August 3, 2011

We have been loving the our new kayaking activity so much that we decided to use our vacation and head to Salt spring Island in the Southern Gulf Islands. It is one of the biggest of the gulf islands and has the largest population of about 10000.

I recommend having a look at Salt Spring Island on google map as you read through the following details.

Challenge #1
Where should we go? As I have mentioned before the challenge continues to be finding a place to park the car and launch. I scouted the island via internet first trying to figure out where to go. What I came up with were some spots the local kayak companies use for guided tours. I figured there would be something cool to see this way and the challenge level would not be too scary as we are still learning and don’t want to get stuck somewhere with no place to land. The trip I came up with was Ganges Harbour Islands to a white shell beach on the last island. Safe and cool stuff to see with a nice beach to relax on before heading back. I also considered a longer trip to Wallace Island Provincial marine park. This would require about a 1-2 Km cross and then a long way around the big park island. It is supposed to have nice places to camp etc. Maybe if we have more time in the future we would do that as an overnight trip.

The nice lady at the B&B where we stayed is a local who’s father is a big kayaker so she helped us quite a bit. She told us that near the B&B on the north tip of the island were a couple of launch sites and then again on the east side. I scouted these the night before while Krista did some homework. They were good spots and as it turns out parking is pretty casual on the island so if you find a spot to launch you are good to leave your car as long as you don’t block any driveways.

DAY ONE - Ganges Harbour

We drove down Churchill road to a nice beach. It was only about a 60 ft walk with the boats to the water. It was a bit of work to get down the stairs and a ramp but not too bad.

We set out to a group of about 5 islands. First is goat island (nature reserve). We did not see any goats, just a clever name? The rest of the islands have really big homes tucked away on them... very jealous. The islands range from 100-300 meters.

We kept going past Deadman’s island. The paddling was great, it was super calm water as we stayed on the side of the islands protected from the boat and seaplane harbour traffic. The last three islands are called the three sisters and the third sister is the biggest and where our destination beach was located. It also has a reef on the north end but the tide was up and we couldn’t really get a good look (if you google satellite the island you can see the reef). We parked ourselves on the beach, laid out a blanket, and enjoyed a picnic in the beautiful sunshine and calm serenity. There were a few other paddlers that had the same idea as us.

Side note: the island has an outhouse just up from the beach which was well built and clean.

It was on the island I began to love our newest gear purchase. We got some paddling boots made of neoprene but with soft and grippy rubber soles. They are awesome on the rocks and barnacles plus they keep your feet cozy and warm.
While on the beach I also made some adjustments to my boat. I moved the footrests on my kayak closer to me and this made it more comfortable with my legs tucked up more to the thigh pads.

After about an hour we decided to head back and this is where it gets even better.
I haven’t mentioned this before, but besides the great exercise and peacefulness a big reason I wanted to kayak was because you get to see marine nature up close. It’s like going snorkeling without getting wet. In the shallow waters I love watching sea stars, crabs, etc.

On the second half of this trip it was harbor-seal-palooza. First, coming around the southeast end of Third Sister island there were two small seals sunning on a rock; my first kayaking encounter with a seal! Then as we headed north around the other side of the islands I saw a seal peaking his head in and out of the water. I was super excited as this was the reason I wanted to kayak. Then came the climax, about 10 great big seals sunning themselves on some rocks on the south point of Deadman’s Island. We just sat and admired these cool animals. I know I sound like a nerd but I loved it.

We made our way back in and it was a bit tiring. We took the longer route on the traffic side of the island so the water was a bit tougher to get through but not terribly challenging. In total it was about a 5 km trip and took about 2.5- 3 hours not including the beach time. We were so stoked about the trip that we can’t wait to plan our next excursion.


Challenges solved: Park anywhere on Salt Spring and just ask locals. They were super friendly and helpful. There were so many suggested things to do we have a few more vacations worth to choose from.

Some places to check out to launch:  

• North End – end of Arbutus road off Sunset drive
• West wide – Vesuvius bay – warmer water good place for sunset and swimming
• East side – off north beach road boat launch can’t miss it just north of the red government dock
• Ganges Harbour – end of Churchill rd.
• Beddis beach – Beddis road – south side of Ganges Harbour – nice shell beach
  
  

If you need a calm paddle on a choppy day there is St. Mary’s Lake in the middle of the island. Local kayak instruction for beginners and safety training takes place here.

 DAY TWO - Sunset Excursion on the North End of Salt Spring

For our second day of paddling we went to the north side of the island. We launched at the end of Arbutus road as suggested to us by our B&B owner. We parked and it was ten steps to the water… awesome! The light on the water was so beautiful. We headed around the north tip to the east side admiring the rocky shallows along the way that were filled with plant life and hundreds of purple sea stars. The water was very calm and we just relaxed while dusk set in.

Then we went back past our launch spot and down the west side of the island a bit. This was a day dreaming trip as we checked out the lovely waterside homes and discussed how we could get ourselves a house on the waterfront someday. As the sun was going down we made our way back and saw a curious seal pop his head out of the water for a brief moment. I also had a small fish almost jump into my boat as it chased some food just a few feet in front of me. We snugged up our boats together and watched the sun set until we heard a big splash about 100 feet behind us and saw something big going back in the water. It was probably a seal but we thought we did not want to be that close if it was a whale, so we made our way quickly back to shore. The tide was all the way in when we returned so landing was even easier than the launch.

We are learning. Krista and I are getting really good at our team effort of unloading and loading our gear and boats. This has made our trips much easier and much less work. We can now focus more on the fun instead of any glitches or hassles.

Final Thought: We loved Salt Spring. It is a beautiful place and the kayaking is great!