Day 12 Nuchatlitz/Nootka Island Sea Kayak Trip

Tuesday, May 29th/07 11:03 pm
Tull Avenue, home in my bed

Coffee & granola on the beach. Went into the woods & took photos of the cedars. Left, paddled back to Tuta Marina. We came full circle. We did it! We made it. This trip has been very good for my body and soul. It was great. Packed up, drove back to the Lodge & cleaned boats & gear.

Had a great talk w/Jamie Boulding. He's really interested in native stuff & was telling us about this new book, Clam Farms, about how they modified the beaches in the Broughton Archipelago. I want to check it out. And I want to see if Sue & Doug remember Josie, & vice versa. That was a long time ago.

Left the Lodge, drove to Campbell River and Sarah & I had fish & chips & frozen yogurt on the pier.

Drove home. Saw Jimmy right away, he's got a new truck, Alex & Morgan, Alex has a new haircut, Lennie & Serina, they had Johnstone Strait trip stories & some new trade beads & pipe stems. It was a rushed rushed evening. Knew it would be. By ten to nine I was cleaning my gear, dunking & hanging it. Paul called, told me it's going to be really busy at work tomorrow. I'm ready. I'll do my best. Alice called, Serena called, & all the time I'm trying to tie tarps & flies to the clothesline & stuff. By 10:10, I've washed my dishes & everything's put away. I showered, shaved my legs, clipped my toenails, scrubbed, cleaned, toned, moisturized, flossed, brushed, vitamined, all that, and now I'm in bed & it's time to crash. The next three days are a bike courier's busiest days of the month, and they're my days, all three. If I don't call Paul for help I could make $650 or so, which would make up a bit for having missed so much work. I'll try to just do it. Go have breakfast at the Roadrunner early b/c I didn't have time to pick up groceries. Okay. Busy but I can do it.

This past trip -- AMAZING. We were so, so lucky. Thank you thank you Jah, Da, & Scotty. Sunshine, good weather, good decisions, whales, glass, everything. The whole of Nootka Island to ourselves. Good for my body and soul.

Now my main goal is to live each day to its fullest, as an adventure, the way I did this trip. And put first things first. God nat.

Day 11 Nuchatlitz/Nootka Sea Kayak Trip

Monday, May 28th/07
a little island (tiny) off of Bligh Island, near the isthmus we camped on Day 1, Nootka Sound

It's nice and hot. It's beautiful. Sarah & I got in early to camp on Vernaci, and b/c the beach is small & rocky & in shade, I paddled out here to hang out before dinner. I was going to go to the isthmus, but someone's camped there, so I found this instead.

I'm up on a cliff, sitting on grass on a little ledge in the rock. It really feels like someone's sat here before. It's too perfect. The Nuu-chah-nulth lived here for so long; they found all the perfect little spots and knew of every beach. No doubt they pulled out here. In fact, this whole little beach is empty clam shells. Don't clams live underground, under the sand? Yes. Maybe they harvested the clams somewhere near here, and then sat on the rocks & shucked them. Maybe the spot I'm sitting on was where someone high up sat, like a chief or the queen, someone who didn't have to work, just watched. It's nice here.

Sarah & I got up at 6:30 & were on the water by 8:30, just what we aimed for. 8:15 really. The surf launch was pretty easy, nothing compared to Calvin Creek. So we left Beano Creek in bright sunshine again, blue skies, and only a little bit of wind. This is 8 days in a row without rain! In May. Incredible. This has been such a good trip. I've got to call Mum & tell her I'm taking her & Tess out kayaking this summer. I'm so lucky; she really wants to go. I should just do it. Maybe the Broken Islands. Somewhere I want to go, somewhere cool. Doesn't have to be the Strait. They won't care if I've never been there; they'll trust me. I should just choose a date they can both do and just go for it. Tess too; that'll be great! I'm thinking three days or so. Four maybe. I need to work. Oh, it'll be good. A different kind of trip. My present to them. I'll cook. They can do lunches.

Anyway, so we went down the coast, with a lot of rebound waves, and around Maquinna Point. You sure wouldn't want to do that in worse weather. We only had maybe 6 knots of wind, but it was big. Not scary at all for us, but really confused & rocky and lumpy, boomers, whitewash everywhere. We took some fun little sneaks, rode it. It was mellow & fun & I was glad I have the skills & Sarah too. Same as for this whole trip.

After rounding the point, we pulled in at a beach to pee & take layers off. It was surfy, though. We wanted to stay & beachcomb but couldn't b/c the tide was rising & the beach was steep. I tried to turn my boat around in the water to face the right way before getting in, tried to beat the surf set. But it came too quick for me & suddenly my boat was broadside to the surf, riding the wave towards me. I grabbed it & thought for sure it was going to get a cockpit full of water & roll in the surf, my gear everywhere. But somehow I was lucky (again) (thank you Jah, Da, & Scotty), and it only got a tiny bit of water in it.

We kept going & got out 2 miles later at Friendly Cove (Yuquot), where there was the major village site, and where Jewitt was held captive as slave by Chief Maquinna, and where Cook anchored for a month & traded before beginning to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii, I think), & apparently got killed there by natives.

We pulled in & went to see Ray & Terry. Only Ray was there. His family is the last descendants of the tribe to still live at the village. It was neat imagining a long lineage back to the people before white people even came, at least 45oo years but probably more. He and his wife live there, and his son Sanford, who's a carver, & Sanford's son Darryl I think, & Darryl's son Isaiah. Isn't that cool? We met Isaiah when Ray came over to tell us we should get going. Oh, I just saw a river otter really close. It surfaced & breathed, looked around, dove back under with its long sleek tail. This log hasn't been much of a long sleek tale but I hope it's interesting, b/c the days themselves have been amazing.

Sarah & I went & saw the last totem pole, which is now fallen, and then we walked over & checked out the church the Spanish built, which also houses a little museum and a lot of newer totem poles & carved figures, really beautiful. Owls and eagles and wolves & orcas, lots. The museum had an article about the people's whaling shrine, which they used to harness dark magic in order to bring luck in whaling. I don't want to write about it; it's too freaky, but I'm going to find out more about it & whether it ever got returned to Nootka.

We went & saw the lake where Jewitt & Thompson went to say their prayers, too.

I liked what the museum said about Nuu-chah-nulth spirituality. They had one god, and integrated their spirituality into all aspects of their lives, constantly praying & giving thanks. Everyone had their secret spot for ritual bathing/cleansing & worshipping. The bathin, every day, year round, was a show of sacrifice & earnestness in their faith, and they used it to gather personal strength for the day.

Then we went back to our boats, & made lunch, and Ray told us to move on because "the chiefs are coming and they might want to charge you more than I did." (We paid ten dollars each for landing, which is fully reasonable). Sarah wanted to say hi to the lighthouse keepers, who are also at Friendly Cove, but we had to move on. As we were paddling out, a bunch of chiefs got out of a water taxi, looking like normal people of course, and greeted us as they walked up the pier.

We had the wind behind us and a nice easy paddle to Vernaci Island, where we're camped. Near the end, we went between a couple other islands instead of straight to Vernaci, and it was so cool. The wind blew us all the way up the channel, and we just kicked back, didn't paddle, watching the beautiful deep & lighter greens, turquoises of the water pass by, the mossy shoreline, the snow-covered mountains ahead of us. Just kicked back and enjoyed it.

Okay, I have a little more to write but the tide's creeping up on my kayak & I want to see how Sarah's doing. She paddled out to the little rock in front of our camp & I think she has her kayak afloat by the bowline. Time to go make dinner, my night -- burritos. Our last night out. Still hot & sunny at 6 thirty. Stoked. Time to move.



still May 28th, still Day 11
Vernaci Island, Nootka Sound
10:12 pm

It's so nice to be out here. This is probably the best trip I've ever been on. The only thing is it makes me want to be out here with someone I'm in love with. A guy who's as competent & efficient & organized in kayaking & camping as I am, but we're in love & we're out here. That'd be amazing. A trip that runs this smoothly, with my man. That would complete it, absolutely. But it's been so great anyway.

Now it's late, we're sitting by the fire, right by the water, tide coming up, burning yellow cedar, drinking tea. it's so quiet now that we're not on the open coast anymore. No surf. A grouse is pounding in the distance.

This campsite's cool. It's got lots of woods, which is different. Most of the other ones we've been to have thick undergrowth behind the beach. This opens up, though, & goes up a hill, with lots of space, trails, and big cedar trees. Really big. Lots of them have the long strip out of them; they've been harvested by the native people. There's a creek here too, although the beach is probably only fifteen paces long. When we got here I followed the trails to the top of the hill, & then it went down into a swamp. Sarah went back & I kept going, & then when I turned around I was pretty much lost. I couldn't find the trail back. Luckily I still had the sense of which way to go, into which part of the forest. I had to bushwhack my way into the forest, & then bushwhack it to the top of the hill. Still couldn't see trails, & I called to Sarah but she didn't hear me. Then I heard a boat scrape up the beach & I knew she was down there. I guess you could get lost back there. But here we are. Another great day. When I'm back in town, I want to wake up wondering what good things are going to happen, anticipating the singularity of the day, the way I do out here.




And, I forgot to say, the rocks are moved at this beach to clear an opening to land a boat on, like I've seen before here and in Alaska. Apparently the slaves are the ones who cleared the rocks. This is like a gnome hunt on a large scale. If that makes sense. Something I want to see so bad, and look for signs everywhere. Except this was really real.

The tide line's almost at our kitchen. 11:00. God nat.

Day 10 Nuchatlitz/Nootka Island Sea Kayak Trip

Sunday, May 27th/07 10.29

Beano Creek 2nd layover day

Yep, we're still here. Thought we would be. We'll probably get up early and get on the water tomorrow to beat the winds, which are still kicking it right now. But it's hot and sunny, and we're protected quite a bit from the wind, and we're drying out our charts, and we have all day to do whatever we want.

still May 27th, still Day 10, still Beano Creek 8:27 pm

Set my alarm for 7 today & had the beach to myself. Walked down to the right, towards the creek, but I couldn't get across. I all of a sudden had an idea for a kids' book, about a boy who I'll call Simon. He's five or six, it's about glass, I'm not going to write it now. It's in my head.

Right now Sarah & I are both writing in our journals after dinner. We've got hot chocolate, & layers on, but it's nice out. Clear skies, the sun's going down, clouds turning yellow & the white moon showing through with blue behind it. We had another sunny day. We've been incredibly lucky on this trip! Thank you Jah, Da, and Scotty. It was really windy all day, so we didn't move, but that's how we wanted it. Another day to explore. It sounds like we have our window to move tomorrow, which we really need to, so we got prepared tonight to make it a quick morning. Granola & milk powder in our bowls ready to go, tea bags in our thermoses. I feel pretty organized. When we first got here I thought we'd have to do a seal launch to leave, but hopefully it doesn't come to that. The tide differences are less & it all seems a little better. We'll see.

We hung out on the beach in the sun a lot today. All of a sudden Sarah called out Kelda! Whale! Right in front of our camp again; another grey. This one was way bigger than the one we saw at Catala. It was doing the same thing -- surfing the waves broadside, rolling, showing its pectoral & dorsal fin. I'm pretty sure it's rubbing; that's what Pat said too.

We ran back & forth down the beach watching it, & then up on the cliffs to watch it from above. Sarah went & told the others, & Glen came out & watched & then Jan too. She was being really nice, telling me & Sarah that we look great, mid-twenties, she likes it how we've got no makeup & that & look so healthy. She also said, & this was the best part, that we've inspired her to spend more time out here. B/c they're putting in a cabin for her, and she can be out here as much as she wants, retired. We told her they've been an inspiration for us, too, b/c we want to live the way they're living. I think she could see how much we appreciate the coast & how much fun we're having, & it renewed her enthusiasm for it.

Watched the whale for a long time, marked more route on my charts & figured out mileage -- I think approx. 83 nautical miles so far.

Later went for a -- the whale just surfaced again & blew -- long walk to beachcomb but didn't find anything except an abalone & a woodpecker, then walked back w/Sarah.

I forgot to say the grey whale spyhopped when it first got here, and again later. Sarah & I jumping up & down & waving our arms when it came up. Jan says they normally come even closer but she thinks b/c it's so surfy it's afraid of being beached by a big wave, so it's staying a little farther out, but still so close. We could have taken a running jump & landed to touch it, it was that close.

And that's about all that happened today. I finished the Maquinna book two nights ago, and I'm back to reading Rabin Alameddine's "I, the Divine". In fact, I think I'll read it right now. We have half an hour until the updated weather forecast. Obviously, we go a lot by what we actually see & feel & observe out there for wind, and clouds we see coming, and all kinds of signs. The forecast is another too, though, and a useful one at that.

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.

Day 6 Nuchatlitz/Nootka Island Sea Kayak Trip

May 23/07

WX 0400
SYN: a High over S Van weakens today
stalls over Cape Scott & dissipates
rebuilds over Charlottes
mod to str SE in morn eases to mod in aft & shifts to light

W coast Van I South: winds light rising to SE 15-20 offshore
veering to SE 15-20 in aft, SE 25 W of Estevan Pt late aft.
winds easing to light overnight 1 m swell
Outlook: winds light rising to moderate NW

May 23rd/07 19.07
little sandy cove north of Ferrer Pt., Nootka Island (near Louie Bay)

I feel very very content & at ease, competent, on this trip. Sarah and I really know what we're doing. You couldn't do this trip without knowing what you're doing, and even more so in May. There's no one else out here.

We can paddle, and we can camp. This is our area of expertise. This is what I've spent the last ten years learning, and this trip feels like the reward. A perfect trip where we have all the knowledge to make the right decisions, and right decisions are crucial.

We know how to read the charts & find our way around, shift scale when the chart changes, use the tide tables to know where to camp & how far to pull up the boats. We know how to interpret the marine forecast & paddle or not paddle accordingly. Our camp's bomber, everything set up tight, and our systems are efficient. We make distance, good mileage, and we have lots of time to tool around and explore whatever we want. We have time in the day b/c we're efficient with our cooking & our camp setup. There aren't a lot of fuckups that cause big time wasters. None at all, actually. It's sweet.

I look behind us from where we're sitting on the beach, with our hot drinks & charts, Sarah's night to make dinner, and I see a tight little set up -- her tarp, my tent, staked out right & not going anywhere. The boats where they're supposed to be. We can leave our camp and walk way down the beach, knowing we're all set -- food's put away, nothing's going to blow away.

Tonight we'll eat dinner, I'll go fill up water for tomorrow, we'll listen to the weather, and plan our next paddling day -- destination Calvin Creek, outer coast of Nootka Island. Sweet.

still May 23rd, still the little cove, actually kind of big cove

We left Nuchatlitz proper this morning and went southeast into Nuchatlitz inlet. Our first stop was the grassy knoll, that I think I'd heard about from Kelly, & Sarah had asked Lennie at the last minute where it was. It's really cool -- this big round hill out into the ocean, with no rock. All earth, & covered with grass, thimbleberry bushes, and wildflowers. Not even salal. There were columbine and strawberry flowers & chocolate lilies & stonecrop & Indian paintbrush & a yellow snapdragony looking flower. Leading up to it was really pretty vetch.



Oh and on the paddle up to it, before we got out, there was a big black bear walking the beach. The first we've seen. We saw two minks today as well, and sea otters and of course bald eagles. And ravens, heard some ravens.

We were so stoked paddling today. Even though it was grey & rainy, we were warm, and it was just such an interesting paddle. Sarah's favourite paddling day of the trip so far, and probably mine too. We got to see so much cool coastline, and there were all these surges and boomers, and intertidal life getting exposed & then getting covered up again. Paddling that takes a little bit of concentration if you want to get close, & is really fun. Also there were a ton of sea caves. We knew there were probably burial boxes in a lot of the caves; a few people told us they're everywhere in the sea caves. But the idea of going back into those big dark caves & searching for burial boxes is really freaky.

We did stop at a beach Lennie had told us about, where he said there was a burial cave, or burial boxes. I had a real feeling it was at the right, where there were some cool sea stacks & space behind them. Sarah thought the other side, or up against the cliffs, so we started looking there. but when I went a little ahead to the place where I thought, I climbed up these rocks and over some logs & it opened up, and then there was a trail at the back. It's funny the way I sense this stuff. I really do. It's like I can slow right down, and get into a space where I'm wandering but focused, and I'm just going by intuition, almost being led. That's how I found the cooking cave before, with the rocks for cooking, the smoky roof, & the pounder. And I've found trade beads that way too. And in Alaska I just saw stuff. It jumps out at me; I see it.

Anyway, we went up the trail, which was wide and old, and it kind of stopped, except went up to a flat cleared lookout. Except Sarah realized this huge tree had recently come down right across the trail. We didn't want to climb through there, and maybe step on or grab stuff unexpectedly, and we didn't feel like bushwhacking, so that's where we stopped. But I'm sure that was the site, even though Lennie didn't say where at that beach. I have to ask him. [I did ask him, after the trip: he said it was up against the cliffs, where Sarah had thought.] And Sarah & I both thought, if it's all buried under that fallen tree now, that's good. It's protected.

We got to our campsite, sandy, explored. Missed this great water source by walking over it further upstream where it was all shallow, & looked brackish. When I went back for water I found it was clear and awesome. Sarah & I went back again just for the walk & to fill our Nalgenes so we didn't have to use any of the old water, & we found it would actually be a great little swimming hole. More of a bathing area.

Before that we listened to the forecast while we ate dinner and drank wine, and it was the best forecast you could ever ask for, perfect perfect for rounding Ferrer Point tomorrow and attempting the outer coast. The outlook's really great too, so it looks like we're off to Calvin Creek tomorrow. (Don't say it too loud). We're getting up an hour earlier tomorrow, 6:30, and we're having a fast breakfast of hot granola. Once we round the point, we have 3 hours of committed paddling, 8 nautical miles I should say, without landings, before our beach. I'm excited to go for it.

Day 5 Nuchatlitz/Nootka Island Sea Kayak Trip

Tuesday, May 22nd/07 21.44
Island 44, Nuchatlitz, west coast of Vancouver Island

I have a really good view from right here. I'm looking south over the Nuchatlitz to Louis Bay and Ferrer Point, where we're going tomorrow. To the right of that is the open Pacific. Everything's grey.

We had sun & haze & cloud today. We were sad to leave Catala so early. Another night would've been good to go camp on the northern sandy point, where there's a trail to a lake. But we wanted to get off the island & back into this area.

I cooked pancakes this morning & we left. A crossing & then stopped on Island 40, where there's a cool campsite on the point, with sand & Indian paintbrush & columbine.

We kept going b/c I was really set on exploring the actual ins & outs of the Nuchatlitz proper. I got kind of edgy b/c I really wanted to see it. We paddled to our campsite on 40 & ate lunch, unpacked, & took off again solo this time, to explore. I just wanted time to do that.

We were looking for water, too. I wanted to look at all the IR [Indian Reserve] areas. I didn't stop on any for quite a while, though. Finally I was looking for water up a little runoff thing that ended at a cliff. I followed it up, & then noticed a worn trail going up. As soon as I stepped onto it I could tell it was a human trail. Just inside up there were all these burial boxes! It startled me, & it was so cool. Four boxes or so, all green & old. Mostly broken. There was a skull right there in front of me on the rock, & some human bones, like arm or leg. And a full skeleton curled inside the one box. You could still see the cloth & stuff it was wrapped in. One box was pretty much preserved, unopened & unbroken. There were some old white people's stuff too, that they must have been buried with -- a pair of old old binoculars. And also a huge rock with black earth or something on top, looking exactly like a native person sitting w/a cape around them, & a mask, like Dzonoqua-- ooo like that with the mouth. A hummingbird was hanging out right at the trail entrance.

When I came back out, I could see Sarah across at the IR. I called to her. It was lucky she was right there so I could show her.

Then she left (she had found water), and I went to check out the IR. I walked in at the left & into the forest & there were all these graves, headstones. It was a more modern graveyard, but still with people born in the late 1800's. One really stuck out to me b/c it was just a weathered grey very simple wooden cross, with the woman's name on it. She was over a hundred, and died in 1998. It surprised me that even now there are people buried that simply. Who was her family? What was her story? There was a hummingbird at that graveyard, too.

So that was a lot of death for today. I don't want to think about it anymore, but it was really cool to find the burial boxes. I've only ever seen one from a distance before. You could see, too, how one box was a genuine bentwood box, bent, & with the spruce pegs & fluted inside.

I explored one more beach, on our island, got back in my kayak, ran into Sarah on land walking. Made camp, we had barbecued peanuts & beer & chocolate again on the beach, so lucky it's still not raining. I made dinner, set up my tent, & I'm off to bed.

We saw sea otters today too. We've seen deer as well. I hope we see wolves on Nootka Island. The winds & weather sound so good for the next few days.

I have to look up what hummingbirds mean to the people out here, & I have to see if the Esperanza mission is the same place we camped at on night two. God nat. Over to my campsite in the corner.