The Broken Islands

The Broken Islands

As we waited out our weather for the offshore sail south, we did some exploring around the Broken Island group. The first stop was Joe's Bay anchorage. We found a secluded spot away from the kayakers and pleasure boats. A beautiful cove hemmed in by four or five islands. We immediately dispatched the unfortunate crabs we had caught at Ucluelet, and had one for lunch, and saved the other for topping our barbecued steaks later that evening. The life of a cruiser can be very difficult at times. ;~)

After our delicious lunch, we launched the kayaks and began exploring the islands and islets in the vicinity. What an amazingly picturesque place! Very quickly we came upon an oyster bed, and gathered up eight unfortunate dinner guests. Later that evening, after our dinner, the sky gave us a wonderful sunset.

In the morning we discovered that the crabs had been talking, and the pot only contained a few youngsters who had ignored the warnings. Kids nowadays!

After an easy breakfast, and some minor maintenance, we motored off to one of Dave's favourite spots, a place called Refuge Island. This is actually out of the park and borders on Vancouver Island. Dave insisted we immediately paddle up Lucky Creek. This was a very enjoyable paddle through dark green rain-forest for about 1/2 a mile. The site at the end was astounding! A seemingly endless series of waterfalls and crystal clear pools tumbling through huge craggy rocks greeted us. We pulled the kayaks onto the rocks and then swam each pool as we ventured farther up the creek. The final scene was breathtaking! One could stand at the top of a high rock and see a 300 degree panorama of huge waterfalls and deep clear pools. It looked like a movie set. By this time we were fairly chilled from our swims. We had a quick beer on the warm rocks and kayaked back to Cygnus.

The following day we motored a short distance south to Mayne Bay and anchored in an unnamed cove. There we rousted about three dozen butter clams from their bed, and cooked up a wonderful pot of chowder for lunch the next day. We also found a bazillion oysters and chose five of the best to join us for dinner.

The next day we decided to try our luck at salmon fishing again at Swale Rock. This time success! We managed to hook a perfect Coho, about 21". Just the right size for a couple of delicious meals, the first being at Nettle Island where we spent a restless night with the wind pummeling us as an unexpected extreme low pressure system hit us after midnight. Suspecting we might see more winds, in the morning we moved about a mile to Jacques/Jarvis cove for much better protection, and a change of scene. We had to enter at high tide to get enough depth, but the holding was great, and as expected, the winds came up again as the barometer rose. We had another down day of reading and a short explore in the kayaks between blows.

After hearing the weather report, we decided to stay another night at Jacques/Jarvis. A good thing. The wind came up again and whistled through the rigging for much of the night. Then the rain came down in buckets. In the morning we decided to head for Ucluelet and get ready to head south. The trip there was quite rough and windy. I think others were taking refuge at Ucluelet also, since the harbor was full and we had to raft up to another boat. This evening, laundry, showers, groceries, and maybe pizza for a treat.

Cheers! Pete and Dave.

Pete with his first salmon