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passenger ferry service and trails make
Newcastle Island accessible even without
a kayak.
Newcastle Island may be the focus for
trips in the harbour, but it’s not the only
place to paddle. Jesse Island, a private
island in Departure Bay, has bold sandstone
cliffs to explore with the bonus of
the only paddle-through sea cave in the
Gulf Islands and great scuba diving. The
main residents are two dogs that watch
over the property, loudly proclaiming
their dominance to anyone who passes
by. Caught unawares, their barks could
send you out of your sprayskirt. It’s hard
to tell if they’re as vicious as they sound,
but it’s probably best left untested. It’s a
shame—the owners have no foreshore
rights, so anyone should have beach access,
but the dogs make that impossible.
If you continue north along the shoreline
past Departure Bay, you round more
headlands and more beaches, like Piper’s
Lagoon with its long gravel beach and
rocky headland protected as a city park,
and Neck Point, a more recent park addition
in Nanaimo. The waters around
both headlands are favourite places for
sea lions to feed. Usually a head or two
will surface at some point during a trip
past here.
Between the two parks is Shack Island,
named for the humble cottages that dot
the island. They sit much as they have
for decades, their presence on the Crown
land due to squatters’ rights, something
that precludes any improvements. If seeing
this picturesque island doesn’t make
you want to pick up a paintbrush and
paint, nothing will.
If you head east out of Departure Bay
(towards the mainland) you’ll reach a
small cluster of rocky islands. These are
all part of Hudson Rock Ecological Reserve,
created to protect a population of
pelagic cormorants that, sadly, has spiraled
in decline. In 1987, 142 nests were
counted; in 2000, just three were found.
It’s a fate shared across the Gulf Islands
and Strait of Georgia. Is it due to human
encroachment? Possibly. Is it from the
resurgence in the number of predatory
bald eagles? Probably. You can pass by
and look for evidence yourself, but you
can’t stop to investigate because access
is by permit only. The other residents of
the islands—mostly nesting murres and
Five Finger Island
sunning seals—don’t need permission.
A little farther afield on an eastbound
trip is Five Finger Island. Much larger
than the nearby Hudson Rocks, it was
named for its appearance as a fisted hand
with each of the five knolls appearing as
a knuckle. Perhaps from some angle it’s
true, though I’ve never seen it. It’s safe
to stop here on the island’s rough beach
to explore the rocks, though have a light
foot. It has its residents too.
On a calm day with lots of time on
your hands, you may want to head even
farther east. Sitting alone out in the Strait
of Georgia between Five Finger Island
and Gabriola Island is Snake Island.
It’s one of those illusionary islands that
never seems to get nearer as you paddle,
right up until the moment you arrive. It
is 3.1 km northeast from McKay Point,
so be sure of your weather before you
start out. Things can get hairy on the
open water in the Strait of Georgia, and
there’s nowhere to hide once you’re out
there.
A beach on the south side of Snake Island
offers a good kayak haul-out. Land
only when it’s well past nesting season.
After that you can stroll the bluffs or marvel
at the wonderfully fretted sandstone
overhangs on the island’s west side.
You can also kayak south from Nanaimo
Harbour, but most paddlers don’t
head in that direction. It will bring you
into Northumberland Channel, a potentially
busy industrial area with log booms
and tugs on the Gabriola Island side of
the channel and a pulp mill (Harmac), a
fuel depot (Canadian Occidental Petroleum),
a ferry terminal (BC Ferries’ Duke
Point terminal for service to Tsawwassen)
and a deep-sea port. But it has its charm.
There are the magnificent cliffs of Gabriola
to enjoy as a backdrop, and if you
arrive here in winter (the beginning of
December is probably best), you’ll likely
see dozens, possibly hundreds, of sea lions
on the log booms outside Harmac.
Head a little farther south and you’re
into fast moving Dodd Narrows and
the world of the inner Gulf Islands. But
that’s a different story.
You can avoid all the industry of Duke
Point by heading down the west side of
Jack Point. Jack Point is a peninsula with
Northumberland Channel to the east
and the Nanaimo River estuary to the
west. The west side is an extensively drying
mudflat, and sure enough some boater
is likely to miss the channel and run
aground here every year. The headland
at the point is a city park (Biggs Point
Park), and the area is as scenic from the
water as it is from the trail that rounds
the headland. There are even pocket
beaches for lunch.
Other day-trip options abound in this
area. Just north of Nanaimo you can
launch from Lantzville or Nanoose to
visit the incredible Ballenas-Winchelsea
archipelago, where wildlife and exotic
wildflowers flourish in the unlikely setting
of sparse windswept rocks.
To the south there is Gabriola and
the De Courcy group, where history and
kayaks collide in the provincial park at
Pirates Cove, infamous for the mysterious
Brother XII’s cult.
And that’s just the start of the kayaking
possibilities from Nanaimo. To tell
about them all, well, I’d have to write a
book about it, wouldn’t I?
John Kimantas is a Nanaimo-based writer and author
of the series of BC kayaking guides The Wild
Coast (Whitecap Books). His experiences include
circumnavigating Vancouver Island and a 92-day
trip up the BC coast’s Inside Passage and back down
the Outside Passage. His list now includes kayaking
every major channel and passage on the BC coast
outside Howe Sound and the Queen Charlottes.
26 WAVELENGTH MAGAZINE SUMMER 2007