2010 Maurelle Island
Surge Narrows and Hole in the Wall are 5 nautical miles apart; and their times of slack current are about 10 minutes apart. Since few of us can paddle 30 knots, most paddlers wisely take 2 days to circumnavigate Maurelle Island. When I asked Brent if one could go through the north-east channel of Surge Narrows during a strong ebb, he said that we could go through the west channel (our usual play area) no problem! On Wed July 27th, slack at Hole in the Wall was at noon, so this was a suitable date.
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Surge Narrows during the ebb
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We caught the 07:30 ferry from Campbell River, and launched just before 9 am. This put us through Surge Narrows at 10 after 9. Beazley Passage had an ebb tide of 6.8 knots at 08:50. Our channel was flowing strongly, but had a minimum of whirlpools.
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Brent in his new Explorer, nicknamed the Speckled Trout because of the glitter finish.
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The Octopus Islands in the background.
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Too bad these boat wakes aren't going in the right direction.
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We had a lunch break on Francisco Island, and were in place at the west entrance to Hole in the Wall a few minutes early. Not being sensible, we pushed through against the dying ebb, rather than wait 10 minutes for slack.
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Industrial Waste. This abandoned net cage is a reminder of the cavalier attitude
towards nature all too prevalent in our society.
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The eastern entrance to Hole in the Wall.
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We had expected the flood to push us through Hole in the Wall, and southwards in Calm Channel; but we were pleasantly surprised to see the kelp bulbs aligned favorably in Whiterock Passage. South of the Settler's Group, the flood was opposed by a southern wind, giving us some chop. Nonetheless, we were back at the truck in time to catch the 6pm ferry to Campbell River. We both agreed that it was a fine day on the water; and that the tides had been very favorable.
NOTE: Traversing Surge Narrows at non-slack is not recommended unless you know what you are doing. We wore drysuits and have combat rolls. (I traded my drysuit for shorts and a sunshirt after the rapids).
