Outer Coast Guides

[chodups]

In 2011 - 2013 a group of Nanaimo area paddlers undertook a series of surveys organized by Glenn Lewis of the outer BC coast from Banks Island to Cape Caution. Chief among their goals was documenting camp sites that weren't widely known and had not appeared in other guidebooks such as John Kimantas' excellent The Wild Coast 2. Since most paddlers stick to inside routes practically no documentation was available for this outer coast and little, other than scant word of mouth beta was available. Also of importance was demonstrating that coastal paddlers with ordinary skills using good information and strong decision-making capabilities could travel the outer coast safely without relying upon valor. These paddlers, all senior citizens, do have a lot of coastal experience but don't engage in kayaking behaviors driven by estrogen or testosterone.

They created three guides that were published on Issuu and offered as free downloads. Eventually the download button was disabled and recently the guides disappeared from Issuu altogether. I felt that those guides were of significant benefit to the paddling community and obtained permission to reformat them and post them on my blog. No other changes were made to these 14 year old documents.

The long term plan is to combine them into a single comprehensive guide, update information and photos and offer them once again as downloads. Take a look.

3meterswell

Kayak trips on the BC Coast

3meterswell.blogspot.com

 

[a_c]

I remember looking at these back in the day and thinking, "One of these days...."

Thanks for resurrecting this great resource. Looking forward to the downloadable version

 

[mick_allen]

Thanks Jon, another great resource retained.

 

[cougarmeat]

It would be great if all that info were available for download in one or more .pdf files. Is that available now, and I just missed it? Or is the website itself the only source for now?

 

[chodups]

It would be great if all that info were available for download in one or more .pdf files. Is that available now, and I just missed it? Or is the website itself the only source for now?

I guess I wasn't clear. The intent is for them to be combined into a single Outer Coast Guide. The Nanaimo folks intend to get that done but it isn't the snake closest to them. Right now they are out creating and improving campsites onthe Central Coast. I don't believe they are focusing on outer coast stuff right now.

 

[cougarmeat]

chopdups, yes, you were clear about the combining into a single guide. What I was puzzled about was the form that guide would take. Rereading your post, I see they will be download - probably .pdf - files.

I like your metaphor, "... the snake closest to them." It paints a priority picture in my mind.

 

[chodups]

chopdups, yes, you were clear about the combining into a single guide. What I was puzzled about was the form that guide would take - a published book, a downloadable .pdf file, a comprehensive web page, etc.

The desire of the creators is that it be a free downloadable file. I don't think that there is a desire to create a physical document but I may be wrong on that account. Glenn Lewis had been told by a government official that the best way to preserve and protect a place was to create proof that it is being utilized for recreation. Using a book that must be purchased creates a very small usage profile whereas with a free downloadable file the download count can be documented and used to argue that each download equals at least one paddler recreating on that coast. When Issuu disabled the download button that documentation was lost.

In the interim I'm able to provide a count of the number of hits that the articles get and where the hits are coming from in case an argument is needed to give the government a number of how many paddlers are using the outer coast for recreation.

 

[dimit]

Chodups, thanks for saving that info and making it available to us!

 

[chodups]

If anyone is interested there have been 162 hits since I posted this here and on Inside Passage facebook group site. Close to the same amount of traffic coming from both sites. The majority of interest is from BC with pockets around Seattle, Portland and LA. Also interested parties in New Zeland.

 

[CPS]

I know I'll be reading then in detail in the future. I need some outer coast in my life.

 

[cougarmeat]

A hit is also coming from Bend, Oregon.

Wishing you more hits than hisses in a room full of snakes.

 

[chodups]

A hit is also coming from Bend, Oregon.

Wishing you more hits than hisses in a room full of snakes. View attachment 17386

Thanks. Can't hurt. When these reports were on Issuu I used to click on each of them weekly just to help build a case for keeping out development and certain types of commercial traffic.