On August 12 I hiked with friends from Sombrio Point to Sombrio Beach on the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail. We had vehicles at each end to save the walk back to the start.

The four hour hike took us along the rugged west coast of southern Vancouver Island and across the forest ridges that skirt the coastline, past gorgeous water falls and above deep ravines. We had to stop many times before we could get by the terrific views!

The weather was mainly overcast but it was mild, with a gentle wind, and perfect for hiking.

One of the highlights was exploring a sea cave at Sombrio Beach. There is a sense of spine tingling, knowing that you have to pay attention to an incoming tide so you don’t get trapped by the rising water.

Before leaving we watched surfers work the waves at one of the best surf beaches on the south coast, a locals favourite that they don’t usually talk about to visitors.

Our dog Rosie loved the hike as much as we did!

Mark Ziegler

Neil & I picked a perfect morning, last Thursday, to go fishing, no wind and no foggy start to the day. It had been awhile since I had been fishing, or even on the water,  so my excitement woke me at 3 for the 6 am departure. The boat was a big 5 minutes away, good thing I woke early. We got off the dock just before 6 and quickly settled in between the west end of East Sooke and Secretary Island. Neil was the perfect host and got all the rods ready to fish, spacing them at depths between 70 and 120 ft. We sat back with a coffee and waited. Not long mind you, caught our first Spring about 45 minutes in, a nice 20 lber. I was designated to bring the fish in, a test maybe to see how I’d handle it, and all went great! Neil brought in the first Sockeye  about 20 minutes later. I did my best to knock it off the hook when trying net it for him – drove the net right into its head – must be the bifocals. He kept at it and we landed it a couple minutes later. Another 20 minutes and we hooked our second 12 lb Sockeye but as Neil was playing it we doubled up with an 18 lb Spring, so things got a little more interesting. We landed both, then leaned back thinking what a great morning it had been. It was time to get back to the dock, happy to have fish to clean.

Randy welters

August 2010

Scuba Trip Near Sooke BC

It was so promising with the great weather forecast predicting 10 knot westerly winds. I literally dreamt of the unseen things we were finally going to discover on our highly anticipated dive trip to this untouched 50 year old 80′ Trawler. This Vessel sank in 1965 off Sherringham point. We arrived at Sunny Shores Marina at 730am. It was just as nice as was forecasted the night before. By 7:50 am the Basin had become frosted with white caps. As we listened in dismay to the weather channel on the VHF calling for gales, we decided to take peek out past the spit to see what it was like. We found two meter swells.. This sent us searching in the Basin for a decent plan B site. We decided to try Welters Rock. We were all pleasantly surprised by the diverse & abundant sea life, 45 foot visibility, large cave packed with cod, anenomes and signs of numerous octopus and old artifacts to boot!! All in 60 feet of water in our Sooke basin? Who new! Im guessing you can count them with your toes. Ohh and huge Nudibrnachs… not bad for a plan B dive.

Jessie

Pacific Pinnacle Scuba Adventures

www.pinnacledivecharters.com

Letter to Sooke News Mirror about our Boardwalk

We would like to express our thanks to the District of Sooke for the excellent job of constructing the boardwalk at Ed McGregor Park.

Last Sunday afternoon, we gained a new appreciation for the facility when we visited the site with our friends. One of our friends is confined to a wheelchair. He was delighted by the beauty of the setting and by being able to travel through the woods and over the water effortlessly.

Our friend, when he was able to, always enjoyed camping and fishing. It was a delight for him and us to be able to participate in activities he has not been able to for some time due to his progressive disability.

Thank you so much for this wonderful facility.

Rintoul family

Sooke

Letter reprinted from the Dec. 3, 2008 issue of the

Sooke News Mirror.

It was mid September. Most of the recreation fishing boats had finished for the season. A Tuesday afternoon, so there would be very few boats out fishing. I decided that the weather was too good to pass up a few hours of fishing. Off I went with my trusty companion, Salty the dog. Salty was quick to jump aboard as he does love a boat ride. Most other yellow labs would do the same.

We fished for about two eventful hours with much success. The Northern Coho were here in good numbers and the last of the big Chinook salmon were still in the area.

We started off just west of Secretary Island, a local favourite. The water was as calm as a small lake and the bites began immediately. In the two hours, Salty and I hooked into a dozen salmon, including a bunch of Coho and a nice ‘Spring’ which was the fish that we brought home. After the first 45 minutes passed, we had a visit from two transient Orcas. They came up just behind the boat, showed us their tails and disappeared. The fishing continued until a huge sea lion checked us out. It was so close that I could smell it’s breath. ‘Care for a tic-tac?’

For some reason, the fishing was suddenly slow, so we decided to make a loop into deeper water just south of the little island in search of the Coho. As we made the turn, I noticed something glistening in the water. Another short loop and I was able to pick the shiny object out of the clear water with my net. ‘Just a bottle’ I first thought. When I pulled it out of the net, I realized it was a special bottle. Not the clear bottle itself, but the whole package. The top was sealed with red wax and there was a piece of paper rolled up inside. Salty wisely suggested that I do not open it until we reached home to share the fun with Maggie.

The two of us sat on the deck and curiously peeled off the wax. The anticipation was high, but our expectations were realistically low.

As we pulled out the paper and unrolled the mystery, we found more than we could have imagined, a message that we will never forget. Together, we read the message and then looked at each other in silence. The hand written words were a most unexpected message.

“This ring no longer serves a purpose in my life. May it bring you joy, luck and abundant prosperity.

Taped to bottom of the page was a wedding band, the kind that my mother had. A gold and silver band made into a simple ring. We can only speculate where the strong Juan de Fuca current may have carried this most unusual package. We will probably never know.

Neil and Maggie Flynn
Salty Towers Oceanfront Retreat

I have always loved otters –I used to read my children “Oscar Otter” to get them to bed; loving the story as much as they did. When we first moved to Vancouver Island 15 years ago, I was truly thrilled by my first glimpse of one loping across the West Coast Road heading for the ocean.

The otters commonly seen here, on the Southwest Coast of the Island, are river otters whose primary habitat is in small streams and rivers, but they also love to swim and play in the sea.

This experience, of course, was topped months later by the 5 or 6 otters running across the beach trail at French Beach Provincial Park- heading out to cavort in the ocean – on one of our many walks along French Beach. This event got very high marks since some visiting family and friends got to share the experience!

But nothing tops my favourite otter story…

I spend a lot of time wandering our local beaches with friends, visitors, our local hiking group…or even doing Tai Chi with our group…but one quiet morning my husband, Richard, and our dog, Bear, joined me at our local beach while I was collecting seaweeds. I use seaweeds for thalassotherapy (seaweed soaks) for treatments which I offer at my Spa. I was very intent on my collecting; watching to see what gems might be washing in with the tide. Richard had been throwing sticks for Bear to swim out to retrieve until Bear decided that he should come and assist me (he truly loved plunging right into the surf with me!)

Suddenly Richard whistled to get my attention and pointed at the water out past me. I was absolutely stunned to look up to see 5 otters in a semi-circle fairly close to me. They were watching me with obvious curiosity. I just stood there in awe for a minute – then realized they did not appear to be very frightened of me (or even of Bear who remained uncharacteristically quiet much to my amazement). Although it may have only been 5 or 10 minutes, it felt like a timeless episode. I slowly started strolling along the shore in the shallow water and they swam along – maintaining their safe distance – until they eventually had satisfied their curiosity or tired of watching to see what I was up to.

It was a magical experience and remains vivid in my pictorial memory.

I often think how very fortunate we are to live is such a lush and beautiful area – but some of these fleeting moments are truly ‘golden memories’ making life very rich indeed. It seems that such moments arise when we least expect them and that it is best for us just to trust in their possibility.

I do have to add one sad note; we lost our beloved Bear last Fall.

Our family has so many very fond memories of time spent with him- but people who love their pets will understand the value of these remarkable shared experiences. I know he thought it was amazing too!

Christine Hopkins,
Shirley, BC