Plumper Cove, carved out of the shores of Keats Island facing Gibsons, is a short 3-kilometer paddle from the Gibsons Marina dock. Quite often on our summer paddles Gibsons Paddle Club members head over to Plumper Cove, take a break in its tranquil setting then pull their way back to their starting point in Gibsons Harbour. They can paddle numerous routes to and from the cove thus increasing the distance they paddle on any given day. It’s a favourite destination, particularly if a crewmember has limited time to paddle that day. It can be a fast trip over and back.
At Plumper Cove is a government campsite and extensive docking area. It’s a favourite stopover destination for yachts and sailboats in the warmer summer months too. Often, in the summer, we’ll weave our canoes in and out of the boats as we do our early morning paddle. The smell of coffee from those up for breakfast onboard those anchored boats is a cruel motivation for us to get back to Gibsons as fast as we can for our own waiting post-paddle coffee.
Protecting Plumper Cove from the weather and swells coming from the Salish Sea are two small islands. On the charts they’re known as “Shelter Islets”. They don’t even have individual names assigned to them. The smaller of the two, the one to the north, is actually a part of the Squamish Indian Reserve and as such we all respect that fact and never put foot on the island except if accompanied by a Squamish Band member. At one point, years ago, there was someone living on the island with a large dog. That dog would bark and threaten us daily as we paddled by. He struck fear in many a paddler even from the safety of our canoe several meters off shore. In fact, he made such an impression on so many of our paddlers he’s remembered in our club emblem. The emblem represents a First Nations stylized paddler in a canoe holding his paddle up. The stylized design of the bow of the canoe is that of the head of a threatening dog, that’s the dog from the smaller Shelter Island.
At high tide a skillful skipper and a helpful bow person can guide the canoe through the shallow waters between the two islets. For a short period of time there might be a foot or so of water, sufficient to carefully steer the canoe through without scratching the bottom. That’s where this painting was found. After successfully navigating the shallows one summer’s day I stopped the canoe turned back and photographed the waters we’d just come through. We’re actually looking northeast from the seat of an OC-6 canoe. I’ve painted this summer image in the winter. I can’t wait until the warm summer months when again we can paddle over to Plumper Cove and find “SANCTUARY AT SHELTER ISLETS”.
