Sailing Vessel Karma

Leaving Greene Island in a dense mist, we departed with all the other serious looking cruising sailboats at around 10am. Expecting mostly a motor, we set out, sneaking around the shallow bits in the channel entrance, and then turned due west to enter the strangely straight Kwakshua Channel. We had the head sail out for a bit while the wind filled in, but it quickly died as we entered actual rain and heavy fog. I say rain and fog but it was more like we were motoring straight up through a cloud and therefore we were running into the water which was hanging in the air.

Hiding behind the dodger we approached the end of the 4 and a half mile channel to find a row of boats anchored on each side of the bay which was semi surprising as we kept hearing that north of Cape Caution we would find less and less boats. Alas, we head towards the front as it’s shallower and low and behold, we come across SV Qualia! With Murat aboard, we had asked them a few weeks back for a ride from Port McNeill to Lagoon Cove when Karma was stranded there but they were heading the other way.

We anchored behind them, taking two tries as we ended up close to a neighbouring boat the first go round, then sat and Heather did a bit of an anchor watch while I paddled to check if there were any sort of hours at the famed Hakai Ocean Institute.

Upon getting to shore I entered into a supremely scerene landscape, very tropical feeling almost, with the damp trees surrounding a very well maintained garden and science institute tucked into the landscape. The sound of the crashing ocean waves was intising but I returned to get Heather before exploring further.

On my paddle back I was stopped by Murat who invited us to come aboard SV Qualia that evening to share in some Halibut which they had caught. Little did we know the adventures and friendships which would come from Linda and Murat inviting us aboard that evening, but that will get it’s entire own post.

After picking up Heather on the paddleboard we set back off to the very well maintained but sleepy dock to set off on a walk on shore. Since going north of Desolation Sound there hasn’t been too many places to walk. The more north the more wild the islands are so there are less and less trails unless you want to bushwhack your way randomly around, so a designated trailed was well welcomed.

We meandered through the trees, around the institute, and on cute little boardwalks which they had made over the muddy bits as we transversed the rainforest. Not too much of a very pleasant walk later we came out to a white sandy beach! Small rock islands, lagoons, crashing waves, the gnarled trees which grow close to a windy shore, this was literally straight out of a pirates movie.

Now we were excited, shoes were kicked off immediately and we were astounded by what we had stumbled across. We didn’t even know what to do we just ran around all giddy then realized we could continue following the trail to the next set of beaches. Pictures are going to do this more justice than any silly words so I’ll leave it mainly to those to portray the scenery.

The trail connects 8 beaches to the south and then a north beach to, well, the north, while the main beach, West Beach, is the one connected directly to the trail from the institute.

Through the rocky and dense forest, the trail continues up and over and across more cute boardwalks as it snakes between where it lets you out to the next beach where you walk across the sand until you find the next repurposed crab trap buoy to know where to enter the trees again. Some had tons of drift wood, some were tucked in coves, and some were big and opened, it was amazing.

At the end of the trail there was a beach on a corner where the waves crashed around a small island in two directions which was a particuarlly special sight. This really looked like some sort of pirate cove hang out.

Returning back across the beaches we were excited at the prospect of maybe spending another day hanging around, more than originally planned. And good thing we did. As it turns out, Pruth Bay ended up being sort of the ‘oh now it really feels like we are cruising’ sort of place.

The weather warmed up and got sunny, we did beach hang outs, look out hikes, sunset walks with new friends. Had a fun and amazing dinner cooked on SV Qualia, then went out fishing aboard with Linda and Murat the next day, caught fish, then did it all again! A late morning feeling the effects of fun lead us to run into another kids cruising boat with Captain Tobin and scallywags of Zoey, Mark, and Sarah aboard SV Ashram who we would end up spending a lot more time with going north, even landing us with a new crew member for a leg of our journey!

Pruth bay really felt like a turning point, and it’s continued as we’ve gone north from there.