[Nick Heath]

Hi Helen

Dunham Rd would be my choice, as shown on the BCMT map. SCRD Park.  The mill site appears to behind a security gate. Maybe there is a ramp there: possibly it is for those who have legal access or maybe day use, but I doubt you could leave a car there.

From Dunham Rd/ McNair Ck it is easy paddling to Bain Ck or N’wards. You lucky folk get to avoid crossing Montague Channel, too.

There is also another beach at the creek mouth 400 m S of Dunham Rd we call Dakota Ck but we don’t show it (yet) on the BCMT map. It is mostly used by locals (dog walkers by day and revellers by night?) but also part of the same Park, I believe.

Pl let us know your experience using this launch.  It looks good from both land and sea.  Here’s hoping the local residents are friendly, unlike those at Tuwanek!

[Former Member]

Asking for a friend, eh? 🙂

Yeah, “a friend” 😂

Thank you all! I might need to rent a boat for a course I am taking in September (they told me I should or I might not be able to follow the group), but I’ll push and see where this one can take me for the rest of the summer.

[Helen Roberts]

Hi.  We are planning a trip up Howe Sound and are trying to figure out if we could launch from Port Mellon.  It sounds like you might be able to launch from the bottom of Dunham Road – or there might even be a boat ramp in Port Mellon.  Any info you could provide would be most appreciated.  Thanks.

[George Prevost]

I agree with everything Maureen and Katya have said.  There isn’t much else to add.

[Nick Heath]

Guests are welcome at the South Island Sea Kayaking Association next Monthly Zoom meeting on May 26th. See below for details.

FredPishalski <fred@bcmarinetrails.org>

SISKA’s May Meeting is this Wednesday!  Zoom Wed May 26th at 7 pm…
Come join us on Zoom on Wed May 26th at 7:00 pm for SISKA’s last meeting of the 2021 Spring/Summer schedule. Monthly meetings will resume in September, when hopefully we may once again be able to meet in person.

Our presenter is the University of Victoria astronomer Karun Thanjavur who recently presented to the Alpine Club of Victoria.

“As avid kayak afficionados, all of you cherish the awe-inspiring beauty of the wide-open ocean spaces during the day. At the same time, as night falls, back at camp on a beach after a great day amongst the waves, you are also privileged to enjoy the stunning beauty of the night skies, unpolluted by any light of civilization. As you lie back on the sand and take in this beauty overhead, here is a little guide to signpost the starry sky as your eyes wander through it. Since there is of course a Universe out there to explore, I will aim to at least touch up the highlights of our summer sky, and hope to motivate you to continue this celestial journey with some useful tools and public resources to take along.”

Born and raised in a small town in South India, Karun completed his education up to a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. Karun’s life took a dramatic turn when he decided to leave his profession as an engineer in India to pursue teaching new skills to underprivileged youth in remote parts of Zambia, Africa. He later emigrated to Canada to pursue graduate studies first in Robotics, and later in Astrophysics After his PhD from U of Vic, he worked as a Resident Astronomer at CFHT in Hawaii for three years, before returning to U of Vic to accept a position as a senior lab instructor in astronomy.

Join Zoom Meeting
Wed May 26th at 7:00 pm

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89782386066?pwd=TzlaMGlGNGpIY3FhaEo4VXZwdW4wQT09
Meeting ID: 897 8238 6066
Passcode: 152820

[Yekaterina Yushmanova]

Asking for a friend, eh? 🙂

You will have to pack like a backpacker for 5 days and if you need to bring a lot of water it can be challenging. You will be slower than your friends in 17′ boats, so choose your friends wisely and also get them to carry some of your stuff!

If you are planning coastal travel really do your research, as typically 17’+ boats are recommended for that but I don’t know the exact rationale for the number. My boat is 16′ right now and it is great.

 

[Maureen Benzon]

The commonsense answer:

If you have already bought the boat, get out and test it, and test pack what you need for 3 to 5 days. The reviews for the eddyline Sitka are good, and it is a nice looking little boat, but I know that some outfitters think that anything under 16′ is just too small. But they like to take lots of stuff. If you are a minimalist you can probably do it.

If you have not yet bought it, a 14′ 6″ boat is probably a bit slower than an 18′ boat, and you may not be able to keep up with the group, but if it is a leisurely paddle this might not be an issue. This of course is dependent upon your technique and fitness level, and that of the group.

As for surf, shorter is better, but if you have no experience landing in the surf, the boat you are in will not make that much difference.

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer.

At the very least it will be a fun day paddling or overnight boat, and if there is nothing else available…

[Former Member]

Hypothetically, say you bought a 14.6′ kayak in a hurry because everything else was sold out and then notice the boat was shorter than you thought.  Would you take this boat on a 3 to 5 days trip if it was your only boat? Let’s say that this boat was a Eddyline Sitka LT for example.

What about surf?

[Nick Heath]

Nice find – good to see there is a decent, reliable free app without subscribing to services one mostly does not want. No ads either!

[Nick Heath]

I’m interested in that NW Bligh I location, Tony. Do you have any additional info or images by chance? I see a few possible places on the satellite image.

[Former Member]

Just found this online and thought it was worth sharing …

New water level application optimized for mobile devices

https://www.qc.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/tides/en/new-water-level-application-optimized-mobile-devices

& the actual mobile optimized app

https://wla.iwls.azure.cloud.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/

There is also All BC Tides which offers a lot of good functionality but is not so great for mobile viewing.

http://michaelhjackson.ca/bctides/allbctides.htm

 

 

[Tony Clayton]

I have stayed at Charlie’s Beach 4 times for a couple of nights on two different trips to Nootka Sound. Fortunately, unlike Nick, we have had no bad experiences. It can get busy so there is a definite advantage in arriving early and having the best option for your tent site.

There is a rough campsite in the shallow bay on the NW shore of Bligh about 1 1/2 miles south of Carlos Point. I have not camped there but it made a pleasant lunch stop and it had obviously been used by a large group ( outfitter?) for camping at some point.

[Sarka Lhotak]

..which means he was stranded for no more than 48 hours but through the vicious storm on Monday night.

[Sarka Lhotak]

Karen and I saw this guy sleeping on the shore next to his canoe on Sunday morning around 8:30 on our way to Tantalus landing. An hour later on the way back we stopped by again, he was awake and we had a chat with him. He said he wanted to spend a few days on the Sound and that he would be checking with somebody about his whereabouts. Good thing you saved him, Steve.

[Nick Heath]

Charlie’s Bch is the most used site and it s usage is quite heavy – your neighbours could  be nice gentile paddlers or might be less-than-pleasant boozed-up fishers, who make gobs of noise at 4 am (swearing mostly)  and lots in the late evening (with their generators and loud music) but expect you to be perfectly quiet after 2 pm until nightfall when they stir from deep sleep/sunstroke for a few hours to build an oversized bonfire under the trees, throwing sparks onto your tents. (How do I know this?)

Ewin Inlet Head is the only other site I know of on Bligh, but I have not been there. I imagine it is pleasant enough but unexciting, being at the end of a long inlet. Other sites that I have checked on Bligh might work at Neaps but the beaches would be flooded at Springs.

A nearby good option is Vernaci I in the Spanish Pilot Gp right next door. I can almost guarantee no fishers there. At least the US border is still closed to them for a while longer…although there are more than enough who live in our country, too.

You can check all these sites on the BCMT map.

There has been an ongoing oil spill cleanup at Bligh I from  a sunken barge or small- mid sized boat. I think it some areas might still be heavily boomed. I haven’t heard that any beaches are polluted, but then this type of thing often goes unreported because everyone wants to appear competent even when they fail miserably. Whether BC Parks checks their (our!) park shores on a regular basis, I just don’t know, but my gut tells me they are more likely off doing other things instead.

[Author]

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