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.