Broken Group Islands, Sep. 14 - Sep. 18, 2009 (Part 2)

Wednesday arrived a little damp, but the worst of the rain had fallen during the night and we just had a slight drizzle to contend with this morning. As we were moving to another island today we got busy with the packing of the gear, a quick breakfast and then loading the boats. Nowhere in the Broken Group Islands is far away so we weren’t in a big rush this morning and didn’t get on the water until after ten. We were sitting in the boats making a decision as to our route today, wanting to cross Coaster Channel towards Benson but a little concerned about the southerly winds.

We paddled out past Cooper to get a look and decided to head over as it looked reasonably calm from our vantage point. We were over half way across when the conditions started deteriorating. Once past the protection that Wouwer Island had afforded us, the swell and the wind got pretty good. We were paddling into swells that topped out at about five feet, nothing that concerned us to any real degree but just another lesson as to how conditions can change in a very short amount of time and distance. Applying the weather forecasts to the actual routes you plan to take is an art in itself. With a little forethought, more than we had been using (or are capable of at this time), a person should be able to make a reasonable judgement as to conditions before actually taking to the water. Part of that learning curve we all talk about. The crossing this morning ended up being one of the highlights of this trip for us. Just enough excitement to get the adrenaline going but not enough for fear to take over.

We made it across to the channel between Benson and Clarke Islands and found ourselves in reasonably well protected waters again. We had camped on the northern point of Benson the previous year so it was almost nostalgic paddling past it again. We spent a little time in this passage just playing in the light swell, watching, and listening, to the waves crashing along the shoreline. The north western coast of Clarke Island is protected from the elements by a string of islets, so as you enter this area the water conditions flatten out considerably. It’s a beautiful place to paddle through as it is calm water on one side of your boat, and waves crashing on the islets on the other side.

Lots of gray rocks sticking out of the water providing a place for the birds to set, kayakers and their colourful camps on the beach of Clarke, and lots of sea foam to paddle through made this an extraordinary stretch of water. As we passed the northern end of Clarke we stayed to the west side of Owens and then crossed over to the east side of Lovett Island. It was a lower tide right now and this area between Lovett, and its neighbour Turret Island to the east, is comprised of a string of rocks that limits your choice of passageways. There is one narrow, deep water passageway available between Lovett and Island #30 that we picked our way through, constantly watching for rocks hidden just below the surface. This is a pretty neat area in itself. Lots of rocks to play around if you’re not afraid of possibly gouging your boat a bit. Lots of little channels you can try and get through. We continued around the north shore of Trickett Island, crossed Thiepval Channel and started into the bay between Willis and Turtle Islands.

The water now has become perfectly flat, and as we look ahead we notice that the fog is starting to appear. We paddle through a silent, lagoon like area, completely protected by four islands, as we make our way to the Tiny Group for the second time on this trip.

The Tiny Group is pretty much a must see spot in the Broken Group Islands. It’s a small group of islets just to the northeast of Turtle Island. On this trip it took on a very sombre persona due to the fog and the silence that accompanied it. We stopped at the shell beach for a break and just took in the muted colors of the surrounding area. The water here didn’t appear as clear as it was last year and we were to find out later it was due to the red tide.

We continued on our way, passing south of Keith Island, and then heading northeast past Dempster Island and then on through the narrow channel between Jaques and Gibraltar Islands. A s we came around Gibraltar we could see the beach where we were planning to spend the last two nights, and it was loaded with kayaks and people. The beach area here actually links the main island to a small peninsula on the north side where there are a number of tent sites cut into the bush. The main camping area is on Gibraltar proper and has lots of options available. One group on the beach happened to be Craig and his friends so we spent some time visiting with them. Really nice bunch of guys, won’t hold being from Alberta against them too much. They were saying that all the people at the beach were just day-trippers and would probably be moving on shortly. I hate to rush right in when there is a group already there and stake out a tent site and kitchen area as you don’t know for sure what the other’s plans really are.

We got out of the drysuits, made some coffee and just relaxed for a bit and within the hour all the people had taken off and we had the place to ourselves, for a bit.

The weather was holding in there for us this afternoon. No bright blue skies but staying dry and the temperature was comfortable enough to be running around without jackets. I started setting up the kitchen tarp in the same place we had done it last year. The kitchen area at Gibraltar is a pretty well sheltered area with planks and logs already available for setting up a low table.

We were tying off the tarp when we noticed small pinecones hitting it and bouncing off to the ground. It was a little windy at the time so we didn’t give it much thought. We kept on about our work but the cones kept dropping at what seemed like a pretty regular pace. Something didn’t seem quite right. We walked out to the beach area and took a look up into the trees and saw a single squirrel jumping from branch to branch, pulling the cones off the trees and dropping them to the ground. We sat and watched as the squirrel made its way down the tree and then started gathering the cones, one at a time, and running off into the brush to store them. Every now and again it would stand up on a log and eat all the seeds off a pinecone and just leave the small stem and husks in a pile when it was done. It kept up this dropping and gathering of the pinecones all afternoon. It was pretty amusing to watch, once we had figured out what was going on. We found a spot for the tent and got it set up, with a tarp over it also in case it decided to rain on us. Later in the afternoon one of the two couples from Gilbert showed up and set up camp farther down the beach from us. Some time was spent this afternoon and evening just poking along the beach, walking around the peninsula area, and investigating the inter-tidal life in the rocks. It wasn’t long after dark that we called it a night and crawled into the tent.

Thursday morning greeted us with a gorgeous sunrise. The morning colors here rival any sunset I’ve ever seen. Today we had planned to head out around the islands along Imperial eagle Channel. We took our time this morning with a nice breakfast and coffee as we weren’t planning on a lot of miles today. It was nice just enjoying the morning sun. We started off paddling around ten am and took off through the passage to the west of Reeks Island.

This put us into the beginning of Sechart Channel where we headed east and circled Swale Rock, the most eastern point still within the Broken Group Islands Park. As we entered Imperial eagle Channel itself we found the swell up around three feet, four feet at the most and a lot of fun as we were paddling pretty much straight into it and not fighting it at all. We can’t get enough of the surf crashing on the rocky shoreline and always find it surprising how close you can go to the rocks without being drawn into them unintentionally. We travelled southwest along the exposed shore of Gibraltar and then crossed over to the outer coastline of Dempster Island. We stayed pretty close to the shore of Dempster as we made our way along its coastline, getting in close to the rocks and exploring the large bay on its western side. We continued around the northern point and then made our way back along Dempster’s eastern shore, heading back towards Imperial Eagle. This island is well worth going around and exploring. There’s a couple of big bays to poke around in, lots of rock gardens in the area, the rugged, exposed coastline of its southern shores, it all makes for a great daytrip. After playing in the swell for a bit again we crossed over to the western coastline of Gibraltar and circled back around to camp. As we neared camp we saw our beach had been invaded again. This time it was a commercial tour group having stopped here for lunch. We sat back and watched the goings-on and found it pretty amusing. The guide and his assistant were busy cleaning up after lunch and it floored us to see him throw a large, at least a ten pound, propane tank into the center hatch of one of the double kayaks. Here we are with fuel canisters the size of a small mayo jar and these guys are hauling around bbq tanks. The guides had all the lunch gear stored away and were politely indicating to all that it was time to go again and not everyone was getting the message. All the boats except for one double were back on the water, the guide in his single patiently waiting for the last couple. The fellow still on the beach still had gear strewn about, couldn’t decide what he was going to wear and hardly seemed to notice that the rest of the group was already afloat. I think, from a guide’s position, handling the group dynamics could get pretty challenging. All these people have paid a fair amount of money for a holiday in these islands. The guide’s job of ensuring they all have a fun, memorable experience with a bunch of strangers could be a tough sell. Definitely not a job for me.

The other couple that had been camped here had taken off while we had been out paddling, so once this guided group had gone we had the island to ourselves. I took a short walk along the beach to the west, exploring the other campsites and found there were lots available just off the beach, up in the trees. Way more than I had first thought. I even came across a small waterfall I hadn’t known existed here. We hung around camp all afternoon.

Had a fire going, read for a bit, checked out the colourful batstars and anemones again, just had a really quiet, pleasant day on the beach. I can’t think of anything else that happened this evening worth noting. We kept the fire going throughout the afternoon/evening, through the light showers that would pass through, and shut it down pretty early once again as tomorrow was to be our final day here in the Broken Group.

Friday was an overcast morning again, dry but cloudy. Today we had to get back to Sechart by two pm to catch the Frances Barkley for the trip back to Port Alberni. Initially we had toyed with the idea of heading back to Sechart first thing in the morning and getting on the Barkley for a trip to Ucluelet and then back through the Broken Group before it returned to Sechart in the afternoon. We decided we would rather spend the morning exploring the Pinkerton Islands so we broke camp, loaded the boats and started out at around nine am. The Pinkerton Islands are located just outside the park itself, about one and a half kilometres northeast of Hand Island. We had all morning to kill so we took a round-about route to get to the islands. We paddled along the northern shores of both Jaques and Jarvis Islands in perfectly flat water.

We crossed Peacock Channel and stuck to the southern shore of the big Brabant Island and made our way through the narrow passage at its north western end. Very little talking was done as we crossed the channel as we were both constantly scanning the ocean surface for any sign of a whale. This can be a fairly common area to see humpbacks but we struck out today. We turned north now and passed by Hand Island and circled the small islet off its north east point. There was a geocache on this islet that we were hoping to find but because of the time constraints and the water access at this point we decided to leave it for another trip. The sky was starting to lighten up above the mountains to the east as we paddled Sechart Channel on our way to Capstan Island, the first island in the Pinkertons we would hit. We circled around the east side of Capstan and then headed northwest and around the west side of Island #53. There are a huge number of rocky islets and small islands here and the water becomes perfectly flat due to this protection. The water is still dark due to the red tide but the reflections it provides are incredible. It is hard to tell where the water ends and the shore starts it is so clear.

We are lucky that it is a high tide as we make our way through this maze of islands as it allows us to travel through some tiny passageways that would have been impassable at lower tides. It is also a good thing to have the gps handy since I can imagine getting lost in here very easily. We seem to get lucky on a lot of our trips and this is no exception. The conditions today in the Pinkertons were perfect to provide us with the reflections that we were seeing. It’s interesting making your way through an area like this, following the charts and knowing that a passage exists but not actually being able to see it until you’re right at its entrance. It’s one thing to look at a chart which represents all the islands from above and a completely different thing to be sitting in a kayak where all the islands merge into one. Sometimes it is next to impossible to tell where one island ends and another starts, even from fifty metres away.

On this trip we will always remember the Pinkertons due to the reflections and would highly recommend anyone visiting the Broken Group take a couple hours and check out this area also. We started eastwards and exited the islands and paddled towards Canoe Island, along side log booms where hundreds of seagulls were sitting. In no time at all we were beside the Sechart dock, with about two and a half hours to spare before the Frances Barkley was due in. Craig and his buddies were also there waiting for their water taxi to take them to Toquart Bay, where they had started their trip. We unloaded all of our gear into the big plastic tub again and then had the luxury of being able to grab a shower at the facilities provided before getting on the Frances Barkley and heading back to Port Alberni.

The Broken Group Islands remains one of my favourite kayaking spots. It’s funny that this area was one of the last places I had wanted to visit originally. You hear of so many people coming here, tour groups and private trips, that you think it’s going to be overcrowded and the stories of the spectacular scenery have to be overly exaggerated. Both times we’ve been here now it hasn’t been crowded and there is no way you can exaggerate the beauty of this park. I think I’ve talked of this before but the Broken Group has a little something for everyone, from the mirror flat waters amid the islands to the ‘big as you dare’ swell on the outside, you are going to find your kayaking Utopia here. Having entered the park now from both Toquart Bay and Sechart I think I would use the Frances Barkley again and start from the Sechart docks. It’s a nice trip down the Alberni Canal, loading the boats at the dock and launching is quick and easy, and you are right in the islands within fifteen minutes. As I write this report we are already planning another trip to the islands next September, and I think we’ve talked my folks into joining us this time. It will be interesting to ‘see’ the islands through someone else’s eyes. We can’t wait to go again.

Total Distance Paddled - 75.8 km.

Related links:

Broken Group Islands Picasa Web Album

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve