A YCCC Canoeist Goes Kayaking in the Discovery Islands

I came to the surface choking on cold seawater.

Everything not covered with neoprene was chilling rapidly and the layers of protective gear felt claustrophobic. George and I, both YCCC members, started the assisted rescue drill; it wasn’t much different from the techniques we use with canoes – until I tried to climb onto the kayak.

Not easy, I thought, but doable – I have the muscle, the flexibility and experience with a canoe. It wasn’t much different from the techniques we learned in a canoeing course taught by Paul Gallagher and Brian Wraight. Legs floating behind me, I grabbed the straps on my kayak and then on George’s and tried to swim and pull myself onto my kayak deck. Then again. And again. And again. Finally, I was too tired to improve and Rory, our instructor, came to the rescue with a technique for pregnant women and the injured. It worked like a charm.

Unfortunately, I was cold, bruised and still claustrophobic; no way was I was going to ditch again even though the solo techniques looked easier. I watched carefully; there was a second day on the course and I reckoned I would succeed if I tried again. I had practised rescues in a two-day, white water kayaking course on the Ottawa; cold and the structure of sea kayaks made this a very different enterprise.

Sound intimidating? Actually only the combined circumstances made it feel so difficult. Kayakers usually wear a spray skirt that sits around their middles and extends firmly over the cockpit edge. It keeps the paddler drier and reduces the odds on swamping in heavy seas. On top is the PFD, probably even more necessary for a kayaker on the ocean as tide, currents and sudden changes in weather can create dangerous surprises. Think Georgian Bay with tides.

The water in the Discovery Islands is usually very cold. Very, very cold. Wetsuits are a necessity for anyone who expects to dump. White water kayakers wear them and so do kayakers practising rescue. Most wear some kind of water shoe to protect their feet should they have to enter or leave the kayak on a rocky shore. Rocky shores predominate in the Discovery Islands.

The combination of all that clobber is more than canoeists wear. On top of it, my PFD was too small; women’s chests do fit a little differently. Give the staff their due, they checked my gear to determine why I was so uncomfortable; the next time I sat in the kayak, I was wearing a better fitting PFD.

They also watched my comfort level in the kayak and worked out which one would suit me best. Kayaks, I discovered, can be as personal a fit as bras. You can wear another woman’s bra, in a pinch, if she is roughly the same size but it won’t feel like part of your body as you go through the day. A good kayaker can paddle anything but usually has a favourite that she feels at one with.

The YCCC has two sea kayaks available to members and has offered kayaking courses in the past. George took a basic sea-kayaking course two years ago, taught by Dan Crocker, a former WW Coordinator. Kayakers often accompany YCCC trips. Mike Bankier, club president, did this last year on a French River trip. It was a good way to balance out the extra paddler and the trip had few (if any) portages. The sole proviso is that they can manage portages.

It was worth learning the rescues; a day later we started a three-day kayaking camping trip with seven other people and two kayak guides. George and I could not have done this trip without knowledgeable and professional guides. The conditions described above make sea kayaking in this area more dangerous than most canoe paddling at home. Personally, I would feel more comfortable with a black bear than kayaking solo in the cold and beautiful waters of Discovery Islands.

The YCCC has a history of environmentally friendly camping so I am sure members will be fascinated by this company. They genuinely walked the ecological walk. The home lodge has gardens that supply the family and guests with fruit and vegetables. Chickens used to supply the eggs, but when they stopped laying their eggmeister couldn’t bear to hand them over to the chef. Warm water for showers comes from solar heating and most of the electricity comes from solar panels and a small hydroelectric system. Outdoors toilets use a compostable system. Food is made from scratch and most of their buildings such as their home lodge are made from scratch or recycled from a disused building such as their other hostel on another island. When I say they build from scratch, I mean they actually have a small sawmill on the property. Their employees were expected to follow the same principles and guests were encouraged to do so.

I asked the family that owns and operates the company what they did when the kayaking season was over, besides the repairs there aren’t time for during the season. In addition to catching up with friends they become more active in the environmental associations they belong to, not just walking the walk, but also talking the talk. They are very aware that their livelihood and others’ come from the beauty around them; it should be sustained and nurtured for their children and the generations to come. Political activism is as important as solar panels.

I have taken the time to discuss this because I know how few of us walk the walk when it comes to environmentalism and yet we expect for-profit and non-profit organisations to do it. How many people or organisations do you know who do more than say the right words? The only other organisation I know that approaches it is MEC. How well does the YCCC do? How well do you do?

The Discovery Islands (off the west coast of Vancouver Island – look for Campbell River on a map and then look east) are as beautiful a collection of mountains and water as can be found in Canada. Our trip kept mostly to the intertidal zones. There, in the water was a richness of fauna and flora I hadn’t expected. The ubiquitous bull kelp fascinated us and we scanned the rocks for sea mammals but the things that truly amazed me were the sea stars.

You probably have heard them called starfish but they aren’t fish so they are more properly called sea stars. They were bright purple and brilliant orange soft-bodied creatures that drape and cling to a kayak paddle when lifted out of the water. They can survive out of water for a while but shade and damp maximise their chances of survival. I saw them create the more favourable conditions when the tide was out by packing themselves into a rock crevice or piling themselves on top of each other, or ideally combining the two. As soon as the returning tide began to cover the sea stars, they slid apart and were soon solo on the sea bottom.

Most people adapt easily to kayaking: I didn’t. There is not as much flexibility in positions for your legs, especially as you need them to balance the kayak, and at times, to operate the rudder. The seat has a back to support you in an appropriate position, but it is a position you stay in. I found the kayaking positions too confining and tiring after the freedom a canoe offers. I also missed the opportunity to switch paddling sides if a shoulder showed signs of soreness or fatigue as it often does on the first day out.

If you are a canoeist planning to do a kayaking trip, work on the flexibility in your hips and hamstrings before the trip. It is probably even more important to work on your endurance than your upper body strength, as you will be using muscles with no opportunity to rest by changes in position. So, yoga, core training and long distance running or cycling or swimming or canoeing will help.

Going on a professionally guided trip helped the many inexperienced kayakers among us. One kayak was a tandem and worked well when a weary and a more expert paddler were teamed up. The guides were also prepared to tow a paddler who was losing steam; when you are tired enough to need a tow, you are past all embarrassment.

The professional guides did the cooking while we relaxed. This was the major luxury of having professional guides with us. Sure we washed dishes and pitched tents, but nothing is nicer than sitting down with a good book or gazing at the scenery while somebody else cooks. The food was wonderful, too; virtually all of it was organic, from the garden mentioned above and home prepared right down to the bread and cookies.

So why were we kayaking thousands of miles from our canoes? My daughter, Elisabeth, a former YCCC-family member, was one of our guides and our instructor, Rory, was the other. She had been working for two summers doing this and loving it. As it was going to be her last summer guiding, she persuaded us to come and try it for ourselves. She was right. The beauty of the scenery and the hidden treasures of the intertidal zone made it worth all the small discomforts of learning to handle a sea-kayak. I still love my canoe, but this was definitely an adventure neither George nor I would have missed.