Having spent two days up at Nanaimo we now have to change our plan. Either we go on the route as written and return two days late, or we shorten the trip to try to maintain our schedule. We opted for the latter, knowing that we’d have to put in some long days to get back in time. First we packed up our wet gear and headed out toward False Narrows.
Our first landing was at Pirates Cove Marine Provincial Park, and while we’d gotten a late start to time the narrows, we were all still feeling pretty good and we knew how much farther we had to go to make our ferry. After consulting each other and some maps, we made the decision to press on, hopefully to return to Wallace Island if we had enough fuel. By which I mean we “crouched over our open hatches shoveling food into our faces like animals” (That’s how A phrased it)
Leaving De Courcey Island, the wind was still against us. It had been blowing in our faces for most of the trip and we kept trying to find some shelter by switching from one side of the little islands and then the other, but nothing was going to change the fact that we were mostly going straight into a 10 knot wind. We’d been looking at the forecast and nothing was going to change for a while, so this was just how it would be. We skirted Pylades and now had a long open crossing ahead. We decided there was nothing for it and just started straight into the wind toward Reid.
No plan survives, they say, and here’s where we ran into trouble. The crossing took FOREVER. And by the time we finally made it to Reid Island, our first landing spot for a rest, it was already getting dark. We hadn’t planned to stay at Reid, it didn’t have a good camping spot, but we pulled out onto a tiny private beach, checked the maps, and found there was a teeny islet of public land at the south end. We resolved that we would pitch tents on it no matter how bad it was rather than trying to continue after dark. We headed back out. And now as we rounded a point it was clear that both the wind AND the current were against us, that’s why we were making such poor progress. We battled around the corner when this happened:
P: “Uh oh.”
everyone: “what?”
P: “I left my phone on that tiny beach”
T: “A & I are still feeling good. Stay here and we will go back for it.”
They head back around the point. Five minutes later:
P: “Uh oh.”
Me: “What?”
P: “I found my phone.”
We tried to call T & A to let them know, but there was no answer so there was nothing for it – and we both turned back to tell T & A not to spend all their time looking for a phone that wasn’t there.
And that’s when our miracle happened!
When P & I got there, we found A talking to someone new. It was the landowner, Ian, who had a house on the point and had been watching us struggle around in the wind. He’d come down to offer us space in his bunkhouse for the night!
This was such an incredible relief! It was so lucky that he saw us, that we had to turn back and were able to meet him. A kept asking “did we die? Are we dead?” Ian offered showers, beds, and beer/wine while we traded stories that evening.
A thing I learned: If I spend 8 hours bouncing around in a kayak when I get back onto land it still feels like the ground is swaying. If I drink just one glass of wine on top of that I become legless.
Total mileage for the day: 22 miles!
