ABOUT A MILE of open water separated me from lunch when Jay Raichura, who runs Pender Island Kayak Adventures, lifted the blade of his paddle from the Salish Sea and pointed it toward a white plume rising on the horizon. “Can you see the smoke?” he asked. “That’s where we’re going. Saturna Island.”

We’d been paddling hard over choppy seas and against stiff headwinds for about two hours. It was July 1 a summer ago, Canada Day up north, and Jay was leading me and five others on a three-day, two-night kayaking and camping expedition...