Cortes Island, August 24-31, 2026

 

A long day getting to Cortes Island where I’ll be for the next 8 nights.  The drive wasn’t too bad but I had to wait just under two hours for the Quadra Island ferry.  It’s the most backed up I personally have ever seen it.  I drove across Quadra and I had ten minutes to spare before the Cortes ferry departed, and it ended up being only half full, another first (it is a new somewhat larger ferry then the previous one).  A perfect evening - would have been perfect for a sunset paddle, but I’m just too tired - winds pick up this week too, so I’m probably missing my chance.  Nora, the propietor was definitely disappointed that Donna wasn’t here too - because as we know - everyone loves Donna.

Beautiful sunset from my place on Cortes.

On Monday I did a 12.25 mile paddle, launching at Cortes Bay and circumnavigating Twin Islands, first time circumnavigating those islands.

                                  View from my place on Cortes Island

                                   Queen Elisabeth stayed here twice

                  The end of Hernando Island. (Hernando Cortes - he got two islands named after him)

                                      Turkey vulture - fairly usgly up close, but beautiful when soaring 

                                                                         Oystercatchers

                                                                        Surfbird

                                                            Surfbirds

                          Entrance to Cortes Harbor

Another nice sunset.

A second day of paddling, this time landing from my spot at Manson’s lagoon and kayaking along the shore to Whaletown.  Really like the area around the south end of Marina Island - a really large sand spit (Shark Spit) juts out towards Cortes Island, creating a narrow passageway for boats to go through.  It was fascinating watching a number of sailboats “come about” as they made the 90 degree turn though the channel.  It was mildly windy for paddling, but not too bad, a perfect sailing day.  

                                                    Cortes Island ferry terminal in Whaletown harbor

A brief sunset

The weather has turned with chances of rain most days looking ahead for the next week.  So on a off and on rainy, cool  and windy day I hiked 6 miles - two 1.5 mile RT’s to Hank’s Beach and a 3 mile RT hike in the Piskin Pine forest.  I also picked blackberries to replenish my supply.

On Friday, I did a 14 mile RT paddle out to the Gorge, an amazing natural harbor, and kayak around most of the shoreline - probably at least 4 miles, and then had a great breakfast on a small islet, near Uganda Pass (I have no idea how it got its name), then along the entire eastern shore of Marina Island (it’s probably even shallower on the east side than the west, (so now I’ve kayaked all of the Marina Island shoreline except the southern end where there are shallow boulder fields that extend far out), and then back to Manson’s landing.  And I arrived back not a minute too soon, as literally a minute after I got back inside it rained incredibly hard for about a half an hour, I would have been soaked through to the skin, if I’d returned just minutes after I did.   

                                      Manson’s Lagoon

                                                                             Sea anenomes

                                                                    Kingfisher

                                                                                The Gorge

                                                                         Loon

                                                                     Dandy break spot

  Approaching storm - it rained hard right after getting inside my place

Sunset after a rainy afternoon and evening

On Saturday I did a ten mile paddle launching from Cortes Bay.

                                                           Yikes - dismemberment at the boat launch

Very calm day on Monday so I decided to do one last paddle.  I was going to launch at squirrel cove, but when I got there, there were signs saying it was $10 to launch or park for the day - this is new, and I would have paid but I didn’t bring my wallet, so I switched gears and drove to Cortes Bay and did a 13 mile kayak out to and around Kinghorn and Station islands in Desolation Sound.  

Final morning at Cortes - my second favorite view of the places we stay after Quadra.  I did a quick trip to Hollyhock and took some photos of their beautiful gardens, then ferry ride to Quadra.

                                                                       Spiders are our friends

Hollyhock flower shots

Ferry ride to Quadra