Inland Passage 2016

May 31, 2016

We were up at 5 and on the water by 6. One of the couples in the trailers had gotten up early to wave good by. This was a welcoming place.

The current was with us for awhile, but more importantly there was a stronger wind pushing us to the North. It is times like this that a sail would be nice. A cruise ship comes into view and we wonder what the guests see as they zoom by us. They are fairly silent so often they can appear with our warning.

Probably will be a frequent sight as we are now sharing a popular area with them.

We stop at a small campground along the shore for lunch. Not much activity here today. Further north of here is a whale protected area. The orcas have not arrived yet, but we are warned by signs to not go into the area. We decide to cross Johnson Strait once again as the weather looks good and we may try to follow the other side to cross around Cape Caution. Looking for a campsite become challenging. Several sites that had possibility were covered with logs that would make it an epic to carry our gear over. Another one is used for folks on whale observation trips, but these also pose landing challenges. Finally we find one that will do. It is on Crofton Island. We decide to scout around some to find a better landing site. Glad that we did as one side is covered with logs.

We have found home for the night. A route decision needs to be made for our travel tomorrow. Our original plan is not looking good so we have switched thoughts and are planning on crossing Johnson Strait in the morning and heading back to Vancouver Island. Known camping on this side is scarce and not sure we want to spend time looking while we have good weather. Tonights activity is eating and sleeping.

Nautical miles paddled 30.6

May 30, 2016

This morning was quite the contrast from yesterday. As we awoke the tent was no longer shaking and the waves were no longer lapping the shore. The sea was calm, the sky beautiful. On one hand it would have been easy to stay for several more days at this site, but we had miles to make and places to see. As we started out the tide was against us, but we wanted to be close to crossing Johnson strait at slack so we paddled on. We passed several commercial fish farms and logging was evident on the hillsides.

Paddling against the tide towards Johnson Strait

One of our guidebooks commented on the currents of Johnson Strait in this area. We were trying to time the crossing with it being close to slack. The charts even warned about tidal rips. As we left the channel, we noticed the flow of the current. Even close to slack tide we had to ferry across and work to keep from being pushed downstream. We took a break at the shore and were impressed with the large diameter trees. A tree with its roots exposed had a Salal plant growing between it.

In the distance we see the small village of Sayward.

The first attempt to finding the campground where our food was sent was a failure. They, however, pointed us in the right direction and we were soon at the correct landing. I approached one of the campers(all were in trailers) and he said sorry, but they do not have tent sites here. He then saw that we were kayakers and he said that they were expecting us. The owners had gone to Campbell River shopping since there are no stores in this town. He showed us where to put our tents and where to take hot showers. Soon Don and Linda, the owners returned and we felt quite welcome. They were also kayakers and always welcomed inside passage travelers. We were the first one of the season to stop. We talked awhile and then Linda offered to do our laundry as the closest one was 8 miles away. One of the campers had offered Don his truck if we had wanted to go there. Dan retrieved our packages from his house and we were soon heavily involved in repacking. We had a bit of a dilemma as we were ahead of schedule and this food drop was for 18 days. It would be a stretch to carry all our food so we thought that we might be able to send some to Prince Rupert. As we quickly sorted the food, Dan offered to take Don to the post office and another man found some packaging tape to retape one of the boxes. I finished the food packing while Dan takes Don to town to show him around and mail the packages.

Breakfast and lunch gets ready to be packed in our bear proof containers

Several things that Don learned was that Canada no longer makes pennies. Dan who was a logger explained that the barges pulling logs trains behind them can be close to 5 stories deep under the water. Sayward is a collecting center for the logs so when Don returned we walked over to the logging operation and took a look.

We are tired, but feel so fortunate to be surrounded by really nice folks. Most of the people in the trailers have been coming here for years and are like family. They invite us to their daily happy hour which is a time of sharing stories. One man who is from Scotland asks us what we do for dealing with insects. He tells of his success using vitamin B1 and then his wife returns with enough tablets for us to try it out till we get to a larger town that might sell the vitamins. Another couple in their 80's immigrated here from England over 60 years ago. When they first arrived to Canada the immigration officer recommended Nanaimo. They have never been been back to England. Another couple from Canada were getting ready to do a road trip in the US. He had been employed by the RCMP and told us some interesting stories as well.

It is time for bed! We have checked the weather report and tomorrow looks like a good day to paddle.

Nautical miles traveled 15.9

May 29, 2016

During the night we could hear the wind and also feel our tent shake as the effects of the wind blew. The weather forecast is calling for wind warnings in Johnson strait which is where we were planning to be today. Looks like we will be having our first layover day since the start of our trip. With that in mind our day turns to a leisure mode. We do some reading in the tent and then make our way to the kitchen tarp to make pancakes smothered in applesauce with strawberries that we had dried, followed by a mid day brunch of scones.

Camping in the woods is a nice change from beach camping.

We generally put our tarp up to put our gear under during the night.

Naps, reading, looking at the charts,charging batteries and tide observation were the main activities of the day.

The sticks mark the tide as it goes out. Still trying to figure out a pattern.

Taking advantage of the sun's power today.

It feels good to slow down and give our bodies a rest. Reading outside and enjoying the view, I hear a loud noise that sounds like a rock fall. As the noise continues I grab the binocs and look across the channel. It is a whale breaching and slapping the water. The whale continues this activity for quite awhile. It is also slapping its tails and flukes. Reading about this activity one of the books believes that the whale breaches for sheer exuberance. This is a good day for that.

Nautical miles traveled 0

May 28, 2016

Our campsite worked well last night. The rain started as we were eating dinner which allowed us to catch rain water for our droms. We are carrying 3 droms which is enough for 3 days of water. We have been surprised at the lack of streams so are glad of the opportunity to refill our droms with rain water. The rain continued all night, love our hilderberg tent. We can take the body down so it remains dry and pack the fly from it separately. We had found an easier way down the embankment. It still meant passing the gear down, but that was easier than taking it down by itself. Once again we read the description of the three rapids that we must navigate today. If we time it correctly we should be able to get thru all three of them safely. We are on the water by 7:30 which should give us enough time to hit the first rapids near slack tide. The day is overcast and some rain is still falling. It is a contrast from yesterday.

Looking at the narrows where we will encounter the first rapid

A barge is also waiting to head thru at the right time

We pass the first resort and then realize that the resort that we have been looking for that was mentioned in our guidebook has a new name and a new look. Now it make sense that we were not able to find it yesterday. The water is still flooding so it is not slack yet. We continue down a little further where some more buildings and docks are visible. We see the man who we saw yesterday in the small sail boat, since we have some time before slack we paddle over and learn his story. His name is Jerry and he built the sailboat from a kit. He own a larger sailboat which he calls the Cats Cradle. This boat is called Kitty, which he says he enjoys sailing it more than the larger one. Last night a decent wind from the south blew and he was able to make good time. He is in no hurry and will go where the wind and current flows. Several sailboats are waiting for the tide to shift as well. This area is where the tide changes direction which results in some of the confusion of the seas. As the current slows we easily make it thru the Yuculta Rapids. It is ebbing now and going in our direction. We are relieved that all the hype of this rapid would only be true if you went thru at the wrong time. Our next named rapid is Dent and this one is also a breeze. We are feeling good about our progress and make it thru Gilmore with no problem. The ebb tide lasts about 6 hours which means we have the current with us for that amount of time. It is an easy day of paddling. In one of the guidebooks a restaurant is mentioned of having good food, located before the last named rapid of this section. When we notice a sign in the trees we begin to anticipate the upcoming restaurant.

It evens has a channel that you can call ahead to order food. (so we thought)

We see several more signs and begin to wonder if they might have ice cream or another kind of desert. Than again a hamburger might taste good as well. It has been a cold day with on and off rain. We see the following sign:

We paddle into the docks and tie up our kayaks, The business looks a bit run down, but we are thinking that they must have something to offer with the sign saying open.

A little worn down, but there are picnic tables.

We are immediately drawn to numerous hummingbirds drinking at the feeders. As we are watching these tiny little birds happily eating out comes Wayne. He is one of the partners of the lodge. He and his partner bought this lodge three years ago and both have had serious health problems. The lodge is not in very good condition and the restaurant is closed. Wayne had a stroke and is the only one here. He is slowly recovering, but can not do much of the badly needed work. he gives us a tour and tells us a bit of the history. We are fascinated by the hummingbirds and get some good photos of them feeding.

It  male Rufous Hummingbird — It male Rufous Hummingbird

This is the female Rufous. Notice that she is sharing the feeder with a bee,

Another bird is singing away.

We say goodby to Wayne and the hummingbirds and make it thru Greene, the last named rapids of this section. All good things must come to an end and when the tide begins to flood we are noticeable slowed in our progress, We decide to start looking for a camp and check out an area next to a stream. Usually we are camped on the beach, but beyond the beach is a campsite nestled in the woods. We place our tent on a moss covered area and set up a cooking tarp. One can tell that it has been used as a camp before, we are thinking most likely a logging camp. On long days like this one we appreciate all the dehydrated meals that we have prepared. It makes cooking so easy. The cloudy cold morning has changed to sun and we have another thing to be thankful for!

Feels good to be thru the rapids and a chance to take in the views.

Even our little mascot looks refreshed!

We are in bed by 8 and plan on leaving late morning on an ebbing tide. Plan on trying to make it to Sayward where we have sent our first resupply.

May 27, 2016

Just to make sure that we were not surprised by the high tide. We stayed up till after 11;00 till the tide switched. We had a couple inches to spare before the tide would have touched the tent. We had to redo some of the anchors, but overall life is good. The tides are interesting here as they have long and short cycles. This is the first time that we have experienced tides which have such dramatic differences. Decided to leave a little after 10 which should put us in good position to go thru the three named rapids tomorrow. We have read and reread the descriptions of the three rapids that we will be going thru. The books sure can psyche one out. The descriptions of what they look at when they are the strongest puts a bit of fear in your heart. Today though there are minimum obstacles in our path. The seas are flat calm and the skies sunny. Chart reading is easy and we are going with the flow.

The seas were like this most of the day.

We were making good time. Unlike the man that we met that was in a small sailboat that he had built. We were watching him try to tack but the wind was pretty still. When we got near him, he told us that he had a bad shoulder and could not row easily so he was going to be out for a month and was literally going with the flow. He was happy to go where ever the wind and or current took him. We got to the rapid section where there are several nice or should say enormous fishing lodges, This area is world famous for salmon runs. It was early so not a lot of people were around. We were looking for one of the lodges that our guide book described. It recommended that one docks there till the tide is at the right time. Mainly right around slack. We could not locate the lodge so decided to go find a place to camp. We paddled along the shore till we found an old logging road that would work nicely for our camp. It was a bit of a steep carry to get up to the road, but was the best options we had. We read once more the rapid description and planned for our departure in the morning to be there at slack. It should be good cause we will be going thru this area during the ebb, which will be like paddling down river.

Nautical miles paddled 15.6

May 26, 2016

The tiny beach that we camped at last night worked just fine with the weather conditions that we experienced. We had carved out a space that mostly fit our tent. We were glad to pack up and move towards Lund this morning as rain or wind at this spot would have been a challenge. Only ate a bowl of cold cereal this morning as we our anticipating having food at Nancy's Bakery. We arrived to the small village about 8 and were told by some fisherman to beach our kayaks right in front of the bakery. It was quite convenient, although later as we were leaving the harbor master walked over to tell us that we were parked illegally. Glad she told us on our way out. On the way to the bakery we passed:

and

A friend that we met thru NOLS lives here and we had planned to meet her and her partner, Martin for a cup of coffee and treats at the bakery. She had left several days before to fill a spot on a NOLS course as a sailing instructor. We called Martin and he said that he would be there in 20 minutes. Our next challenge was determining what to order. Everything looked delicious. We settled on a fruit scone and their famous blackberry cinnamon roll, served with hot chocolate and coffee.

and

Martin arrived and we had an enjoyable conversation. We could have talked most of the morning as we both had stories to share. The sea was calming and the tide flooding. Good conditions to paddle in so we said our good byes, not however before we were approached by a women that asked about our trip. She was from Alaska and as we continued talking discovered that we had mutual friends. Love the small world feeling.

As we paddled out of the harbor, we talked about several camping locations for the evening. It seems though that weather and sea conditions are more of a factor of where we go than what we plan to attempt for the day. The NOLS sailing course was going to be nearby Lund tonight and it would have been fun to see them, but the day was still young and we paddled past the harbor where they planned to anchor. We also passed by signs designating the start of the Sunshine Coast Hiking trail. Not this time will we stop and check it out, but perhaps in the future. A point created larger waves and we were glad to tuck into a small cove for our lunch break. We had purchased some empanadas from the bakery and were looking forward to eating them We were not disappointed.

As we were eating our lunch a sea lion checked us out. Seems like we are finally leaving the houses behind and will now head into a more isolated area. There will be still pockets of civilization, fish farms and signs of logging, but there will be more areas that we pass by of just the sea and forests and mountains.

Checking out the fiord that we will soon be paddling!

The seas once again have calmed as we make our way to Lewis Channel. The saying wait ten minutes and you will have a new weather pattern seems to hold true here. We are heading toward the land of fiords and know that the wind and currents will potentially be much stronger due to channeling. Sure enough as we make our way into the channel we find ourselves having to paddle hard to make progress. Another challenge of the fiords is the scarce camping spots. There are some in this area but a lot of the shoreline does not have room for our tent. Once again we find that the best place to paddle is right next to the shore where points give us some protection for the elements. Soon though we will need to cross some large bays and will just have to push through. When we round a point we come across two folks in a canoe. They have been out for three weeks and are returning home. They have pulled in to a spot where there is some protection from the wind. We talk awhile and then they take our photos . This is the only photo of the trip that shows us paddling together!

We talk to the paddlers in a protected area.

Back out to the wind and to look for a campsite

As we cross the bay, both the wind and tide are against us. Finally we start finding areas that might work for camping. We are in a high tide cycle so the first couple campsites that we check out would be underwater when the tide comes up. A guide book that we are using has an X on a map that we check out next. It will be tight, but with some work we carve out a sight. Most likely we will stay awake till the high tide is over just in case we need to pick up our tent and move into the woods. No place to camp, but we could hang out till the tide goes back down,

We learned a good lesson about scouting tonight. After we had put the tent up we noticed what we thought was just an animal trail. We followed it a very short way and discovered that it went up a hill about 10 feet and wow there was a place to set up a tent. It had been a long day and what we really wanted to do was just eat, so we carried our cooking gear and food to the spot and had a nice dinner. The tide would be at high in just an hour and we were feeling confident that we would stay dry where we had put up the tent. We had seen a black bear earlier today so will start doing our bear camping practices. We have all of our food in bear vaults or ursacks so no need to hang which makes it easier.

Nautical miles traveled 18.7

May 25, 2016

We awoke at 4 to waves crashing on the beach. No early departure for us today as the forecast is predicting a strong wind. Looks like we will take advantage of this and catch up on some reading and admire the plants in the area.

Think that we will be enjoying the beach today.

At least the tide did not reach our tent.

The flowers are starting to bloom and we also were lucky enough to find some salmon berries. I am studying the trees and learning about the different cones that they have.

The red cedar has branches that look like a J

And beautiful small cones. The red cedar was used by the natives for numerous purposes.

The flowers are beginning to add color to the forest.

Salal forms  a dense wall of leaves and flowers. It was also used by the natives as an important food source. — Salal forms a dense wall of leaves and flowers. It was also used by the natives as an important food source.

We are anticipating a good harvest of salmon berries this summer. This is encouraging!

Since we are near a town, we are able to get internet on our cell phone. We check to see if our food boxes have made it to their destinations and are relieved when they have. As we look out towards the ocean , there is a calming of the water. Perhaps we can take off after all. Our only problem is that the tide has gone out and instead of a sandy beach we are now staring at a rocky beach.

We get to practice our balance and our patience for this loading.

The afternoon is a major contrast to the morning wind and waves. The sea is calm and we can see Powell River in the distance.

As we make our way to the mainland, we pass by 100's of loons. Unfortunately the photos did not turn out.

A late evening as we find a small beach to make camp. We are glad that it did not rain or the wind blow. Tomorrow we look forward to stopping at Lund to visit the bakery.

Nautical miles paddled 14

May 24, 2016

Another early morning departure. A high tide is our friend and we were able to use it to our advantage as we loaded our boats quite easily this morning. As we crossed over to Texada Island, we encountered our largest sea condition yet.. The current and wind was in opposition. The paddling was difficult and the progress was slow. Finally we made it to the opposite shore and were able to use the back eddies along the shore to help with forward progress. Today was a good day for wildlife sightings. As we rounded a point we came upon two raccoons digging for clams. They were quite focused on the task and did not even notice that we were approaching them.

Rather see this then the raccoon checking out the garbage cans in the parks.

Soon we noticed several eagles on the shoreline. One was mature and quite dominant, the other one was immature,

It will take several years before this bird will have the white head.

Soon we heard and then saw the signs of a large mine, the structures were impressive. We were glad to quickly pass this section.

A lot of the people that live on this island are employed at this mine.

Soon though we were blessed by seeing several large mammals. One being the submarine seal, that would raise and lower their heads as they checked us out. In the distance was the noisy sound of the Stellar Sea that bellowed out the warnings of our approaching kayaks.

one never knows when the seal is going to raise their heads.

It has been a long day and when we finally saw a suitable beach, we were happy. The sun gave us a nice glow as we ate our meal of lasagna.

Nautical miles traveled 25

May 23, 2016

It was an early morning wake up. The put in was several 100yds away and it took us awhile to get everything to the water. There were warnings about the raccoons and sure enough between trips two of them were checking out our gear. I quickly chased them up a tree and between each carry we made sure that they stayed there.

They were oh so cute. Cuter if they stay in the tree.

A lot of houses were taking up most of the shoreline as we headed north. We will be glad to be soon moving out of the more populated areas. The weather forecast was predicting strong winds. We picked out the destination of Southey Island. When we arrived near there the weather kept improving so we decided to cross over to the Ballenas Islands. There was a potential camp site here and it would put us in a good position to make a crossing over to the next group of island in the morning. A sandy beach provided a good spot for lunch and a well needed break.

The current was now flooding, the seas calm. Even though it was a major crossing, we decided to take advantage of the weather window and paddle to Jedediah. We found a beautiful site, but we had arrived with the tide being quite low. The take out was muddy so we decided to just unload enough gear to put up our tent and have dinner.

Tide is out, but it will come in and make unloading easier.

The tide came in, the tent was put up, dinner eaten and all gear brought to our campsite.

Signs on a tree, directed us down a path to an abandoned homestead. The island has been purchased by Parks Canada and is now a campsite. A beautiful wooded path opened up to an old barn and a house which still had items inside. The house was boarded up, but one could still see in the windows and easily imagine what life could have been like here.

As we continued our walk we met several folks who had come by boat and were enjoying the setting of this landscape. We also came upon a memorial that was in memory of a Canadian that had died on K2. We realized after reading the plaque that a friend of ours had been on that expedition. He had survived, The plaque gave us pause.

The sun was setting as we gazed out toward the sea and we slowly walked back to our camp.

Nautical miles traveled 25.5

May 22, 2016

It is fun to read the history of an area. This area had a cult leader called Brother who made off with quite a bit of money not to mention the stories of the women that he had as followers. Some say the gold is hidden here on the island. We had time this morning to talk to the other campers. This being Victoria's weekend, quite a few folks were out for the weekend. One of the kayakers had a double boat that he paddled as a single. This was made possible with a sailing rig. We are thinking that a sail is a good thing to have. Someday we will have to add that to the gear list. He was quite talkative and plans to leave at slack tide as well. Most likely he will pass us on our way to Nanaimo. Jeff gave us a little guy who I call Esri man. He is secured to the front of my boat as my mascot. We have let Ryan know that we expect him to send a mascot for Don's boat.

Finally it is time to leave in order to reach the narrows near slack. We are fortunate to have the tide being close to high which makes for easy loading.

Carrying lots of gear as we have 15 days worth of food with us.

Lots of seals are hanging out on the rocks as we head toward the narrows.

We see the narrows up ahead and enjoy the ride through it. The current is with us and soon we see the town of Nanaimo in sight. First though we pass a huge pulp mill and a ferry dock for containers.

Lots of activity here as we pass the industrial section of Nanimo

Soon we see our friend the kayaker sailor. when the wind dies we are able to keep up, but as the wind picks up off he goes.

We decided to take a break at New Castle Marine Park. It was decision time. We had only paddled 10 miles due to our late start, but the wind was blowing harder from the North and the tide would be against us. It would be a push to get to the next campsite so we opted to enjoy the afternoon and stay at this beautiful park. All of the campsites are walk in only which meant we had a long carry with our gear. Using our legs is a good thing we said as we made numerous trips back and forth. Plenty of time to make pizza with Elk meat and mushrooms. Bread was also on the menu for tomorrow's travel. We plan on getting up at 5 to be on the water by 7. This is not like our Baja loading where it is usually just a short distance to the water.

One had to take a ferry or paddle to the town. We opted to just see it from the distance.

At least the ground was flat to the water.

We saw Michael, the kayaker at the park. He had stopped at a campsite where some other kayakers were camped. They were able to patch his boat and he was good to go. We were glad to hear the good news. It does not seem that there are many kayakers out here doing this route.

May 21, 2016

We were up at 5, ate a cold breakfast and were on the water by 6:45. We were thankful to the man who had offered us the campsite as one could hear the partying going on in the distance during the night. The wind was non existent during the morning, but the tide was ebbing and it was an effort to paddle against it. We inched our way up the shoreline and made progress. One of our crossings today involved an area that had lots of BC ferry traffic. In one short time span we counted 6. Several time we had to alter our course to avoid being in their path.

Finally the tide shifted to a flood mode and our pace was noticeable faster. At one point we caught up to a single paddler and found out that he was also on his way to Skagway. His name was Michael and he had hiked the PCT in the previous year and had decided to continue his journey north by kayak. He had damaged his boat and needed to stop near a town where he could repair it. Our original plan had been to stop at Wallace Island which has water and camping. We arrived by 2 and after looking at some of the unique buildings we decided since the wind and current was favorable, we would continue to head north.

Visitors by boats have left their marks.

It was fun to look at all the names of the boats.

Continuing on, the wildlife included many bald eagles and seals sunning on rocks.

The decision to continue to move north was helped by the wind and current. We soon found ourselves camped at the Canadian Park of Pirate Cove. The wind and waves picked up in the evening causing us to move our boats higher and secure them. The tent platforms were up a flight of stairs so got some leg work out as well. Tomorrow we will be going thru a tidal channel called False Narrows. We need to time it to be there at slack tide which will mean a late morning departure. With our boats well secured, we can listen to the waves crashing on the beach and sleep well.

Nautical miles traveled 31

May 20, 2016

No need for an alarm this morning. At first light the birds started singing and continued their songs till we were up. We were packed and ready to go by 7:45. The moon shown brightly last night and the seas had calmed. We went around the South side of Clark Island and then headed toward Orcas Island. The current seemed to be the least next to the shore. We took a break and watched the current slow in strength. We needed to do the next crossing at slack so taking a food break was good. In the distance we saw the large dorsal fins of two male Orcas. A stellar sea lion with the head the size of a large grizzly bear surfaced near us. I was glad when he did not get any closer.

There were quite a few houses on the islands as we paddled by. Several of them had a maze of staircases to reach the beach located below. We were fortunate today as the wind and current seemed to be with us or hugging the shore when we could helped.The long crossing of the day was between Waldron Island and South Pender. Once we did the crossing we were in Canada and needed to check in at customs before we could touch land. As we rounded a point we saw the Canadian flag and the custom building.

The building at the end of the dock is where there is a custom agent.

There was a custom agent here, but he directed us to the phone outside of the building.

This is where we were to report our entrance into Canada.

We picked up the phone and were connected to a custom agent in Ontario. He asked for our passport numbers and if we had any alcohol or weapons. We were then given a number to keep with us to show if we were stopped by any Canadian official. The process was quite efficient. The day was beautiful and we had gotten further than we had planned.

Hard not to paddle when the seas are calm!

Nearby was Beaumont Provincial Park. This was Victoria day in Canada and the sites were almost full. We started unloading next to where most likely a party was going to occur. Before we started though we were approached by a man who said that he had been saving a site, but had gotten word that his friends could not make it that evening and that we could occupy it. We were quite thankful for his offer and quickly set up camp in a quiet area. Somewhat stiff but thankful that we had a good paddle day.

Always glad when the tide is up when we are loading or unloading.

The mosquitos are out, not looking forward to sharing our bodies with them. Plan to continue our northward direction tomorrow.

Nautical Miles paddled today 21

May 19, 2016

Up early as we anticipate the start of our journey. The rain is falling and the wind has begun to pick up. It is an easy decision to put on the dry suits. We load our gear once more into Kurts car and say good by to Becca and Henry. It fits in the back of the car and we feel confident that it will fit in the boats. We had done a preliminary packing, but have added a couple of items since.

We leave the house by 8:20 and are ready to depart with our packed boats by 9:30. Don is a bit challenged to get everything to fit, but finally does and we wave good by to Kurt.

The wind is steady and against us. The current is with us, but half way across to Lumni island it switches. We take a shore break and decide to continue on around the south of the island. we hug the shore to get some protection from the wind and waves. One we round the point though the conditions are in our favor and we are able to pick up the pace. Our new iPhone with the app of Navionics clocks our speed at 4.7 nautical miles per hour, on the other side when we were against the wind, waves and current we were only going 2.2 nautical miles per hour. One of the challenges of this journey will be the fact that we will be sharing some of our passages with large ships. We were quickly introduced to this when we saw a tug boat pulling a large container barge. We had to slow our pace down to let it pass. Once it passed we quickly continued across the shipping lane. We felt fortunate that we did not see any others during the crossing. As we approached Clark island the current once again made us work to get to the beach. Finally we reached the beach and let our weary bodies stretch out. It had been several months since our Baja trip and our muscles were not happy. The campsite is beautiful and soon we are setting up camp and making dinner. The seas have calmed and the winds have died. We are appreciating the sunny evening and take the opportunity to dry some gear and charge the I phone with the solar charger. An evening walk surrounds us in beauty, We are thankful to be here.

Nautical miles traveled 15.6

May 17, 18 2016

We set the departure date for May 19th from Bellingham. A friend, Kurt, from our NOLS AK days lives there and had offered to drop us off at the Bellingham marine park. We gave ourselves two days to get the tasks done that we needed to do before our actual start on the water. A major one was driving to Canada and mailing our food to several locations that we had arranged to do our resupplies. As we were driving north from Oregon I opened the glove compartment of our car and found a small wooden icon that was given to us by a man we met in Baja. It seemed appropriate for our journey.

The words seemed to be appropriate for our journey.

We made it to the PNW NOLS branch late afternoon on the 17th and made arrangements to leave our vehicle there for the summer. We also talked with our friend Steve who had paddled the Inland Passage last summer. It was encouraging to talk to him and realize that he had some of the feelings that we were experiencing when one sets off on a journey with so many unknowns. Our next stop was Kurt's and Becca's house. We were greeted by their new dog Henry. Once again we unload our gear and store it in their garage. Dinner at a nearby restaurant had us looking over the bay from which we will begin the paddle in two days. On the 18th our priority was to drive to Canada and mail several boxes of our food to Canadian locations. We were relieved when the custom agent waved us through after several questions and did not ask to look thru our food boxes. We found the closest post office located in Aldergrove and soon were sending our packages to their destination, The post office employees were quite helpful and quite curious about our trip. We were surprised at the low cost and of the speed which they would arrive. On the way back to the states we checked out a potential departure point. There is a small craft warning for tomorrow morning which we are hoping will change tonight. Kurt talked to a friend who does a lot of sailing in the area and he advised us of areas to be cautious due to the strong currents. He also recommended a web site that showed the strength of the currents that we will be navigating thru in the first couple days of the trip. It was easy to see that the currents will be a big factor in how we time our travel. With the weather predictions we have decided that the Marine Park in Bellingham is the place to start and that we should start in the morning.

Pre May 16, 2016

The spring of 2016 was spent in Baja. Often our conversations would drift to the Inland Passage. It was somewhat difficult to do much research as often we were without internet capabilities. So we enjoyed the view and made notes of what we would have to do when we crossed the border and head north to Oregon.

When we arrived to Oregon, the list of tasks multiplied. At times it seemed like there was more than we had time to accomplish. There were charts to buy, additional accessories for the kayaks, and a big task was figuring out the food and how to get it to our resupplies, as some of them would be in Canada. Along with all of these concerns was the fact that we had signed a contract to teach a kayaking course in Petersburg. We wanted to also put some time in to prepare for the course as well. Several times we asked ourselves if this journey was something that we could really do! With lists in hand and much determination, the things to do grew smaller. There is quite a bit of information when one hunts for it and finally we just convinced ourselves that too much information may not be all that necessary. Thanks to some of our friends that had done some paddling or sailing in the area, we were given some much appreciated resources. Finally the prudent thing to do was just set a departure date and then just go for it. Thanks to Mary our sister in law we were able to stage out of her house. Our son Jeff, agreed to send us our food that we would get sent to Alaska when we neared the Ak. destinations. We had piles of gear and food, that we managed to organize in somewhat reasonable piles.