Boat Camping Haida Gwaii: A Small Vessel Guide to the Queen Charlotte Islands

by Neil Frazer

Reviewed by:
Bruce Armstrong
Santa Barbara
funhouse@rain.org

Boat Camping Haida Gwaii
A Small-Vessel Guide to the Queen Charlotte Islands
Copyright 2001 by L. Neil Frazer
www.harbourpublishing.com

As a Southern Californian, all my boating is done in preparation for the annual trip to British Columbia and the beautiful, protected waters behind 200-mile-long Vancouver Island. While whirlpools, waterborne debris and uncharted rocks make this a much more challenging marine environment than a quick trip out to Catalina, it's a picnic compared to the extreme conditions further north and further offshore in Canada's Queen Charlotte Islands, or Haida Gwaii. Knowing full well that my skill level will likely keep me from venturing that far offshore, I was pleased to find Neil Frazer's newly published book, Boat Camping Haida Gwaii in Victoria this past summer. For the armchair skipper, this is the ultimate in winter reading!

Frazer's book begins differently from any marine book I've ever come across. Before the Preface, before the Acknowledgments, before the Introduction and right after the Table of Contents is the page heading: Extreme Caution. This page is best summed up by the following highlighted sentence:

"On the west coast of Haida Gwaii especially, you may not see another boat for weeks, and a radio call (in the unlikely event it is heard) will not bring help in time to do more than verify your demise."

The book, spiral bound for easy onboard use, is the result of numerous trips Neil Frazer has taken around the entire archipelago accompanied either by his wife Pauline or by one of their young children in a 15' plastic lake boat or later, a 17' open aluminum skiff. Additionally, Frazer, a BC native with vast kayak/small boat experience, doesn't ferry his tiny craft out to Haida Gwaii at the beginning of his trips. He prefers instead to approach the island group from the north, departing Alaska's Cape Chacon or Cape Muzon for the 35nm crossing of Dixon Entrance and finishing the trip with a further 160nm open ocean crossing of Queen Charlotte Sound to Vancouver Island. Trawler captains give these passages careful consideration. There is, after all, a 365-day-a-year "Small Craft Warning" in effect for all waters around Haida Gwaii! Frazer's contention that predetermined schedules are the most dangerous single factor in small boating is born out by these carefully-timed small craft journeys.

The book is broken down into eight geographic zones/chapters. Carefully drawn "Not For Navigation" maps highlight dangers, landing/camping spots ashore, logged areas, freshwater lake elevations, onshore buildings/roads, GPS readings and other data of interest to the small boat pilot. Frazer sprinkles each chapter with blocks of text about the island's history, inhabitants, discovery and on-going exploitation. Haida Gwaii's First Nation natives were both master mariners and fierce warriors but were no match for waves of trappers, missionaries, traders, settlers, loggers and finally BC's own government officials. Frazer allows just enough optimism about newly blossoming First Native activism and logging restrictions to give hope to the possibility of preserving big blocks of Haida Gwaii's old forests for future generations.

Also included throughout the book are nuggets of small-boating wisdom from Frazer himself. The fact that he doesn't seem bothered by night crossings of the open North Pacific with a radar reflector wired to an upright oar and no kicker leads novices like me to appreciate their personal limits! The book closes with a detailed account of what to do when/if charged by one of the Haida Gwaii's many black bears while ashore. Also included are detailed contact information, tide and current warnings and an extensive reading list should you wish more details and were not put off by the previous chapter about bears. I know if I ever get up there (and Frazer's book increases the likelihood), I'm sleeping on my boat!

Reviewed by:
Bruce Armstrong
Santa Barbara
funhouse@rain.org