Waddington Bay to The Burdwood Group

Now here’s a change; we awoke to sunshine, not clouds, for the first time in three days. Admittedly it was a broken layer of clouds with Old Sol doing his best to peek though, but it was sunshine, nevertheless.

It is amazing how even this little bit of sunshine lifts the spirits. Our neighbors started getting underway shortly after 9am, a signal that they too were invigorated by the change in weather. The breaks in the clouds are being fueled by increased winds driven by a distant high pressure, and there are lots of high wind warnings in the nearby straits. Back among the islands where we are, the winds are fresh but not in the gale force category that plagues the more open waters.

Our plan is to visit The Burdwood Group of Islands. They are reputed to be a great location to Kayak, and having been boat- bound for the last three days, we are looking forward to getting out and exploring.

The Burdwood Group is known as a Kayaker’s heaven. As we would soon discover, its reputation is well deserved. From a boater’s perspective, the Burdwoods offer a challenge in finding a suitable spot to anchor. Most choose to only spend the day, with a picnic on one of the shell beaches being the main attraction. We were the only boat in the Burdwoods and, with the wind and water calm, we found a small anchorage between two islets in 30 feet.

It took two attempts, but we got a good set to the anchor, secured the “snubby” and dropped another 100 feet of rode on the bottom to make certain we held.

Next, the kayaks were placed in the water, and Karen put together lunch in anticipation of some pleasant paddle stroking this afternoon. We were not disappointed.

 

Karen sets out to conquer the Burdwood Group

We weaved our way though the many small islands, interrupting the native critters as we went. In fact, when we came around one corner there were a couple of dozen seals on the beach that, when they saw Karen appear, took to the water with a great sound and flurry. They followed us for a while until we left their homestead.

A new bird was spotted, a Barrow’s Goldeneye. As we approached, mom led her chicks into the water and around behind a small outcropping of rock while dad stood guard. Finally, when the family was safe behind the rocks, he jumped into the water and joined them.

When we anchored, we were in sight of one of the two largest white shell beaches in the Group. The other is, in fact, a mirror image and lies just on the other side of the beach we could see from the boat. As we paddled back towards our boat, we stopped on that other beach and got out to set foot on firm land for the first time in about 6 days.

The Kayaks on "dry land" for the first time

Maybe this is where they got the idea for the infinity pool

Arctic Star nestled in the Burdwood Group

Just above the beach was a great Kayaker’s campsite, complete with fire pits, log “furniture” including what Karen called a breakfast bar (I simply stated that it was “The Bar”). It was easy to imagine a few Kayakers standing around in the evening sunset, beers in hand, telling tales of their adventures that day.

Can't you see a group of Kayakers gathered around this "rustic bar"

Our day ended as we watched a large seal frolic right off the boat’s bow, breaching and tail splashing like mad.

Karen stops in front of Arctic Star before we call it a day

The driftwood is always full of interesting patterns