Pushing Boundaries - First Stroke towards R2AK

Trading Oars for a Paddle

After a decade of flat water rowing, where millimeter adjustments, precise timing, and maximizing fitness combine to make a boat with a beam less than the width of my hips travel 2000 meters as fast as possible, I was ready to try something new.  Keen to see a new body of water rather than Elk Lake, my wife Emma and I signed up for the Paddle Canada Level 1 course through Blue Dog Kayaking in the summer of 2020. We had a fun weekend, making friends, learning the ropes (literally and figuratively), and proving we could get back in our boats without assistance after swimming next to them. We left without thinking much about continuing and went back to our usual Gulf Island weekend bike trip and Vancouver Island backcountry hiking ways. Since it was 2020, many of these activities were seeing increased attention as everyone tried to make the most of the outdoors we are blessed to have in our backyard - especially those who didn't have a backyard of their own.  

During a trip to Galiano Island, while staying at a packed Montague Harbour campground we looked across Trincomali Channel. The calm water looking toward Salt Spring Island was dotting with small islands. They looked peaceful, and we though, I wish we could get over there. 

A summer canoe trip on a segment of the Sayward Canoe route showed us our intuition was correct. While front country and moderate hike-in camping spots were filled to capacity, throw a little water in the mix and things became much quieter. We saw only 3 other people on our out-and-back trip that Saturday and a handful of empty camp sites. Later, we came across an opportunity to explore a new area in the shoulder season with a Level 2 course hosted at the Discovery Island Lodge. The prospect of being out on the water all day, mixed with a dockside sauna waiting for our return was an easy sell to us and the couple we had completed the previous course with,

Over the four day course, we realized there was a lot to learn beyond our Level 1 curriculum. We revisited tides, weather interpretation, and many knots, while adding in moving water current. What we didn't realize before this trip was that Quadra is one of the best classrooms for leaning to navigate moving water. Twice a day, water rushes in and out around Vancouver Island. Around Quadra Island, there are many narrow channels where these tidal flows are constricted, building into fast-moving choke points. These range from small changes, to the infamous Seymour Narrows, which can reach speeds of 16 knot (30km/hr). 

We met our first match in a relatively small, but growing, three knot current between two islands with the instruction to get from where we were upstream using the backeddies and some hard strokes. I found myself at the front of the group and crossed into the main flow. The sudden transition almost capsized me, but with a lucky brace stroke I found myself floating backwards away from the intended target. Knowing how to paddle hard, I gave it my all and realized that I could gain a few centimeters each stroke against the flow. After about a minute I made my desired destination in an opposing backeddy and got a chance to look back. Greeted by the sight of two flipped classmates, having had less luck than I did.

Near the end of the lesson, we were taken to the Surge Narrows main surf wave. We face a six-knot current and sizable waves kicked up by the shallow rock shelf on the incoming tide. A few more experienced members in an surf and current specific course demonstrated their skills, and I was immediately hooked. It looked like a great challenge, finding equilibrium of the water pressing against the bow and the first standing lump of the wave holding the boats in place. I saw it as a dynamic puzzle with increasing or decreasing flow rates and different tide heights causing a slightly different wave every few minutes. The real appeal? With the right knowledge, you could predict when these current caused surfable waves would form. 

We went home and within a month our enthusiasm for a new sport took hold, each had purchased a new kayak. 

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