Thread: Broken Island group BC

Day 4 - Clarke Island to Willis Island.

The horns on the fog buoys started up in the night, pretty cool lying in the tent listening to them.

For the first time we woke to this.



The system of waring buoys they have over here is pretty smart. Not only do they have fog buoys but also 'whistle buoys'. They fire up when there is any swell, each time the swell passes the buoy it lets out a loud whistle. This then tells you period between the swell, clever!

The fog didn't take long to lift so we were back on the water. First stop Benson Island.



This island is considered the home of the Tseshaht people, archeological evidence shows habitation as much as 5000 years ago. Tseshaht translates to "people who smell like dead whales rotting on the beach".

Apparently that was a very honorable name as they were so good at whale hunting. They would paddle out and harpoon the whale (usually humpbacks) attach airbags made of seal skin and follow it until it tired. At this point the canoe chief would kill it with a spear, immediately a brave would dive in, cut a hole in its jaw and tie the mouth closed to stop it filling with water.

They would then tow the whale back to Benson Island for butchering. Not a bad effort for a canoe with no more than 8 or 10 paddlers !!

House post on Benson Island, carved posts such as this would support the main beam of their long houses.



The paddling conditions just got better as the day went on so we enjoyed some beautiful scenery throughout the day.




Once camp was set up the boys and I set about our evening ritual of paddling outside the fin fish reserve to catch some dinner.


Quill back rockfish on the board, other 4 are kelp grayling. Top two female, bottom two male.

Used the frame of one fish as bait for the crab trap. Ingenious thing that worked exceptionaly well and provided hours of entertainment for the boys and more crabs than we could eat.



Just throw it out off the rocks, it would open into a circle on the sea floor. Leave it 20-30min then a quick pull of the rope would close it up as seen above, catching any crab that had been investigating the bait



The boys gave those three to some others camped at willis and in return were given some marshmallows and a couple of beers for dad. How good



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Day 5 - Willis Island to Turtle island.

Last day on the broken group. Ended up having the Willis island east beach camp site to our selves last night. To be honest the only island that was somewhat busy was Clarke which is considered the 'jewel in the crown' so not surprising that was where most of the kayakers were. We had hardly anyone at any of our other camps.

Willis east side camp.



One thing that was really cool about these camps was the array of wood on the beaches. The boys had great fun dragging all the useful bits back to camp so we could use them for seats, benches and tables etc.



Headed out to the last group of outer islands we hadn't visited. Dempster, Onion and Mullins Island.

Pretty mint conditions considering that's the open pacific ocean in front of us.



When we hopped on the plane on the way over the pilot said "It will be a smooth flight, there is really nothing in the pacific at the moment". My ears perked up at that considering where we were headed. He was right



A couple more beaches visited. The outer islands don't have many spots to land especially on their western sides, but the ones that do are primo !!



Found an old cedar dead fall with an interesting face carved in it.



Before reaching turtle Island to rendezvous with our transport back to Ucluelet.





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The wildlife we have seen on this trip has been insane!!

One wolf, two bears, more dear then we could count. Snakes, squirrels, chip monks, mink and martin. Raccoons, otters, seals and pups. Eagles, blue heron, humming birds. Also a massive amount of intertidal creatures such as starfish, anemone etc.

The oldest boy has been in charge of the big camera and has some unreal photos. I will revisit this thread when we get home and post some of them up for you folk.

But for now....

Wolf print.



Juvenile black bear print (we actually saw this bear) it wasn't a cub but it was a youngish one.



Banana slug.




One day left on Vancouver island !

On the big bird heading home now so thought I would make use of the inflight wifi and throw up a few pictures of our last day on Vancouver island.

Easy to see why this section of west coast is known as the graveyard of the Pacific. The end for many many ships over the years.





Stopped in at Stamp creek falls near Port Alberni to check out the Salmon run. Currently Sockeye. The concrete structure you can see the photo below is a salmon ladder. It was cool to see how that worked.



The salmon can't get up the falls so the pool below is literally full of them.



Threw the boys in with the goggles, it blew their socks off



Wonderful views of Vancouver with Mount Baker in the background from the ferry crossing back to the mainland.



Awesome trip memories for a life time


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If anyone has become inspired to check out the broken islands. We hired our kayaks from Hello Nature in Ucluelet.

https://hellonature.ca/?gad_source=1...xoCdIEQAvD_BwE

Kevin the owner was great to deal with. You do need to prove that you have sufficient experience before he will hire them to you though.

Guided trips are also offered which would definitely be a good option for some people just not what we were looking for.

The other place you can hire kayaks or do guided trips is from the broken island lodge. Only accessible by boat or float plane.

https://www.brokenislandslodge.com/



I am always happy to answer any questions via PM if anyone is interested.

Hope you have enjoyed the photos. If there were too many blame @ROKTOY he is the one that asked for lots of photos

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Thanks for doing the write up and stories, i enjoyed the series and it was great to see another part of the world in detail.
If you need another son on your next voyage, look no further.
would have been an awesome trip for the lads and you.

Really enjoyed following your trip , thanks for sharing

Cheers guys, glad you enjoyed the updates

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Short of stature, broad of shoulder...
Thanks for the photos @kukuwai, It certainly looked like a fantastic trip with some great weather to make it more enjoyable.
I'm glad I am not the jealous type.

Great times with your boys, really enjoyed this thread

Thanks for the tour. I live on an island and enjoy others. Great trip.

Wow what a epic adventure for you and your Sons!
Very cool cheers for sharing.

Very cool - was a great read with some wicked pics!

Some wildlife shots off the boys big camera. Enjoy



















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Originally Posted by ROKTOY

Short of stature, broad of shoulder...
Thanks for the photos @kukuwai, It certainly looked like a fantastic trip with some great weather to make it more enjoyable.
I'm glad I am not the jealous type.

So have you booked yet?

Having been to both Vancouver and the island many years ago I would still love to have done what you just did. Sadly for me paddling is out of the question.

Loved all the photo's though