Our trip was fantastic. Everything went well from having great weather, to not having long waits for BC Ferries and starting the summer by sleeping in a tent for EIGHT straight nights.

We decided to access the Broken Group Islands (BGI) via the MV Lady Rose, an historic vessel that has been working in the area for decades. Turns out that the Lady has seen better days and while seaworthy, is not currently certified to carry passengers. Thus it was the MV Frances Barkley for us!

The trip down the Alberni Inlet was beautiful, filling us with hope for great weather for the duration of our paddling.

Alas, as we arrived at Sechart, the Park warden was quick to single us out as canoists with the following comment…

This affected our plans somewhat, and choosing caution over bravado, we opted to aim for the nearby Gibraltar Island campsite rather than the distant Turret Island one.

This turned out to be a great choice; we had a nice first day paddle, met some nice people and using traps borrowed from our friends Chris and Millie, caught Red Rock Crabs, upon which we feasted.

The next day, after listening to the marine forecast, we made a try for Turret. We made it easily, picking our way through the Tiny Islands on our way. Though the gale warning continued (and continued for the duration of our stay), we departed early, and calm conditions held. Indeed, we never saw any truly bad weather! That made for great paddling.

In the end, we had days of wildlife viewing (eagles, fish, otters, seals, dolphins whales and birds, birds, birds), clear waters to paddle and look through, pristine beaches to lounge on, tide pools to peer into, trails to walk and history to ponder. Our company was wonderful; Tod and Catherine so much fun to be with. Sadly, Colin and Maureen we not able to join us as originally planned. Next time guys!

We have a bunch more photos that you can check out if you’d like via the photo player.