Gulf Islands Brigade 2014

News Release: December 1, 2013 

Gulf Island Brigade 2014 

Dates: July 26 to August 1 st 

Victoria Canoe & Kayak Club of Victoria is organizing a Big Boat Brigade from Nanaimo through the world renown Gulf Islands to Victoria for a week at the end of July. It will be the opportunity to enjoy paddling in some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. 

We are requesting that teams be self sufficient in their canoe. Think ‘back packing’ in order to limit gear. We will be visiting some coastal and island communities but connecting daily with a road crew will not be possible. Our goal is to reduce our environment footprint, 

A shuttle will be provided from Victoria to Nanaimo so that our vehicles and trailers will be waiting for us when we complete our journey. The shuttle will take place on Saturday July 26 th . 

We will have voyageur Canoes available for rental at $300 per canoe. The canoes will be delivered to Nanaimo on Friday July 25 th . 

There will be a celebration event both at the beginning and end of the trip. The plan is to camp on Newcastle Island just off Nanaimo on the night of the 26 th . 

We are organizing a shuttle so that vehicles and boat trailers will be in Victoria when we arrive. This will happen on the afternoon of the 26 th . 

The number of boats will be limited to eight due to limited camp space at some sites so early registration is a must to guarantee your spot on this beautiful journey. 

Group and individual gear lists will be available as well as efficient tasty meal options so that each team can limit packing space. 

Registration fee will be $1200 per boat of six people. It will be $200 for each additional person on a boat crew.. 

To indicate an interest to register a team or for more information e-mail GulfIslandBrigade@vckc.ca 

Gulf Island Brigade Committee 

Ellie James 

Brigade Chief 

Re-live your memories

Come to the Premiere of the film Tracing the Columbia-- Saturday, November 19, 2011, in Abbotsford, BC.

It’s going to be a fun weekend. Arrive on Friday so you can paddle with us, and more.

Saturday is the BIG day

Day trip (3 hours) on the Fraser River, from Mission to Fort Langley, starts early (9am) in the morning (Pre-registration is required; lunch makings will be available)

Tour Western Canoeing & Kayaking - where CLIPPER canoes are made.

Guided tours will be available at 4:10 and 4:30.

Their large retail store will remain open late for those who would like to do some shopping; 1717 Salton Rd., Abbotsford, B.C.

(No host) Supper at Finnigan’s Pub & Grill,

33780 King Road, Abbotsford

Tracing the Columbia (the film premiere) is at 7 pm at the University of the Fraser Valley

33844 King Road.

With Reception afterwards

If you pre-ordered your copy, it will be available for pick-up.

Western Canoeing, Finnigan’s Pub and the University are all within easy walking distance of each other.

If you fly into Abbotsford (WestJet) , there is a very affordable shuttle service into Abbotsford. Rental cars are available too.

Accommodations

We have reserved a block of rooms at Best Western Bakerview Inn, 1821 Sumas Way, Abbotsford, BC V2S 4L5. Call them directly to book, 1-877-336-6156, or email bwbakerviewinn@shawcable.com. Tell them you are with the David Thompson Columbia Brigade to get the price $84 plus taxes. All rooms have a fridge & microwave. There’s a restaurant connected to the hotel—and many other choices for food and drink within walking distance. See http://www.roomstays.com/hotel/523555 for more details. You must book by November 1!

Please reserve your tickets for the film by emailing Katie Stein Sather, ksather@shaw.ca. Tickets are complimentary for Brigade members, $10 for others. They will also be available for purchase at the door.

Space on the Fraser River day trip, in voyageur canoes and a Pacific Dancer (The Dancer is a First Nations canoe, built by Clipper and patterned after those used on the south coast of BC) is limited. Please reserve your spot, and know that we will probably have the boats full. Please email Katie, ksather@shaw.ca. The cost will be $20 for non-members of the Fort Langley Canoe Club, $10 for members.

Please remember that November is BC’s rainy season; come prepared to be wet.

Tracing The Columbia - Trailer

How will we remember what happened? Some photos, for sure, on our favourite photo site, and on the 2011brigade.org website.

But also the video, now in production by a professional filmmaker, Jay MacMillan. He who produced an award-winning video about the 2008 David Thompson Brigade (Digging Water).

It's due out in November, to be premiered in Vancouver. Stay tuned for the details of the whole weekend. In the meantime, catch a glimpse of what he's thinking of with the trailer.

For the newsletter

How do you combine an interest in fur trade history, and geography, and paddling, all at one time?

You join a Brigade! Several members of FLCC paddled with the 2011 Thompson Columbia Brigade from Fort Spokane to Fort Astoria on the Columbia River: Katie Stein Sather, captain, Lee McGovern, Sue Tuttle, Susan Blank, Ian Bailey, Carol Woodworth, Al Sather, Eric Mast (Richland, WA), Tim Ahern (Spokane, WA), Margaret Wanlin (Thunder Bay) and Linda and Dennis Ethier (Lacombe, AB) . Some ten voyageur canoe teams from all across western Canada—from as far away as Thunder Bay, ON—celebrated the accomplishments of the cartographer and explorer David Thompson by arriving in Astoria, OR 200 years to the day after he did so.

Like Thompson, we fought the heat of the Upper Columbia Basin and the headwinds of the Columbia Gorge and the tide at the mouth. Unlike the river that Thompson paddled, the contemporary river is mostly a series of reservoirs. No rapids at all. Just dam after dam to trailer around.

The FLCC team joined the trip midway, west of Spokane, and two days’ paddle “upstream” of the Grand Coulee dam, on Lake Roosevelt. We paddled some 1000 km to the mouth of the Columbia, at Astoria. We newbies to the brigade had to learn to get up early, ie 4:30 am, for a 6:30 start on the water, and keep up to the folks already accustomed to paddling 40-60 strokes a minute for hours at a time. Our heavy boat gave us extra conditioning.

It was a great opportunity to celebrate paddling in general, and to renew and make paddling friends from across Canada. The next one? Maybe 2017 to celebrate Canada’s 150^th anniversary. This kind of trip is unique.

Descending the Columbia.mov

We finished!

Well, it's over and done. We, the Fort Langley Canoe Club team, paddled the Columbia River from the forks of the Spokane and Columbia Rivers to its mouth at Astoria. some 900 km (660 miles).

The long days, early risings, windy crossings of the lakes, and head winds made for some hard work. The last day was one of the hardest as we had to fight the incoming tide as well. (Someone underestimated the work of paddling against the tide, I'd say.) And, it being the wet coast, it rained much of the day too.

We've accomplished a lot, and hope to pass along our hard won skills to others in the club. And maybe share our river, the Fraser, with brigaders when they come to Vancouver for the premiere of the video.

Here's some news coverage of our trip, from Astoria:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JPzZF7SiuA&feature=player_embedded

Changing landscape

This trip has been an evolution--of landscape.

Where we joined the Brigade--on Lake Roosevelt at the confluence of the Spokane River and the Columbia, it was hot and dry. The upper Columbia Basin is a landscape utterly foreign to me. Not only hot and dry, but no vegetation I am familiar with. Sagebrush and other low growing shrubs. Much dry grass, with stickers that poke. The valley walls are basalt and sand. It’s very dramatic.

In the Hanford Reach, we saw some wetlands, and wild herds (thanks to the no hunting/no trespassing rules there!).

Just this morning, as we progressed through the Columbia Gorge, trees in the deep valley were more evident, ie there is more precipitation here. Again the geology is amazing.

My previous image of the Columbia Valley was too northern—all trees, just like the BC portion of it really is. But the Columbia Basin of Eastern Washington, and Oregon, is anything but treed. Spectacular and dramatic rock formations, high walls (perfect for dams and reservoirs).

It seems good to have my eyes opened.