Monday, August 8, 2011

We left the dock and headed a mere 2.4 miles and anchored in 50 feet of water just east of the dock at Savary Island. Not many large boats anchor here due to the poor-holding sand bottom (for the anchor), but we got a strong bite and decided we could stay for the night. We unloaded the toys and Aunt Christine and we set out to tour one side of Savary Island. I have mentioned it before but Savary is one of my favorite places I have ever been. I have read a couple of books about the history and life on Savary Island, which probably adds to its appeal. However its physical geography contributes greatly to its charm. Hydraulically, it is the half way point for waters coming around the north and south ends of Vancouver Island and the water meets in the middle at roughly Savary Island. Because of this the water simply washes back and forth with the tide and never really makes it out to the ocean, resulting in unusually warm water. It also is one of the only islands facing an east-west direction and one of the very few with sandy beaches around its entire perimeter.

The kayaks are a new addition to the boat this year. Last year we rented two kayaks from a rental shop in Lund and enjoyed it so much they decided to purchase their own. This winter my uncle hand-made some kayak saddles finished from mahogany that he permanently mounted to the pilothouse and in reach of the crane/winch for lowering them down to the water. After much research they ended up with a Necky Eliza and a Necky Manitou, which are nearly identical to my own Necky Looksha. Long story short, I have paddled quite a few nice places like Tomales Bay, Elkhorn Slough in Santa Cruz, Lake Tahoe, a myriad of lakes and calm rivers in the Sierras, the Copeland Islands in B.C., and none of those compared to this, it was simply a fabulous paddle. We had not intended to do-so, but we ended up circumnavigating the entire Savary Island coast, a total of 11.3 miles around. In the next couple of years I think I may take a month off work and come back to stay here and do nothing but swim, hike, paddle and bike around the island.



While we were out in the kayaks, Trenton and Uncle Raymond dropped the crab pot and caught a bucket full of crab. We cracked the crab and had fresh crab over rice with vegetables for dinner and watched yet another spectacular sunset.