Day 1: Winter Harbour

Mary and Sandra drove us to Winter Harbour where we launched at noon. Wind and swell from NW. swell building to 2-3 meters at lawn point. Easy landing on south facing beach. Views of the Brooks.

Later Update: I didn't have the capacity to tell the full story of this day posting from my phone. Here it is:

The day we launched there was a 2 meter NW swell and a 10-15kt NW wind. All good for a quick passage, except 2 meter swell is large for landings.

As we paddled out of Winter Harbor we picked up a moderate tail wind that pushed us along. We stopped for a break on the north shore. Conditions did not look difficult, I knew we were looking at protected waters.

The further we went, the the more we were exposed to conditions and the larger the swell.

In other words, it was getting more fun.

About half way across I could see the white water from waves breaking in Rowley Reefs and Restless Bight. I didn't think landing there was an option for us.

A fishing boat, a large metal boat with two engines, passed us then circled back. Nelson spoke with them. The stopped to express their concern about where we were heading. They reported that they were out at Lawn Point and waves were 2.5 meters. Mostly, people in motor boats don't appreciate how sea-worthy our little kayaks are. Waves can wash over our boats where as waves swamp larger boats. We can capsize and recover where as they can't.

We conferred and chose to keep going. We didn't have much choice. Landing on the southern shore was probably closed due to large surf. Paddling back north would be against a wind. Mainly though, I thought we would all do fine.

The swell did build. Shallows off Lawn Point causes breaking waves. Swell was up to 3 meters. Wind was up to 15kt. I would have liked a bit more wind to help me surf down some of the waves. I hoped we would get more of this through the trip.

Sadly, there is no video. When we got into the waves Colin had two realizations: This would make great video and no way was he going to let go of his paddle, open a hatch, and fuss with bags to set up his camera.

If we could not land on the S shore we would just carry on into Side bay where I was confident we would find an easy landing. There was a line of reefs we had to pick our way through but by the time we reached the shore the water was flat.

Below is an image of the bay. To the right, off the point there is white water chaos. We had a peaceful night.