Only Ocean Kayaking - WaveLength Paddling Magazine

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From the Rainforest Back To the Future Sea kayaking is, as paddler John Deakins wrote, “a culture in the making”. But what sort of culture are we creating? Kayaking tends to attract individualists, and we see ourselves as unique, the only ones having these experiences. But there are lots of kayakers, boaters, and others out there. And we need to develop a sense of etiquette with respect to both the people and the land. This spring I had a spooky experience. I time-travelled twenty years into the past, to the time when I had just begun ocean kayaking. Our group was visiting a section of the coast not often paddled. There were few other paddlers around. No whale watchers, no water taxis, no fish farm barges. Very little traffic at all, except a few locals. As we camped on the beaches, debates began which sounded familiar to me. “What is the possible harm of leaving just one apple core?” “Why not have a bigger fire—look at all this wood!” Why do we have to be so fussy about where we take a crap—no one’s around!” I clearly remember having these debates with friends back in the eighties. People then could not imagine a world which would be crowded with kayakers. Today, as I hike up and down beaches scoured clean of any burnable scraps of firewood, I think back to those debates. As legions of mice scurry over my bivvy bag each night, I ponder the sheer number of visitors to wild areas, and the inevitable crumbs of food as well as the thoughtless ditching of leftovers which have resulted in a multiplying mouse population. Five years ago I swore that if I couldn’t drink the water out of local creeks, I wouldn’t paddle anymore. I scoffed at people who insisted on boiling or treating the water before drinking. Now I’ve witnessed enough questionable, even shoddy, practices disposing of human waste that I’m leery of sipping water from pristine-looking waterways. Is there a solution to all these woes? There certainly is. When you find a little cove that looks as if no one else has ever been there, assume that someone has, and try to leave it looking the same way for the next group to enjoy. We need to perfect a Leave No Trace (LNT) ethic for visiting wild places. The big three: shit, fires, and garbage. We need to get much better at disposing of human waste in ways that don’t harm the environment. The big issue is keeping it away from sources of fresh water. Your best bet is to use an outhouse, if one is provided. I fear we will be seeing more of these appear in formerly wild places, yet I can see the need at certain high-use campsites. Where no outhouse exists, I think it’s best to bury the waste down near the low tide line, where it will spend as much time as possible underwater. Others suggest packing everything out. And when you pee, do so directly into the salt water—especially during dry summers, to avoid odours. BAJA MEXICO KAYAK TOURS BAJA MEXICO KAYAK TOURS • 6 day kayak trips Cdn$690—US$500 • 7 day kayak trips Cdn$725—US$525 • 10 day kayak trip Loreto-La Paz Cdn$1035—US$665 LOW COST, SELF-CATERED, 14 YEARS IN BUSINESS • Mountain bike & kayak combo • Mainland Mexico bike tours A D V E N T U R E O U T F I T T E R S Also 2-9 day summer trips to: • Johnstone Strait/Knight Inlet • Queen Charlottes • Clayoquot Sound • Nootka Island • Broken Group • or Gulf Islands Weekends info@gck.ca www.gck.ca RR1 Site 1 C-23 Gabriola Island, BC CANADA V0R 1X0 PH: 250-247-8277 FAX: 250-247-9788 As for fires, they are no longer considered essential to the camping experience. You’ll cook more quickly and cleanly over most any portable stove these days. As night falls, try gathering around a candle lantern to watch the sunset fade and the stars come out one by one. If you must have a fire, keep it small. The idea is to burn it right down to white ash. There are two reasons people are failing to do this: 1) they start with wet wood (dry cedar may look wet on the outside, but if it’s light, it’s dry inside!), and 2) they try to burn pieces that are too big. If you create a fire pit on the beach, don’t ring it with rocks—they just get charred and ugly (Ed. some rocks explode when they get hot). Leave no trace of your fire-pit when you leave. But don’t just bury a fire in beach sand! If someone before you has already left a fire pit, then use it. Don’t build another nearby to suit your particular needs. Garbage is pretty simple. You pack it in, you pack it out. Try to leave as much packaging as possible at home. You can burn paper and compost in the field, but don’t burn plastic, as it releases toxic chemicals. One of the attributes we seek while voyaging in Nature is solitude, to escape from the madding crowd. We tend to seek out privacy when camping, and I’ve seen people get quite annoyed when others arrive at “their” camp-spot for the night. Better to set up your camp so that late arrivals can easily find a place to settle in for the night. My hope for the future is that people will use kayaking as a platform for reflection, as a tool for exploration. I hope that people have life-changing experiences, that they come to re-assess their place in the world, and their relationship with Nature. One of the main strengths of paddling is its ability to connect us with the past. This will only become more important in the future. By leaving behind the conveniences and distractions of post-industrial society, we have an opportunity to value the truly important things in life, such as food, warmth, shelter, companionship, peace, and beauty. We are then empowered to distinguish between these vital “needs”, and manufactured consumer “wants”. ❏ © Dan Lewis and Bonny Glambeck operate Rainforest Kayak Adventures in Clayoquot Sound. 1-877-422-WILD mail@rainforestkayak.com www.rainforestkayak.com Dan Lewis 26 WaveLength October/November 2001 Photo Mark Hobson
Mothership Meanderings Orca Pass Holiday This year we didn’t travel north to the Broughton Archipelago for our summer holiday as we have done the past three summers. Having just moved to a new home, we wanted to spend time in the garden, so our usual month-long expedition was out of the question. We ended up spending ten days on the water in August, cruising in our little kayakladen mothership around the Gulf Islands. What a pleasant rediscovery it was of the many beauties to be found close to home. In that time we were able to visit some favourite spots and a couple of new places. Laurie also had the chance to take some photos for her work on the ‘Orca Pass’ transboundary initiative (see right). James Bay • • Chatham Island • Winter Cove Sidney Spit • ‘Orca Pass’ (so-named because orca whales are resident in these waters) is a cooperative project of some twenty Canadian and US non-profit organizations. It was inspired by the special ecological values of the area and the need to preserve them. We toured much of the Orca Pass area on the Canadian side this year and hope to visit the San Juans in the near future. The island groups are really one contiguous chain of islands in a shared inland sea— home to the Coast Salish peoples for 10,000 years—commonly called the Salish Sea. Our first stop was James Bay on Prevost Island, where we spent two nights recovering from the inevitable crush of last minute work before leaving for holiday. Located near Saltspring, James Bay was acquired by the government a few years ago as part of a future national park. Facing northwest, it’s a good spot in a south easterly, and a big bay with room for a couple of dozen boats (although we only saw four at anchor). There’s also a spacious camping area for paddlers in the long grass of an abandoned apple orchard and great shore walks in the 90 acre park. Our first day there, we launched our kayaks and paddled out around the tip of October/November 2001 WaveLength Cabbage Island • ...... Boundary of ‘Orca Pass’ The waters between the Canadian Gulf Islands and the US San Juan Islands are a beautiful area of rich marine life, sensitive habitat, and cultural significance. But as the human population grows, the marine environment faces threats from over-development, pollution, fishing pressures and heavy marine traffic. As a result, populations of groundfish have plummeted in the region along with many birds. Orca whales are officially at risk, faced with fewer salmon stocks and relentless exposure to toxic chemicals from land runoff and outfalls. Parks Canada has called southern Georgia Strait ‘the most at-risk natural environment in Canada’, and the situation is no better on the US side of the border. Seven years ago a panel of marine scientists appointed by BC and Washington called for the immediate establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the region. MPAs are a proven tool to restore depleted species and protect biodiversity. But subsequent government efforts to establish MPAs here have gone nowhere despite the fact that the loss of marine biodiversity continues unabated. Recognizing that decisive action is urgently needed, a dozen environmental groups from both sides of the border joined forces two years ago in a campaign to create MPAs in the region. The effort, led by the Georgia Strait Alliance and People for Puget Sound, has grown to include whale researchers, kayak Prevost, making our way to Hawkins Islet. Hawkins is a recreation reserve with a pocket shell beach on a picturesque setting, situated directly across from Active Pass, the main route into Georgia Strait. The only downside was finding an active shellfish farm anchored in the shallows off Hawkins’ neighbouring islet. The whole paddle was 3-4 miles in total, during which we saw eagles, cormorants, and seals. Next we headed south to Sidney Spit, on Sidney Island, an amazingly long sand spit serving as a natural breakwater behind which BC Parks has situated numerous mooring buoys. But watch the shallow depths and pick your tides if your boat draws much water. Paddlers, of course, have none of these worries and will find lots of room to camp in a large, level, grassy area by the old dock, part way into the lagoon. On a previous trip Laurie and I had walked out to the end of the spit, and back around the lagoon, but this time we paddled into the lagoon at high tide, finding its Alan Wilson operators, community groups and even the two local governments—the Islands Trust and San Juan County. The groups have mapped out what they are calling the ‘Orca Pass International Stewardship Area’, a name given in recognition of the region’s true ‘transboundary citizens’— the Orca whales that transit the area. Within Orca Pass, they’re using GIS mapping, scientific data and other information to identify resources and habitats at risk and areas that require special protection. They want to see Orca Pass become a ‘stewardship area’, in which a strong ethic of coastal stewardship prevails and forms a common theme for human activities. Over the coming months they will be proposing a number of ‘no-take’ MPAs and other special protection zones within Orca Pass, to serve as sanctuaries for restoration of declining species. For Orca Pass to become a reality, it’s going to require a groundswell of public support that governments will be unable to ignore. If the groups are successful, Orca Pass could become the first transboundary MPA in North America, perhaps the world—and the jewel in the crown for paddlers and lowimpact eco-tourism operators in the region. To find out more or to get involved: Georgia Strait Alliance, 250-381-8321 (www.georgiastrait.org) or People for Puget Sound, 206-382-7007 (www.puget sound.org). PAGE’S RESORT MARINA Silva Bay—Gabriola Island Cottages, Campground, Fuel, Moorage, Laundromat, Showers, Diveshop, Artwork, Charts, Books and PRIME PADDLING! near Drumbeg provincial park and the Flat Top Islands. Call 250-247-8931 mail@pagesresort.com www.pagesresort.com 27
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Page 8 and 9: NEW KAYAKS New kayaks are coming on
Page 10 and 11: How Fast is Your Kayak? While shopp
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Page 14 and 15: Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of of BC
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Page 18 and 19: The Future is Unfolding Folding kay
Page 20 and 21: PERFORMANCE Increasingly the expert
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Page 24 and 25: GREAT GEAR The “Partial Eclipse
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Page 30 and 31: From the Archipelago Mysteries Belo
Page 32 and 33: NEWS WaveLength held a 10th Anniver
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Page 36 and 37: Know Your Neighbours Animal, Vegeta
Page 38: seaotter@he.net www.he.net/~seaotte
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Page 43 and 44: CHILE/ PATAGONIA—Sea kayak in the
Page 45: Business Opportunities MARINA, SEAF

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