Day 3: Broughton Archipelago Adventure

Thursday, August 31, 2017

Skyhop Beach, Vancouver Island

Morning

The night before last, I again heard humpbacks blowing all through the night. I imagined one was sleeping in the water off our beach, and got excited enough to get up and walk down to look. All was quiet, dark, cloudy — nothing to be seen, not even the stars.

I had a restless night, hot in my down sleeping bag, and was only just getting up when Julian called us for breakfast. Light rain had started a few hours earlier, but tapered off. I ate my granola, blueberries and banana on the beach.

While we were having a slow morning, a young man pulled up to the dock beside our camp in a 24-foot metal power boat designed for fishing, and then moved into a flat-bottom metal dinghy and came over to chat with Julian.

Justin, the grandson of the wealthy North Carolina man who owns the property, had a good-ole-boy accent, a light brown beard, dirty Carhartt pants and a worn t-shirt. He said he was going fishing, but planned to throw back everything unless it was hooked through the eyeball or otherwise injured. Julian said he was a hard worker who cat-wheeled his bobcat and cut sheet metal with a plasma cutter while wearing sandals and no eye protection — young, reckless, and having fun. His grandpa loved to fish, so bought this 90 acre property on an island in the wilderness of British Columbia.

We made two crossings that day, the first back to Hanson Island where we stopped at a beautiful camp for lunch. Big rocks had been pushed aside to make a gravel ramp to haul up kayaks. A driftwood seating area encircled a fire pit atop a rocky outcrop. Further in, forest concealed the camp kitchen and dining area. Tents were dispersed along a path overlooking the ocean that led to another beach. Beside the dining area was a driftwood bench swing and a single-rope swing with a driftwood seat tied on.

The morning kayak crossings were quiet. Over lunch, light rain fell, but it soon ended. Our second crossing of the day was back to Vancouver Island and our camp at Spyhop Beach.

Josh hadn’t slept well and was feeling very uncomfortable, so we left him at camp. The rest of us paddled south along the coastline. Soon we saw a male and female orca and paddled towards them. They meandered, and we paddled at a safe distance alongside them for a long time. They were out from shore, and rose right beside a pair of kayakers who had been watching them approach.

I was up early this morning. The tide is out, and I’m sitting on the rocks watching the sun rising through the clouds, the water calm and still, and young orca passing by very near the shore. What a beautiful, beautiful place to be.