Salt Spring Island Circumnavigation – 2012

2 October 2012Scott R and Juan Q

A week ago Thursday, 11 members of the Brentwood Outdoor Pursuits program embarked on an epic adventure to circumnavigate Salt Spring Island in sea kayaks. The trip was led by Mr. Norman, Ms. McCallum, and Allie, our guide. This being the epi-center of our ODP term, we were all very excited. We set out, hoping that we would have better luck with the weather and finally finish what some of us started, as last year we were not able to complete the journey: gale force winds didn’t exactly make for “kayakable” weather!

As we set out, Mr. Norman said to us “We either get the whales or the weather,” and this year we thankfully got the weather, rather than the whales like last year.

Setting off on Thursday afternoon, we had a light paddle to our campsite taking just over 3 hours to Samson Point, the narrowest point between Vancouver and Salt Spring Islands. After dinner, we had some fun around the campfire telling stories, sharing readings, and eating our mandatory serving of at least three marshmallows before settling into our tents, excited for the days to come.

Days 2 and 3 were long and arduous days on the water. Our hard work was rewarded by pleasant surprises: midway through day 2 we had the opportunity to go cliff diving and at the end of day 3, Warren Featherstone, the Brentwood boatman, dropped by our campsite in the school’s largest motor boat. Although Mr. Norman claims this was a test to see how long it would take if the school needed to provide help to us, Mr. Featherstone brought ice cream out to our campsite to complement the pear crumble we hashed up out of wild pears we picked from the orchard on Prevost Island. It was a lovely end to day 3.

On our last full day of paddling, we arrived at the Shell Beach campsite on Portland Island quite early, which allowed us to go on a hike. Somehow, we managed to veer slightly off path (read completely lost) and after wading through what seemed like an endless sea of thorn bushes, we finally found our trail again. Although Mr. Norman knew the way, he allowed us to sort out our situation for ourselves. That night, Ms. McCallum led us through some yoga postures as the sun set over glassy seas, and we ate brownies baked right on the campsite before more than half the group went to sleep on the beach. Despite several attacks by raccoon gangs, the final day dawned, with more perfect paddling weather.

Arriving back on campus early on Monday, our group trudged to the cafeteria in victory, concluding our 95 kilometer paddling trip with cheesy pasta and watermelon, courtesy of the wonderful kitchen staff. Although other students were not keen about us walking through Crooks Hall after not showering for 5 days, there couldn’t have been a better way to end our trip.

Looking back, our ODP journey really allowed us to ease out of our comfort zones, make new friends, and chase raccoons. And isn’t that what adventure is all about?

Scott R and Juan Q

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