It’s been a long-term dream to raise a family on Maurelle Island since it was such a gift to grow up here. I wanted to raise my own son here. My aunt lived in this house when it was floating off of Read Island. I remember walking down through the woods to get to her cabin as a kid; it always had a fairytale quality.
The house, built by a French Canadian from bent saplings, was designed like a boat hull, but is built light, so when the wind blows, we feel it!
Our cove is really a one-of-a-kind location. Not often do all the qualities of southwest exposure, an excellent water source, shelter from wind and close proximity to Surge Narrows Marine Park all come together.
But the winters are long, we’re really dependent upon technology and it takes a lot of extra effort to be social when you live out here. It becomes a water world with the rain pounding the cedar shingles, the waterfall raging from the hillside and the high tide lapping against the pilings under our home.
We began the project with the plan for a home, but as kayakers, the potential for a base camp was obvious. We’ve both guided the west and east coasts of Vancouver Island plus Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand. We wanted to remove what we don’t like about commercial sea kayaking and run a business our way. The kayaking business enables us to live in a remote place yet still support a family.
Go with the Flow Adventures has three guest cabins, a wood-fired hot tub, shower houses and a workshop with plans for a closed-in, octagonal living room based out of the gazebo frame (which was crushed by a tree one winter storm) and also an open communal space for yoga, tai chi and cedar weaving workshops in the off-season.
We have some of the most beautiful, protected paddling on the Inside Passage, so it became our vision to reconnect people with the natural world.
Brody Wilson and Cristina Fox own go With The Flow Adventures on Maurelle island, where Wilson grew up, in the Discovery islands near Campbell River, B.C. They inherited their house in 2000, floated it to their land and, two years and six figures’ worth of renovations later, were ready to move in.
This article first appeared in the Spring 2010 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine as part of a feature on kayak dream homes. For more great content, subscribe to Adventure Kayak’s print and digital editions here.
