...J&J's Excellent Adventure: Paddling around D'Arcy and Rum Islands

D'Arcy Island in the distance and a big crossing ahead. Calm seas and low clouds made the crossing magical.

Jay and I spent a wonderful weekend paddling the southern Gulf Islands recently. I needed some tent time, we live right by the ferry to B.C., and our kayaks were itching for some water. The forecast was good for some larger crossings and open water, so we decided to paddle the D'Arcy Loop from Sidney, B.C., down and around Sidney Island, and eventually back to Sidney. We paddled to D'Arcy Island pretty late in the day on Friday, arriving just before the sky turned really dark. As we pulled up to the beach we spotted a river otter, only about 30 ft. away, rubbing and marking a log on the beach with no regard to our presence. After beaching our boats and saying "hi" to the one other solo camper/kayaker on the island, we had a glass of wine and celebrated wild places, otters, and sleeping in tiny tents. All the things that make me so incredibly happy.

The awesome beach at D'Arcy Island - you can just see the bow of my boat, Alaria, blending in with the rest of the wood.

The one other person on the island was an amazing man! Turns out that this man, Mike, had just finished paddling the entire west coast of Vancouver Island. Our plans to leave D'Arcy early and spend the day exploring lots of little islands were put on hold because this guy was amazing and we had so much to talk about. We looked at charts of the western coast together and marveled at the places he had been. We are not experienced enough paddlers to be out in that big water, but he pointed out places he thought we could go to and we drooled over all the opportunities. Our conversation wandered into foreign travel and we discussed South America (he has been, we are considering going) and Indonesia (we love it there and he was considering going). He was one of those people you meet in your life for just a few fleeting seconds, yet he left us with an impression that will last for years. He was really, really, awesome. Travel, near or far, gives us these rich experiences that make us feel so much gratitude for the life we are privileged to live.

Once we finally pulled ourselves away from Mike, we paddled slowly north along the east side of Sidney Island. After lunch on a lovely beach, we headed east off the coast of Sidney Island to give Mandarte Island a closer inspection. This neat island is, obviously, a big bird colony. There are no trees - presumably because all the bird poo keeps them from growing? It was a busy, stinky, noisy, crowded, bird-packed island and we loved exploring the coast and watching the birds with our binoculars.

It was another decent crossing from Mandarte Island to Rum Island but these crossing are so fun when there is no wind to scare the crap out of you. Jay is a tiny dot in this photo with the approaching rain (not storm) cloud behind him. We were racing to the island to get our tent set up before the rain arrived. After that we don't care if it rains. It keeps other people away and gives us solitude because we love rain and don't mind camping in it at all.

Still sleeping in the same tent since 1999.

Drinking rum on Rum Island

Morning light on Rum Island, which we had all to ourselves....perfect!

Paddling along the southern coast of Gooch Island. Don't you love all the island names? They were all involved in stashing booze during Prohibition (not surprising considering that these islands are soooo close to the US border).