Barkley Sound, on the western coast of Vancouver Island, is a setting for a sea-kayaking expedition in pursuit of whales and a passage from the Broken Group Islands toward open water. The novel presents it as a place of rugged appeal whose wildlife and coastal scenery draw visitors, while its rough conditions make the journey a test of their preparation.

Setting and Coastal Route

The expedition reaches the waters near Barkley Sound after a week spent exploring Vancouver Island. The group had arrived in Port Hardy by ferry, hiking mountain trails and visiting the island’s granite peaks and alpine glaciers before turning to its western coast. Andrea Jacobs had spent more than two years persuading her travel editor to approve a feature on the island; whales were the subject she most wanted to photograph, and sea kayaking offered a way to approach their pods.

The group put in at Pacific Rim National Park and traveled north through rough coastal waters, keeping relatively close to shore. At one point, Andrea signals the others to stop paddling and points toward a spot ahead. The narrative identifies the group as ten miles south of Barkley Sound, locating the expedition in the coastal approach rather than placing every encounter directly within the Sound.

The Islands and the Open Ocean

By late afternoon, five kayakers have moved beyond the last of the Broken Group Islands in Barkley Sound and are heading into open ocean. Ronald Jacobs pauses to watch a bald eagle circle overhead and settle in a fir tree several hundred yards away, a brief encounter with the shoreline’s wildlife as the group leaves the islands behind.

Karen McNeil warns that Ucluelet is four miles away and that the swells can become rough. The route thus shifts from the relative shelter suggested by the islands to more exposed water, with the distance still ahead and changing sea conditions shaping the travelers’ immediate concerns.

Access and Narrative Significance

The Sound belongs to a wider travel itinerary rather than standing apart from the island’s network of routes and destinations. The kayakers’ passage through the Broken Group Islands leads them toward Ucluelet, while the nearby Lady Rose ferry is identified as the vessel that will carry them from Ucluelet back up the channel to Port Alberni the following afternoon. Kayak and ferry travel together make the coast legible as both wilderness and traveled corridor.

Barkley Sound’s narrative significance rests on that tension. Its island-studded coast helps draw the group into a wildlife-focused adventure, but the crossing also exposes them to rough water beyond the last land for several miles. The setting is not merely scenic: it determines the expedition’s route, the risks its members must watch for, and the boundary between coastal exploration and the open sea.