Mothership Meanderings: Gulf Island Thanksgiving

December 1999 - January 2000

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.

by Alan Wilson

Perhaps because fall and winter descend a bit earlier in Canada than in the USA, Thanksgiving north of the border is held in October, whereas the US celebration is in November.

This year, with the seasons shifted by a few weeks, we were lucky to have periods of summer-like weather in October, making the Thanksgiving long weekend a great boating opportunity.

Laurie and I set off from Degnen Bay on Gabriola Island Saturday morning on our converted fishboat, and arrived at Montague Harbour on Galiano Island after a three hour putt. We went ashore for a walk in the beautiful Marine Park, admired a spectacular sand and shell beach, realizing what a prime spot this must have been for the First Nations who once lived here, and promising ourselves we'd look into this for our First Nations issue (upcoming in Feb/Mar 2000). Then we picked some apples which were ripe and falling from the trees, and watched as a film crew at the Park dock shot scenes on a square rigger.

Montague is a great campsite, for car campers as well as paddlers or pedallers. For boaters there are many mooring buoys available, free in the off-season ($6 per night in-season) for an easy tie-up in this very protected anchorage. Land access to Montague is via BC Ferry from Tswawassen or Swartz Bay.

The area is also a paddler's delight, although it can be crowded in summer. A few weeks prior to Thanksgiving we had spent a night at Montague followed by a very enjoyable paddle the next day through a series of small islands to the Ballingal Islets. The wildlife was abundant and varied, and the shoreline beautiful— well worth exploring!

This time, however, we didn't paddle, and fell into our bunk early because we'd been burning the candle at both ends for weeks. After a sound sleep we woke to a greyish morning and were soon heading down Trincomali Channel towards our destination on Mayne Island.

For boaters, and especially those paddling in the area, it's essential to watch out for the fast moving BC Ferries which ply these waters, at speeds of 20 knots and more. Large objects often appear to be slow moving, and paddlers need to take extra care when crossing ferry routes.

After checking to see none of the ferry fleet was bearing down on us, we motored across Swanson Channel and along Navy Channel towards the south end of Mayne Island, anchoring at Horton Bay in a mud bottom of 28 ft.

We had been to nearby Winter Harbour on Saturna several years ago, but never spent any time in the waters around Mayne. I had long been interested in the bays at the south end, and knew the surrounding waters are popular with paddlers, especially the Belle Chain and Anniversary Island.

An added bonus is that the Pacific Marine Heritage Legacy (PMHL) has just purchased land on Saturna, with Narvaez Bay the key feature of the Parks purchase, ensuring some great paddling in perpetuity.

This Parks purchase is part of a larger PMHL acquisition which will be tied into the creation of a national marine conservation area. The Canadian government is expected to announce the conservation area next year.

Paddling in the southern Gulf Islands area requires some caution, however. The waters of the Pacific surge into Georgia Strait through the narrow passes between these islands and currents can run at speeds beyond which you can paddle!

You must take care and study your tide book carefully. Local knowledge would be useful and we recommend you consult local kayak operators for advice.*

After anchoring in Horton Bay, we paddled along the south shore of Mayne, past ocean front homes, to Campbell Point, a lovely finger of forest and rock and shoreline, which is now a Park. Just off the point is Georgeson Island, where we had a picnic, and the beginning of the long chain of reefs and islets which ends in Tumbo Island and Cabbage Island off Saturna Island.

There was a bit of a southeaster blowing and the Strait was dancing, but where we floated just off the tip of Georgeson Island, we found ourselves protected by the reefs and in relatively calm water... and glad we were on our side of the divide. We paddled over to Samuel Island and between it and Curlew Island, encountering strong tidal flows which had our adrenaline—and our arms—pumping as we fought our way back to where we'd anchored. There we found that the tidal stream had our boat straining on the anchor line (but holding well).

The weather degenerated as we prepared our Sunday Thanksgiving dinner of nutloaf, baked yams, cranberry sauce, brussel sprouts, roast potatoes, and apple crisp. Outside the tide rushed past like a river. It began to rain lightly and we were thankful for the warmth of our Dickinson oil stove which kept us toasty while it baked our meal.

Next day dawned with more promising skies, and we set off in a bit of a hurry, with the current already racing. We navigated carefully between shallows, until we were once again in the safety of Navy Channel, enjoying the prospects of a fine day, with the sun beaming diffusely through a high overcast sky.

After some discussion we decided to steer toward Ellen Bay on Prevost Island. Prevost, a private island which lies just south of the largest Gulf Island— Saltspring—has deep bays on both sides, and is popular with boaters, being near the large boating communities on southern Vancouver Island.

We had anchored in one of the northern bays before, but never in the more exposed southern bays, which are less frequented by boaters.

At the mouth of the bay we passed the Red Islets, well known to kayakers as a prime camping spot. As we motored in toward the head of the bay, we were delighted to find it undeveloped and possessing an intriguing shoreline. It was also notable that the wash from ferries pass-ing the bay was negligible. We anchored in about 30 feet and I launched our kayaks into the water off the aft deck.

The shore of Ellen Bay is a strange mix of sandstone and conglomerate rock composed of rounded stones, from pebbles to small boulders, originating presumably on some primeval beach or river. Not for the first time did I wish I'd taken a geology course. Hopefully in future we can find a geologist who would care to write something for us about shores such as this. It was particularly interesting to see the sudden transitions from sandstone to conglomerate, and to imagine what the land must have been like many thousands of years before.

By mid-afternoon, we reluctantly returned to the boat, hoisted the kayaks aboard, and set off for home. Rounding Prevost to the west we passed through through some lovely paddling areas, wishing we had more time, but promising ourselves we'd be back.

A few hours later we arrived to a spectacular sunset over Gabriola. As we stood on deck at the end of another lovely weekend of exploring the waters of Georgia Strait, we were indeed full of thanks for the wonderful marine environment so close to home.

* Local operators: Mayne Island Canoe and Kayak: 250-539-2667, Mouat Pt. Kayaking Email (Pender Island): 250-629-6767, Gulf Island Kayaking (Galiano Island): 250-539-2442, Saltspring Kayaking: 250-653-4222