Exploring the First leg of the Inside Passage
The Sunshine Coast of British Columbia
Latitude 49°.4742° N, Longitude 123°7546° W
June 19 – June 25, 2022
I went to Canada with a recurring and nagging internal conflict. The conflict is in my brain and arises from me questioning myself as to whether or not I should be tackling these dreams at my age and overall state of being. Thus, I would be going to the waters I seek to explore to find the answers.
June 20 Monday:
My daughter-in-law, Michelle (my future expedition partner), and I traveled to Sechelt, BC located on the Sunshine Coast and home to the Shíshálh people. It is a town that sits between the Straits of Georgia (Salish Sea) and the Sechelt Inlet. Both bodies of water are within the prevue of the Inside Passage. The ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay, Vancouver was about 45 minutes and was awesome and scenic. Upon docking at Langdale / Gibsons, which was just down the road from Sechelt, we drove to our Air BnB. It faced the Inlet and was right on the water. I was hoping for a little more isolation. Still, it was very pretty at high tide. We explored Sechelt and got familiar with the area.
June 21 Tuesday:
I don’t know how I feel. Awoke to the ebb tide that exposed the less attractive view of the shoreline. Water is calm as could be. Geese and ducks are feeding. I’m looking out from the deck of the BnB. Houses on both sides of the inlet. Not the remoteness I read about, dreamed about, or hoped for. Maybe I just need to get out and start exploring the area. I start with a walk on the beach along the shoreline by myself. I walked about a mile to the provincial park. It is absolutely gorgeous and well maintained. Spent time sitting on a log watching the water and thinking. I feel so much better there, past the houses and at the start of a more remote part of the inlet. Just me and my thoughts.
Today there is an 80-90% chance of rain. We are planning to drive up the straits and I am looking forward to that. We went exploring and toured Sechelt, Madeira Park and had lunch at Garden Bay. On our way back Michelle and I went out to the Straits of Georgia. It rained hard with lots of fog as well and very high seas.
From my readings, this is what I envisioned the straits to be and the Inside Passage. Glorious moment and I was finally there. Now if only we were paddling kayaks out there!
June 22 Wednesday:
The doubt is settling in again. I have a bad feeling about kayaking on Thursday but that is nothing new. I am awake at 2:45 AM and reflecting on my thoughts after being at the straits: The negative feelings would not wipe out the dreams of going to Desolation Sound or Haida Gwaii or Alaska. I finished Audrey Sutherland’s book at 8:25 AM. Tears swelled in my eyes as her writing enabled me to share her joy at completing the epic journey within the passage. I felt her pain as she fought the seas and the weather and the long tedious paddling days. Her amazement as she comes face to face with the natural wonders of Alaska. I admired her bravery and her tenacity as she completed her dream. 85 days, 850 miles, all in a 9-foot inflatable kayak by herself as she completed the Alaskan portion of the Inside Passage. And her closing words? ” Well done small boat.” I am inspired and the doubts are gone.
Today, we are planning to explore Gibsons. I am looking forward to that. Took photos at Roberts Creek and then had lunch at the marina in Gibsons at a place called Smitty’s. Awesome seafood: Oysters, Shrimp, Scallops and Prawns and beer. On the way home, Michelle and I checked out the kayak rental place, Peddles and Paddles, in a town called Tuwanek, and we made a rental reservation for the morning. So much for bad feelings, I am going to push through this, regardless.
June 23 Thursday:
We launched from Peddles & Paddles which was just below Tuwanek. We used a tandem sea kayak and paddled 5 miles up the inlet past the Lamb Islets on our way to Oyster Beach. My plan was to circumnavigate all the islands that we encountered and make our way north to where the inlet opens back up to the straits.
It was easy going heading out and we paddled out into the open water. On the return, the winds kicked up and we were paddling into a headwind. We had to make adjustments and get our strokes coordinated so we could paddle efficiently being in a tandem kayak. Up to this point, neither of us had been in a Tandem. Michelle worked the rudder and kept us going straight even in the headwind. Awesome scenery. Just what I imagined paddling in the Inside Passage would be like. I’ve now experienced everything I wanted on this trip. Awesome so far.
June 24 Friday:
Our last day in Sechelt. The Sunshine Coast is the Canadian gateway to the Inside Passage. Towns are quaint and cozy. The scenery is spectacular. Paddling is as easy or as rough as you want. I could easily live here. Did I solve my problem? I’m not sure but this trip helped a lot. I have more clarity now and may have found the answers I came to find. In addition to Michelle’s idea of finding a solution that is not doing the entire passage on one long expedition. Her alternative solution would be to continue on with the preparation and break it up into smaller expeditions / epic adventures (Desolation Sound, Haida Gwaii, and Alaska).
Upon coming home, I reflected on the trip and the area in general. I wondered about the connection to indigenous peoples whose land I had the honor of enjoying and exploring. I began to research the history and culture of the peoples whose homeland I explored.
Ties and linkages to the Indigenous peoples of the region:
The Sechelt or Shíshálh people, (in their language spelled Shishálh) are an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. At the time of the first European contact the Sechelt had a population of close to 26,000. Sechelt women were famous for their beautiful cedar woven baskets, which were made using materials such as cedar tree roots, cannery grass and birch bark.
The swiya (territory or land) of the shíshálh people lies between Queens Reach in Jervis Inlet and Howe Sound on the south coast of British Columbia. Historically there were four main settlements at kalpilin (Pender Harbour), ts’unay (Deserted Bay), xenichen (Jervis Inlet) and tewankw near Porpoise Bay.
The she shashishalhem language is the traditional language spoken by the shíshálh Nation which is a Coast Salish dialect. In the early 1970s, the elders of the shíshálh Nation started efforts to revive the language with the assistance of Ron Beaumont, a linguist and professor from the University of British Columbia. Together they created a 1000 page plus Sechelt Dictionary, published in 2011 and worked with the shíshálh Education Department to provide on-going translation for curriculum development that includes songs, dances, legends, prayers, and classroom instruction. As of 2014, the Coastal Corridor Consortium, “an entity made up of board members from First Nations and educational partners to improve aboriginal access to and performance in postsecondary education and training” has created a Sechelt Nation language certificate.
The heritage of the nation is shown in the tems swiya Museum in Sechelt, which opened in 1994 on the site of the former St. Augustine’s Indian Residential School.
All-in-all, it was a trip that I will never forget. The highlights of the trip for me were:
- Being out by the Straits of Georgia in the rain, fog, and rough seas.
- Paddling the Sechelt Inlet, taking in the awesome scenery and bonding with Michelle.
- The seafood lunch at Smitty’s in Gibsons.
- The walk on the beach of the Inlet by myself imagining I have landed my kayak there.
- Finishing reading Audrey Sutherland’s book which gives me the inspiration to keep exploring the passage.
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