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Day 3, 8/4/01
Weather: Rain in AM, dry in PM, strong S wind all ay
Paddle: 4 hour day paddle.
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Early afternoon we take to the boats and paddle around the east end of the island then south. All the way we are fighting strong headwinds. From the island I circle out to another island and a line of breakers. I see several otters, mostly mothers and pups. It is exciting to feel the liveliness of the sea, but it is a little too rough and there are breaking rocks all around me.
I cut back in and join the others exploring an inlet. This has the feel of a small inland lake, but the shoreline and vegetation of the sea - incongruous.
In the afternoon I notice several crows flying up and down above a sea rock. They fly up 25 ft, turn, and drop something from their beaks as they fly down. Marie says they are dropping small muscles to crack them open. One crow may drop the same muscle 5 or 6 times before it either cracks it or gives up. After dinner Brigitte dumps some cooking water down the beach. Immediately the crows are over to investigate.
They are not the only camp animal. Brigitte notices a mouse by Joseph's feet, under our tarp. Joseph moves his feet and the mouse heads toward me. I would not say that it is running because while it is moving faster than a walk there is no sense of urgency. It passes right under my legs. I "ssssest" it as it pass. Most little rodents would scamper off but this mouse does not seem to notice.
The guide of the group down then beach came over last night to tell us that there is a large bear on this island and we would probably see him foraging in the tide pools below our camp. We haven't seen him yet, and I think that he may have swum off to another island. Or maybe we are too large a presence for him to forage near by.
Before dinner Joseph calls us to look at sea otters in a kelp bed. There must be 40 or 50, gathered together in a small kelp bed. It is a council of sea otters. Through my binoculars I see the pups eagerly jumping over their mothers. They are very happy animals.
Day 4, 8/5/01
Weather: Rain till early afternoon with moderate winds. Showers and stronger SW winds
Paddle: Beach day.
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Rain as we wake up. We spend the morning under the tarp reading. Some time in the afternoon the rain finally stops. Well, becomes intermittent showers. I get out and walk around the island.
The guided group is cutting wood to make burnt bowls. I stay and talk to them for a while.
When I round to the south side of the island I have a new appreciation for the location of our camp: it's blowing over here. There are large breakers on the offshore rocks.
Day 5, 8/6/01
Weather: Overcast, light variable winds, light rain as we set up camp.
Paddle: Newchatlitz to Yellow Bluff.
Up a 6am, on the water by 8:30. Large swells in Gillan channel - first of the trip but certainly not the last. We stick together and make steady progress.
We land on Twins Islands for a break. Brigitte is feeling sick from the swells so we take a long break and she naps. Joseph goes out to fish. We see two killer whales surface near him then must pass under him. By noon she's feeling pretty good so we launch again.
This beach had moderate surf - our first experience of surf landings and launchings. Landing, my boat got turned 45° and a wave filled the cockpit and pushed the boat up the beach as I jumped out. I caught up to it and dragged it up the beach. I did a little better on launch, but felt rushed and didn't get my spray skirt on before paddling out.
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My boat has a skeg and one problem with the skeg is that small pebbles easily get caught between the casing and the skeg, wedging it in place. This beach was made of just the right sized pebbles. To keep pebbles out during the launch I put duct
tape over the skeg housing. Once out I had Marie pull the duct tape off. I figure that solo I could attach a string to the tape and pull it off from the cockpit.
We try to land on the west side of Catala island to get water but the waves are breaking on a rocky shore and there is no safe landing. We get water from a stream near Peculiar Point then camp on the west side of Yellow bluff, where there is also a fresh water stream.
The camp is small, a log strewn gravel beach beside the small inlet cut by the stream, but has a nice feel to it. It rains while we are setting up camp, so we set up the bug tent. Maire, Wendy, and I cook under the bug tent. Joseph caught a fish so he and Brigitte cook it over a fire near by. For some reason I feel that it is a superior experience to be completely out side, out of the confines of the bug tent. I'm afraid that B&J maybe having a better experience than I am.
I go out, take some pictures of camp and watch otters in the bay for a while. But there are bugs out here and I want o read my book so I return to the bug tent and read for an hour. Then I go outside to have some more nature appreciation. I sit on a log and watch the creek snake across the gravel beach below me, catching the light of the setting sun. I am thinking both that this is very beautiful and that I should be thinking that this is very beautiful. Can I no longer have a simple direct experience of a moment?
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