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Cortes Museum trip to squeeze the Misty Isles through tight tidal passages of the Discovery Islands

Maurelle Island hugs neighbouring Read, Quadra and Sonora so close that 18th century explorers mistook them as one large island.
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Maurelle Island hugs neighbouring Read, Quadra and Sonora so close that 18th century explorers mistook them as one large island.

The result is tight passages where the tide squeezes through at a racing boil.

July 26 is one of just a handful of dates when its possible for Misty Isles to circumnavigate Maurelle during slack water, on a day trip offered by Cortes Island Museum and Misty Isles Adventures.

“I like to say that we will be sucked in and spat out by the tides” says Mike Moore, skipper of the Misty Isles. “We’ll be riding the last of the ebb and then the beginning of the flood tides that will later in the day be thundering through the rapids at 10 knots.”

Moore has decades of experience in marine navigation, both in the tourism industry and with the Coast Guard. He’s also a lifelong student of natural and human history. “There’s lots to see on this cruise,” says Moore. “We’ll pause for a look at some pictograph paintings on a rocky bluff, made by Aboriginal people several hundred years ago. And we’ll pass by homesteads of the last century, including an old store and dock from the 1920s.”

But it’s the region’s natural history that’s the draw for this tour and Moore has a wealth of stories to share about the wildlife and tide anomalies found here. Sealions fish the back eddies of narrow openings like Hole in the Wall, on Maurelle Island’s west shore. Eagles and seals are often sighted, drawn to these nutrient rich waters.

The Maurelle Island tour departs from Cortes Island, where passengers are shuttled from the ferry to the Misty Isles. For more details check websites for the Cortes Island Museum at cortesmuseum.com and Misty Isles at mistyislesadventures.com, or call (250) 935-6340. The cost is $130 (Tax included) per person.

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The tide squeezes through tight passages between Maurelle, Read, Quadra and Sonoroa islands at a racing boil.