Desolation Sound Adventure - Part 2

DAY 4: We did another major day of exploration. This time we headed north, up the west side of Cortes Island. We went all the way to the head of the Von Donop Inlet which just about splits the island in two. There is a one-mile trail that crosses the island at that point and comes out in Squirrel Cover. The picture below shows a cool spot that turns into a rapids whenever the tide goes out. I wish we'd had a kayak to play with on it.

 Then we headed north of Cortes to the Rendezvous Islands which are in the middle of where a bunch of different channels intersect. Unfortunately the Rendezvous Inn was closed this year. We spotted a neat campsite on the southern tip of the southern island.

 Then we headed south between Read Island and Maurelle Island through Whiterock Passage which is essentially a scenic funnel - about 20 feet wide and full of hazards.

 We emerged at the southern end and docked at the tiny town of Surge Narrows on Read Island. We hiked up a dirt road and seemingly in the middle of nowhere was an elementary school and a new playground!

 Following lunch, we did a drive by of the Surge Narrows Rapids. We had heard tales of how turbulent this water is, and it did not disappoint. Water gushes through this spot at up to 11 knots and creates all kinds of crazy boils and whirlpools - much like we were used to seeing on the rivers - but way less predictable. We steered clear. They are only safe at slack water plus or minus a half hour.

 Then I got to drive the boat for awhile down Hoskyn Channel to Heriot Bay on Quadra Island. The kids loved their nap with daddy.

 Heriot Bay runs the ferry from Quadra to Cortes Island. The kids LOVE watching the ferries.

 We had a late afternoon snack at the historic Heriot Bay Inn which has a nice marina and campground.

 Plus a giant chess set.

 And lovely art by local artists. Edison was captivated by this glass sphere with LED base.

 But the highlight for all of us was chocolate ice cream with caramel sauce.

 We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon at Rebecca Spit - a popular local park with campground.

 Then wrapped up the day with a campfire.

 DAY 5: Ahhhhhh - waking up with daddy. This was our lazy day / laundry day. We kicked it off with a long run (the hills definitely increased the degree of difficulty). Then spent the rest of the day at Hague Lake - our favorite spot.

 We walked up from the lake to Cortes Market and Market Take Out. They actually had an amazingly delicious veggie burger and yummy milkshakes.

 

Silly kids...

 Then we headed down the ramp to the Manson's Landing dock and went back to the resort for a dip in the pool.

Desolation Sound Adventure - Part 1

DAY #1: We finally did it! Our big trip to Desolation Sound for nine days of adventure on the Whaler. It started off slowly, taking the Anacortes ferry to Sydney, BC on Vancouver Island.

 We stopped at Friday Harbor and picked up some more folks who were Canada-bound.

 

We then drove 200 miles up the east coast of Vancouver Island to Campbell River, where we launched the boat.

Desolation Sound (the east half of these islands) and the Discovery Islands (the western half) are an amazing collection of rocky islands spliced apart by channels usually no more than a mile or two wide. The tidal change through the channels in the Discovery Islands causes crazy surges and boil lines in several places. In Desolation Sound, there ends up being very little changing of the water and thus the water becomes very warm. Most inlets and bays were surprisingly about 72F. We stayed at Gorge Harbour Marina Resort on Cortes Island (#3) and used it as a base camp to explore the area.

 Logging, fishing, and oysters are the primary industries of the area. Luckily this douglass fir was spared. Easily 15 feet in circumference. The nearly four-hour drive was tough and as it was not on the coast, it wasn't as scenic as we'd hoped.

 Looking back after just entering Gorge Harbour through the drop in the cliffs.

 DAY #2: Since it had literally taken all day to get to Gorge Harbor, we took it easy the next day and simply went over to Manson's Landing, a few miles away, and trekked a bit up the road to Hague Lake.

 This is probably my most favorite lake I've ever been to. Mostly because it was super warm and had perfect sand that went out quite a long ways until it got deep - ideal for the kiddos.

Manson's Landing also includes this salt water lagoon. We literally walked across the whole thing at low tide (not as fun as it sounds with the jogging stroller), but by late in the afternoon it was filling up nicely and would be fun to explore by kayak.

 We also checked out Shark Spit on the north end of Marina Island. It juts out and almost connects with Cortes Island at low tide, leaving narrow Uganda Passage as a way for boats to make it through. It had a nice white shell beach and an improvised camp spot.

 Our third swimming hole of the day was back at the resort. I pretty much booked us in this place because of the pool and hot tub and they did not disappoint. The view over the harbor was incredible and it was the perfect spot to unwind each night after dinner.

 We've gotten into a routine of bagels in the morning. Eben is great at toasting them up in the frying pan. Charlotte uses hers solely as a platform from which to lick off cream cheese.

 DAY #3: We headed out to explore the Okeover Arm area of Desolation Sound Marine Park. The mountains on the mainland beyond the islands and peninsula were incredible.

 Warm water in Grace Harbour made for lots of moon jellies. The camping was no good here - too far of a hike off the boat and no good place to land the Whaler.

 Tiny Isabel Cove, off of Lancelot Inlet (heading north off of Okeover Inlet) is an ideal anchorage. But we just popped off to explore. The beaches in much of the area are rocky, full of oyster shells and barnacles and definitely not kid friendly.

 But... they do have lots of marine life to check out, like this starfish.

 There was a funky outhouse actually over the stream....

 We ended up having lunch at a rocky ledge in Wooten Bay at the northern most reach of Lancelot Inlet. It was super hot and I wished that the beach were more conducive to swimming.

 We settled for a shady spot at a kayaker campsite as captured by our camera's timer function.

 The kids love going fast and they frequently plead "faster daddy, faster." This does allow us to cover a lot of ground each day- that combined with smooth water.

 We jetted out of Okeover Inlet and then followed the coast of the Gifford Peninsula to Galley Bay (no camping) and up to Tenedos Bay. There we found a few great campsites, though primitive. The beach was still not really a beach (just a rocky mess of barnacles and shells), but it seemed do-able should we ever return to camp. After a longer than expected hike, we arrived at the warm and inviting Unwin Lake.

Again, no beach, but we made do with a pile of rocks that weren't too deep. Very slippery though!

 We swung through Cortes Bay on our way back, home to docks for both the Seattle and Vancouver Yacht Clubs. Edison was really excited to see this seaplane take off right off our bow.

 

The resort is stunning and the grounds were delightful. Three nights a week they had local musicians come to play on the deck. Last night had been a fun children's movie night.

 We loved listening to the show at sunset.

 Another shot courtesy of our camera's timer.

 The kid danced, played and pretty much ran wild on the grassy hill. I couldn't help but smile and think that life was perfect in these moments - sunset, live music, happy kids, beautiful views....

Portland Island with Nana

We embarked  on our first trip to the Canadian Gulf Islands on the Whaler. They are just west of the San Juans and about a one hour trip on the boat. First stop is the Canadian Customs dock on South Pender Island. We were nervous about the process, but it was pretty simple - Eben actually had to call  a customs agent from the building as they don't actually man this location.

The white shell beach on Portland Island couldn't have been a nicer home base for the following week's adventures. The whole island is the Princess Margaret Marine Park. There are trails and other campsites and harbors to explore.

Edison loved gathering the clam shells. The waves from the numerous ferries passing by provided quite a bit of excitement.

It was really great to have Nana join us for this trip. The kids loved it and she helped out a lot watching them while we were doing the daily work of running the camp.

We went south to the Butchart Gardens the next day. Edison was glad to see his favorite snapdragons there.

The formal Italian Star Garden.

Many lovely arbors and nooks and crannies in the gardens.

Edison liked the pond path in the Japanese Garden.

This bamboo tipping fountain intrigued the kids.

The next day we went to Sidney for lunch and then headed over to the Sidney Island spit. It is over two miles long - here you can see it snaking along in the background. It made for a lovely beach day.

That night there were thunderstorms on the horizon. We had to make preparations to weather the storm, like anchoring the boat in the safest spot possible.

This heron joined us for the storm. He kept squawking at the lightening and was clearly upset about the whole matter.

We were ready for the rain. And boy did it come. It rained really hard and I am thankful we had the new tent with the bombproof fly. We didn't get a drop on us despite it raining more than an inch in about two hours.

A lovely view of our beach and camp spot.

Eben taught Edison how to play Go Fish on this trip and I think it was one of Edison's favorite aspects of the whole trip.

The Penguin Eben and the kids made.

We went to Ganges on Salt Spring Island for lunch and to do laundry. It was a very cute boating town and I regret not taking any pictures!

Edison is now a skilled beachcomber. This beach had amazing sunsets every night.

Another day on the Sidney Spit.

The Washington State Ferry came into Sidney twice a day, going right by the spit. Mount Baker is just beyond.

Story time!

We tried to rendezvous with our friends Chris and Megan at their sailboat on the way home at Stuart Island. But they were out on a hike and we needed to get home. But exploring Stuart Island was fun.

It was a big trip and by the end, Charlotte was all tuckered out.

James, Robin, Skylar and baby Declan came over for dinner the day after we got home. They had been up on Whidbey Island for the day and all the kids needed a good bath. It was great catching up with them and meeting four-week-old Declan.