Backup plan for launch at Oak Bay Marina

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hyr00

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Surrey, BC
I'm planning to do the Salish Marine Trail from Victoria to Vancouver via Nanaimo (crossing to Lasqueti) starting on September 3rd. I'd like to launch at Oak Bay Marina on the first day and paddle to Discovery Island later in the day when the current is slack. I picked Sept 3 because currents are calmer that day and in my favour the next morning when I launch.

I'm wondering if there are any ideas for a backup plan in case it is too windy to launch that day. There are no campgrounds anywhere along the water except Island View in Saanich. I won't have a car since someone will be dropping me off and then returning home via a ferry. So far my alternative is to skip that launch site altogether and launch from Saanich then paddle to Darcy or Sidney Spit. If it's too windy I can stay at Island View Campground. But I really really want to see Discovery Island and start the Trail at its 'real' origin!
 
You could try a launch at 10am from Telegraph Bay and catch the ebb across Baynes to Strongtide Island and around the east side of the Chatham Islands, past the old light station on Discovery Island, past SeabirdPoint and into Rudlin Bay to the campsite there. For this crossing on an ebb we aim for the Fulford Reef buoy just north of the Chatham Islands as soon as it comes into view when we exit Telegraph Bay. Strongtide is aptly named and the current often makes its northern tip look like the prow of a ship underway. So you want to swing well north of Strongtide to avoid being pulled into Baynes Passage.
 

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Maybe you could add an extra weather day to your schedule. Then tell your friend with the car that the drop-off at Oak Bay will be either September 3 (if it's not windy) or September 4 (if it's too windy on Sept. 3). Then, the night before, you cancel whichever ferry reservation you end up not using for, I believe, a $5 fee.

If you end up launching on September 3, then great, you can use that extra day you built in to the schedule to hang out somewhere nice along the route. Jedediah Island would be a great choice for a layover, IMO. But, if you end up launching on September 4, you would still get home on the same day you otherwise would, because the day you lost at the beginning of the trip was that extra day you built in to the schedule.

Another way to do it might be to run the route in reverse. If it's too windy on the VI side on Sept. 3, there's a chance it won't be as windy on the mainland side. And even if it is too windy on the mainland side for a big crossing, it still might be possible to reach a nearby, more sheltered campsite for that first night, depending where on the mainland you launch.

One significant downside to the reversed-route approach is that it might be tricky to coordinate your arrival time on VI via kayak with your driver's arrival time on VI via ferry.

Alex
 
alexsidles said:
Maybe you could add an extra weather day to your schedule. Then tell your friend with the car that the drop-off at Oak Bay will be either September 3 (if it's not windy) or September 4 (if it's too windy on Sept. 3). Then, the night before, you cancel whichever ferry reservation you end up not using for, I believe, a $5 fee.

If you end up launching on September 3, then great, you can use that extra day you built in to the schedule to hang out somewhere nice along the route. Jedediah Island would be a great choice for a layover, IMO. But, if you end up launching on September 4, you would still get home on the same day you otherwise would, because the day you lost at the beginning of the trip was that extra day you built in to the schedule.

Another way to do it might be to run the route in reverse. If it's too windy on the VI side on Sept. 3, there's a chance it won't be as windy on the mainland side. And even if it is too windy on the mainland side for a big crossing, it still might be possible to reach a nearby, more sheltered campsite for that first night, depending where on the mainland you launch.

One significant downside to the reversed-route approach is that it might be tricky to coordinate your arrival time on VI via kayak with your driver's arrival time on VI via ferry.

Alex
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I never thought of this! Thank you - I will make a second ferry reservation for Sept 4.

Home is near Vancouver, which is why I want to have it as a destination. It gives the trip a sense of purpose, at least for me. And it does make it easier for someone to pick me up at Jericho Beach and drive me home!
 
hyr00 said:
At 12 knots of wind I get antsy and at 15 knots it’s a definite no. I am not that brave!
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Though it can get windy any time of year, I don't think of the time around Labour Day as being notably stormy so the odds are in your favour.
Somebody with more computer skills than I have could probably dredge up wind data from past years.
Crossing to Discovery through the Chain Is is usually pretty uneventful, though people have gotten into trouble in Plumper passage.
BTW, I'd definitely avoid heading south from Telegraph Cove on an ebb tide if the wind was southerly. I skedaddled back to the car one day years ago when I found myself in big waves in those conditions.
 
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hyr00 said:
I never thought of this! Thank you - I will make a second ferry reservation for Sept 4.

Home is near Vancouver, which is why I want to have it as a destination. It gives the trip a sense of purpose, at least for me.
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My pleasure. Some trips just have to be done a certain way or it won’t feel right.

Don’t forget to cancel the second reservation. It would be so easy to forget between now and September. Friday last week I got slapped with a no-show fee for a backup ferry reservation I’d made months ago and then forgotten about. Put a reminder in your phone or something. And don’t forget to make it a roundtrip reservation on both the primary date and the backup date, otherwise your driver could end up very annoyed with you!

Alex
 
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