by Keith and Heather Nicol
For our first 3
days of paddling on Hornby Island we decided to concentrate on the southern
part of the island where there are numerous islands and shoreline cliffs to
explore. For our last day we decided to check out Grassy Point on the north
side of Hornby and paddle west. Also the wind had now changed direction and
was blowing more strongly from the southeast so we thought this shore would
give us some shelter. The put in at Grassy Point Community Park (10 U 0379334E
5490039N) was easy since the steep gravel beach is located just a few steps
from the car park. This park has a few
benches and some nice areas to scramble along the low rocky shoreline.
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| Getting ready to launch at Grassy Point |
The coastline is
not as dramatic along this part of Hornby Island since the backshore is lower in elevation but
you do see Denman and Tree Island and in
the distance you can see north to Comox and beyond. We had to give Collishaw
Point a wide berth since the tide was relatively low and there were extensive
shallows. We noticed the wind picking up and coming more from the east so we
decided to start to head back before the waves got too large. We turned around just
before Phillips Point and were surprised by how quickly the waves had built up.
Before long we were in waves up to 1 meter in size that fortunately were right
in our face so we could paddle directly into them. Fortunately our launch point was nicely
protected from east winds and so we could land in flat calm conditions. Overall
this trip was about 8.5 km and it took about 2 hours and 15 minutes of paddling
to complete.
For other blogs on sea kayaking on Hornby Island see:
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| Heather paddling along the north shore of Hornby with Denman Island in the distance |
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