British Columbia
Destinations
Jedediah Island Marine Park | Way Bay Wednesday
Wednesday, November 16, 2016TheCambrians
It’s Way Back Wednesday, an opportunity to dig through the
files and pull out an old blog post to
shed some new light on it. It’s a bit of a cheat, really: Re-posting something
old rather than writing something new. But so much information gets lost in the
mix that it’s also an important part of the process.
Over
the years, I’ve written several posts about anchorages we’ve stayed in. Each
one includes anchoring information (i.e. holding, protection, GPS coordinates),
historical information and a list of things to do. To date, I’ve done 26 of
these (they can all be found on our Destinations page) and they’re some of my
favourite posts. For the next six months, I’ll be highlighting one every Wednesday
(from south to north) and adding a few new ones in where I can. This week, it’s
a return to Jedediah Island Marine Park in Canada’s Northern Gulf Islands (you can read the original post here).
For one reason
or another, Jedediah Island in the Strait of
Georgia is a black hole
in the world of charts. David suspects
it’s because there is no commercial interest on the island, but I’m not convinced. There are plenty of island and islets in the
area that are charted and, yet, have no commercial interest either. Jedediah Island, on the other hand, has a
nice hidey-hole in the way of “Deep Bay” for passing fisherman and tug boat
drivers to tuck into (sans barge, of course) during bad weather so, it seems to
me that a chart would be handy for all of us.
Until that time comes though, we recommend consulting the cruising
guide, “Best Anchorages of the Inside
Passage” by Anne Vipond
and William Kelly. You can find helpful information
in Dreamspeaker’s “Vancouver, Howe Sound, and the Sunshine Coast” by Anne and Laurence Yeadon-Jones as well but the book “Best
Anchorages” is . . . the best.
There are
several anchoring options available throughout Jedediah Island, but all of our stays have coincided with southeasterly winds leaving
us only one choice: Deep Bay
on the island’s northern end. Considered to be one of the safest
anchorages in the area, Deep Bay
is reputed to offer good all-weather protection. And we agree.
While it was blowing over 20 knots in the Strait of Georgia, we only saw a breeze inside the anchorage – just
enough to keep things pleasant and cool.
However, the holding is only fair in rock and the anchorage is small,
requiring a stern-tie to shore.
A trail leads
from the head of the bay through an old-growth forest and a meadow before
branching off in two directions: One leads to Driftwood and Codfish bays
as well as to the trail to Long Bay
and, eventually, Mount Gibraltar, the island’s highest point. The other leads
to Home Bay,
the former homestead of the island’s previous owners, the Palmers.
The Palmers may
have been the last private owners of the island, but they weren’t the most
colourful. That honour clearly belongs to an Irish farmer by the name of
Henry Hughes who owned the island in the 1920s and ‘30s. He didn’t care
for strangers and suspected those visiting the island of poaching his sheep –
going as far as greeting some people with the barrel of a shotgun. He bought
Jedediah Island as a working farm, bringing a manservant, gardener, cook and a
shepherd with him. But, by all accounts, he was more interested in
reading than in farming and soon went broke.
With no money
to pay for his help, he lived on the island alone with his dog, Caesar, until
meeting an English nurse by the name of Jenny. One summer, a small group
of people that had arrived by sailing yacht dared to venture ashore and walk
the trails. They ran into Hughes who
invited them to his house at the head of Home Bay.
Jenny ultimately became his wife and they lived on the island together for
years. Hughes eventually hoped to sell Jedediah to the Canadian Pacific
Steamship Company for development into a summer resort but the CPR purchased Newcastle Island near Nanaimo instead.
In 1949, the
island was purchased by Mary Palmer and her first husband who used it as a
retreat. In the 1970s, she moved to Jedediah full-time with her second
husband, Al Palmer, and they became the private owners. Wanting to keep
the island pristine for everyone to enjoy, the Palmers decided to sell it to
the government as a provincial marine park; thus starting the fundraising
efforts of the Friends of Jedediah and contributions from hundreds of
individuals, groups and corporations throughout British Columbia. The island became a marine park in 1995 –
any visitors will tell you that the funds were well-spent. The Palmer’s left their horse, Will, behind
along with some sheep whose descendants continue to graze on the island today.
Beyond Home Bay,
there’s a short trail to the aptly named Driftwood Beach – a stack, ten feet deep, of logs piled together as if they were
toothpicks – clearly not where you want to be during a winter storm. Beyond Driftwood Beach, further to the south, lies one of the most beautiful anchorages on the
island, Codfish Bay. Situated on the southeast side of the island, Codfish Bay
lies off Sabine Channel which separates Jedediah from neighbouring Texada Island. It offers good protection from northwest winds and a group of
small islands near the entrance of the bay offers some protection from the
southeast and the swell. The bay itself is dramatic – a narrow inlet with
steep-to granite cliffs with driftwood strewn on the beach at its head – and
would be a lovely spot to spend a few days.
From there, backtrack along the trail until you’re close to Long Bay on the opposite side of the
island. Along the trail, just before you break from the forest into an
open paddock, there’s a gravesite marked “Will”, the Palmer’s horse. Not
far beyond the grave, the trail breaks off to left, exits the woods and enters
a paddock where it’s not uncommon to find the sheep grazing. Continue to
the left and re-entered the forest where the trail is clearly marked with
fluorescent pink tape.
The trail, made by animals over the years, climbs 500 feet through
woodland and moss-covered granite and is worth the climb. The view from
the summit looks out into the Strait of Georgia and from there you can see the neighbouring islands
and Jedediah’s rugged shoreline: It’s nothing short of spectacular.
It’s also a good place to catch a glimpse of the island’s feral goats, believed
by historians to be descendants of those left by 18th century Spanish explorers
to graze on the island.
After making our second trip to Jedediah Island a couple of years ago, David and
I were left to wonder, once again, why we hadn’t visited before. It
offers a lot of what we look for in an anchorage: good protection, a marine
park, hiking trails and, above all, peace and quiet even when it’s busy.
Note: This blog article is not to be used for navigation. It is solely an opinion based on our personal
experience in Princess Cove during settled weather conditions. Consult charts and cruising guides carefully
before entering and anchoring.
4 comments
I love Henry Hughes' story, especially how he preferred reading to farming and went broke. That's probably the kind of farmer I would be. He sounds like a great character for a historical novel.
ReplyDeleteI know. He really had nothing to do with what I wanted to say about Jedediah Island, but I couldn't resit including him -- I love people like that. The area is full of characters like Old Henry.
DeleteWhat a nice place to visit! I have so much respect and appreciation for those (rich) families that sold or donated their land to become protected parks for everyone to enjoy. Sounds like a perfect anchorage to me as well - protection, peace, beauty and trails - despite the little bit of hassle to get settled.
ReplyDeleteEven more impressive is the fact that the Palmers weren't rich and sold the island under value. But I'm with you, it's heartwarming to hear that there are people in this world who put community over money.
Delete