Another incredibly calm day with the sea looking like a serving tray filled with little hershey kiss islets. “How long can this last?” I thought.
“Looks like the angry giant is still sleeping.” I said to JF.
“Yes, he is, but sometimes he gives a loud snore and tussles in bed a little. It can happen quite suddenly.” he joked.
I stretched my neck up to see how far the land went before curling around a cape called Tatchu Point. Nothing seemed particularly noteworthy about it. The landmark was the continuation of a long flat beach, from which there stretched a chain of small islands poking above the horizon.
“Those are not islands.” Retorted Justine, pointing out my mistake. “They are swells.”
When we got closer, it then became obvious to me that she was right, and the little dark mounts seen from far away were indeed swells, moving about like moles digging a tunnel just below the surface. The waves steeped just before the shore and then barreled on to the beach with thunderous white foam.
“Tachu point gets very rough in a storm, the water is shallow, but there’s an underwater shelf with a steep drop, so the swells stay hidden until they are right up until the end. We will go wide around the breaking zone and ride the swells into the Esperanza Sound to Catala Island.”
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We skimmed around the breakers staying just beyond their grip. Sometimes the kayak just in front of you would disappear in the folds between the swells only to reappear when a wave lifted you above the surroundings and you could look down on it.
After rounding the cape, we paddled in the same direction as the waves, sometimes surfing down the face of the swells all the way to Catala Island.
We found a steep shingle beach with a flat shelf facing the sound. At the top of the shelf which was at least eight feet above the water there stretched a meadow, which to my surprise was scattered with driftwood logs as if a giant had dropped a bag full of pencils on the floor.
“Wow, do the storms really get this high to toss the driftwood all the way here? The sea needs to rise a lot this high.”
“Anything can happen when the giant is awake. That’s why you always need to have someone keeping an eye on the weather.”
Sea Kayak Vancouver Island Circumnavigation
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