the Discovery Islands
the Inside Passage
Octopus Islands Marine Park, Quadra Island
Wednesday, August 03, 2011TheCambrians
Kayaking in the Octopus Islands.
We left Rebecca Spit on Monday along with Salubrious and slowly made our way north to Hoskyn Channel which separates Quadra and Read Islands. It was our first time travelling through Beazley Passage –another set of rapids located in Surge Narrows where “narrow” is the key word..."narrow” and “busy”. Transiting was like playing chicken with large boats travelling south or risk hitting the rocks on the east side and shoal on the west, but we made it through without incident (or heart attacks) and continued on to the Octopus Islands Marine Park.
It's our third visit, but our first time anchoring in the park itself (we usually anchor in nearby Waiatt Bay) where we had easy access to the prime kayaking spots. And kayak we did! Sylvia's daughter gifted her with a very nice inflatable just before they left for the season and the three of us paddled around for hours at a time only to come back to the boat exhausted.
After a bit of rain last night, the day shaped up beautifully but still looks much clearer to the south of us in Desolation Sound where I'm anxious to return. But we're on our way north to Shoal Bay and the Music Festival and Salubrious is going to the Broughtons, so we'll up anchor tomorrow morning and make our way through Upper and Lower Rapids before stopping for the day in Thurston Bay Marine Park.
It's hard to believe that we've been on the water for three months now. In some respects it's been wonderful – kayaking on warm, sunny days; spending time with each other; meeting new people. And in other respects, it's been very, very difficult; but if it were easy,everybody would do it and we wouldn't want that!
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