Sea Kayak Association of BC’s Kayak Cuisine Weekend

 

A Sea Kayak Association of BC’s Kayak Cuisine Weekend has a beginning, middle and end—just like any good meal.  At the Sea Kayak Association of British Columbia (SKABC) 12^th annual Kayak Cuisine weekend with Tony Clayton and Heather Kirk, it is a delectable tour of the Howe Sound Marine Trail, connecting West Vancouver with Howe Sound and the Sunshine Coast.

From Porteau Cove, we  allow an hour to load kayaks, stash cars/gear from the free parking/launch before our seven-nautical-miles along the British Columbia Marine Trail.

Mount Garibaldi and Diamond Head lick icy lips in anticipation, just two of many peaks that form this southernmost North American fjord.

Beginning: Kayak-etizers

Potlatch Creek is the historic feast-site between two First Nations (Squamish and Yaculta), and the birthplace of Chief Joe Capilano’s ancestors.

Today the Boys and Girls Club of South Coast BC administer Camp Potlatch on its 1.5 km of waterfront and 133 acres of forest.   SKABC members sit on the sandy estuary and savour.

We cross still waters from Porteau Cove, passing Defense Islands, part of the Squamish Nation Reserve, but named, like so many places in Howe Sound after the admiralty of Her Majesty’s Service (HMS) and her ships.  Admirals Howe, Thornborough and Gambier, and the HMS Montagu, Defense, Ramillies and Latona of the British Navy were proud emblems for Captain George Vancouver when he ventured here some 223 years ago, to map the coastline and plumb the depths, in the blustery weather of June, 1792*.

June, 2015 is hot, calm and perfect for paddling.  The inflow/outflow thermals typical in this area are negligible.  We paddle in a harmonious spirit with the thousands of First Nations folk who lived here for nine to ten thousand years, before introduced diseases decimated their populations.

If Howe Sound were in any other part of the world, it would be a great national park.

~Dr. Murray Newman, Past Director, Vancouver Aquarium

 

Middle: Mains

We cross from Potlatch Creek to Domett Point on Anvil Island, over to Gambier Island’s northeast shores and watch the afternoon sun-dance on Anvil’s western cliffs across sparkling Ramillies Channel.

We camp in the small meadow near Gambier Creek.  We’ve brought water and cooking supplies for a feast, thanks to Tony and Heather’s shopping at Vancouver’s original natural food store, Famous Foods on Kingsway—four bags, eight recipes, four teams… of eager foodies.

Tony and Heather lay it all out on a blue tarp, and four pairs of hands grab a bag in which they have either a ‘main-and-an-appie’ or ‘a main-and-a-dessert’ and set up wherever they can level a stove.

Each pair studies two recipes & sets of ingredients from their respective treasure troves, to work out a plan for our common fiesta. Paddling companions bond as fellow chefs:

‘What pots do we need?’  

‘Who’s gonna chop/stir/assemble/watch the stove?’

‘Who needs more wine?’

Once it’s ready, we graze and compare notes.

Tony Clayton, SKABC member and Kayak Cuisine founder says,

‘The idea of it was to give…an insight into what you can do kayaking and preparing meals.’

End: Desserts

Every trip has ‘icing’ (coconut-citrus sauce) on its ‘cake’ (pineapple with  ‘Famous Foods’ pre-packaged almond cookies, Turkish Delight and tiramisu).

We head south out of Douglas Bay to Brigade Bay, and east to Pam Rocks aka ‘Seal City’ and Christie Islet.

Scuba divers surface along with marine life such as Black Oystercatchers, Pigeon Guillemots, Glaucous-winged gulls, cormorants and a pair of Harlequin ducks.

After lunch along the southeast shores of Anvil Island, we fly back to Porteau Cove like a fleet of (well-fed) Canada Geese.

References:

• Bright Seas, Pioneer Spirits: A History of the Sunshine Coast by Betty Keller and Rosella Leslie
• The Future of Howe Sound Society
• ‘The Secret History of Howe Sound‘ by John Gleeson
• Capilano, The Story of a River by James W. Morton (page 25)
• All recipes will be accessible on SKABC website from Aug./15
  

  til next time…