Day 9 Nuchatlitz/Nootka Island Sea Kayak Trip

Saturday, May 26th, 2007
Day 9 Beano Creek Beach, Nootka Island

This beach is really cool. I like it a lot, but it's also making me envious, because I want to live like this too and I don't know how to make it happen.

It's just beautiful here. Exposed to the open Pacific. On the far right hand side is a wide creek. The beach is really steep and pebbly, but small pebbles, almost like sand.

The forest is big spruce mostly, with some space between them, and salal undergrowth, and a bank leading up to it. The bank is covered with long grass, and it looks a bit like the Charlottes. Pat, the guy who lives here, says the grey whales come here every year, & he watches so many pass right by, even coming close to shore & rubbing. I think that's what the little baby grey was doing at Catala. He says there's one sea otter mum that comes every year with its babies. He's here all winter, all year, right on the cliff at the other side of the beach, with a big deck going around & a greenhouse on it, and he can watch all the winter storms. He found six big green glass balls like the one Sarah has, just this year. And the Nootka Trail continues in both directions from here.

This closer side of the property is owned by a surf camp. They have these cool little treehouse cabins, so nice. All cedar shake, and little narrow steep stairs to get up. Bunk beds & glass balls & sea urchins & framed surfing photos inside. Surfboards stored under the treehouses. There's a low shack with a bunch of surfboards, too, & nobody's here right now. There's about five cabin/treehouses along the beach and a bigger house at each end. When Sarah & I heard there were going to be structures, we didn't like the sound of it, but it's really nice, & doesn't seem built up.

Yesterday we heard that slam & got freaked out & walked down the beach to the big house. We weren't expecting anyone, but an older, kind of deaf man came out. He was reticent, but eventually he told us he was a guest & his friends were inside. He invited us in, and we met Pat & Jan, Pat being the one who lives here year round. Jan's in her late fifties or so, and is building a cabin 200 yards from Pat's house. They seem to be together, kind of.

The place is beautiful. Jan told us that Pat bought the land in '91. Recently he cut trees down from the land, milled them himself, and built the house with it. It's so pretty. He inlaid cedar bark around the windows. Upstairs there's a bathtub right under a long window that looks out over the trees & ocean. Beautiful. And he filled a kind of counter that the tub fits into with pebbles from the beach, and shells and glass balls.

He runs it as a B&B that he also stays in. He says he comes with the house, because he has to run all the systems -- propane, etc. He's got wireless internet. He was making popcorn when we came in, & gave us a brown bag to go. Palomitas. On the way up the stairs, showing us around, Jan banged a drum softly on the wall, and said oh, the weather drum sounds like it'll be good weather tomorrow. The drum contracts & expands w/the humidity, so it's a kind of barometer. They weren't like eccentric island folk at all, just doing it all up in simple style.

So. Today. I woke up in a bad mood b/c it was wet out & I knew my gumboots were soaked & I hated the idea of cold wet feet all day or sacrificing another pair of socks. It was misting. I cooked 7 grain cereal & we had hot chocolate & apples & the cereal actually turned out really well. I was also in a bad mood b/c I hadn't slept well & I'd had bad dreams -- about Alice, about fighting w/Tess . . .

Sarah & I explored the cabins & walked past the B&B but then I turned around, came back to camp. Ate my leftover curry, eventually had beer & chocolate w/Sarah, tried to dry my gear.

The sun came out hot, and I went on my own down the beach to get water. I've been wanting more time to myself, but also feel bad exploring parts of the beach Sarah hasn't seen yet.

More cabins & they were cool, really pretty, and then I got to the river. It's shallow & pebbly, and it was so hot that I took off my clothes & went for it. Made myself dunk under, washed, washed my hair. It felt good. I lay on the rocks & the wind dried me but it wasn't cold. Filled the water bag & bottles & walked back to camp. Organized my gear, got a bunch of wood ready for a fire, w/the hatchet & knife & everything, & then relaxed. Sarah came back and she'd found another glass ball. It's so hard not to be jealous. She's found two like the one I found, the big green one, and now this cool small one w/a Japanese inscription stamp on the bottom. I'd like to find some, but I'll never find that many now. Oh well. Everything else has been so good, and I did find the trade bead.

Then I read for a bit, cooked dinner, & Jan & Pat & Glen came down the beach to say hi to us and Jan gave us some cookies she'd made. They invited us for coffee for tomorrow for if we don't make it off the beach, which we probably won't. The forecast sounds like strong winds tomorrow. And tonight, although it's not blowing yet. I want to stay another day, and go way down the beach. And then the day after tomorrow we need good weather so we can move closer to our takeout, or we'll have to do it all in one day, on the 29th, but I really hope that doesn't happen. Oh, I dried my gumboots out today! I never thought that would happen. Really lucky.

Day 8 Nuchatlitz/Nootka Island Sea Kayak Trip

still May 25th/07 22.07 still Day 8
Beano Creek, Nootka Island

I can't believe what a great trip this has been. It really is. Every day is so different and interesting, Sarah & I work really well together & are on the same page, and the weather's been just what we needed for winds. I feel really really blessed and lucky. I think we have Scotty to thank for it, b/c he's been praying for us every night, and I am going to thank him. What a great trip.

We're at a really special place now -- Beano Creek. It feels like the Queen Charlottes, how it's steep & duney to the woods, & mossy w/old man's beard & open, and there's grass. The beach is super steep, and it's tiny pebbles, which is a nice break from sand b/c it doesn't stick to everything.

There's so much to explore here and we haven't even started. We're both so excited. We pulled in at 6, so there's been no time yet.

Today we woke up at Calvin Creek expecting to have a layover day. I woke up at 8 and when I poked my head out the tent it was so fresh & empty & no one was around, so I just put some layers on & went out there instead of sleeping in more. A bald eagle flew over & the sand was all new after the last tide.

I walked down to the creek & washed my face, & on the beach across the creek I saw either a bear or a wolf, hard to tell from so far away, but I think a wolf. There were wolf prints all down our beach. I'd never seen one before. I'd love to see one up close.

Sarah made apple pancakes & we just chilled & read & ate batches of pancakes.

Then another helicopter flew over, and came lower & lower, & landed down the beach from us! We went over to see who it was. Charlie Cornfield was the old guy, red suspenders, Ministry of Forests, Commercial Tourism, Sport, & the Arts. I can't believe they've merged so many ministries now. The funding must get cut. Then a lady from the government too, outdoor tourism I think. And Tom, their helicopter pilot, who was maybe a little older than us & very coastal & cool & we could tell he liked us. We liked him tool. He was cute. Quiet and really enthusiastic about the coast, asking us if we'd found glass balls, talking about whales and wolves. When the gov. people were gone he said he'd take us for a spin in the helicopter if only it wasn't on government time & money, so he couldn't. He said though he'd tell his buddy in Gold River we were out here & maybe he'd swing by instead.

Those guys left, too bad, we wanted Tom to come have beer & a campfire with us or something. When they left he flew really really low straight over our camp, that we'd gone back to, and all I saw was the helicopter skids swooping right over us. It was cool. They'd come to check out the state of the beach, b/c there'd been a log barge accident & that's why there were so many logs stacked on one side of the beach. They're supposed to salvage them, the logging company, and all the junk that was on that beach -- wire and a skidder & all that shit. but they're a month late doing it, & the guy said he was shocked at the state of it & that no one's really claiming responsibility. It's good to hear though that someone's meant to be coming for those logs.

Sarah & I listened to the weather, and, as I kind of thought would happen, our weather window to move was actually today. The winds were really light, and not picking up till tomorrow morning. Then it would be 15 knots with an outlook of moderate northwesterlies rising to strong. We had the option of either waiting till tomorrow & then potentially not liking it & having to wait it out another day or two there at Calvin Creek, or the other option was to move on to Beano Creek even though we'd planned a layover day. We're both really glad we moved. It was a hard launch, & we wouldn't have wanted to launch in anything harder, & that was pretty much w/perfect weather. Now we're on a cool beach, there was no stress on the water today except anticipating the landing after the launch. Also the surf landing was pretty big, & we had perfect weather for that too, almost no swell, so imagine all that in 15 knot winds. No, we're glad we moved. And we still had a really relaxing morning, & it felt like a layover except we packed up & got on the water by three.

This beach is steep, so the surf dumps. There's pretty much just one breaker, & you ride it in on the back, but it's big. It was a way easier landing than yesterday, though, way less scary. The launch was so tough, though! Multiple sets of breakers (at Calvin Creek). I pushed myself off b/c I've never done it myself in a loaded boat & I wanted to see if I could. Went for it towards the end of a smaller set, which I shouldn't have done. It was hard to wait & assess once out there, though. Then I was punching through it & doing okay but the waves were getting bigger & bigger. One broke right over my head & I just kept paddling through it but I couldn't see anything and another one was coming. My chart case got knocked loose & my sprayskirt had a big puddle of water & I was all soaked right down the inside of my jacket, but I did it. It was hard. I was shaking for a while after we came through. Sarah did fine too. She caught the tail end of that same breaker, further to the left, so it wasn't as big. But she was the one got pounded yesterday in the surf landing. And survived.

Anyway, made it to Beano at 6 all stoked. Assessed the surf & went for it. This beach rocks. I organized my gear, set up a kitchen tarp & my tent, Sarah cooked dinner, & we ate. Then at the end of dinner we heard what sounded like a door slam. There's cabins all down this beach, but we'd been here 3 hours & no one had come to say hi, so we got freaked out. People are scarier than animals sometimes. I was hoping it was a bear. We went down the beach w/bear spray & a hatchet. Then we saw a light come on in the big house way down the beach (this is our first site w/houses, & they're really just cabins). Went up & it turned out to be a wicked B&B and Pat & Jan and their friend Glen were there. They showed us around & gave us popcorn & it was so cool & tomorrow I'll write more about it.

Also, washing dishes I totally topped both my boots b/c it surged way up all of a sudden. Soaked up to my shins. They won't dry out, so I'm stuck w/Holey Soles & neoprene booties for the rest of the trip; 4 days. I'll suck it up, but I hate having cold wet feet. A rookie mistake but understandable with this surf. Everything else is so great I don't even care. Now we're five miles or so from Nootka Sound, with one more surf launch ahead of us, and as many days as we need to get winded in and wait for our weather window. We can spend up to 3 nights here & still be fine. And there's so much to explore -- the beaches, the cabins, the Nootka Trail that has a woods entrance over by the B&B we think. It's so great. Okay. 11:07 and I'm off to bed. I can hear frogs. It hasn't really rained for days & days. Amazing. Thank you Lord, you made it right.

Day 7 Nuchatlitz/Nootka Island Sea Kayak Trip

May 24th/07 22.10 Day 7
Calvin Creek, Nootka Island!

We made it. We got up an hour early today & when we got on the water it was calm & visibility was pretty good. Snuck into a little slot in the rocks to get out & pee before going round Ferrer Point, where it gets committed.

There were sea lions on Ferrer Point. They made Sarah pretty nervous. it took us pretty much how long we figured -- left at 10 and landed around 1:30. We were really proud of ourselves. I'm too tired to write. I'll catch up tomorrow.

So we picked a good day to do our first leg down the Nootka Coast. Around 11.45, we still had a ways to go and I really had to pee. The swell was big, but we were outside the break zone. Sarah stabilized my boat and I hung off the edge & peed. I had a little bit of stagefright but eventually did it b/c I'm comfortable with her. It's hard, the cold watter slapping up on me, then after, arching up in the cockpit to pull my pants back up. Kind of crazy, but easier than landing on that section of coast.

Once we made it to Skuna Bay, there was only another mile to go. They were in the middle of logging there, or maybe log salvaging, so I was glad we weren't camping there. Also, Lennie had it marked on the chart as Big Surf, although I think anywhere around there is big surf. Our surf landing was sure big.

I was so proud of myself for that landing! I volunteered to go first. Sat outside the break zone for a while, watching, pretty intimidated. When I thought I had a smaller set, I went for it (Sarah called to me to go, too, so she must have thought it was smaller as well).

It was so exhilarating, and I had to draw on all my skill. I'm really glad I'd had the training I'd had before attempting it with a loaded boat and no one else around.

There were multiple breaks, and that made it really hard. I went in on the back of the first one, but the next one came right behind, and I had to rudder & sweep hard to stay perpendicular. Braced a little, backpaddled to avoid surfing, then went hard, jumped out of my kayak & dragged it up the shore and let out a big woohooo! I did really well. It was big, and everything was getting thrown at me all at once, and I had to react with the right stroke/action every time, and I did it. I felt great.

Then Sarah went. It looked as big & crazy watching her come in as it had felt to me while I was doing it. A big wave hit her and turned her broadside. All I saw for a bit was her white hull, and I totally thought she'd dumped. She disappeared, and I was trying to decide how I could help her; if I should paddle back out or if I could even do anything from there. But suddenly she was upright and paddling again. I was like -- she rolled! That's sweet that's awesome, that's skills.

She spent the rest of the time coming in chasing her gear that got knocked out of her bungee cords & off the deck, chasing it while trying to stay upright at the same time. Her paddlefloat, her poagies. I waded in chest deep & got her paddlefloat the 2nd time it got away from her.

But she made it, and although she lost one poagie, it washed up later, luckily. Not a major piece of safety equipment, but sucks to lose it. I'm glad we got the paddlefloat back.

So after that we revelled in Calvin Creek. Long sandy beach, and the sun came out. I was skipping & twirling & running all over the place in my bare feet. But first we got a hug long carry out of the way, and ate lunch. We found wolf tracks, and we walked to the waterfall, which is really big. The creek's too wide to cross except at low tide right at the mouth. We chickened out for swimming b/c the sun went away again & the wind picked up. Went back & put our layers on & sat barefoot & bundled up drinking hot chocolate & reading. But then the sun came out again, so we did the glass balls photo shoot we'd been planning to do for days. Sunny & sandy; it was perfect. Took the big green ball & all 3 little balls out on the sand & took a bunch of shots.

While we were doing that, a Coast Guard helicopter flew around the point & over the bay & beach. It swooped down, closer & closer, & flew right over us, so close we waved & they waved back.

We knew they'd think we were hard core for being out on this part of the coast at this time of year, too early even for hikers. And we probably looked like we were having a lot of fun, too, which we were. And I'm sure they could see that big glass float. Cool. That got me thinking about coast guard and other coastal work, and all the different stuff I'm interested in, and how I'm going to do it all & how I'm going to choose a career. I'll think more about it when I"m back in town again, but I definitely want to do what I said before & line up my actions w/my values.

Then that evening I got kind of annoyed w/my tent & the meal I cooked (cheese pancakes & it all stuck to the pan), but I think I was just tired. It had been a really full day, as most of our days are out here. It's great.