We paddled sea kayaks down the whole west coast of Vancouver from Winter Harbor to Anacortes
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At 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, we made our triumphant and glorious return at Washington Park in Anacortes. But before I describe this happy event, I’ll write a little about getting here. We reserved 2 nights on Discovery Island but then voted to leave after just
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From Colin: With a planned 8 am start, alarms were set for 6 am. Nelson and I were up a little early, and complemented by Tom for their quiet industry when he woke to his alarm and found us mostly packed up. Since Tom's efficient at camp-breakdown,
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From Colin: We all slept a little longer than usual today. There was a discussion last night about heading in to town for breakfast, but we didn't come to a firm decision. And we were still here past breakfast time so Tom tried to boil some water, and
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Jorden River is one of the top surf spots in our area, the sign says. This is one of the gravel bars that create the reliable breaks. The breaks to the east is called “sewer pipes”. I’m not drawn to surf here. We launch and paddle close to the
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From Tom: We repair Nelson’s boat overnight. Dragging it in and out of the water wore through the gel coat and glass of the keel at the bow. Yesterday it leaked through there, filling the front compartment. We repair with some JB weld marine, an epoxy. The repair holds
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From Tom: Up early..ish and on the water. We complete our transition of the West Coast Trail section of the Pacific Rim Park. A place that made no provision for sea kayakers and where we weren’t really wanted. So we moved through it quickly. After 22 nautical miles,
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13:00 launch so we might get some tail winds and sun. Morning on Keeha Bay is foggy. Outhouse is 1/4 mild down the beach and water questionable. Otherwise, great camp. Surf launch executed smoothly. We paddle through fog, crossing Pachena Bay to pick up the shoreline again. Staying
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From Colin: Our layover day on the George Frazer Islands was scenic, and necessary. We all needed a rest after the big effort getting there. Our camp was compact... ...and only a few, horizontal, feet above the high tide line. I was entertained for a while by a river otter,
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A major day. This trip has always had a difficulty created by the following conditions. Lodging in Tofino is in high demand, expensive, and commonly booked well in advance. The Pacific Rim park makes no accommodations for kayakers. There is no camping for human powered travel with uncertain schedules. Thus
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From Colin: At about 9:30am, after a day of rest, we left Ahous Bay (on Vargas Island) and paddled the 7.2 Nm to the beach at our campground. It was a beautiful day. We covered almost as many miles walking from the beach to the campsite (not really,
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ue to rain and south wind, we plan a mid-day start. The rain lasts longer than expected. At noon, it is either pack and go or too late. We pack. And the rain has stopped. We do have a headwind paddling around the north and west sides of Flores
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From Colin: We had a leisurely start to the day, and made it into our boats by 9:30 for the short paddle to the hot springs. The extended shore-talk included much discussion about what to wear, exactly. The results were somewhat conical, and we elected not to photograph