By Keith and Heather Nicol
If you have a small boat or sea kayak then
one of the most popular places to head to is Point Holmes if you live in the
Comox-Countenay area of Vancouver Island. The boat launch makes getting on the
water even at low tide a breeze since the paved launch extends well out into
the water. Although the boat launch is ideal for most summer conditions when
the wind is from the north, a south east wind can be bad news for this location
since it faces directly into the waves.
And given the long fetch of water that faces to the southeast large waves
can pound into this area making launching or bringing a boat in almost
impossible.
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| The web cam gives you an idea of the wind and wave action
But recently the Point Holmes Recreation
Assocation (PHRA) has installed a web
cam which makes checking the real time launch conditions very easy. The web
site is: http://www.pointholmesrecreation.ca/rampcam/ and we use it any time we are thinking of
heading out for a paddle. We even used it through the winter when we wanted to see big waves roll in. Our most recent trip
to this Pt Holmes was on Wednesday, May 22 and we had a great paddle in one of
the lowest tides (0.9 meters) we have kayaked in this area. After launching we
headed out past Cape Lazo toward Kye Bay but had to skirt way out to avoid the
rocks. Eagles seemed to be everywhere and further out on the rocks were dozens
of seals. We came across several exposed reefs that were ready made for seal
haulouts. Point Holmes has much to
recommend it and now with a web cam available it makes it that much easier to
see what the wind and wave conditions are. Check it out if you haven’t already
done so.
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| This is roughly the web cam view of the boat launch and surrounding beach |
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