Steep Island Blog

July 29th, 2010

Beautiful weather, great fishing along with some kyaking, picnics, time at the spa and relaxing on the helipad the Devcon “girls” had a fantastic 3 days on Steep Island.

Starting with a kayak trip around Gawlland Island where a delicious lunch awaited them….

 

Next day a sucessful fishing trip with Howie and Brant gratefully followed by some relaxing time at the spa….

 

Day 3 was a little more fishing and some more fish and then a gallery tour of Quadra Island, followed by cocktails and hor d’ouerves on the helipad!

A parting breakfast on the front deck…….All in all a trip that couldn’t be beat!!!!

A very special week on Steep Island as our long time guest and RCMP enthusiast and collector Don Reid and his group were greeted upon their arrival to Steep Island by RCMP officer Constable P. Gaiger of the Quadra Island Detachment in Red Serge.  A great moment and one for the history books….especially Don’s!

 

 

 

 

 

After a great salutation it was off to the fishing grounds and the group did well over the next couple of days fishing south and went home with buckets of fish with a couple of 28 pounders!  All in all another fantastic trip!

Since the beggining of June, the fishing at the south end of Quadra Island has been experiencing a great return of Chinook salmon.  The Chinook being caught are legal size to over 30 lbs. Right now the best fishing is at the Lighthouse and the “Hump” on the ebb tide.

Fishing has also had some great returns north of the Narrows. Brown’s Bay, Deepwater Bay, Chatham Point and Greensea Bay have all been producing Chinook.

There is still opportunity to book a stay and fish… looks to be a fantastic fihsing season ahead for us.

Call 250-830-8179 or email info@steepisland.com

 

 

June 10, 2010

The intention was a salmon, but what was on the end of the hook was a 35 lb Halibut! Our guest from Hollister CA was asked by his wife in the morning…please bring back a Halibut! and he delivered. With  great guiding by Scotty Anderson in spite of a slow morning at the “hump” (south end of Quadra Island), telling stories of a past halibut catch, no sooner was the story told when the rod bent down hard and there was no mistaking that there was a “flatty” on the end of the rod. After 15 min of hauling it was brought up to the side of the boat with cheers and high fives!!!!! A 35 pound halibut caught and brought up on salmon gear…that was not Scotty’s first! Two years ago for our long time client Pat D. an 85 lb was hooked in the same manner in the same spot….Way to go Scotty and Stan…..

June 3 2010

Our first fishing guests of the season have arrived and inaugarated the fish table with a couple of beautiful chinook. Inspite of the poor weather and wind guide Jon Reynolds was able to get fish in the boat, a few good misses and a double header….Great way to start the season and a promising outlook at this years fishery!

We are still taking reservations…..please call or email for rates and dates…

info@steepisland.com

250-830-8179

May 15th 2010

Brome Lake Foie Gras

Steep Island Lodge, Cheddar & Co., and Pauline Woods representative for PMA Wines and Spirits who brought along a wonderful array of product to pare with Michelle’sfantastic menu hosted yet another wonderful dinner party at Steep Island. The weather was with us on this one too! And the menu and spirits again delectable!!!!!

Michelle started everyone off with Parmesan Crusted Cortes Island Oysterwitha lime mignonette. This was pared with Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer from Scotland in perfectly frosted glasses.

 

Pattison Farms Organic Spinach Salad , with pancetta, sunny side quail egg, porcini mushroom and Salt Spring Island Goats Cheese, served with a chilledTwo Oceans Sauvignon Blanc Brut 2009. South Africa

 Next came the delicious Brome Lake Foie Gras accompanied by Villa Maria Riesling 2008 from New Zealand.

A Mint Granite to cleanse the palate and now to the irresistible main course, (even for the two vegetarians on board!):

Truffle Crusted Island Bison Tournados!!!!         WOW! If you have never had this Island Bison before take it from everyone at this dinner party it is the most delicious and tender meat to be had! This was wonderfully pared with Osborne Solaz Tempranillo- A 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon from Spain!

And the Grande Finale…..

Smoked Tea infused chocolate pot de creme with macerated raspberries and pumpkin seed brittle…served with Osborne Reserve Tawny Port -Portugal-aged 7 years in oak barrels.

The evening proceeded with a fire in the fire pit, some rounds of poker and pool and lots and lots of fun…best for me were two surprise guests, former guides of Steep Island, Tyler and Zues who I had not seen in a few years…..

                            Special thanks to Pauline Woods & PMA Wines & Spirits

                              pmwoods@telus.net

                              250-830-7271

 

 

And to Michelle for another FANTASTIC menu and evening! www.cheddarandcompany.com

 

 

 

And to our guests, we hope to see you all again! We know you had as much fun as we did! Maybe more…..

Cheers, Chantal Jon Michelle and Mark

Saturday April 24th

Our first guests of the season arrived on Saturday for another combination dinner by Michelle of Cheddar and Co and wine tasting from the Quadra Island South End Farm Vineyards at Steep Island Lodge. What a delectable evening!

Michelle’s 6 course menu offered a mouth watering array of appetizers to dessert. An “amuse bouche”  guyerer cube with orange mint vinaigrette started off the meal followed by an Organic Beet and Greens Salad. Quadra Island Swimming Scallops with a delicate fennel, star anise sauce, a Rosewater Graniteto cleanse the palette to be followed by the entree; Local Island Bison Pan Seared Rib-Eye accompanied by Yukon Gold Wild Mushroom Pave and Smoked Tomato Romesco. DELICIOUS!  The meal’s finishing touch…a beautiful Chocolate Silkdessert with strawberry peppercorn compote, rosemary Madeline’s, gorgonzola.

Each course was pared with a bubbly, red or white wine and dessert wine presented by Ben and Jill of SouthEnd Vineyards of Quadra Island.

How lucky we are to have such great talent and passion right here in our own backyard! 

 

 

Michelle Cheddar & Co.  http://www.cheddarandcompany.com/

 

 

 

Ben McGuffie and Jill Ogasawara of SouthEnd Farm Vineyards   http://www.southend.ca

Thanks to all our guests for a wonderful evening!

After a couple of weeks of some really “gnarly” (westcoast slang meaning nasty, ugly, windy, rainy, unsettled, the worst…etc) weather, wind wind wind, and cold coming from the snow covered mountains, it seemed like spring would never come; but as of yesterday we are heading into more spring like weather. Hurray! It is that time of year again to put in gardens, make any repairs and upgrades and generally get ready for the upcoming season.

 

 

AVAILABILITY & EVENTS:

We still have availability for this year and hope that those empty days fill up for what reports to be a great  fishing year! Don’t hesitate to contact us to book a memorable and adventurous stay at Steep Island.

250-830-8179   info@steepisland.com

Bute Tours:

We are offering Bute Tours again this year. Dates and activities will be confimed by May 1st. The trips this year are 2 night stay with more possibility of hiking, kayaking etc. Watch for futher information.

Cheddar & Co with Steep Island:

Our second dinner adventure in partnership with Michelle of Cheddar & Co is happening on April 24th. DInner extravaganza! It is sold out, but we are hoping to create more dates this spring. We have a potential date for May 15th right now, waiting to book in full. (update: 15th has been booked in full) If there is any interest for another delicious and fun filled evening please contact Michelle at Cheddar & Co. 250-830-0244

WEBCAM:

We are still working on the eagle cam. It is up and running, just have to get it to the web so that everyone can watch Franny and Leo (one pair of our 3 sets of resident eagles on the island). Here is a picture of what you will be able to watch live once we are set up. They are very busy now keeping the nest in order and are probably sitting on an egg or two as they seem to be keeping vigil all day long. It has been fantastic experience to witness them close up busy in their nest. I will send out a notice as soon as we have it operational for everyone to enjoy.

 

SPRING AT LAST:

I leave you with a few garden photos with proof that spring is in the air….and the the island gets some colour! more to come….

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

  

Time flies…..I have some catching up to do….

This fall seems to have flown by and here we are in December already. Life has been relatively quite on the island. We had a couple of very big storms, no major trees down but many many branches. The last storm clocked winds of 98kms and hour….just over 60 mph…..it was a frightening night…we had 9 days straight of record rain fall…things have since dried up and the last couple of days have been warm (for us!) and even a number of sunny days…no complaints. Snow is in the forcast but hopefully not for us, although you can all imagine that Santos wishes otherwise!

In late October we hosted a dinner, wine tasting and overnight on Steep Island with Michelle & Mark  of “Cheddar & Co. Specialty Foods Ltd.” in Campbell RIver and Ben & Jill of “SouthEnd Farm Vineyards” on Quadra Island…… Delicious Evening!

Wines were paired with Michelle’s fantastic 6 course meal, all of which had an “apple element”…not just any apple but organically grown from Cortes Island. This was a fantastic evening and was a great joint venture! We plan on doing more of these eveings….

Check out their websites:

http://www.cheddarandcompany.com

 http://www.southend.ca/sefv/Welcome.html

Michelle at Cheddar & Co

The 2010 Steep Island Yearly Calendars are at the printers and will be sent off to our clients as soon as I receive them…end of the week….

 We are working on a streaming video project at this time. Hopefully we will have a fully operational “FRANNYCAM” so we can watch our favorite birds up close and in action  …stay tuned for that.

I leave you with a few of my favorite fall photos ….

’til next time

Cheers from Steep Island

Chantal

  Our Japanese maple 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harvest Moon

 

 

 

 

 

 

Splash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Fall Leaves….

 

 

 

 

Mushroom series