we unconsciously
became part of the quiet land. We were
alone.
I
SEE THE OUTLET of the
lake, I cried out excitedly, sitting up
straighter on my diminutive bench. After
slogging through the still waters of Lake
Laberge, a very large widening of the river
that causes the current to fade to nothing,
for three very long days in a drizzly rain
we were more than thrilled to see the
river again. The mist lifted to display the
remains of the SS Evelyn, one of the 250
sternwheelers that used to ply these waters,
and we beached the canoe to explore the
area. We poked around the frst of many
abandoned cabins we discovered along
the way, marveling at the small size and
rough interior, though outftted with glass
window panes to allow light to penetrate.
After eating a quick lunch of pita bread
stuffed with canned chicken and cabbage,
we piled back in the canoe with renewed
vigor, now appreciating the swift current
that looked so ominous the frst day. We
practically few down the 30 Mile section,
said to be the most beautiful part of the
entire river, with crystal clear blue-green
water magnifying the pebbles below. Fat
grayling and arctic char swum under the
boat and thick stands of spruce lined the
banks along the narrowed waterway, so
close we could easily cross from bank to
bank with a couple of strong paddles.
I lay back on the soft drybag flled with
my gear and gazed up at the clearing sky,
wispy clouds fading to blue. Eagles stood
in trees in twos and threes, fnding easy
meals with the plentiful fsh. The weak
northern sun almost felt warm on my face
and I dozed. All of a sudden a gust of
wind interrupted my reverie and I popped
up like a jack in the box.
Whats happening? I asked.
The wind is kicking up pretty good
swells, said Steve, gesturing toward the
water. I grabbed my paddle, preparing
Scenery along the Yukon River.
Towing the boat out of an inlet on Lake
Laberge.
An old trappers cabin.
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12fa_master.indd 19 7/26/2012 10:06:30 AM
for I knew not what. The river began a
series of tight S curves, challenging us
to fnd the sweet spot, that place where
wind, water and paddle align to propel us
forward smoothly. I saw the bow angle
toward the right bank and paddled harder
to correct the course, to no avail. The
water whipped up tiny whitecaps that in
the Pacifc would be negligible, but seemed
to take on considerable signifcance for
our tiny craft.
Dig in! Steve said. I dug, but
nothing useful happened. The boat
started feeling precarious and visions of
bodies and clothing scattering across the
river propelled me to dig harder. After a
tumultuous blur of barked instructions,
paddling this way and that, Steve fnally
said, Let er go.
What? I shouted incredulously. Here
we were in the fght of our life and we
were just going to succumb? I stopped
paddling and found myself looking
upstream as the canoe found its own
sweet spot, going backwards. I twisted and
turned to get a look at Steve.
Now what? I asked.
Were fne, he said with conviction.
I looked around and found that we
were, indeed, going to live. We hadnt
dumped the canoe, though we came close.
It wasnt until days later that he told me
how close.
The water was less than an inch away
from fooding the canoe, he said later,
over a glass of wine, far downriver. It
would have been bad, he said in his dry,
laconic style.
It was that early struggle with the river
that windy afternoon that taught us the
most about the river. As much as we tried
to control the forces of nature, our puny
efforts were no match. Once we learned
to let the boat turn with the force of
the wind, we found we could easily right
ourselves a little later. We even came to
enjoy it, those times when wed lose our
edge and spin around in a circle like a
teacup ride at the fair. As long as we stayed
far enough from shore that we didnt get
entangled with brush and downed trees
we were safe from danger. This gave new
meaning to the phrase, go with the fow
and we learned to do just that, letting the
river be the guide.
O
VER THE NEXT FEW DAYS
some tributaries joined the Yukon
and the character of the river changed.
From the narrow confnes of the 30
Mile, the river broadened to become
braided with sandbars and tree-covered
islands. The current slowed and instead
of tight turns the curves became more
meandering.
Glacial-fed rivers dumped their load
of chocolate milk-colored water, heavy
with silt. The fne grains of rock resulting
from the grinding action of the glaciers
obscured the clarity of the river.
Whats that sound? I asked, hearing
the hiss of white noise. We had no
electronic gear with us. We cocked our
heads this way and that, listening closely.
Suddenly I remembered a passage from
an explorers account of the Yukon. Its
the sound of the glacial silt running under
the fberglass canoe, I said. We bent
down closer to the canoe and marveled at
the sound miniscule grains of sand could
produce.
By now we were in sync with the river.
We learned that the morning rains often
gave way to clear skies so wed just snuggle
into our sleeping bags when we heard
the pitter-patter of raindrops. We could
afford to sleep in. The long northern days
allowed us to paddle late into the night,
usually till dusk around 9 p.m. That still
gave us enough time to set up camp, fre
up the camp stove to boil water for our
hot chocolate and rehydrate our freeze-
dried meals. Darkness fell at 11 p.m.,
though it was not complete darkness, for
a faint shadowy light backlit the low hills
for a few hours until dawn broke, around
2 am.
O
NE DAY IN THE CANOE
Steve whispered, Look on the right
bank. Scanning the distance I noticed
some movement. Wishing we could
pause the unrelenting fow of the river we
watched two lynx frolicking on the shore
in the warm afternoon sun. One lay on his
back, paws up in the air, while the other
batted mischievously at him and nuzzled
his playmate, just like my house cats at
home. They, like most other wildlife we
saw, never noticed our silent canoe freely
slipping by. We were just part of their
landscape.
One evening we were greeted by a great
spray of water from a beaver tail as we
Costa riCa
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Plan your trip: Exotic destinations
Destinations
12fa_master.indd 20 7/26/2012 10:06:30 AM
pulled onto a sandbar. The sound of tails
slapping serenaded us long into the night.
Our eagle count dropped from dozens in
a day to just one or two, but the venerable
raven, held in great esteem by northern
aboriginal people, was ubiquitous. Moose
tracks criss-crossed the sandy beach; a
wolf danced on the beach with his fresh
kill; a large herd of mountain goats
somehow clung to high, barren cliffs;
and a fsher stealthily swam to shore
off in the distance. Frequent visitors to
our campsites included chattering red
squirrels and squawking gray jays looking
for a handout. Our wildlife count for the
day stood at wolves one, beavers two,
mountain goats 30, humans zero.
I
N MANY VISITS to the north we had
seen black bears but never a grizzly. We
had a healthy respect for the unpredictable
nature of these bruins but half-hoped wed
see one, preferably from a safe distance.
Steve, spotter extraordinaire, made the
sighting, again on the right bank. I grabbed
the binoculars and the bulky blond bear
came into sharp focus. The hump on his
back sent shivers down mine.
I carefully and quietly dipped my
paddle into the water with the intention
of putting some distance between us
and him. Steve took his turn with the
binoculars and began paddling as well.
Shhh, we said to each other, wanting
to prolong our surreptitious viewing. I
couldnt fgure out why were spinning
around after so many days paddling
together we had mastered synchronizing
our strokes. I put in a little more effort to
straighten us out but to my dismay we still
went in circles.
I looked back at Steve and said, What
are you doing?
He said, Im trying to get a closer
look.
What? I asked, Im trying to get
away from him! I had been attempting
to turn the canoe in one direction, while
Steve had been turning it the other,
resulting in our merry-go-round.
The bear reared up and crashed into
the bushes, his peace, and ours, dispelled,
and thats the last we saw of him. We spun
around one more time, then straightened
up the canoe and laughed about how
our different approaches refected our
personalities: Steve ever advancing towards
danger while I aimed for safety.
On our last full day before Dawson
City we pulled in earlier than usual to
avoid civilization for one more night and
to savour our last evening on the river.
Putting all our acquired knowledge to use
that day we stopped at a side creek to get
clear water, collected our beaver wood
from a log jam, paddled expertly from
side to side to catch the fastest current,
and were rewarded with one of the best
campsites of the entire two-week trip at
Ogilvie Island. I leapt confdently out of
the canoe as we angled onto the beach,
grabbed the bow line and hauled the canoe
in.
Yeah, there you go. Youre a real river
woman now, Steve said with a smile.
Inga Aksamit is a Northern California-based
travel writer.
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12fa_master.indd 21 7/26/2012 10:06:31 AM
The Yukon River, that mighty stretch
of water that fows through the Yukon,
has transported travellers for thousands
of years and provided fodder for many
a campfre story. In the late 1890s the
Klondike gold rush made the river a
household name as stampeders made their
way north on its current.
Today, the river still draws paddlers
from around the world. For the most part,
the current is gentle, helping to push your
craft of choice along and making the river
accessible to those who arent seasoned
paddlers. If youre starting in Whitehorse, a
few hours will take you to spectacular Lake
Laberge. While prevailing south winds can
make the lake rough, there is nothing fner
than foating along its eastern shores when
the weather is calm and pulling off to
camp at its many protected gravel beaches.
Vegetation is light in some areas and
provides great opportunities for hiking,
rewarding you with spectacular views over
the entire lake and river valley.
For those who relish the challenge of
faster water, a thrill awaits at the notorious
Five Finger Rapids, one that has dashed
many a stampeders dreams. Dont worry
the far right channel offers passage with
a ride over some of the smaller standing
waves. Its not time to relax just yet though,
as Rink Rapids are another 30 minutes
downstream. Again, sticking to the far right
will keep you safe and dry.
No trip down the Yukon River
would be complete without stopping to
investigate many of the historic sites that
remain on the shores. From the ghostly
paddlewheeler Evelyn, forever dry-docked
just downstream of Hootalinqua, to the
remains of the cabins and a roadhouse
at Yukon Crossing, to Fort Selkirk, to
Dawson City itself, the area is a feast for
history buffs. For paddlers hungry for a
guide to the historic river, there is plenty
of literature to choose from, all available at
local book and paddling stores.
A river trip in the Yukon requires
careful planning. Fortunately, there are
local experts that can help. Guided trips
are offered throughout the paddling
season and range from short and sweet to
expeditionary in length and nature.
No matter how long you spend on the
river, its important to have the right gear.
Yukon weather can change quickly and
dramatically. Its not uncommon to have a
20 C sunny day followed by an overcast
chilly day with temperatures closer to 15
C. Overnight lows can drop into the
single digits even during the height of
summer.
How to combat this multiple
personality? Layers, of course. All paddlers
should wear layers of quick-dry clothing.
Polypropylene and feece are warm,
lightweight and dry quickly. Merino wool
layers are another great alternative and tend
to feel warmer even when damp. Good
rain gear is essential and youll need the
whole kit: jacket, pants and a rain hat
perhaps not the most stylish of outdoor
gear, but youll be glad to have it if the
skies really open up. For chilly evenings
and mornings, a toque and mitts are always
good to have on hand.
And last but not least, pack mosquito
protection. While youre on the water,
mosquitoes tend to leave you alone.
At some water levels, there are many
islands with gravel bar beaches that make
great, relatively mosquito-free campsites.
However, should you fnd yourself
swatting away, a bug jacket or mosquito
hat tucked in your gear will provide sweet
relief. Heres an additional tip: pack a
baseball hat to wear under the bug hat/
jacket as its brim will keep the netting away
from your face.
Dawson City
Carmacks
Whitehorse
Getting There
Flights to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory,
Canada are available on a number of
carriers. From Vancouver connections are
available through Air North, Air Canada
or WestJet.
Air North: 1-800-661-0407,
www.yairnorth.com
Air Canada: 1-888-247-2262,
www.aircanada.com
WestJet: 1-888-937-8538 CA/
1-855-547-2451 US, www.westjet.com
Getting to the river
and back to Whitehorse
Outtters can assist in transporting the
canoe and gear to the river and possibly
van transportation back to Whitehorse
from Carmacks (320 kms by river and 180
by road) or Dawson City (740 km by river
and 530 km by road). These are the two
rare locations where the river nears road
access. Flights, car rental, shuttle and tour
buses are options for traveling between
Dawson City and Whitehorse.
Tours
Cabin Fever Adventures
www.cabinfeveradventures.com
867-821-3003
Cedar and Canvas Adventures
www.cedarcanvas.com
867-633-5526
Nahanni River Adventures
www.nahanni.com
(867) 668-3180
Taiga Journeys
www.taigajourneys.ca
867-393-3394
Up North Adventures
upnorthadventures.com
(867) 667-7035
Cathers Wilderness Adventures
www.cathersadventures.com
867-333-2186
Nature Tours of Yukon
www.naturetoursyukon.ca
Guidebook
Yukon River, Marsh Lake to Dawson City by
Mike Rourke (Rivers North Publications,
1983). Created by a local paddler who has
written several regional river guidebooks,
this guide contains detailed river charts,
route information and descriptions of
historical sites.
www.yukonbooks.com
Planning your visit
Destinations
12fa_master.indd 22 7/26/2012 10:06:32 AM
12fa_master.indd 23 7/26/2012 10:06:33 AM
Destinations
The Belle islets
T
HERE WAS A BRIEF moment
of adjustment for many kayakers
when the Gulf Islands National
Park reserve decreed camping wouldnt be
allowed on the many islets under the new
national parks care.
While kayakers couldnt help but
celebrate the creation of the national
park back in 2003, many of the best little
campsites in the south Gulf Islands were
about to disappear in an area largely
hemmed in by homes and private land with
only scattered offcial campsites.
The reason for the ban was as good as
any could be conservation of the delicate
and rare coastal bluff ecosystem best
represented by these islets. On them, hardy
little plants can cling to shallow deposits of
soil atop sandstone crags, surviving winter
storms and rains, saltspray splashes and
summer droughts. What these little plants
couldnt survive was trampling, likely from
any visitor who might like to stop and
clamber up one of these island gems.
One set of islets susceptible to such
damage was the Belle Chain Islets along
the outer shores of Mayne and Saturna
islands. Lying in the open waters of the
Strait of Georgia, they are home to seals,
sea lions and a multitude of marine birds.
Several of the islands also evolved into
unregulated camping destinations on the
prime rocky bluffs.
The islands are now reverting to their
natural uninhabited state. For those who
venture out to this remote section of the
Gulf Islands National Park reserve, the
largest of the nearshore islands and the
one closest to Samuel Island is accessible
for day-use visits, making an ideal picnic
spot on a daytrip exploration of this
colourful region.
A great time to visit is early spring
when the wildfowers bloom on the coastal
bluffs.
Nearby Mayne Island makes an ideal
starting point or base, given its good
accessibility by ferry from both Vancouver
Island and the BC mainland, not to
mention the array of accommodations. An
alternative base is Saturna Island, though
getting there can be more time-consuming.
Boat ramps at both Bennett Bay on
Mayne and Winter Cove on Saturna make
good launch points, while extended trips
are possible from Saltspring, the Pender
Islands and beyond.
The trick is the currents. Samuel
Island serves as a partial plug in the gap
between Saturna and Mayne, creating
strong tidal channels on both sides of the
island. Passing is easiest at slack current,
with potentially dangerous rapids at peak
periods, particularly in Boat Passage.
Bennet Bay is an ideal launch location
for allowing you to begin your trip outside
the tidal channels. An attraction in the bay
is Georgeson Island, an uninhabited island
now also part of the Gulf Islands National
Park reserve.
Those planning an overnight trip can
launch from here and travel the north side
of Saturna Island to Cabbage Island, a
designated camping islet within the Gulf
Islands National Park reserve.
Old pilings frame the view
of Georgeson Island from
Bennett Bay.
12fa_master.indd 24 7/26/2012 10:06:33 AM
South Gulf Islands
Plan your trip: South Gulf Islands
Steps from National Seashore,
Bennett Bay and a kayakers paradise!

Tours Rentals Lessons Sales

Just 45 minutes from Victoria, on
the Gulf Islands Marine Trail Network
Toll free: 1-888-749-2333
www.cowichanbaykayak.com

www.seakayak.ca
250-539-2442 / kayak@gulfislands.com
Kayak Galiano Island!
Daily Guided Tours
& Rentals since 1985
1 hr from Vancouver!
Ferry Pick-Up
Open All Year!
Join us in Costa Rica!
Weekly Dec-April, since 1987
Eco Adventures in the Gulf Islands since 1991

Kayak Tours to
Marine Parks & Islets

Expeditions

A Funky Outdoor, Surf/Skate Shop for Clothing & Gear.
163 Fulford-Ganges Road escapades@saltspring.com

SKGABC Guide Courses
Two Cozy Waterfront Accommodations
Lessons & Rentals
1-888-529-2567 250-537-2553 www.islandescapades.com
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February-15-105:16:31PM
The Belle islets
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12fa_master.indd 25 7/26/2012 10:06:36 AM
www.silvabaykayaking.com
250-247-8939
Custom kayak tours, beginner lessons, kids camps,
gourmet beach picnics, kayaking and yoga, and sunset paddles!
SEALEGS KYAKING
and Marine Adventures
Kayak & SUP Sales
Lessons, Rentals, Tours,
Snorkeling
Transport & Taxi Service
www.SealegsKayaking.com
1-877-KAYAK BC
Plan your trip: Gabriola and Gulf Islands North
Pirates
Cove
Gabriola
Island
Nanaimo
Cedar
Tent Island
Saltspring Island
Ladysmith
If you go:
Launches from Chemainus,
Ladysmith and north Saltspring Island
are generally one to two hours away by
paddle, making this an ideal day trip.
The clis on the islands southwest are
remarkable.
Permission to camp is through the
Penelakut First Nation at (250) 246-2321.
Usually in British Columbia, First Nations reserves must
be treated as private property. Because many of the original
village sites were picked for the same reasons that make good
kayaking campsites good beach access and shelter having
reserves off-limits can drastically reduce the camping options
for kayakers on the British Columbia coast.
One remarkable exception is Tent Island, a small but
surprisingly roomy island adjacent to Penelakut Island (formerly
Kuper Island until 2010) off the north end of Saltspring Island.
Previously a marine park, Tent Island reverted to ownership by
the Penelakut First Nation, which has been gracious in allowing
continued public access to this remarkable location. In addition,
the band has created campsites off the main beaches, with
wonderful spots on headlands overlooking beautiful coves and
beaches. The main crescent beach and cove on the islands west
side is a popular day-beach for boaters, with kayakers preferring
the beach and campsites to the north.
Tent Island is an ideal waypoint on a larger exploration of
this region that can include nearby Wallace Island Provincial
Park, Pirates Cove Provincial Park and other north Gulf Islands
destinations. See The Wild Coast Vol. 3 for full information on
this region. Contact the band offce at (250)-246-2321.
Destinations: North Gulf Islands
Background: the main kayak landing beach.
Inset: the main boat bay.
12fa_master.indd 26 7/26/2012 10:06:41 AM
Plan your trip: Haida Gwaii
HAIDA NATION
Reserve, and Haida Heritage Site
parkscanada.gc.ca
Rserve de parc national, rserve daire
marine nationale de conservation,
et site du patrimoine hada Gwaii Haanas
parcscanada.gc.ca
National Marine Conservation Area
Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve,
Real. Inspiring.
Unique. Vraiment.
We all have skyscrapers.
Come see ours.

chacun ses gratte-ciel.
Venez voir les ntres.
1-877-559-8818
Local outftter providing guided
multi-day kayak adventures
in Gwaii Haanas since 2000.
Leaders in inclusionary and
educational kayak tours.
Eight-day trips from CDN $1,655
gckayaking.com
paddle@gckayaking.com
phone: 250-557-4562
SGang Gwaay
Skidegate
Lyell Island
Hotspring Island
(Gandll Kin
Gwaayaay)
HAIDA GWAII
Gwaii Haanas
National Park
Reserve
Prince Rupert
Destinations: Haida Gwaii
H
AIDA GWAII may be one of
the cooler summer destinations,
even by northern British
Columbia standards, but a good soak in a
hot spring can make up for a lot.
A natural seaside thermal pool can be
found at Gandll Kin Gwaayaay (Haida
for Hot-Water-Island), often known as
Hotspring Island. Reputed for its healing
and spiritual qualities, the hotspring is a
sacred Haida location set in Gwaii Haanas
National Park reserve near a former village
site on the islands east side.
Landing is recommended on the
northeast side of the island. From there
a trail leads through the forest to the
Watchmen cabin where visitors can sign
in before showering in the spring-fed
showers in the bathhouse.
Watchmen serve as guardians at key
cultural sites in the national park to
monitor visitors and provide information.
The main and largest pool is located
at the end of a small trail in a setting of
salal and crabapple trees, while another
trail leads to a cliffside pool. By continuing
along that trail you can reach the beachside
pool adjacent to the ocean.
Gandll Kin Gwaayaay, located south
of Lyell Island, is part of a heritage
route down Gwaii Haanas that includes
historic sites Kuuna Llnagaay (Skedans),
Taanuu Linagaay (Tanu) and Hikyah
GaawGa (Windy Bay). Continuing south
brings you to Huxley Island, Ellen Island
and eventually SGang Gwaay (Anthony
Island) on the southwestern edge of Gwaii
Haanas.
Though on the more protected east side
of Haida Gwaii, Gandll Kin Gwaayaay
can still be a challenging location with
exposed crossings and hazardous stretches
of coastline and headlands.
Hot springs are an anomaly that dot
the coast of northern British Columbia:
Bishop Bay on the Inside Passage near
Kitimat, Shearwater Hot Springs in
Gardner Canal and Eucott Hot Springs
near Bella Coola. Most are developed with
tubs and houses, with Eucott Hot Spring
in its most natural state.
Imagine a warm soak overlooking
mountains and ocean in the midst of a
long kayak trip on a remote area of coast.
Could anything be better?
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12fa_master.indd 27 7/26/2012 10:06:45 AM
were in the towing business and were also
delivering mail around Barkley Sound,
mainly to the people involved in the shore
end of the fshing industry. In 1925 they
built a passenger vessel named Somass
Queen in their shipyard on the Somass
River and began a regular service to the
fsh processing plants in the sound. This
ship was the frst in a succession of vessels
that they operated in that capacity.
One of the men that they hired to run
Plan your trip: Kyuquot
bckayaking.com
1-800-665-3040
truly get away!
Base Camp Comforts
& Expedition Kayaking
40 Years of Kyuquot,
Bunsby & Brooks Tours
Connect Experience Refresh
Destinations: West Vancouver Island
Many kayakers and other coastal explorers
will be familiar with the Uchuck III, or perhaps
even its earlier counterparts. Coast&Kayak
Magazine is proud to be able to offer excerpts
from the new book The Uchuck Years, A
West Coast Shipping Saga by David Esson
Young. It covers a piece of history of the west
coast of Vancouver Island now reserved for just
two remaining passenger and freight coastal vessels
(the other is the Frances Barkley out of Barkley
Sound). A trip aboard either of these ships is a
unique way to start and end a kayaking vacation
to Barkley Sound, Nootka Sound or Kyuquot
Sound. Here is part of the story behind the
Uchuck III, courtesy Harbour Publishing and
Getwest Adventures, the present-day owners of
the Uchuck III.

T
HE STORY of the Barkley
Sound Transportation Co. Ltd.
and its three renowned motor
vessels Uchuck I, II and III had its
roots in events that occurred more than
three decades earlier. In 1911, E.D. Stone
arrived in the Alberni Valley of Vancouver
Island, soon to be followed by his brother,
Percy, and the two men went to work
on the waterfront. Within ten years they
that service was named Richard Porritt,
and sometime before 1936 he bought the
part of the Stones business that involved
servicing the processing plants. (The Stone
family carried on with their main towing
business until 1974 when they sold it to
Pacifc Towing.) In 1936 Porritt bought a
vessel from British Columbia Packers at
Prince Rupert. This ffty-foot vessel, the
MV Uchuck, had been built in 1928 and
served him until he replaced her with the
Tnt Ucnucx Ytxus
12fa_master.indd 28 7/26/2012 10:06:48 AM
newly built vessel Uchuck No. 1
in 1941. This was the frst mail,
passenger and freight vessel
specifcally built to run year-
round in Barkley Sound.

It is not certain what the name
Uchuck means but there are a
lake and stream by that name at
the head of Uchucklesit Inlet, and
the name has some signifcance
to the native population. Some
of the possible meanings of the
word translate as good harbour,
small spring, very wet and healing waters.
The last of these seems to be the one
most commonly accepted.

The West Coast was a busy place in the
1920s and1930s. There were fsh canneries,
salteries and reduction plants in the sounds
employing hundreds of Chinese, Japanese
and native workers, who all lived out on
the coast for the fshing season. Although
a branch of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo
Railway was completed to Port Alberni
in 1911, most supplies and people were
brought in by sea from Victoria and the
Mainland, with products shipped out the
same way.
By 1946 fsh processing had all but
ended on the West Coast and the huge
labour force had gone, leaving only
remnants behind. The three places that
were still operating were BC Packers
Kildonan cannery and the Green Cove
saltery, both in Uchucklesit Inlet, and a
reduction plant at Port Albion, across
Ucluelet Inlet from the village of Ucluelet.
The pilchard, a herring-like fsh, was
their mainstay species, but it mysteriously
disappeared in 1947 in the same way that it
had suddenly appeared in 1917.

My frst trip on the Uchuck I was nearly
my last. It was shortly after my father and
George acquired the vessel and I was not
yet eight years old. I was lying down on
the wide shelf above the bench seat in the
wheelhouse, having been put there for my
own safety while the vessel rolled her way
across the mouth of Barkley Sound in a
southeast gale. Then it came to be time
for me to be seasick. I clambered down
from my perch and started out the door,
which my dad was holding open for me.
In that vessel the deck of the wheelhouse
was three feet above the main deck and
level with the top of the guardrail around
the deck. Just as I was stepping out, the
vessel rolled down to starboard
and I stepped off towards a black
hole in the ocean. Fortunately
for me, it happened that an Air
Force serviceman was standing
in the lee of the wheelhouse by
the door, trying not to be sick.
As I was about to clear the rail
on my way to the ocean, he
grabbed a handful of the back of
my jacket and brought me back
inside the rail. The rest of the
story has faded from my memory,
but I do remember meeting that
serviceman on another trip a few years
later, and we recognized each other even
though I had grown a lot by then.

As business continued to grow, it soon
was once again apparent that Barkley
Sound Transportation needed more
equipment, and again the hunt was on for
another vessel. The next new vessel was
found in Vancouver the stripped-out
hulk of a US Navy YMS minesweeper.
The US Navy had built 561 of these Yard-
class minesweepers in small shipyards
across the country.
YMS 123 had been completed in 1943
by Kruse and Banks Shipyard of North
Bend, Oregon, and then moved to a base
at Mare Island, which is not far from San
Francisco, to do patrol duty off the west
coast of the US and Canada. After the war
the vessel had been struck from the naval
list, sold into private hands, then imported
into Canada. When Esson came across
Plan your trip: Nootka Sound
1-866-222-2235
zeballosexpeditions.com
info@zeballosexpeditions.com
Paddle with sea otters!
Kayak transport
between Zeballos
and Nootka Island,
Nuchatlitz Park
and Friendly Cove.
Kayak rentals.
CEDARS INN rooms &
restaurant in a historic
Zeballos lodge. Good
food, friendly service.
Nootka transport & rentals
Transport to Nuchatlitz Park, Yuquot
(Friendly Cove), Bligh Island Marine Park
and beyond.
www.tahtsadivecharters.com
dive@tahtsadivecharters.com
1-866-934-6365
Kayak rentals!
The Uchuck Years by David Esson Young
Tnt Ucnucx Ytxus
12fa_master.indd 29 7/26/2012 10:06:50 AM
Plan your trip: Broken Group/Barkley Sound
Closest accommodations to the
Broken Group Islands A relaxing,
interesting and affordable retreat in a
wilderness setting Kayak rentals and
water taxi services
www.ladyrosemarine.com
Email ladyrosemarine@telus.net
250-723-8313/ 1-800-663-7192 April-Sept.
SECHART LODGE

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A friendly seaside retreat. Enjoy the west coast in
comfort. Ideal lodging for kayakers who can launch
into Barkley Sound. Or relax and enjoy old growth
cedars, bald eagles and sea lions.
Hundreds of islands to explore on the west coast
of Vancouver Island. Barkley Sound, Pacifc Rim
National Park, and Clayoquot Sound. Our
professionally guided tours include transportation,
gourmet meals, and superior quality equipment.
www.oceankayaking.com 1183 Helen Road, Ucluelet www.majesticoceanbb.ca
The ultimate guide
The long-awaited
heir to The Wild
Coast Vol. 1, The BC
Coast Explorer Vol. 1
explores Vancouver
Islands West Coast
in a spectacular
presentation of maps,
photography and
information.
www.coastandkayak.com
Destinations: West Vancouver Island
her in his search, she had
been lying uncared for in
Vancouver Harbour for
four years after having
been stripped of all useful
equipment. There wasnt so
much as a light switch left.

Operations in Barkley
Sound ended for the
Uchuck III with a charter
run on June 11, 1960, to Ahousaht in
Clayoquot Sound and back, and on June 16
at 12:53 the vessel sailed for Alert Bay, via
Victoria, to go out on charter to Murray
Marine Services. She would replace the
Lady Rose on the run from Kelsey Bay to
Alert Bay, Sointula, Port McNeil, Beaver
Cove, Minstrel Island and a few smaller
places. The service in Barkley Sound
was uninterrupted after the June 1960
departure of the Uchuck III to Alert Bay.
John Monrufet and Dick McMinn felt that
there was still enough work
to be done in the area,
although on a smaller scale,
and they formed their own
company, Alberni Marine
Transportation Ltd. The
Lady Rose served them well
until they sold out and
retired twenty years later.
Although the Lady Rose has
since been retired, there
is still a service in Barkley Sound, nearly a
century after one frst began. The current
vessel in service is the MV Frances Barkley.

In warm weather while we were running
at night and were away from the land, the
feeling was magical. When there was no
moon showing, the stars flled the sky as
if there would not be room for any more.
Even the regular constellations would
be hard to distinguish among the crowd.
With my head out the wheelhouse port, I
listened to the rush of water as the vessel
surged forward in the ocean swell, and I
saw the sparkles in the water from the bio-
luminescence, outlining the hull and leaving
a brightly lit trail for a mile behind the ship.
A trip like this stays in your memory and
cancels out a whole lot of the other kind.
David Esson Young drew upon company
records and 40 years of experience to write
The Uchuck Years. He started as a junior deck
hand with Nootka Sound Services while
in his teens and nished as co-owner and
shipmaster. He lives in Royston, BC.
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12fa_master.indd 30 7/26/2012 10:06:51 AM
Plan your trip: Desolation Sound/Discovery Islands
Mothership trips to Desolation Sound, Discovery
Islands, Toba and Bute Inlets
Sail on a 43 ft. schooner
Guided kayaking day trips
instruction & rentals
Kayak mothership trips
Natural and human
history tours
Misty Isles Adventures
Cortes Island, Desolation Sound
www.mistyislesadventures.com
250-935-6756
Lund, BC | 604-483-7900 | 888-552-5558
www.terracentricadventures.com
Kayak Tours, Rentals & Transport
Instruction & Leadership Programs
Maps, Charts & Books
Central waterfront location & launch site
Discover the Power
in your Nature
Howe
Sound
Jervis
Inlet
Desolation
Sound
Quadra
Cortes
Vancouver
Nanaimo
Comox
Land for purchase
Destinations: Desolation Sound/Discovery Islands
Fans of Desolation Sound, Quadra Island and Surge Narrows
will be happy to know a key area is getting a new block of
parkland.
The catch is that funds to secure the property must be raised by
the end of September.
On May 1, the BC government signed an agreement to purchase
395 hectares of private land between Octopus Islands Marine Park
and Small Inlet Provincial Park. The current offer to purchase the
property expires in September.
This parcel has been at the top of BC Parks land acquisition
plans for years and was originally intended to be part of the two
parks. The chance to acquire the land has only recently come to to
forefront, however.
The BC Parks Land Acquisition Branch has been putting money
aside towards the purchase price of $6.15 million, but further
fundraising is necessary to secure the sale. A committee, Save the
Heart of Quadra Parks, has formed under the umbrella of the
Quadra Island Conservancy and Stewardship Society ( QICSS),
with the goal of raising at least $200,000.
Push on for parkland
The area has hiking trails, a swimming lake, and fresh water
from an artesian spring, making it appealing for outdoor
enthusiasts. The new section would also protect a traditional
portage route and trail between Waiat Bay and Small Inlet. For
more information, or to donate, visit www.quadraparks.ca.
Parcels in yellow are
potential parkland.
QUADRA ISLAND
12fa_master.indd 31 7/26/2012 10:06:54 AM
www.barkleykayakcentre.com
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5&7 day tours
in the BROKEN ISLANDS
Perfect as a base for up to 8 people. Accessible by water
only. Protected dock, minutes from the open Pacic.
Large open plan on the main oor with 4 bdrms above.
2 bdrms with queen beds.
2 with twin beds. Propane stove, fridge and
hot water. Non-smoking. www.nuchatlitzisland.com
250-337-5180 doscott2000@hotmail.com
Nuchatlitz Island
4 bdrm cabin in the Nuchatlitz Provincial
Park area of Nootka Island, BC.
othership Adventure
www.mothershipadventures.com
Luxury Mothership Sea Kayaking
Natural History, Cultural, Historical Tours
Explore B.C.s remote coastal
wilderness in comfort and safety!
Great Bear Rainforest ~ Broughton
Archipelago ~ Desolation Sound
S M
BC Ferries port; Gateway to Northern and Central
BC Coast destinations. Sales, Rentals, Lessons, Trip
planning. 8625 Shipley Street (across from the Post
O ce) Port Hardy.
Phone: 250-949-7392 or cell 250-230-8318
Email: odyssey@island.net
Web: www.odysseykayaking.com
Odyssey Kayaking
@ Saratoga Beach, Black Creek
All inclusive Kayak Tours
Morning, afternoon and sunset Paddles
Ask us about our overnight kayak-camping special
Lessons and Rentals
Phone: 1.877.337.5717
Email: info@kayakvancouverisland.com
Web: www.kayakvancouverisland.com
Grey Wolf Expeditions
Destinations: Various locations
Kayak-Friendly Accommodation
~ Traditional, cozy, English-style accommodation.
~ Delectable breakfast, queen beds, shower ensuite.
~ Great paddling possibilities: we are one block from sea front where
you can launch a kayak to paddle in Nanaimo Harbour. Easy paddle to
Newcastle and Protection Islands to walk, swim or picnic.
~ Close to downtown Nanaimo
~ 10 minute walk to kayak rentals near Departure Bay.
www.copperkettlebc.com
465 Stewart Ave
Nanaimo, BC
V9S 4C7
250-740-3977
1-877-740-3977
Copper Kettle
Bed & Breakfast
12fa_master.indd 32 7/26/2012 10:07:06 AM
Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of BC
Guide Equipment List
This list is meant as an example only. Select as appropriate. Additional equipment may be required.
For more information, visit: www.skgabc.com
Day Trip Essentials
Tarp
First aid kit
VHF radio
Secondary communication device
Throw bag
Paddle float
Spare paddle
PFD / Life jacket
Spray Skirt
Compass
Whistle
Repair Kit
Flares
Spare clothes for guests
Food
Stove / Pot
Float plan
Overnight Trip Gear
Paddling Clothes
Paddle jacket
PFD / Life jacket
Whistle on PFD
Rescue Knife
Strobe light
Water Cloths / Wetsuit / Dry suit
Spray Skirt
Cold Weather gloves / poggies
Helmet
Surf booties / water shoes
On-Water Gear
Throw-bag / Towing Line
Paddle
Paddle leash
Spare paddle
Paddle float
Sponge
VHF Radio (spare batteries)
Pump
On-water first aid
On-water repair kit
Snacks
Flares
Charts
Chart case
Sun Protection
Sunglasses
Sun Hat
Sunscreen
Sun Gloves
Long Sleeve Shirt
Boat Accessories
Deck Compass
Seat cushion
Guide Gear
Log book
Tide tables
Hand held compass
Tarps
Misc. rope / line
Watch
Field books
Water bags / jugs
Binocs
Saw / axe
First aid kit
Water purification
Bear spray / bangers
Spare batteries
Fire starter
Matches & lighter
Bear hang equipment
Communication Equipment
VHF radio
Cell Phone
EPIRB / SPOT
Emergency plans / contacts
Spare batteries
Tool Kit
Multi-tool
Pliers
Screwdriver
Vise grips
Sandpaper
Epoxy
Rudder cables
Crimps / bolts (for cables)
Duct tape
Super glue (goop)
5 mm cord
Bolts & nuts
Fiber glass repair
Sewing kit
Spare batteries
Cooking Gear
Stove
Fuel
Pots and pans
Griddle
Coffee pot
Bowls or plates
Cups
Cutlery
Wooden spoon
Can opener
Knives
Spatula
Corkscrew
Shredder
Cutting board
Pasta server
Scoop
Peeler
Wash kit
Scrubber
Dish cloths
Dish soap
Bleach
Food Basics
Water
Coffee
Sugar
Milk
Drink kit (teas, hot chocolate)
Cooking oils
Aluminum foil
Spice kit (salt, pepper, oregano, garlic, etc)
Trip Food
Emergency Food
Bear hang equipment
Personal Equipment
Sleeping bag
Sleeping pad
Tent / Bivi sack
Flash light / headlamp
Dry bags
Multi-tool Knife (Leatherman)
Camera
Tripod
Toothbrush
Water bottle
Toiletries
Medications (separate and duplicate)
Toilet paper
Clothes (Warm)
Long johns
Warm wool sweater
Toque
Nylon / fleece pants
Synthetic shirt
Wool socks x 2 (or 4)
Water cloths
Synthetic / wool shirt
Rain gear
Gumboots
Additional Equipment
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
SKGABC PO Box 1005, Stn. A, Nanaimo, BC, V9R 5Z2 info@skgabc.com www.skgabc.com
I
CURSED MYSELF
silently under my breath; a
raindrop running down the
tip of my nose. I forgot to pack
the large group tarp: our roof,
our shelter. With fve pairs of
eyes staring at me through the
drizzle, this was the start of a life
lesson I was not going to forget.
My misadventure sans-tarp was not
a complete disaster. A secondary small
blue plastic tarp and a tent ground sheet
made a passable roof and thankfully the
next morning dawned clear and sunny.
As I laid out my sodden raingear in the
morning sun I vowed never again to
forget the simple luxuries which make a
voyage memorable.
In order to be prepared for virtually
any eventuality there are hundreds of
individual items I bring on every kayak
trip. Some items, like a sleeping bag, are
large and obvious, while most, like the
bolts to repair a broken rudder cable, are
tiny and easy to forget. A paddling trip
does not end when one hits the beach.
As a group leader of friends or clients,
everyone will be expecting you to have
made plans for every eventuality and
impress them with the items they would
not have even considered packing. As a
memory aid I use the SKGABC Packing
List (available at www.skgabc.com) to
ensure I always have everything I might
need.
There are a few key items that can
make or break a trip.
Bring hearty, wholesome fresh food.
Leave the freeze-dried food at home! On
most overnight trips, there is ample room
in most kayaks to pack fresh vegetables,
fruit and snacks galore. Bringing good
kitchen equipment can make cooking a
breeze.
Warm, multiple layers can adapt to
any weather pattern. Throw in an extra
sweater for good measure. It can get
chilly even in mid-summer when camping
by the ocean, and you may have lend it to
another group member.
You may be headed on a kayaking trip,
but in reality you will likely spend three
quarters of the day on land. As such, a
few feld guide books (birds,
plants, animals) are great to
supplement a guests favourite
fction. Fill in the hours with a
game of bocce, playing cards
or frisbee.
Sea kayakers tend to focus
on the nuances of on-the-water
safety, often to the neglect of
land-based security. In many areas large
animals can be a concern. I carry a can of
bear spray and an axe, which at least gives
me the feeling of safety. Consider your
food storage options, and bring a bear-
hang set-up if needed. A well-stocked
frst aid kit, and the knowledge to use it,
is a necessity.
Every kayak guide will develop their
own style and favour to the equipment
they bring, which in turn infuences the
type of trip your guests will experience.
Whether you develop your own, or use
the SKGABC packing list, dont be
caught without a roof over your head.
After ten years of guiding, Liam McNeil
is a Level 3 Guide with Class 4 Waters
Endorsement, and Executive Director of
SKGABC. When not paddling, he can be found
enjoying the rain living in Tono.
Its the little things that make the trip
SKGABC Liam McNeill
Click this location in the online edition for a letter-page size version suitable for printing.
12fa_master.indd 33 7/26/2012 10:07:06 AM
Wildlife
W
HEN I WAS LEARNING about cetaceans I was
always taught that blue whales are solitary creatures, but
in the past couple of years they have begun to appear
in the Santa Barbara Channel of southern California in great
numbers. This is due to a number of climatic changes that have
brought an abundance of bait into the area and an animal will
always go where the food is. This is also what has allowed me the
limited access I have had to them.
With all we know of dinosaurs, it is fascinating to realize that
the largest animal ever to roam the planet is not just an artists
rendering in a picture book, but is alive and well right now, often
visible from shore. And unlike most of its predatory ancestors, it
is a peaceful giant.
From the cockpit of a kayak, a surfacing blue whale is like
watching an island being born. The frst time I saw one it
reminded me of the ancient Polynesian canoe voyagers who
traversed the oceans using only the sun, stars and knowledge
of the water for navigation, and truly believed the canoe sat in
one place while the island came to them. It felt like an island
approaching my boat.
Unfortunately because the ocean is vast and whales move
great distances, it is diffcult to learn about them unless we fnd
a carcass on a beach to study. Some information has actually
come to us from whaling ships that recorded unusual fnds
while hunting these creatures. The largest blue ever killed was an
Atlantic whale measured at 33 metres long and weighing almost
190 tonnes, but the average is more like 27 metres and weighing
somewhere around 100 tonnes. It cannot lift its body out of the
water like a humpback or gray whale. Its fukes, while almost nine
metres across, are far too small to generate such power, and it
lacks the tremendous pectoral fns of the humpback. Juveniles
have been observed trying to breach, but even they can only
manage about a 45-degree angle, landing on their bellies or sides.
It only has a tiny bump of a dorsal fn that adds to the diffculty
of spotting one from the water level of a paddler. Unless you are
fying over one, the most anyone can usually hope to see is the
12fa_master.indd 34 7/26/2012 10:07:11 AM
by James Michael Dorsey
top of the head with its elevated blow hole or the fukes coming
up for a dive. They are known to lunge-feed and this takes an
enormous amount of energy just to get up the steam to surge its
head out of the water to take bait fsh from the surface.
They are probably the least studied whales, but what is known
about them is fascinating. They have a gestation of approximately
one year after which time a baby blue weighing up to three tons
and measuring 7.5 metres long will issue into the world; feeding
exclusively on mothers milk, it will gain up to 90 kilograms per
day. Their sheer size is a deterrent to predators, but sharks may
take a piece out of their fanks that the whale will hardly notice
due to its coating of protective blubber. They swim at about eight
kilometres an hour but can rapidly accelerate to over 50 kmh
when distressed.
Their lifespan is believed to average about 80 years and this is
measured by the wax buildup inside the ears of a dead whale, the
only current method for such identifcation. The oldest known
blue lived 110 years and must have had a terrible time hearing.
Most kayakers will never really see one except in small parts at a
time, so imagine this.
You are paddling along and are assaulted by a sensation that
you are not alone. Perhaps it is the enormous wave of pressure
that precedes the animal as it cuts through the water, or maybe
ultra-low frequency sounds that we sense rather than hear, but you
are aware that something unusual is about to happen. It may even
be a telepathic ability of this animal we know nothing about at
this time, and I have no rational explanation for this feeling other
than I have had it on numerous occasions, sensing when a blue
whale was near my boat.
There is nothing to compare to this encounter unless you
have had a nuclear submarine surface next to you or you have
been paddling when a volcanic island was born. Its sheer size will
defate the ego of the most accomplished paddler and reduce one
to a feeling of insignifcance in seconds. No other animal can be
compared to it. It is indeed a living dinosaur.
4
12fa_master.indd 35 7/26/2012 10:07:13 AM
Suddenly the waters part and the
gigantic head rises just enough for the
small plateau that hosts the blowhole to
break the surface. It sounds like a gunshot
as the exhaled breath exits the warm body
at over 450 kmh per hour, sending the
largest spray of vapor of any whale 10
metres skyward.
Its heart is the size of a small car and a
man could easily crawl through its arteries.
It usually cruises at about 8 knots, which is
a good click for something so large. It is a
baleen or rorqual whale. Baleen is unique
to whales, composed of keratin, just as
our fngernails and hair. A long plate of
it grows downward from the roof of the
whales mouth, tapering into individual
sticks that resemble plastic toothbrushes,
and these end in a soft, fexible brush-like
design that could easily be compared to a
whisk broom. Baleen only grows from the
top part of the mouth, not the lower.
While feeding, the whale will consume
nearly four tonnes of krill a day that are
taken in by its enormous mouth. The
hundreds of serrated throat grooves allow
it to expand its lower jaw much like that of
a pelican, taking in tons of water and krill
in one motion. It then pushes the water
out with its tongue, trapping the krill on
the backside of the baleen that the whale
licks clean and swallows. Several other
species of whale feed this way also.
When that lower jaw is extended in the
water it is as pliable as silly putty, and can
move in various directions simultaneously
as hundreds of independent muscles allow
it to maneuver like an elephant trunk,
reaching in several directions at once to
gather in its prey. Watching a rorqual whale
feed is like seeing spilled liquid spread in
multiple directions.
For the few photos I have been able to
take of them, I have relied on big rolling
seas, timing my shots for the crest of the
roll to elevate me enough for a picture,
but that is extremely diffcult and has cost
me more than a couple of fne cameras,
not to mention one time when the crest
of the roll was the back of a blue itself! It
surfaced so close as to seem like a living
wave.
Their skin is a mottled gray on top with
blue speckles that turn a deep cerulean due
to refraction beneath the water, thus giving
it its name. Micro-organisms tend to live
on its underside that often gives their belly
a yellow tint.
Other than the occasional shark they
have no natural predators but man. In
1937, over 30,000 blues were hunted
for food, and between 1930 and 1960
over 260,000 of them fell to harpoons.
In 1966 they gained protection from the
international whaling commission, but
it is a law with no teeth, subject to the
whims of each individual nation with no
enforcement apparatus in place should a
country decide to begin killing them. They
are currently listed as endangered on the
World Conservation Red List, and their
numbers worldwide are believed to be
near 25,000. They are currently protected
by the Marine Mammal Protection Act,
but that is usually only honoured by the
United States, and should that ever lapse
they could become extinct in a single
whaling season.
When it comes to the ocean, nothing
is written in stone. Just when I think I
have seen every known behaviour, another
manifests itself. This has defnitely been
the case with the blues. While I was once
taught that they were solo creatures, I have
seen dozens in a day on several occasions,
and while they may not have been part of
an organized pod, they were defnitely in
close enough proximity to be considered
as such. Not long after I was told they
weigh too much to spy hop, one did so
right in front of me, coming up high
Wildlife
12fa_master.indd 36 7/26/2012 10:07:16 AM
The Blue Whale
enough to see its eye.
More than anything, I will
remember the day one crossed my
bow at less than six metres. I am
sure it took no more than a few
seconds, but from my perspective
it was a good hour. I saw the
massive blow from a hundred
yards away, rising nearly 10 metres
in the air before disappearing,
and when it surfaced for another
breath, there it was right before
me, the legend of the sea monster
incarnate, so unlike any other
experience as to make plausible
stories of fre breathing creatures
such as were told in the Icelandic
sagas. That moment was primeval.
I was mere feet away from the
largest animal ever to draw breath,
perhaps unchanged since its land-
based cousins walked the earth. I
was in its territory and it was fully aware
of my presence, a wild animal weighing
almost 100 tonnes. One carries a memory
like that forever.
In 2012 an unprecedented arrival of
krill in the Santa Barbara Channel, and
even more rare, the Santa Monica Bay,
coaxed these giants almost right on shore.
For the frst time in memory, blue whales
could be seen in great numbers from
shore. Unfortunately this prompted a
rash of lunacy by would-be kayakers and
novice paddlers who focked to the local
shore to paddle with these leviathans.
Most had probably never heard of the
Marine Mammal Protection Act that
prohibits approaching these animals closer
than 100 metres. I watched in amazement
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as dozens of paddlers, most of them in
rented sit-on-tops, pursued hapless whales,
attempting to touch them, and one moron
who actually jumped in the water to get
his photo taken with a whale by his buddy
with their new video camera.
No one who loves or respects an
animal would consider doing such a
thing. In my many years of paddling I
have found kayakers to be among the
most nature-conscious people on earth
because we spend so much of our
time in it and realize what a treasure it
is. It was embarrassing to see so many
people making fools of themselves while
harassing animals, and doing so through
a sport that has meant so much to me for
such a long time. On the evening news
that night I cringed when the
reporter referred to these people
as kayakers.
With the enormous amounts
of krill, blue whales entered
commercial fshing channels of
the Southern California coast
in record numbers in 2012,
and in turn, ship strikes spiked.
Commercial cargo and tanker
ships travel at about 20 knots on
the open ocean and take almost
two full miles to turn. From the
ships bridge, which can be over
30 metres above the water, a
whale, even one that is 27 metres
long, is extremely hard to spot,
and if it is, it is just as diffcult
to maneuvre the ship to avoid
a collision. Modern ships have
a steel bubble on their bow at
the waterline known as a wave
cutter and it is becoming more and more
common to fnd a dead whale laid across
this cutter when the ships pull into port.
Recent laws have required large ships to
reduce their speed while in areas known to
be full of whales, but this is a law almost
impossible to enforce, leaving it up to the
ships captains to be responsible.
Enjoy them from a distance if you
have the opportunity to see one; go out
on a commercial whale watching boat,
but please never try to approach one,
especially in a kayak.
James Dorsey is serializing his book Dancing
With Dinosaurs, a naturalists 15-year odyssey
of kayaking among whales, in Coast&Kayak
Magazine.
12fa_master.indd 37 7/26/2012 10:07:19 AM
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inReach u
New Gear
Spot had a major limitation, however:
the communication is only one-way
outbound, and highly limited in the
information you can send. A company
called inReach is taking advantage of that
shortfall with a new device that allows
messages back and forth via satellite.
It is still a long way away from a
full-blown satellite communication link
offering, say, access to the internet or voice
connections, but it does provide send-and-
receive texting. It also has the ability to
track your location anywhere around the
globe but with a catch that most of the
best features only work if coupled with
another device.
Paired with iPhones, iPads, iPods or
Android phones and tablets you can use
the phone or tablet for a keyboard to send
and receive messages. No device? Then
you get a choice of three predetermined
messages using inReach only.
With a device, you can send and receive
both SOS and regular personal messages.
This has the advantage of being able to
specify the type of SOS as theres a big
difference between being marooned on a
desert island and being in the water and at
risk of drowning. This can also help in the
deployment of rescue resources no need
to send the entire Pacifc coast guard feet
to do what a friend can do.
Delivery confrmation means youll
know when your message is received.
An app called Earthmate (doesnt
everything have an app these days?) enables
free downloads of DeLorme topo maps
and NOAA nautical charts. This effectively
turns a device coupled with inReach
into a GPS for navigation. Naturally, the
disadvantage is you now need two devices
and two battery sets to do the work of
one device (a handheld GPS), but with the
extra feature of text capability. Its worth
noting you wont be able to get Canadian
charts; at least not yet.
A subscription is required to use, as
with Spot, and runs from the lowest-
cost package of $14.95 per month plus
a charge per text (of 95 cents) and track
point (25 cents) or an expedition rate of
$49.95 a month with a limit of 250 texts.
Text addicts will probably adore this
device, and it is a step forward in terms
of utilizing the capabilities of satellite
technology, but not for those on a budget
trip. For the non-techies among us, waiting
till at the dinner table to tell the story may
just have to do, as has suffced throughout
history. www.inreachdelorme.com
The ability to stay in touch on long
journeys to remote locations has until
recently been limited to satellite phones
and Spot, a system that allowed outbound
communication to provide real-world
tracking and even emergency response via
satellite.
12fa_master.indd 38 7/26/2012 10:07:19 AM
www.bckayaks.com
(250)391-03331 nwcagear@telus.net
If inReach is targetting Spot, then
GoPro will be eyeing the progress of the
new Ion Air Pro camera by Gentec.
The Ion is comparable to GoPro
with full HD 1080 and a wide angle
170-degree feld, waterproof to
10 metres and photos at up to 10
frames per second at 5 megapixel.
The extra capability is through
coupling it wth a WiFi Podz (sold
separately) then to a smart phone to
share your video in real time via social
networking sites for those who fnd
Youtube alone too slow for your self-
broadcasting needs. Now all you need is
the audience that cares.
www.gentec-intl.com
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New Gear
Not everyone can be as blessed as
Coast&Kayak Magazine with quick access
to water (dont think we arent still chortling
that our kayak is 10 feet from our desk and
six additional inches from the ocean). For
those not so blessed, Vasa has designed
a way to keep you trim even when your
kayak is stored away for the winter.
The Kayak Ergometer features
airfow resistance with seven settings to
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power, stroke rate and the right and left
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Two different seating options are
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the optional K1 racing seat designed for
realistic K1 performance with full range
of motion and torso rotation to mimic
paddling on water. www.vasatrainer.com.
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12fa_master.indd 39 7/26/2012 10:07:21 AM
Kayak Fishing by Peter Marshall
I
WALKED THROUGH the kitchen
to get a snack just as Bronwen
fnished packing another food bag.
By the way, she said, given that this is a
multi-week trip, I am counting on at least
two meals of salmon each week.
Hmm, all I have to do is wave my magic
rod and produce salmon on demand.
Back in the basement I pulled up a
stool and propped my feet on the pile of
gear. The trip will start in late July and
continue through the frst half of August.
Likely it will be hot and sunny. We will be
changing camps daily at the beginning of
the trip and again at the end. So fshing
will be limited to short periods while
paddling during the day, anywhere from
near shore to out several miles. Because
of weight considerations I will have to
carry fewer lures and lighter weights than
normal. These constraints essentially ruled
out chinook. An opening for Fraser River
sockeye would be unlikely because their
numbers have been so low during the past
several years. Likewise, the predictions for
returns of coho indicated fewer fsh this
year than even their normally low numbers
for the Strait of Georgia to Port Hardy.
Chum dont arrive until the fall. So to put
salmon on the menu, I needed to target
pinks. Will they be available?
The Fraser River has millions of
pinks, but only in odd numbered years.
Washington State has large runs during
odd numbered years and very few pinks
in even numbered years. So from Victoria
through the Strait of Georgia, the fshery
for wild pinks is limited to late July through
to mid August during odd numbered years.
During the past decade, however, various
fshing and enhancement clubs, such as
those at Cowichan Bay and Nanaimo,
have raised young pinks in net pens. Two
years later the mature pinks return to the
location of their youth and thus provide
increased fshing opportunities.
Some streams on Johnstone Strait,
northern Vancouver Island and the Central
Coast have runs every year, though even
numbered years tend to have larger runs.
We planned to paddle out of Port Hardy,
so there should be some pinks each year.
I opened up my laptop, pulled up the
DFO site for recreational fshing in tidal
waters and found a map of the Pacifc
coast (www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/
tidal-maree/index-eng.htm). Then I clicked
on the area where we would be paddling
and pulled up a table of salmon fshing
regulations for that area and also read
additional information below the table.
Finally, I navigated to the DFO Rockfsh
Conservation Areas map to ensure I would
not be fshing in one of these closed areas.
Then I added appropriate fshing gear to
the pile as I read through my notes about
fshing for pinks:
Pinks have a very soft mouth, so I
selected a light, limber three-metre-long
mooching rod for trolling along the edges
of kelp beds and offshore along tide lines.
A light spin casting rod also went onto the
mound of gear for casting into schools of
pinks that mill about off stream estuaries.
The spinning rod had 12-pound test
line, which is more than suffcient for a
three- to fve-pound pink, but these fsh
are tenacious fghters. I left a 20-pound
line on my trolling reel because I want to
be able to recover lures that hook onto
kelp, which is likely when fshing along the
edge of kelp beds.
Normally pinks are caught in the upper
18 metres of water, and 12 metres is a
typical depth to start fshing. So I packed
six-ounce weights for deep trolling and
two-ounce weights for shallower depths.
Pinks feed on plankton, shrimp and
small fsh. Into the sandwich box that I use
to carry lures went 1.5- to 2.5-inch-long
red, pink, orange and chartreuse coloured
spoons and mini apex lures for trolling.
I rigged a red Hot Spot fve-inch micro
fasher and 14 inches of 30 pound line to a
size 2 hook that was buried in a pink mini
squid about two inches long. A couple of
In praise of pinks
The perfect way to pull in a
spring: note the paddle is well
above the water and secure. The
rod is up out of the way in a rod
holder used for trolling. A net
can be easier and safer than the
gaf shown here.
12fa_master.indd 40 7/26/2012 10:07:21 AM
Kayak Fishing by Peter Marshall
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small, one-inch long orange fies tied on
number 6 hooks went into the box so that
we could troll with light weights along tide
lines.
Lures for the spinning rod included
small red buzz bombs and casting spoons.
Since some of the lures had hooks with
barbs, I squished the barbs down with a
pair of pliers to meet the regulation that
only barbless hooks can be used when
fshing for salmon.
A rod holder on my deck unit
(described in the Summer 2012 issue
of Coast&Kayak), net, tow line, knife
and spare parts together with Bronwens
binoculars rounded out the pile of gear.
Then I added a few small lead head jigs
for founder or sole in case the magic rod
failed to pull in salmon.
Pinks tend to migrate in large schools.
Occasionally a fsh will jump, which marks
the location of the school. Binoculars are
handy to spot the jumpers and intercept
the school of fsh as it moves with an
advantageous tide. When the tide is
opposite the direction of migration, fsh
tend to congregate in the back eddy of
a point or other areas of low velocity
current, where again a jumping fsh may
give away the presence of a school.
Typically these surface fsh that jump
do not bite. Hence, I start fshing at a
depth of 12 metres before sunrise, though
during the bright sun of midday I will add
three or more metres of depth. When
approaching the location of the school, I
slow down to say 1 to 1.5 knots (about
2-3 kmh), about one third or less of our
normal cruising speed. Then I stream my
trolling gear, put the rod in my rod holder
then paddle in an oval around the location
of the jump and extend the oval in the
direction of migration. The drag tension
on my reel is set only hard enough to stop
more line going out. Thus even a small
pink can strip out line.
When casting with the spinning rod, I
position my kayak off to one side of the
location of the jump and cast diagonally
forward to just ahead of the jump. I let
the lure futter down twenty seconds then
start short retrieves of one to two feet of
line, pause, then another short retrieve. If
there is no response then I add another ten
seconds of futter time to the next cast.
While some people feel that early
morning and evening are best, the bite may
switch on for periods of a few minutes to
half an hour at various times during the
day. One time at the end of the frst week
of August we watched schools of pinks
pass the mouth of the Adam River every
ffteen to twenty minutes, so there can be
opportunities throughout the day.
Strikes are almost undetectable.
Essentially the lure pauses and it feels like
hooking a foating weed.
Then, moments later, the fght is on. Let
the fsh run because it will seldom go long
distances like chinook or coho. Take your
time. When the fsh tires, maneuvre it over
your net and simply lift the net. Oval spots
on their tails identify pinks.
I leave the fsh in the water so that it
stays cool and tow it to the nearest beach
or landing spot where I can cut both gills
and bleed the fsh. During cleaning, I
remove all of the dark matter along the
backbone then rinse it quickly with a bit of
fresh water. If there is still some distance
to paddle to camp, then the fsh is kept
cool, out of the sun, and dry. We cook all
of it that evening, and any leftover fsh is
used the next day.
Peter Marshall has shed for salmon from
his kayak for a dozen years. Prior to that he
shed from canoes, dinghies, and larger
craft along the coast of British Columbia,
across Canada, New Zealand, and the tropical
Pacic to Japan.
Try your pink luck
If you feel like a veteran sherman
after this article, you can put your skills
to the test at the Kayak Fishing Derby
Sept. 1-2 at Coast&Kayaks hometown
of Nanaimo at Maeo Sutton Park.
Up for grabs is a Tourque kayak by
Ocean Kayak and other prizes.
Regardless of the results you can
join the salmon barbecue dinner and
the SKILS seminars.
Hosted by Alberni Outpost, you can
get all the details at
www.albernioutpost.com.
12fa_master.indd 41 7/26/2012 10:07:23 AM
Skillset
W
HETHER YOUR GOAL
is to play in currents or avoid
them, youll need to consult a
tidal current atlas to establish the times
of slack, maximum food and maximum
ebb in areas of signifcant tidal currents.
Slack (or the turn) is the time when a
tidal current reverses and turns to fow
in the opposite direction. This is the
time when currents will be minimal or
nonexistent and the water is at its calmest
for safe travel. Information in the tidal
current atlas will also provide you with
the time of maximum food, maximum
ebb and their respective speeds expressed
in knots.
Establishing the time of slack,
maximum food and maximum ebb in
this manner is relatively straightforward.
To estimate what the current will be
doing between these times, however, is
not as intuitive as you might think.
The cycle of tidal currents is such
that a food or ebb current lasts
approximately six hours. A tidal current
will accelerate from slack (zero) to
maximum speed over approximately
three hours. The current then begins
to slow again. As it decreases in speed,
heading toward the next slack, this
deceleration also takes about three
hours.
Common sense might lead you to
expect this acceleration and deceleration
to progress in a nice linear way from slack
to maximum fow and back again. But this
isnt the case. To predict fows between
maximum and slack, you need to use the
Rule of Thirds.
The Rule of Thirds breaks the food
or ebb tide currents into three one-hour
segments and states that the current
reaches approximately 50 percent of
its maximum speed in the frst hour,
90 percent in the second hour, and 100
percent in the third hour. The current then
decelerates to slack in the same order.
For example: if you have a tidal passage
that foods at a maximum of 10 knots at 3
p.m., you can assume the pattern shown in
the table on the top of the next page.
The same formula, of course, applies
for ebb tide currents too.
The Rule of Thirds shows that it is
important to travel close to the exact time
of slack if you want to avoid paddling
in current, because the speed accelerates
quickly after the tide turns. It also shows
that if you want to play in the current, it
is best to choose a maximum speed that
youre confdant to paddle in, because the
current will be running at more than 90
per cent of that speed for much of the
time.
It can also be helpful to get a rough
estimate of how long a slack current is
likely to last. The Slow Water Rule is
useful for this purpose. By establishing
currents
math
Get a handle on
the risk of tidal
rapids with The
Rule of Thirds
and the Slow
Water Rule
The
of
12fa_master.indd 42 7/26/2012 10:07:23 AM
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by Alex Matthews
the maximum food and maximum ebb
(expressed in knots) either side of the turn
that we are interested in, we can calculate
the approximate duration of slack water
(current under 0.5 knots).
In a current atlas, look up the maximum
fows before and after the slack in
question.
Say for instance that the turn is at 0840,
with a maximum food before it of +4 at
0540, and then a maximum ebb of -3 at
1200. By dividing 60 (there are 60 minutes
in an hour) by the max food and ebb
speeds predicted (expressed in knots per
hour), and then adding the two fgures
together, we get an approximate duration
for slack.
In this case:
60 / 4 = 15 minutes
60 / 3 = 20 minutes
20 + 15 = 35 minutes
So the period of slack water where
currents will be less than 0.5 knots during
the turn will be about 35 minutes.
When ebb and food currents are
moving faster, the duration of slack will be
shorter. Lets say that in the same scenario
established above, fows were +10 and 12
knots respectively on the food and ebb.
60 / 10 = 6 minutes
60 / 12 = 5 minutes
6 + 5 = 11 minutes.
In this instance, the period of slack
water during the turn from food to ebb
current will only be approximately 11
minutes
You should use the Rule of Thirds as
a rough rule of thumb only. Also be sure
to do your homework study guidebooks
and seek out local knowledge because
current speed is far from the sole indicator
of a tidal currents potential for danger.
Bottom geography, wind, water depth and
shorelines all contribute mightily.
Also, big storms can disrupt the fows
of tidal currents and reduce the accuracy
of current table predictions. So let the
fnal word rest with a visual appraisal on
the scene. If the math works out but the
current looks bad, trust your eyes and
make decisions accordingly.
Adapted from Sea Kayaking Rough Waters
by Alex Matthews available from Fox
Chapel at www.foxchapelpublishing.com/
product_p/6332s.htm
Time Current % Attribute Current speed
Hour zero (12 pm): 0% Slack, turning to ood About 0 knots
Hour one (1 pm): 50% Increasing speed About 5 knots
Hour two (2 pm): 90% Increasing speed About 9 knots
Hour three (3 pm): 100% Maximum ood About 10 knots
Hour four (4 pm): 90% Decreasing speed About 9 knots
Hour ve (5 pm): 50% Decreasing speed About 5 knots
Hour six (6 pm): 0% Slack, turning to ebb About 0 knots
Sample Rule of Thirds chart for a 10 knot peak current
12fa_master.indd 43 7/26/2012 10:07:25 AM
I
M STANDING ATOP Yaquina Head
on the Oregon Coast, breathing in
the thick aroma of guano. The source
is some ofshore rocks covered with
thousands of penguins. Theyre bringing
fsh for their chicks, fying like awkward
black and white footballs with wings...
Okay, you caught me. Penguins dont
live inthe northern hemisphere, and
they cant fy. But their cousins do, and
they play a similar and critical niche in
the ecosystem. Squat with stubby wings,
theyre awkward on land but fuid as
ballerinas underwater. This is a family of
birds called the alcids.
Alcids are the northern hemispheres
mirror image of the southern
hemispheres penguins. Ecologically
speaking, both are fsh-eating, wing-
propelled surface divers, and both act as
essential indicators of the health of the
ocean.
You may know some alcids already.
The most common northwest alcids are
common murres, Cassins and rhinoceros
auklets, tufted pu ns, marbled
murrelets and pigeon guillemots.
(Cormorants, often seen with alcids, are
actually related to pelicans.) In summer
youve probably have seen or smelled
their massive breeding colonies. But
the most fascinating aspect of alcids
happens below the sea, where you cant
see them unless things go very wrong.
They can fy, and I cant, but watching
an alcid take of still evokes sympathy.
From the sea they fap frantically along
the waters surface and take at least a
hundred yards to gain a foot or two of
air. The fapping continues while the
bird slowly climbs. Taking of from a rock
hundreds of feet above the sea is even
more embarrassing. The bird takes a
running start, leaps of the clif and madly
fails its stubby wings to start fying
before it crashes into the sea. Now you
know why they always nest on such high
clifs. They need that much height to take
of.
But underwater is a diferent story.
Watch a murre underwater this requires
a trip to an aquarium or zoo and
youll realize they dont swim so much
as fy underwater. And they do it with
indescribable grace.
The laws of physics dictate that wings
that work well in air dont work well in
water, and vise versa. Broad wings for
soaring are useless when fghting the
resistance of water. Foot propulsion
can only generate so much speed and
distance during a breath and so limits
the range of birds such as cormorants
and loons that use this technique.
Each species has made an evolutionary
choice about whether to maximize their
aerial or underwater capability. Brown
pelicans, for instance, have opted to
maximize soaring, and can only catch
what they can reach in shallow, plunging
dives. Alcids, like their penguin cousins,
have chosen the opposite end of the
spectrum. Those tiny wings excel against
the greater resistance of the water, and
their chunky bodies shed water like
Wildlife
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12fa_master.indd 44 7/26/2012 10:07:27 AM
a torpedo. This allows them to reach
depths of 180 metres and access food
that other seabirds cant reach. They
mostly feed on baitfsh such as herring,
capelin, sandlance and anchovy.
Because they eat baitfsh, alcids are
good indicators of ocean health. Baitfsh
react very quickly to the health of the
water column that is, they are easily
afected by the amount of plankton, low-
oxygen zones from pollutants, ocean
acidifcation and warming seas that
result from climate change.
Equally afected by ocean health,
baitfsh and plankton are both hard
to measure because theyre small,
underwater and itinerant. Murres, pu ns
and auklets, which nest in large groups
on a relatively small number of ofshore
rocks, can be easily observed from shore
with a spotting scope. By tracking alcid
populations, ecologists can get a quick
and reasonably accurate picture of the
health of the sea.
During most spring and summers,
complex sets of weather patterns create
upwelling of deep-ocean water, rich in
nutrients in the coastal waters of the
Northwest. This nutrient-rich water
feeds the baitfsh, which feeds large
populations of alcids.
Sometimes things go awry in the food
chain, due to natural or human causes.
When they do, every beachgoer on the
Pacifc Coast usually knows. The telltale
sign is a large number of dead common
murres washing up on the beach. Most
often, the birds show no signs of injury
and dont have toxic chemicals in their
system, but are emaciated and have
most likely starved to death. The most
common suspect is a little boy called El
Nino.
An El Nino, a warm surface water
originating in the tropical Pacifc,
is a natural weather oscillation that
unleashes a chain reaction afecting the
whole world. One efect is that it stops
the upwelling in the Pacifc Northwest.
Creatures reliant on zooplankton
baitfsh, and therefore alcids starve
as a result. The very strong El Nino
of 1983 took out an estimated 90 per
cent of Washingtons common murres.
The reverse is also true: when theres a
strong La Nina, El Ninos opposite, alcid
populations boom.
I
M EATING MY LUNCH on Oregons
Cannon Beach, watching the seabird
colony atop Haystack Rock. Every
twenty minutes or so theres a loud,
frantic ruckus as a bald eagle fies by
to grab another snack, either a chick
or an egg. Pu ns and auklets, which
dig burrows, are protected from these
aerial predators, but ground-nesting
murres arent. Since the eagle comes
back so regularly, it must take its toll
on the population. But they are totally
protected from ground predators.
(Antarctica has no land predators, so
their penguin cousins could aford to
trade fight for greater swimming ability.)
by Neil Schulman/ photos by James Luther Davis
4
12fa_master.indd 45 7/26/2012 10:07:29 AM
Wildlife
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Like the shape of their wings, alcid
nesting strategies are an evolutionary
tradeoff. By nesting on offshore rocks,
they get protection from land predators
and a launch zone for their awkward fight.
However, this means all their eggs, pun
intended, are in one ecological basket,
vulnerable to disturbance. This is especially
true of rhinoceros auklets (which are
actually a species of puffn). These nest
in a few very large colonies, such as
Protection Island in the Strait of Juan De
Fuca and Triangle Island near Cape Scott.
Human impacts, introduced land predators
or disease at these few sites could be
disastrous. There is also evidence, from
where new volcanic islands have been
created elsewhere in the world followed
by a rapid spike in seabird populations,
that nest site availability is a key factor in
the limit of their population. If you watch
a nesting colony with a spotting scope,
youll certainly see plenty of aggressive
competition for space.
Two alcids have come up with a very
different solution to the nesting problem.
Pigeon guillemots nest on seaside cliffs in
small groups, not big colonies, and often
on the mainland. This opens up more
options but creates more exposure to land
predators. However, predation doesnt
have the same effect on the population
when nests are dispersed. But for the
truly novel solution, look to the small and
endangered marbled murrelet.
Murrelets dont nest in colonies. In fact,
their nests are so elusive that for almost
two hundred years nobody knew where or
how they nested: they were the last bird in
North America to have that riddle solved.
One day in 1974, a tree surgeon in Big
Basin Redwood State Park in California
climbed 40 metres up a redwood and came
eyeball-to-eyeball with a single downy
murrelet chick sitting comfortably on a
moss-covered branch. Murrelets fy into
coastal ancient forests, fnd a large mossy
branch in the mid-story, poke a small hole
in the moss and lay a single egg. They
commute as much as 100 kilometres to sea
to gather food for their young.
This strategy allows murrelets to inhabit
a wider range of the coast. By not being
dependent on offshore cliffs or rocks,
they can access more feeding habitat.
But it is also placed them in confict with
humans. Many mature coastal forests
have been logged, and second growth-
forests dont provide the mid-canopy,
large, mossy branches. Murrelets are
endangered in B.C., Oregon, Washington
and California; seventy per cent of the
surviving population is in Alaska. Very
little is known about their specifc nesting
needs. Of course, this isnt surprising since
we didnt know where they nested until so
recently.
P
ADDLERS HAVE a key role in
protecting alcids. First, we must
protect the sea itself. That means
being a voice for cleaner oceans and
healthy fsh populations.
Second, we need to help science. We
know very little about alcids. Volunteer
studies of pigeon guillemots are taking
place on Whidbey Island, and this is a
model for citizens helping study birds that
are relatively easily observed. We must also
advocate for funding scientifc studies to
learn more.
Thirdly, we can preserve their nesting
areas. Not many people pay much
attention to the offshore rocks where
alcids breed, so paddlers can have a big
impact on their protection. Places like
Triangle and Protection islands need to
be kept free of disturbance (including
us sea kayakers) during breeding season,
especially introduced land predators like
foxes and rats that eat seabird eggs.
Lastly, we should watch what we eat.
Because they dive so deep, alcids are
often caught in nets or on longline hooks.
As much as eight per cent of common
murre mortality may come from bycatch.
When youre buying seafood, download
the Seafood Watch app to your phone,
and make sustainable use of your dollars.
(www.montereybayaquarium.org/mobile/
sfw/default.aspx)
Next time youre out paddling, you can
also help others appreciate these penguins
of the Northwest.
The writer: Neil Schulman lives in Portland,
Oregon, where he works in environmental
conservation and taught coastal ecology.
The photographer: James Luther Davis is a
Portland-based naturalist and author of The
Northwest Nature Guide: Where to Go and What
to See Month by Month in Oregon, Washington,
and British Columbia. He gives lectures in an
alcid costume.
Pigeon guillemot Rhinoceros auklet Common murre
12fa_master.indd 46 7/26/2012 10:07:31 AM
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