Discovery Islands

Winter Passage continued…

(January 1998) For several days we explore the tiny community of Heriot Bay on Quadra Island. Winter is a good time to be here. Without the summer tourists, the locals are friendlier and it gives us a better feel for what it might be like to live here permanently. We call David Smith, a Quadra Island realtor, and are told about some property available on one of the outer islands… a small remote island called Middle Rendezvous. Arrangements are made to see the property first hand.

Stefan, a Swiss who owns the 65-acre island, takes us swiftly at 20 to 25 knots in his Daigle aluminum boat. Coming through Whiterock Pass, a narrow doglegged slit between Read and Maurelle Islands, we see the three Rendezvous Islands with a backdrop of snow-clad mountains just beyond Desolation Sound. After days of brutal winter storms, the weather has turned mild. We walk on the west side of Stefan’s property through a deep wooded valley and onto a rock shelf at water’s edge. There is a small, deep bay suitable for moorage, protected by a tiny islet to the south and a rocky point to the north.

The east side of the island is drier, with pine and arbutus trees. Bob and I sit together on a mossy, lichen-covered ledge that overlooks Calm Channel. The silence is profound; the crinkly sound of paper sacks when we reach for an egg-salad sandwich becomes an irritating intrusion. We find ourselves whispering as we talk and wonder – what would it be like to live here? A pair of bald eagles fly close over our heads.

Stefan picks us up and drives the boat around to the north point where Bob and I spend an hour exploring Lot 1, often bushwhacking through immense stands of salal. While most of this northern end consists of dense forest and impenetrable underbrush, there is marvelous outcropping of rock that rises in the center, covered with a thick layer of feathered moss and punctuated by rain filled basins. We can envision a small, enclosed meditation/writing studio on this high point, with views on all sides.

The hour is quickly gone - time for us to return to Heriot Bay. Stefan takes us through Surge Narrows at flood tide. The water is seething with turbulence - some flowing one direction - some going the opposite. The resulting countercurrent causes vast whirlpools to swirl near our boat. I am glad to be in a boat with 150 HP engines.

Entering a small channel near Heriot Bay, we encounter hundreds of loose logs and floating driftwood. There is no way to avoid them, so Stefan just bulls his way through. The combination of headwind, chop on the water, and the boat ricocheting off small logs, makes for a very jarring return trip! Add to that the fact that Stefan’s presence is bigger than life …and best in small doses. By the time we are back on Chiron, I have a headache and Bob feels physically ill. A good night’s sleep puts us in a better frame of mind… and when I look through the porthole the next morning, I can’t believe what I see. The entire bay is smooth, shimmering glass, filled with all the logs that we had dodged in the channel the day before!

... PLM