On Tuesday, Gord and I took a boat trip to Texada Island then down to Lasquiti. The sea was a little choppy on the way over but on the way to Lasquiti it settled down into what you might call a ‘millpond’. We puttered around Scotty Bay then headed back to Hornby. This is what we ran into. I’d never been caught in a Qualicum before but over the years I’d heard plenty of stories about this sudden wind. The wind comes out of the west and the sea builds up quickly. Pretty scary if you weren’t in a boat that could take these kinds of sea. We got to Ford Cove and by the time we’d packed up the sea had died right down again.
5 thoughts on “Qualicum Wind”
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…and on your birthday, Bob. Happy Birthday!
Thanks for showing me what I experienced today on Hornby Island on the way back to Ford Cove. We set out in calm weather and turned back when the winds started to pick up. Travelling north to Ford Cove the winds were coming from the Vancouver Island side and slamming into us. At the Ford Cove breakwater a couple of nasties swamped me. I am an experienced kayaker and learned today that the winds I experienced was a Qualium. Amazing as the marine weather forecast was for later afternoon winds coming from the NW. Thank you for giving a name to this experience and for showing me what we went through. David
Glad to hear you two precious beings made it to shore!
Yikes! That happened to us kayaking once. We made it into Down’s Point finally feeling very lucky to be alive.
My stomach churns; glad it was you and not me. Far too vivid video Bob.