Water takes on a tropical hue in the collection of islets off Prevost Island. Photo by Dan Millsip.

 

Official status to routes through Vancouver Island’s Gulf Islands will ensure passage for future generations through some of the most idyllic kayaking locations imaginable. It is a route truly composed of

Islands of serenity

Like many other kayakers, I got my feet wet by learning to paddle in the Gulf Islands. The wild west coast of Vancouver Island was simply too tempestuous to consider in those early days, so I was happy to explore the relatively calm and sheltered southeast coast of Vancouver Island and the myriad of nearby islands.

Here the interplay of water and land is at its finest. Nestled between the mountains of Vancouver Island and the more open waters of the Strait of Georgia, the Gulf Islands claim Canada’s most Mediterranean and therefore best climate – that is, mild conditions year-round and considerably less rainfall than many nearby urban centers such as Vancouver. The difference is so striking it’s not unusual to paddle here in sunshine while clouds linger over both Vancouver Island and the mainland BC mountains.

Protected by a virtual land bridge, the inner waters of the Gulf Islands can be highly protected, getting none of the ocean swell and considerably less of the wind that can embattle other passages in the area such as Haro and Juan de Fuca straits.

Not that it is all placid all the time. Hardly. The long passages create strong currents that in turn create some of the strongest tidal rapids on the coast, such as Dodd Narrows, Porlier Passage and Active Pass. Cross any of these during peak periods at your peril. Or enjoy as part of a paddler’s adventure, or cross at slack current. There’s no need to take risks here if you’re not in the mind to. Simply pick the type of adventure right for you – from placid day trips in coves to explore the intertidal life, to energetic day trips with picnics on a nearby (or distant) island, to multi-day adventures through largely unpopulated wilderness settings.

That the Gulf Islands should compose an inaugural section of the future BC Marine Trail is fitting – and altogether overdue, considering the strains on this fragile island network and its elaborately unique but shrinking ecosystem.

The biggest problem facing the Gulf Islands is the fact that it has been discovered. Once a refuge for hippies, artisans and just a few others, it is now an elite location to live, valued for its idyllic temperatures (by Canadian standards), low rainfall, beautiful scenery and the odd but somehow desirable island lifestyle. Where once were empty properties or perhaps just a cabin there is now just as likely to be elite estates dotting the waterfront.

Recreational traffic is also on the rise, with more boaters, campers, hikers, day trippers and local traffic than ever.

The competition for space has meant an increased emphasis on conservation, highlighted by the creation of the Gulf Islands National Park in 2005. The park added a considerable amount of newly protected land, particularly on Saturna Island and the Penders, but reached the minimum land required to become a national park only by absorbing existing provincial parks in the south Gulf Islands – an indication of the restraints on land here.

BC Marine Trails Network Association director Mick Allen paddles late in the day near Prevost Island. Parks Canada has played a critical role in the development of the marine trail by including national park sites like those on Prevost Island in the official marine trail inventory. Photo by Dan Millsip.

With that background and a mission to create a province-wide marine trail, the BC Marine Trails Network Association began the challenge of piecing together routes to link the various existing components of kayaking resources while hopefully finding a few new ones.

It wasn’t easy. An earlier attempt to create a BC marine trail in the mid 1990s had one success – the creation of a campsite at Blackberry Point on Valdes Island. Negotiated through a lease with the forestry company land owners, the lease has long since expired, along with the original marine trail group that created it. The current land owners have not renewed the lease, and the property now sits in limbo – a source of consternation for BC’s kayakers.

So it should be no surprise that substantial holes exist in the inaugural Gulf Islands marine trail inventory, with major gaps particularly around Mayne and Galiano islands.

Even so, it’s a start, to be made official at the trail’s grand opening in Ladysmith at the Vancouver Island Paddlefest on May 14. There friends and supporters of the trail will converge en masse in canoes and kayaks to Transfer Beach for the official ribbon cutting (see page 31 for details).

It may well become the single largest paddling event in the history of the province. For organizers it’s a relief to finally see the official status unfold.

“It’s really starting, it is really beginning with this grand opening,” says Stephanie Meinke, the president of the BCMTNA. “We’re going to have sites, we’re going to be on the map, we’re going to be visible. And from there I think the initiative will increase in speed.”

While only the Gulf Islands Marine Trails Network and the West Coast Vancouver Island North section (see the Spring 2011 Coast&Kayak) will get the official nod at the grand opening, two other key trail sections aren’t far behind: the route north from the Gulf Islands through the Discovery Islands to Port Hardy, and the West Coast Vancouver Island South section from Tofino to Victoria. Together all four trails will compose a loop around Vancouver Island.

While officially ready to launch, the Gulf Islands Marine Trails Network certainly has a long way to go. Most sites that are part of the official announcement pre-exist, meaning few breakthroughs out of the gate, though one new site on Vancouver Island near Crofton bodes well for municipal participation in Cowichan Valley.

And even if limited, what exists now is being viewed as a huge victory, and the start of more progress to follow.

“Now they’re secured,” says Stephanie. “We know that no other competitive interest will take them. There will always be a place for the public.”

Other articles in this series on the Gulf Islands Marine Trails Network:

Leg one: Saanich and Sidney

Leg two: The South Islands

Leg three: Saltspring and Galiano

Leg four: the North Islands