Return to Desolation

Last year, after our wedding, we kayaked out to the Curme Islands in Desolation Sound with a few Kiwis and camped one night. One night wasn't enough: Sarah and I made plans to return to Desolation. Last week we put into Okeover Inlet once again. With us this time were Eric, paddling a Current Designs single, Grayson and Alana, and Clay and Michelle, both couples in double kayaks. Clay and Michelle are Australians and teachers on a one year exchange in Campbell River. Grayson and Alana are teachers as well. Grayson teaches outdoor education, which includes guiding students on overnight kayak trips. He destroyed his knee in a skiing accident earlier in the year and his rehabilitation has been frustratingly slow. The Desolation trip was a great chance for him to exercise other muscles and enjoy the freedom and mobility of a kayak. Grayson and Alana's double was an old white behemoth they'd borrowed from friends. We dubbed it Beluga.

Okeover, loading the kayaks.

We left Powell River Sea Kayak's Okeover base before a large group of twenty one (parents and kids) and overtook a guided group of day paddlers as we headed out the inlet. We stopped for lunch in Malaspina Inlet, the waterway connecting with the sound, before crossing an open stretch to Mink Island in the middle of Desolation Sound. Clay and Michelle exclaimed at every seal we encountered, including a number of young pups. We followed the rocky coastline of Mink to its northeastern tip. Floating offshore were the Curme Islands, hunks of granite topped with pine and arbutus and manzanita, a small evergreen shrub with red bark, a miniature version of an arbutus tree. The Curme Islands are a tight cluster of three islands with a fourth island to the south and a few rocks poking out of the water at low tide. We camped on the smallest of the islands in the cluster - the same island we hit last year - with a sheltered nook to pull out kayaks and great spaces to set up camp. The islands were empty when we arrived. On the day we left, every island had one or two groups camping on the available space. We were lucky to secure what I think is the superior island for camping.

Paddling out of Malaspina Inlet.

Hubba Hubba on Curme. The fly went on early Monday morning as a scattering of rain fell. It came back off the evening of this photo and stayed off.

We made camp, with the intention of basing ourselves on Curme and day-tripping around the sound. Then we swam. Last year, we swam in pretty frigid September waters. I was expecting the ocean temperature to be somewhat similar in August, but the water was closer to lake temp, warm and comfortable. Clay and Michelle cooked up a stew and we enjoyed our first sunset on the island. Each kayak crew prepared a dinner to share. Eric made a rice pilaf with miso soup. Alana and Grayson fried up falafel wraps. We dehydrated Jenny Ko's chili recipe (sweet Korean-Paraguayan woman with the wickedest accent) for the journey - our first dehydrated creation - re-hydrating and serving with polenta. Sarah also made fried cookies which were an awesome treat.

Australian stew.

Next morning Alana dished a pancake breakfast and Eric served fresh oysters on the half shell. We put kayaks in the water and had a leisurely cruise up to Otter Island and along the coast into Tenedos Bay. Eric set his crab trap in the bay and we beached our kayaks and walked in to Unwin Lake. At the ocean end of the lake was a massive log jam, with some logs fixed in place and others floating free. We negotiated our way across the logs to a rocky outcrop, where we swam in very warm water - noticing the lack of buoyancy - and ate lunch. After, we pulled Eric's trap (empty) and returned to home base on Curme in the late afternoon. Beers were shared in a sun-trap on the island opposite and we jumped from the cliff face there. Later that night, Sarah rallied us for night swimming in vivid phosphorescence. Michelle took a little convincing, but had a blast once she was in.

Clay on Curme, East Redonda Island in the background.

The following day we headed north-east, cutting between Otter Island and the mainland and continuing up the coast, navigating between islands and entering Prideaux Haven, a popular sheltered moorage for yachts and cruisers and sailboats. There were millions of dollars floating in the coves of Prideaux Haven. The water quality was terrible, the result of boats dumping feces in enclosed waters. We paddled further, past Roffey Island to a shelf on the edge of Homfray Channel and swam. Later we followed a route barred earlier by the low tide, crossing between Eveleigh Island and the mainland coast. Back in the sheltered channels of Curme, Sarah and I practiced a wet exit and re-entry. Eric tried to roll and ended up practicing a wet exit as well. After dark we watched the Perseid meteor shower. Sarah and I saw the longest, brightest shooting star of our lives: it streaked across half the sky, leaving a dazzling tail which flickered like fireworks as it disappeared. It must have been quite the chunk of space rock.

Anemones on a log at low tide.

Prideaux Haven

Beluga alongside Otter Island

Our last full day we crossed the open stretch of water between Curme and West Redonda Island. Beluga's rudder broke as we were leaving the islands and Alana and Grayson battled across the sound. We rounded Marylebone Point into Roscoe Bay. There were a number of sailboats anchored in the bay. We paddled to the head of the bay, where we beached kayaks, studied Beluga's rudder (major design defect with the central pivot constructed of plastic) and found a spot along the shore of Black Lake. We swam in the warmest waters yet. Eric made sublime burritos. We sunned. Did I mention how hard kayaking is? The weather was fantastic - pure August heat, little wind, few clouds, just the few drops of rain Monday morning. The crossing back to Curme was windier, so we tightened our formation and aimed into the waves. After returning I borrowed Eric's kayak and cruised around the Curme islands, enjoying the solo paddling and my feet - rather than Sarah's - on the rudder pedals.


Next day we returned to Okeover via a choppy crossing from Mink Island. Back in the inlet we rafted up and used Eric's tarpaulin as a sail, letting the wind carry us in, even as the tide was ebbing out. Our group split at lunch, with the teachers wanting to make the Powell River ferry back to Vancouver Island. Eric and Sarah and I cooked up some ramen on a little island in Malaspina Inlet and collected oysters from a perfect bed. The large group of parents and kids was making its way through the inlet. We put on some speed to beat them to the rental base and avoid the chaos. Our unloading and exit was muy rapido.



We headed into Powell River to stay with our friends Mark and Megan, and their baby Lindsay, at their new place. They don't call it the Sunshine Coast for nothing. With the smoke haze hanging over Vancouver Island (from Interior fires) we had gorgeous sunsets. Showers were rejuvenating. Mark fed us halibut covered in a creamy morel sauce. A plan to trip out to Savary Island turned into an afternoon at Powell Lake. We ate sockeye salmon sashimi, courtesy of Mark's brother. I found a six of Propeller Brewery's ESB in the local liquor store, Propeller being the Halifax brewery that sponsored the Canadian ultimate championships the year Sarah and I played. Oysters were eaten with lime, barbecued and in a chowder. We discussed landscaping and interior layouts. We visited the town's open-air market, a farmers market with actual produce (Campbell River's trinkety tourist market take note). And then we said our farewells and crossed the strait again, back to the Island and Campbell River.

View west from Mark and Meg's balcony.