Ruxton Island

The first week in September is a bank holiday in the US & Canada (Labour Day). Taking advantage of the bank holiday weekend we were invited (or I probably invited myself) to the cabin of Sam’s (who had to work and couldn’t make it) good friend Mel and her boyfriend Khodae. Before I go on I want to say a MASSSIVE Thank you to both of them. It was a great weekend and one I wont ever forget.

Ruxton Island is a smaller island that make up the Gulf Islands off the coast of the main Vancouver Island. Navid, Jen, Olive and I were also joined by Khodae’s friend Dan. We initially got the early ferry to Naniamo and drove 30 minutes south to Mermaid Cove to pick up Khodaes boat as Ruxton Island is boat access only.

Stocked for the weekend

Waiting to embark

No Papppz please

That day we set out to explore the local area. This included the striking cliffs off the coast of Valdes Island which the cabin faced. This island is owned by a First Nation tribe and as such access is not prohibitive but that didnt mean we couldnt float (and fish) off the coast. Although there was definately more drinking than fishing. Khodae (or Captain Koko) also released his Prawn traps filled with cat food as bait to be collected the following morning.

Captain and his First Mate 😉

Prawn Traps

The beautiful cliffs of Valdes Island

Who did the ‘Instagram pose’ better?

Our amazing hosts

Sorry Khodae!!

Mel ready to PARTYYY

Olive appreciation corner

Mel taking over responsibilities

The cabin itself is awesome. Bought in 2017 by Khodae, his brother and Dad it has 3 bedrooms in the main house and an outhouse with a further bedroom. You could comfortably get 4-5 couples here with room to spare. The house is powered by solar and supplied by rain water with a back-up generator for Mels hairdryer / smoothie machine haha. This is a house full of character and slowly the Ashlie family are putting their own stamp on it with renovations to facilities.

That evening; after a long day we took it easy ready for a full Sunday on the water.

Sunday started on a worrying footing. Oscar the Dorkie had been ill and was only getting worse so Mel (with Jen for morale support) went to the vet on the main island. This left the boys to fend for themselves. We did by going fishing out by Thrasher Rock and crusing around the islands that make up that section of the Gulf.

We also met Roger and Maura on their Sea Kayaks. I took some photos of them on my drone and we exchanged emails to send them the end result. They were everywhere and must get some serious miles under their belt each day. Fair play to them.

 

At one fishing spot I caught a small Flounder Fish and then a particularly cool catch!! A bloody shark. We did release it back into the wild….

Most fish bite your bait. Mine pierced the fish in the side…..

Olive looking with curiosity

I’m no shark expert but that looks like a Great White to me!

Happy as a clam!

After picking up the girls and a rejuvenated Oscar (complete with purple bandage) we had a great evening of drinking and hanging watching the sun go down. That night Mel took us on a mystery midnight tour of the island where we got lost many times before finding a cool hidden cove complete with bioluminescent plankton. I remember this phenomenon in Thailand at Koh Phi Phi Lei so to experience it again in a completely different setting and environment was pretty cool.

The next day; feeling a bit worse for wear we headed to the nicest beach / cove on the island to hang before making the long trip back to Vancouver.

A great weekend and I hope to get invited back next year with Sam to explore further. Thanks again Mel and Khodae