July 9th
We take advantage of the ebb current in Goletas Channel so that dictated a nice casual (10:30 AM)start to our trip. We pack our boats, leave our vehicles at the hotel (North Shore Inn) and launch at Carrot Park which is right across the street from the hotel. It's a 2 hour paddle under overcast skies to Songhees Creek which is our first stretch/pee/snack stop. Loads of bear scat on the beach and one uninterested bear working for his/her lunch in the fast flowing creek. After a nice break we continue along the Vancouver Island coast line before making the 3 KM crossing of Goletas Channel. We make it to our campsite at 1:45 pm on Nolan Point. Bonus, the campsite is void of any other boaters or paddlers.
There was a little drizzle in the early evening, fortunately it came long after the tents and tarps were up. The couple hours of drizzle was the only precipitation we experienced the entire trip.
July 10th
Today was the day we paddled around the south end then up the east side of Balaclava Island to the Scarlett Pt lighthouse. Ivan, the lighthouse keeper provided a grand tour of the site, all the facilities, explained in loads of detail what a lightkeepers duties are. Me thinks he likes company ! This is well worth the effort to stop here, beautiful views from the lighthouse. After our visit with Ivan we journey on around the north side of the island. This side of the island is more exposed to the wind and waves and makes for a fun trip. After entering Browning Passage we stop at an alternate campsite to check it out and take a break. This site is located approximately a third of the way down the east side of Balaclava Island and used to be ( I understand) a logging site where loggers loaded barges with their plunder. It' about 10 / 11 miles around the island and it's worth noting currents in Browning Passage can zip you right along assuming your paddling with the current.
July 11th
Again, like the entire trip the morning greets us with calm overcast skies which clear around noonish and then the winds start. Most afternoons the northwesterly winds are blowing in the 15-20 knot range. Today I decide I'm going fishing and utilize my $35 CAD 5 day license investment. When we paddled the previous day down Browning Channel I was checking out potential protected ( out of the wind) fishing sites. I found an interesting fishing spot along the east side of the island approximately 1 mile from our camp site. Using both a casting rod and hand line, fishing in 45-60 feet of water, using a white jig head and pink/yellow hula skirt I caught one rock fish after another. When I had enough fish to feed the group I headed back to camp. I even caught a large sea cucumber which quickly got returned to the sea. Fish cooked in foil for dinner, o yummmm!
July 12th
Today our plan is for the group to paddle up to Clam Cove on Nigei Island to replenish our water supply. Having been to Clam Cove for a water run four years earlier we were sure their would be easy access to a stream which flows out of a rather large lake. (I'll note that there is a small stream that was flowing right at our campsite on Nolan Pt but the water was dark brown from all the tannins in the water.) There must have been some big winds/storms since my last visit to Clam Cove as the plastic pipe that carried the water from the lake down to a pier was smashed to bits. To hike up to the lake you would need to be a mountain goat so we searched around thru the forest and found a nice fast running stream that flowed from the lake high above us. We filtered all the water we needed for the duration of our trip, had a nice lunch in sunshine, jumped back into the boats for a windy, bumpy ride back to Nolan Pt. We saw a humpback breach a couple hundred yards from us and we had two very protective sea lions who encouraged us paddle elsewhere. The trip today was approximately 10 miles.
July 13th
No paddling today, just beach combing and hiking around the south end of the island. There are CMT's (culturally modified trees) at the Glen-gla-ouch (Heiltsuk) IR site which are worth hiking to and located close to Nolan Point.
July 14th
Today, two members of the group are going to the west side of Browning Wall at low tide to observe the truly abundant sea life that is attached to the shear cliff. Divers from around the world come to this site, it's also quite famous from a visit years ago by Jacques Cousteau. The other three of us are going to paddle around Hurst Island. We paddle around the south end of Balaclava, cross Christie Passage and swing by the God's Pocket Resorts, in hopes of catching a breakfast. Alas we smell no coffee brewing or bacon frying so we venture on around the island. This island, along with it's neighbor Bell Island are located within the boundaries of the God's Packet Marine Park so it's nicely remote ! As we head around the south end of the island you can see multiple fish pen operations along Duncan Island. This paddle took us a little over 3 hours and it was about 10 miles in distance. Back at campsite around 2 pm I decided to load up my fishing gear and test my luck one last time. Took me 15 minutes to paddle back to the same place I previously caught the fish and in 20 minutes I again had enough fish to feed the group, back to camp in an hour… Fish taco's over the campfire tonight and again yummmmm.
July 15th
We pack up and say bye to Nolan Point around 8:00am. It's a beautiful sunny morning with absolutely no wind. We crossed back over to Songhees Creek and again stop for a nice long break in the sunshine and to fully explore the long beach and creek. Back in our boats we hug the rocky shoreline to admire the sea life that clings to the sides of these rocks. On our return trip we paddle along the south side of Duval Island which is no problem for sea kayaks, fishing boats it could be a challenge with the water depth. Got back to Port Hardy around 1:50 pm, hit the hotel and showered and immediately headed to Sporty's Bar for that big greasy cheeseburger and cold beer....
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