sailors, boaters, and paddlers sing the praises of this west coast

Desolation
travel
Sound
by maria coffey photography: ron watts
Sailors, boaters, and paddlers sing the praises
of this West Coast provincial marine park,
whose name belies the scenic beauty of its
sheltered anchorages.
•
Shafts of morning
sunlight brighten the
tree-lined shore of Prideaux
Haven, one of three main
anchorages in Desolation
Sound Marine Provincial
Park, north of Powell River
on the mainland coast.
52
S
ailing into Desolation Sound
for the first time, I felt like
Alice in Wonderland going
through the looking glass. As we
ghosted around Sarah Point on
the tip of Malaspina Peninsula and
entered the sound, the 13-metre junkrigged boat ahead of us seemed to shrink
to toy size, dwarfed by Coast Mountains
rising some 1,000 metres from the sea
to their snowy peaks. As we floated at
the foot of these giants, surrounded by
forest-clad islands, I was overwhelmed by
the scale, grandeur, and majesty of the
landscape.
During the last ice age, massive
glaciers gouged deeply into the igneous,
mainly granitic rock walls here. When
the ice retreated some 10,000 years ago,
the sea flooded in, creating a system of
fiords. Today, BC Parks describes its
8,449-hectare Desolation Sound Marine
Provincial Park at the northeast end
of the Strait of Georgia as “a yachter’s
paradise,” encompassing protected
anchorages, superb scenery, easy hiking
trails, cascading waterfalls, and, in
summer months, unusually warm ocean
temperatures up to 23 C.
Founded in 1973, Desolation Sound
is one of the largest and most beautiful
marine parks on British Columbia’s coast,
from Price Point and the gloriously scenic
Prideaux Haven anchorage in the north
to the confluence of Malaspina, Lancelot,
and Okeover inlets in the south. Its
abundant attributes—including more
than 60 kilometres of coastline—attract
sailors, boaters, and paddlers in droves.
From June through September last year,
park authorities counted 13,507 boats
and 4,784 kayaks.
B r i t i s h C o lumbia M agazine: spring 2010
53
W
hen Captain
George Vancouver
sailed in here on a
rainy summer evening
in 1792, he wasn’t so
impressed. After spending
a couple of “truly forlorn” weeks in
what he described as a “strange watery
crossroads of black precipices and inky
canals,” he bestowed the sound with its
gloomy name, then left, never to return.
Far from being desolate, however,
these channels and islands abound with
life. Seals, sea lions, orcas, and porpoises
cruise the waters. Bald eagles perch on
prominent snag trees. Black bears and
black-tailed deer forage in the forests.
The nutrient-rich ocean feeds an array
of birds, including western grebes, surf
scoters, cormorants, marbled murrelets,
black oystercatchers, and great blue
herons.
In centuries past, ancestors of the
Sliammon people gathered clams and
oysters in the intertidal zone. There are
First Nations cultural sites throughout
the park area. Some are recognizable by
prehistoric midden sites, where mounds
of shell and bone fragments indicate a
seasonal camp or village; other sites are
all but hidden by vegetation.
Author Jeanette Taylor of Quadra
Island leads historical tours each year
in Desolation Sound. She takes groups
to an ancient Coast Salish village site in
Prideaux Haven that was first recorded
by Archibald Menzies, a botanist sailing
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British Colum b ia Magazine: spring 2010
•
with Captain Vancouver. Other stops
highlight later inhabitants: loggers,
fishermen, and idealists who came to
live off the land.
One of these was Minnesota-born
logger Andrew (Mike) Shuttler, who
immigrated to Canada in 1884. A
reputed bar brawler, he retreated to
Melanie Cove in Desolation Sound
around 1890 to mend his ways. He
built a cabin, where he amassed an
impressive library of classical literature,
and he loved to discuss books with
visiting boaters—including M. Wylie
Blanchet, who immortalized Shuttler
in her classic book, The Curve of Time.
The cabin is gone, but visitors to
Melanie Cove can still walk through the
orchard of apple trees Shuttler planted.
above: A campfire crackles
next to a kayaker’s tent on an
islet in Desolation Sound Marine
Provincial Park.
opposite: Campers have hauled
their trio of kayaks onto the
rocky shore of one of the small
Curme Islands, off the northeast
shore of Mink Island in
Desolation Sound.
B r i t i s h C o lumbia M agazine: spring 2010
55
T
here are no stores or gas
docks within Desolation
Sound Marine Provincial
Park. Visitors must carry in
all necessary supplies, or reprovision at Refuge Cove just
outside the park’s boundaries. During
July and August, the three popular
anchorages are packed with boats. The
aptly named Grace Harbour offers
optimum protection from unpredictable
winds that can blow through these
twisting channels. Tenedos Bay has
many charming coves, and it is possible
to portage a canoe or kayak up the trail
to Unwin Lake. The picture-perfect
setting at Prideaux Haven makes it the
park’s busiest anchorage, attracting the
fanciest boats. When Vancouverite Janet
Cunningham was heading there for the
first time last year, a fellow sailor advised
her: “You’ll have to dress for dinner. And
wear jewellery!”
•
Mothership Adventures
operates kayaking
adventure trips from its
classic MV Columbia III,
designed in 1955, shown
here in Prideaux Haven,
Desolation Sound Marine
Provincial Park.
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British Colum b ia Magazine: spring 2010
B r i t i s h C o lumbia M agazine: spring 2010
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F
oun
East
Redonda
Island
Pend
rell S
an
an n
Ch
Ch
el
ne
l
Melanie Cove
Prideaux Haven
Curme
Islands
Unwin Lake
Tenedos Bay
Mink
Island
Desolation
Galley Bay
Sound
M
ala
s
Sarah
Point
DESOLATION SOUND
MARINE PROVINCIAL
PARK
Gifford
Lanc
e
pin Peninsula
a
MALASPINA
Inl
PROVINCIAL
et
PARK
over
p
las
Ma
OKEOVER ARM
PROVINCIAL
PARK
et
s
nin
Pe
Lund
Inl
ina
101
ula
A
GI
OR
GE
OF
Hernando
Island
Grace Harbour
Oke
Cochrane Bay
COPELAND
ISLANDS
MARINE
PROVINCIAL
PARK
0
N
5
10 km
info
• Dreamspeaker Cruising Guide
Series: Desolation Sound & the
Discovery Islands, Volume 2 by
Anne and Laurence YeadonJones (Harbour Publishing,
2006).
• Sea Kayak Desolation Sound
and the Sunshine Coast by
Heather Harbord (Rocky
Mountain Books, 2005).
• Desolation Sound: A History
by Heather Harbord (Harbour
Publishing 2007).
• The Curve of Time by M.
Wylie Blanchet (originally
published 1977; Whitecap
Books, 2002).
• BC Parks (www.bcparks.ca).
• Vancouver, Coast and
Mountains Tourism Region
(604-739-9011, 800-667-3306;
www.vcmbc.com).
Rob Struthers
s
EAST REDONDA
ISLAND
ECOLOGICAL
RESERVE
Price
Point
Hom
wi
• Paddle Desolation Sound on
British Colum b ia Magazine: spring 2010
a
W
Le
Cortes
Island
n
ROSCOE BAY
PROVINCIAL
PARK
Refuge Cove
things to do
a guided tour with Powell River
Sea Kayak (866-617-4444;
www.bcseakayak.com), or rent
one of their kayaks and explore
on your own.
• Take an informative Coastal
History tour led by Jeanette
Taylor (888-833-8887; www.
mothershipadventures.com).
• Cruise around on a rented
boat from Desolation Sound
Yacht Charters (877-647-3815;
www.desolationsound
yachtcharters.com), in Comox.
• Swim and snorkel in the
ocean. In summer, water
temperatures in Desolation
Sound can reach 23 C.
• Hike developed park trails at
Grace Harbour, Unwin Lake,
and also Cochrane Bay—where
there is access to the Sunshine
Coast Trail.
dd
ing
to
TEAKERNE ARM
PROVINCIAL
PARK
AIT
58
Boaters are asked to refrain
from discharging their holding
tanks in any of the anchorages.
Visitors can purchase food, gas,
ice cream, and good coffee just
outside the park boundary in
Refuge Cove.
STR
field notes
To avoid crowds, visit the
marine park in June or in
September after Labour Day.
Visitors are limited to a
maximum 14-day stay in the
park. Any water collected from
streams or lakes must be
disinfected before drinking.
West Redonda
Island
•
getting there
Desolation Sound Marine
Provincial Park is a popular
sailing, boating, and paddling
destination at the northeast
end of the Strait of Georgia.
BC Ferries (www.bcferries.com)
and Pacific Coastal Airlines
(www.pacificcoastal.com) serve
the Powell River community,
south of Lund on Hwy 101.
It’s possible to drive to Okeover
Inlet’s west side, 25 to 30 km
north of Powell River, and
rent kayaks from Powell River
Sea Kayak (866-617-4444;
www.bcseakayak.com).
Regional floatplane service is
available from Kenmore Air
(www.kenmore air.com) and
Corilair (www.corilair.com) to
Refuge Cove (www.refuge
cove.com), a service area on
West Redonda Island opposite
the marine park.
d
Exploring Desolation Sound
fray Channel
to know if you go
lot Inlet
t
or more of a wilderness
experience, go by kayak.
The warm waters, absence
of dangerous currents, and
abundance of islands, inlets,
and hidden coves to explore make
Desolation Sound an ideal paddling
destination. Adam Vallance, owner
of Powell River Sea Kayak, guides
trips in the area and rents kayaks to
independent paddlers. His advice? Hug
the shoreline, explore the nooks and
crannies, and pack a snorkel.
“The intertidal life is truly
awesome,” says Vallance. “Even from
your kayak you can see all sorts of fish,
anemones, spiny red sea urchins, and
colourful sea stars.”
The park has four areas with pit
toilets for campers: at Tenedos Bay,
Melanie Cove, Grace Harbour, and on the
Curme Islands. There are many options
for wilderness camping as well, despite the
steep shorelines and lack of sandy beaches.
“If you’re prepared to haul your kayak
onto slabs of rock and set your tent a little
way behind it,” says Vallance, “there are
plenty of camping opportunities, especially
for small groups.”
Toward the end of our stay in
Desolation Sound, my husband and
I anchored next to a small island in
Galley Bay. Early one morning, we
swam ashore. The ground was covered
in soft moss and mats of ripening
juniper berries. From the branches of
a Garry oak tree, a couple of ravens
watching our progress along the trail
seemed to discuss us in their fluting
calls. In silence, we gazed at the
glittering ocean, the steep walls of East
Redonda Island, and the lofty Coast
Mountains beyond, their snowfields
gleaming against the blue sky. It was
almost time for us to sail out of this
magical looking glass, back into the real
world. But, unlike Captain Vancouver, I
knew we would soon return.
•
above: Sailors anchor their
boats off the Curme Islands to
take in the sunset on
Desolation Sound.
opposite: The Curme Islands in
Desolation Sound enclose a
sheltered “lagoon” area
popular with kayakers and
campers.
web extraS
shareyourbc.com
For more getaways like this, select
“sailing” or “paddling” from the
drop-down activity menu on our
online adventure database.
B r i t i s h C o lumbia M agazine: spring 2010
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