Epic paddle near Quadra Island

After mum was a bit disappointed that she missed out on our 4-day 6-whale extravaganza at the Johnstone Strait, we decided to do a short trip up island. In order to include Ramata we would have to fit it into one weekend, so we we couldn't go as far as Telegraph Cove but that didn't mean it couldn't be epic. We were fairly ambitions and drove up to Campbell River then took the ferry to Quadra Island, then drove up to Surge Narrows.

It was a pretty long trip for a weekend but that is just how we roll! We got the the launch at Surge Narrows and to our surprise, we were not the only ones with he idea. The parking lot was backed up a good couple hundred meters up the logging road so we had to park some distance away. We got there quite late and camped on a little pull-off beside the logging road. 

We rose early for the laborious task of getting ourself launched which always takes at least an hour but this time took probably 90 minutes because we had to park the van so far away. Finally on the water, we paddled by Surge Narrows to take a look at it. We were all mightily impressed by the sheer power of the currents there, and were eager to steer clear of them before we got ourselves sucked in for the wild ride of our lives. 

Paddling through Whiterock Passage, we entered Calm Channel, when we spotted a massive splash on the horizon. It was an absolutely massive humpback whale slapping his pectoral fins gleefully as if he had just had the feast of his life. We paddled in for a closer look and captured some video of the beast. You have to see this! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEB1Ts9iJDw

After I shot the video, the beast dove for several minutes. After about 20 minutes, we heard a water spout unsettlingly close behind us. The beast appeared to have swam under us! I'm not sure exactly how close he was but when he dove back down, we were bouncing up and down from the resultant waves. 

We then explored an abandoned church house somewhere on the mainland, where we had lunch and watched the humpback foraging in the bay. There were quite alot of salmon berries to eat and some ancient junk washed up on the beach which was interesting to look at, like a metal toy army truck that said made in England on it. We paddled to the entrance of Bute Inlet to look for some petroglyphs but could not find them.

Finding an unoccupied campsite proved difficult but Rendezvous Island North had some space left on a rock bluff. We were thoroughly battered. For the second day, for some reason, instead of paddling back the way we came which would have been the sensible choice, I convinced everybody to circumnavigate Read Island which ended up being something like 35 km which was quite exhausting and we didn't get back to the house until about 11 pm! Maybe I need to turn the rage meter down a couple notches for the next outing.