Kokatat Ambassador Paul Kuthe is one of the stars of a new web television series developed by Bryan Smith and Fitz Cahall, called The Season. Paul takes us through another episode of their adventure to Butze Rapid…
The Season Episode 8 from Fitz Cahall and Bryan Smith on Vimeo.
We heard about this wave a couple years ago…an untapped tidal zone that only local whitewater boaters know about. We didn’t know what to expect really, but we knew we wanted to put sea kayaks on it. It took us a year or better to get all the logistics sorted out and our schedules aligned, but last summer it all came together.
Dave White, Nick Jacob, and I CRAMMED ourselves and our gear into Nick’s Subaru Outback Sport in an effort to be under the 7′ height limit enforced by B.C. Ferries. We had learned on previous adventures that over height = over priced! We were operating on a shoestring budget and determined to get to the Butze without spending too much cash. We also didn’t want to miss our ferry over to Vancouver Island after the long night on the road, so when we finally rolled into Tswassen we just decided to sleep in line for the ferry.
We woke to a symphony of big diesel engines firing up the next morning. Crap! It’s time to board!! We all stuffed our sleeping gear and rolled onto the boat within minutes of waking up. We were to meet Bryan Smith and Phil Tifo in Nanaimo that morning. We did a big food shop, prepared our provisions for the journey and drove the length of Vancouver Island to Port Hardy so we could catch our next ferry!
The folks at the Port Hardy Terminal were nice enough (or they just pitied us enough) to give us a parking area and a HUGE zone to prepare the boats for the next mornings departure. We needed to get all 5 of our boats stuffed to the gills because we were walking onto the ferry leaving the cars behind for the next week. This included all the usual food and camping gear that goes with ANY multi day trip into the BC wilderness, but we also needed to find room for a full size movie camera, a laptop, tripods, and multiple still camera set-ups so we could document the experience.
-
- Nick Jacob (left) Dave White (center) Paul Kuthe (right) with Canadian flag. We are cruising through the inside passage on our way to Prince Rupert.
-
- The crew’s boats all tied up at high tide. This was taken from our “high” camp. You can see the grassy tip of our “low” camp on the right side of the image.
-
- Paul hanging out in “athlete’s corner” at our high camp, also known as ewok village.
-
- Paul surfing the main channel at max flood. The background is a churning mess in this shot. It gives you a real sense of the nasty “tour” you have to take after each surf.
-
- Paul Kuthe waking up from a long nap on deck. This is the ferry that took us from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert.
-
- Paul dropping in for a “down river” run of the main channel just after the max ebb. This was one of the biggest pour-overs I had EVER seen.
We hoped we were making the right call…As we cruised past some of the most sought after sea kayak destinations on earth, we hoped that this rapid in the middle of nowhere would be worth it. The ferry from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert is every bit of 15 hours. By the time we hit Prince Rupert, it was already 10pm and the sun was setting fast. We were faced with the prospect of either paddling into an unknown tidal race in the dark or spending our third night at yet another ferry terminal.
I can’t say we made the wrong call, but I will say that I didn’t sleep much that night. Just as we were getting settled in and making friends with the swarms of local mosquitoes and flies, our make-shift camp in the corner of the ferry terminal yard was invaded by the freight train that comes to unload every night.
We were set-up to the outside of the curve of the tracks such that it seemed as though the train was literally going to run us over. The ground shook, the train whistle blasted repeatedly, and the crossing signal seemed to be mocking us… ding ding dinging incessantly. About the third time the train backed up and pulled forward triggering the crossing signal, Dave White lost it. All he could do was laugh. His laughter was infectious and soon all five of us were hysterically laughing at ourselves. What were we doing here???
The next morning we launched and paddled into the zone. On the paddle up we approached what we thought must be the first set of rapids. As we drew near we realized that what we were seeing was actually huge piles of foam floating head high on the water’s surface. Whatever stirred up this much foam must be powerful. It should have served as a clue to what was to come, but we thought little of it at the time.
We arrived as the day’s flood was reaching it’s peak. We were finally here!!! From the looks of it, the rapids were going to be SWEET. We unloaded the boats, went for a quick surf on the tail end of the flood and then we all passed out in the sun to enjoy our first bit of sleep outside a ferry terminal. None of us realized It would be our last view of the sun for that trip, and it would also be our last un-interrupted slumber on that particular island.
Stay tuned for another episode of The Season coming soon!
