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WCP spring get together 2008

Attending (as of Apr 17):
If your name's on the list and you're not confirmed, please let me know so I can remove your name.

1. Andreas
2. Astoriadave (Leaving Saturna Sat am)
3 .Bruce (Astoriadave's friend) (Leaving Saturna Sat am)
4. Candikayak (Leaving Vancouver Thur 7am)
5. cruzin (maybe : Leaving Vancouver Sat am)
6. Dan_Millsip (Leaving Vancouver Thur 7am)
7. Doug_Lloyd (Leaving Swartz Bay Sat am)
8. Elmo
9. gregn
10. Houston (Leaving Vancouver Fri 7am)
11. inpayne (Leaving Willows/Smugglers Cove Fri am)
12. Kasey (Leaving Vancouver Thur 7am)
13. kayakwriter
14. Maddie (Leaving Vancouver Thur 7am)
15. mick_allen (Leaving Vancouver Fri 6:30pm)
16. Mike (kayakwriter's buddy)
17. Mike_Jackson (leaving Sidney Sun am, dropping by for the day)
18. RichardH (leaving Swartz Bay Fri 9am)
19. Robert_Meier (Leaving Vancouver Fri 7am)
20. sludge (maybe)
21. sushiy
22. waverider


Potluck dinner:
Andreas - Olive salad with a sweet banana caramel dressing
Dan_Millsip - Surprise appetizers
inpayne - Dessert (pie)
kayakwriter - Dessert
Maddie - Surprise appetizers
Mike - Veggie curry
Houston - Spanakopita triangles
RichardH - Beef jerky
Robert_Meier - Dessert
Waverider - Dessert
mick_allen - bagels, cream cheese, pesto and olives (you can choose only one, heh heh)


.
 
DarrenM

DarrenM

Paddler
Joined
Mar 16, 2005
Messages
3,735
Location
Victoria BC
andreas said:
How about Ruckle park on Salt Spring Isl.?
They have a huge open field for bigger parties.
There would be good fresh water on side, outhouses and ,as on Portland, great views!

The only down side is the rocky shore line.... makes it interesting for folks with wooden boats :lol:

Another cool place would be Galiano Isl. Lots of campsites , fresh water and great paddling around there too!
Click to expand...


I'd vote Galliano over Ruckle....
 
How about Thormanby? Though a bit of a drive,it's a great spot.
Or,actually....how about Prevost?
 
Assuming we're to stay in the Gulf Islands, there are a few good options. Ruckle is nice, as Andreas has suggested, but since it's also accessible by car it may be more expensive than the marine parks and it's also less private. There are a few smallish, semi-rocky beaches around the north-west corner of Beaver Point for those less than excited about landing on a sandstone shelf exposed to Swanson Channel, but they'd require a longer hike in with gear. Paddling distance is approx. 11km from Swartz Bay, 8.5 km from Fulford Harbour (accessible by ferry only from Swartz Bay), or 10.5 km from Long Harbour (accessible by ferry from Tsawwassen or other Gulf Islands). On the plus side, there is water there after March 15. :)

Prevost is nice, but tends to be a bit of a mud pit if it's rained for any amount of time before arriving. :? There are a couple of tent sites up on a small ridge, but the rest are in an old orchard area. The grass is uncut and tends to grow in clumps on an uneven ground; finding good, flat tent sites can be difficult for a group our size. Paddling distances are about 4 km from Long Harbour on Saltspring (only a vaible option for those coming from the mainland - there's no direct ferry service from Swartz Bay to Long Harbour); 19.5 km from Swartz Bay, or 7.5 km from the Village Bay ferry terminal on Mayne Island (serviced from Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen).

Another suitable option might be Beaumont Marine Park on South Pender Island. A few of us met there last summer. There are a few select tent sites nearer the water, and many more in a treed setting a short distance away (near where the water pump used to be, for anyone who's been there in the past). From Swartz Bay it's a 16.5 km paddle across Prevost Passage and up Haro Strait, which can see some variable conditions. Another option is a more sheltered 8.5 km paddle from the Lyall Harbour ferry terminal on Saturna Island, which is serviced by BC Ferries from Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen. Launching at Lyall Harbour is only possible from the Government wharf so you'd want to organize your gear at the top and make a quick launch to avoid disrupting the regular activities on this dock. :oops:

Galiano Island has also been suggested so I'll address that too. Montague Harbour is also vehicle-accessible but is not within walking distance (with a kayak) from Sturdies Bay, which is the ferry terminal on Galiano. Paddling from Sturdies Bay to Montague is possible but requires a trip through Active Pass :shock: , which is not something I'd recommend for anyone who has not done such a thing in the past. Active Pass sees considerable current and a lot of marine traffic (including all ferries to and from Tsawwassen, the Gulf Islands and Swartz Bay, plus other commercial and private vessel traffic). One could paddle from Village Bay on Mayne Island, but that still requires crossing the southern entrance to Active Pass. There's still lots of current there, and the traffic is still a consideration. Those from the mainland could get a ferry to Long Harbour (Saltspring) and paddle about 9 km from there, but there really aren't a lot of options for the islanders who are not comfortable with long distances or current / traffic considerations (and don't want to drive a vehicle to Galiano).

Wallace Island would also be a great place, but paddling distances for mainlanders and islanders alike are considerable so it's probably not worth exploring. We'd like to keep this event accessible to paddlers of all abilities.

That's about all I can come up with in the Gulf Islands. However, late last summer, Blondie, Sushiy, Waverider and I met for a weekend trip to Keats Island in Howe Sound. Although I may be somewhat biased, I enjoyed that trip thoroughly :wink: and was quite impressed with Keats Island as a possible location for this event. The best access would be from Horseshoe Bay, either by paddling the (roughly) 20 km to Keats or by ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale, about a 4 km paddle to Plumper Cove Marine Park on Keats Island. Launch sites at Langdale remain elusive though, and Blondie arrived at the conclusion that it was cheaper to take her car to Langdale and drive to Gibsons (where launching areas are much more readily available) than it was to park at Horseshoe Bay for the weekend. The paddle (or swim!) from Gibsons to Keats Island is a greulling 2.5 km. :lol:

Any other suggestions? :idea:
 
South Pender sounds really good!

How about the group campsite on Portland? Nice beach to land, plenty of room for at least 20 tents and it shouldn't be to crowded in april.

This may sound a bit selfish, but if getting to the get together would mean taking one or more ferries with a car then I would most likely not attend...
 
andreas said:
This may sound a bit selfish, but if getting to the get together would mean taking one or more ferries with a car then I would most likely not attend...
Click to expand...

I don't think you are selfish,That's totally understandable Andreas. 2 ferries and driving in between back and forth for a short weekend sounds a lot for most of the people. But if, the site is in Keats and if you are willing to cart your kayak onto ferry, and you can coordinate with my schedule ( i am playing the schedule works out with my work schedule), I can pick you up at Tsawassen. As a border crossing foreigner, I would most likely go there a day earlier. But Is Keats reservable, or can we negotiate to park and launch from YMCA(was it?) by the Langdale ferry?

Mark_S wrote:
Although I may be somewhat biased, I enjoyed that trip thoroughly Wink
Click to expand...
:lol: I think you enjoyed throughly even if it was snowy rocky camp on windy Berling Sea. :lol: I just had to say it :)
 
Just wanting to get the dates for this weekend get together straight. Need to book off at work soon to get them for April. Would love to paddle with you guys again, no matter where we go.
 
I think it was last weekend in April last year. Is it therefore likely to be April 26 & 27 this year?

Keats is a worthy contender, particularly if the weather turns badly.
 
Mark_Schilling said:
However, late last summer, Blondie, Sushiy, Waverider and I met for a weekend trip to Keats Island in Howe Sound. Although I may be somewhat biased, I enjoyed that trip thoroughly :wink: and was quite impressed with Keats Island as a possible location for this event. The best access would be from Horseshoe Bay, either by paddling the (roughly) 20 km to Keats or by ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale, about a 4 km paddle to Plumper Cove Marine Park on Keats Island. Launch sites at Langdale remain elusive though, and Blondie arrived at the conclusion that it was cheaper to take her car to Langdale and drive to Gibsons (where launching areas are much more readily available) than it was to park at Horseshoe Bay for the weekend. The paddle (or swim!) from Gibsons to Keats Island is a greulling 2.5 km. :lol: Any other suggestions? :idea:
Click to expand...

If it's not gonna be Portland or Beaumount Marine Park, Keat's Island has an advantage for purely personal reasons: if the weather's right, I'll be able to paddle directly there from Vancouver. When I did this last May, I got some good sailing in both there and back. If the weather's dicey, I'll be soliciting a ride from some fellow WestCoastPaddler (I'm good for my share of gas and ferry fare, plus a beer or three...)
There are some nice trails on Keats, that lead up to a peak where you get a great view of Howe Sound.
According to the BC parks and Discover Camping websites, there are no group campsites on Keats (just a day trip group picnic site) and no reservations are taken for the individual sites.
 
What is wrong with Portland? Easy access for both: Victoria and Vancouver paddlers, beautiful location, and by now it is almost an established event. No conditions attached to weather. Lots of camping spaces, even in the mid-summer.

From my perspective, I most likely will not go to Keats.

I hope that Portland get together will be there forever.
 
Mark and I met this afternoon and discussed South Pender -- it's still in the Gulf Islands and allows fairly good access for both those from the Island and those from the Mainland (Lyall Harbour on Saturna Island) to Beaumont Campsite is about 8 or so km).

There's a group campsite and several single campsites that should easily accomodate a fair sized group.

Thoughts?

gregn, we knew at the outset two years ago that there was a good possiblity that we could quickly outgrow Portland Island, and for that reason, never called it the Portland Island Campout. There was plenty of discussion about what to call it and one of the criteria is that we never wanted to limit ourselves to a single location -- that's why we called it the "WCP Spring Get Together". The last two years were at Portland and we all had a terrific time there -- it's an awesome spot -- but the possiblity of meeting there on the same weekend as another large group is quite high, especially as more and more people are using these facilities outside the summer months.

If the get together continues to grow in popularity, we'll probably at some point, need to find a private location that we can secure to ensure that we don't run into problems like we're discussing now. Fwiw, the Keats Island campsite is apparently very nice and it's quite large. I'll be paddling over there in the next weeks to take a look at it myself.

Perhaps we should make a list of all possiible suitable locations and outline all the positives and negatives of each?

*****
 
I'd love to join you all, so if you're taking a tentative head count could you include me?

I have all my own camping/cooking gear, and thanks to you folks and some creative scrounging, a workable paddling setup :)

Looking forward to meeting everyone in person.

See you on the H2O
elmo
 
Can anyone confirm proposed dates? We'd like to try this year but probably won't be able to if it's definitely 26th/27th April. Our loss :(
 
The Sun Run is on April 20, so scheduling it on that weekend may take out a few participants?
 
Sun Run? :?:

I'm flexible. Maybe Mark or Dan can set the date and then we go from there?

I'm still all for South Pender or for Portland :wink:
 
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