Orcas All Around

The maze of islands west of Fitz Hugh Sound make up B.C.'s largest marine park, the 475-square-mile Hakai Luxvbalis Conservancy (pronounced hack-eye looks-bal-ease).  The area feels like a pristine wilderness, and indeed it is, but First Nations people have lived here for thousands of years.  Rather than push north toward Prince Rupert in a mad dash for the Alaska border, we decided to explore this section of wild coast, since it's clearly so exceptional:  complex terrain, impressive scenery, and challenging, hazard-strewn navigation!  This late in the season, we had  secret-cove beaches and deserted anchorages to ourselves, encountering no one in three days but a handful of kayakers.

Heading west into the Pacific, we made a run west around the islands of Kildidt Sound, holding our breath as we threaded through several rocky passages in Pacific swells. Rock formations as round as bald foreheads rose out of the water -- some entirely bare, others topped by fringes of hemlock and cedar.  After days plying the protected waterways of the Inside Passage, the sound of surf crashing against rock, the smell of salt air, and the cries of gulls and seabirds bouncing off waves rolling in all the way from Japan were fantastic.

As if that weren't enough, Kim spied the tip of a shiny black dorsal fin, wet and slippery, just past the boat's bimini window.  A pair of orcas slid past 30 feet away, as if to remind us whose territory this was.  Soon, we saw more whales spouting farther out to sea and decided to race out after them.  We caught up with a big pod of 12-15 orcas surfacing five abreast, like synchronized swimmers.  They were spectacular!  A sight we won't soon forget...