Throwback Thursday: Favourite Places Along the Way

Cambria at anchor in Rebecca Spit.

We all have our favourite anchorages along the way:  Places we’ve visited over the years and have formed a special affection for.  Places we feel at home.  Rebecca Spit Marine Park on southern Quadra Island would have to be Sally's.

For a dog, she has good taste.  It’s a beautiful spot with a view of the Coastal Mountains from its eastern shore that seems to go on forever.  But it’s not the view that she likes; it’s the trails.  Though her enthusiasm has dwindled over the years, she still loves to walk them, stopping to sniff every bush along the way. 

North of Rebecca Spit and past Surge Narrows, the first set of rapids we have to transit, on the northern end of Quadra Island lies one of my favourite anchorages: Octopus Islands Marine Park.  I like it because it’s quiet, has access to good hiking trails and plenty of rocks, islets and islands to make kayaking interesting.  As an added bonus, it's on the way to one of David’s favourite anchorages – Shoal Bay at the northern end of East Thurlow Island.   

A cloudy morning in Octopus Islands.

Shoal Bay is a unique spot.  In the late 1800s, it was the most populated town on the coast (including the city of Vancouver) but, over the years, industry in the area died out taking the town along with it.  Eventually a fourteen room resort was built on the property which Mark MacDonald bought in 2000.  Within weeks of moving everything he owned in, the lodge caught fire and burned to the ground – destroying everything in the process.  He stuck with it and over the years has been rebuilding his dream in the form of a pub and cottages with the help of friends, strangers and his wife, Cynthia.

Cambria at anchor in Shoal Bay.