As I presumed yesterday afternoon, the rocks were indeed covered in slippery intertidal life all the way down to the water. By 7 a.m. I was ready to go and started packing my stuff down to the water. I was able to negotiate the upper rocks without too much difficulty but then they became very slippery a little bit further down. This was potentially very dangerous since if I slipped and wedged my leg I could easily break a leg or twist an ankle.

Stunning coastal architecture

I put on my running shoes since my sandals were not going to cut it. I tried making a pathway out of medium sized beach logs taken from further up the beach. I would string these along in a line and try to walk on them whenever possible. This also presented danger if they were to shift while I walked on them. I would also try to walk on the occasional patch of barnacles because these provided great traction, but they were spotty.

One by one, I humped each of my loads and my boat down about 8 meters at a time. Eventually as I passed the very slippery mid level rocks they became a bit more negotiable, but not because they were less slippery, but instead because they were covered in so much sea weed that this held my feet in place.

I would have taken more interest in the rich intertidal life that was giving me such headaches but if I was going to make any decent time today I had to get moving soon; I couldn’t dilly dally or wait four hours for the tide to rise. I did take a picture of a blood star which feeds by absorbing the dissolved organic molecules and bits of stuff it comes across from the pea soup in which it lives, this emerald sea which is deep green from all the nutrients brought here from upwelling currents. These nutrients feed the vast kelp beds which have been a dominant part of the ecosystem on my trip so far.

Finally, after about an hour, I got all my stuff down the twenty meters to the water and started to load my boat. But I couldn’t load it in the water because it got too deep around the rocks to easily walk around. I also didn’t want to get my shoes more wet. So instead I put the boat on my logs and loaded it there. I would slide and launch it off the logs. After one good soaker, I was ready to go.

My plan to slide my boat along the logs forgot to consider the skeg at the back end of the boat. So I had to lift up the heavy back end of the boat and then push. I did this a few times, repositioning the logs each time, and then it was in the water. Finally, I was off! But that has been the most physically difficult thing I have done on my trip so far.

I continued on up the coast in the typical calm winds and fog. After about five kilometers I passed by the official opening to Blunden Harbour. So I didn’t get as far yesterday as I had hoped I would. This opening is a tiny little waterway that cuts through the outer peninsula of Blunden Harbour, and is only accessible at high tide. It was dry now.

The first of three fish farms I would pass today

A little ways past this I went through a fairly narrow channel separating an island, and I had to really fight hard to get through the currents. I hopped from one sheltered spot to the next and got through. I then immediately started to feel more of the swell from the open ocean. I also at that point, not coincidentally, saw my first patch of Macrocystis kelp, which is different from the more common Nereocystis bull kelp that has been ever present on the entire length of my journey so far. Macrocystis needs the influence of the open ocean – the water movement and the more constant salinity. That is what it’s getting here. I have seen bits of it washed up previously, but not the actual plants themselves.

I also encountered another fish farm pen here, no doubt positioned to take advantage of the swift currents to carry away all the wastes. Other than the odd fish farm, there really is nothing in the way of human life up here. There is of course lots of logging just onshore but no permanent habitation.

The waves generally got larger as I went along. I crossed a large bay and the bird life was quite impressive. There were auklets everywhere. This is what marine biodiversity could and should be.

Rhinoceros auklets

I had a GPS coordinate for Shelter Bay, my destination for the day. I had no map of this particular stretch of coastline. Yes, that’s right, I had no map, except an extremely crude cartoon drawing from a tourism brochure which basically shows this coast as a straight line. I didn’t think I’d need one since it is fairly straight forward – you just keep going along the coast. So I didn’t print one off. That’s what I was doing though – following the coast. But there were more bays and islands than I wasexpecting and this was throwing me off a bit. I was counting down the distance to Shelter Bay and it was still a good 5 km away.

I came to another set of islands and noticed quite a few sport fishing boats around, presumably across from Port Hardy. The currents were pushing really strong against me. The place had a different feel; it suddenly seemed more exposed and raw. I fought my way up through some channels and then I saw another little cheater channel off to the side of one. I pushed through the current and was then immediately in calm water. I could see that this led into some more rough water. When I got out of this I was fighting the wind, waves, and currents and I made a dash across to the next little island.

After this I had to cross another open bay to get to the mainland again. This proved to be quite rough, actually very rough. It was north-facing, exposed to the open water, and the bathymetry of the bay was making some very large swells, like about two meters, which is large for my boat. I would have put on the video but it was too rough. I fought my way across and kept going up the coast past the large breaking waves. This was rough water. I was getting concerned. I was praying that the winds would not pick up because I could be in trouble. I also wished I had put on my drysuit today. I was glued to my GPS. How could it be so far to Shelter Bay? The meters were creeping by and I cursed my slow progress. I looked to the trees to confirm that I was moving but it seemed to take ages.

Finally I came to a sheltered bay and the winds were picking up. I saw that the peninsula forming the outer edge of the main bay went a little further up, but I really did not want to round that point since it would surely be very rough! Hopefully this little bay led to a shortcut into the main bay and it did. I also smelled rancid fish. As I entered the main bay I passed by an empty floating farm pen. My GPS said that Shelter Bay was still a kilometer away. I had to cross this north facing bay to get to it, and the winds were really picking up now. I started to cross, with the gloomy and muted greys of the ocean fog to the left contrasting the clearing skies to the right, inland just above the trees with brilliant sunshine and pastel greens. I could even see the mountains through which I would be paddling over the next few days.

The cheater channel through to the larger bay

Gloomy fog to the west

That is the point I was glad I didn’t have to round

Once across the bay I took a rest in the lee of a little island and then pushed the final leg upwind to Shelter Bay. It was like a mirage, with its glistening sand beach shining in the sun.

Glorious sunshine to the east

That’s the Shelter Bay beach!

I landed and hiked my stuff up to the nice campsite. It is really nice here with flat soft tent sites and a large rope for a bear cache.

I also noticed a sign warning of a cougar in the area. And after setting up my tent I noticed a tuft of tan coloured hair beside it. Some parks people had recently been here doing some maintenance and putting up the sign, so I assumed they had brought a dog with them. Sure….

That’s dog hair beside my tent. Sure….

Tonight’s dinner was another round of Mediterranean Pasta with those brown chunks of meat-like things. I normally have a two-servings portion along with additional rice or plain pasta to add volume. I also add some spices like cayenne pepper, onions, garlic powder, or oregano and basil. I cook it until it is pasty, then add cold water which not only cools it down quickly, but turns it into stew. I like this and it fills me up well. But I am always hungry regardless. Today I thought I would up the ante a bit and make up four servings instead because I had worked so hard. I could eat more of it later.

So I cooked this up but the problem was that it filled the pot, so afterwards I couldn’t add the cold water. This meant it had a thick consistency and the sauce was very strong with all the spices I added. This was too much and I quickly lost my appetite. I just couldn’t eat more than half of it. I felt bloated for the rest of the evening and the only responsible thing to do was waste a good portion of the dinner by throwing it in the ocean because otherwise it would attract bears. Oh well, one dinner wasted; live and learn. Also, I checked the ingredients on the pasta and those brown things were actually some kind of processed soy product. They tasted good though normally, just not tonight.

Now somehow I had managed to convince myself that the tuft of hair beside my tent was from a dog. Obviously it was from a cougar. But I was still paranoid about animals crashing my tent at night so I did something I had been wanting to for a while. The problem is if a bear crashes the tent I won’t be able to get out in time because I wouldn’t be able to pull the zippers in all the caffuffle. So I got some pink ribbon from the little creek in the next cove over, which the parks people had used to mark its location for campers to access water (I took it off the ground), and then attached this to the one zipper that I should pull down vertically in an emergency. Then I would position this in a location where I could easily grab it in an instant if necessary. I would also sleep with my knife handy in case I needed it to cut the mesh. Of course I slept with my bear spray.

That night I did not sleep well. I was bloated and at midnight the tide came up. With the higher tide the waves were not broken by the bay floor and they were large and noisy. These waves were bouncing off the far end of the bay. When they hit the logs at the top of the beach they make strange sounds that can sound surprisingly similar to a bear growling. Just listen to them nonstop only 20 feet from your tent for four hours at midnight…

I wasn’t worried about cougars while in my tent though because they wouldn’t bother me there, but it would present no barrier to a bear.

I quickly packed up in the morning and started hiking my stuff down to the sandy flats way out at the head of the cove.

There was a six inch deep pool separated from the open water by a sandbar. I set up my kayak there and then had to drag it 30 meters through shallow water with the skeg dragging to where it was deep enough to get in.

I had to fight a few breaking waves on the way out but it wasn’t too bad. I got out and was again on my way. The sky was gloomy and the winds were light.

I went along the coastline for a while without much happening. It was just steady paddling. It’s good that I decided to call it quits at my last campsite because there weren’t any suitable locations further up along this coastline. I could see the beginnings of Blunden Harbour which was to be my destination for the day.

As I was approaching the first island which would provide some shelter, there was a sailboat coming my way. I thought I might talk to them, but then I noticed something large and black on the rocky beach – it was a bear!

I immediately headed over and got out my camera. By the time I got to it, it was in a different spot, right by the water, flipping up hundred pound rocks as if they were nothing, and eating the shore crabs underneath. I took several photographs and the sailboat came over too. I decided to see how close I could get and when I got about 30 feet away he decided he’d had enough and turned away. Then I backed off and continued on my way.

The winds were starting to pick up now and I headed to the little island across the bay which would provide some shelter. Along the way I saw another kayaker coming my way. We waved and I headed over. He was in an inflatable kayak! We rafted together to talk a bit. His name was Mikhail and he had just paddled across from Port Hardy. He’d had a difficult time in the winds in his inflatable kayak. He had just spent the night on a grassy patch in Blunden Harbour and was heading down the coast to finish his trip in Telegraph Cove. He said there were a lot of bear signs around his campsite and he did not sleep well!

Where you are looking is where he came from yesterday

By the time we separated we had drifted a ways back and I had to fight really hard to get to the island I was originally heading for. I made it and did not see any obvious nice campsite except a rocky beach on the south west lee side. I went up through the kelp beds to the northern end and tried to cross over to the next island but it was almost impossible in this wind. It would have taken me a half hour of full out exertion to just go a half kilometer.

Thinking about what to do while taking a break in the sheltered kelp beds

So I went back to the first rocky beach I saw and checked it out. It was actually a half decent spot. The rocks were large and smooth, since this spot obviously gets pounded during south-easterlies. They also had few barnacles on them so I waited around in the kelp for a half hour until the tide rose above the few barnacles there were. I then landed and got on shore without too much difficulty. I knew I was going to have problems in the morning though because the tide would be out and I could see that the rocks extended way down and they were covered with slippery intertidal life. But I had no choice.

I was in the lee where I was standing. Around that log sticking in the air, the wind was howling.

It was still fairly early, not much after lunch time, so I would have lots of time today to relax a bit. This was also a nice spot because I assumed there would be no bears on this small island. However, as suspected, there were no suitable tent sites because the whole beach was either large cobble or logs. Right above the logs was thick salal bush. So I figured I’d have to make my own tent site.

Lotsa logs

Thankfully, I soon found a piece of plywood washed up, which would be perfect!

I set it up at the very western edge of the beach, which happened to be the calmest. But only 20 feet away the wind was howling. It was blowing down the west wide of the island which is exposed to the open water. But the trees shelter this one little spot.

As the tide came in it also created a nice bathtub against the bedrock at the edge of the beach. I love this spot!

Plus, there was a hummingbird that kept buzzing me. I hoped to get a photo but I didn’t manage to succeed.  I also found a washed up old fishing lure container. These were home-made flies, and most were too far gone but a few were usable.

I had a nice snooze for an hour. I also charged more of my batteries but to charge my GoPro batteries you have to plug the power straight into the camera; there is no external battery charger. This probably works fine on a desk, but out here it is a pain. Of course I caught the cord while walking around and pulled the camera across the rocks. This scratched the lens! I was not happy, but the damage seemed to be minimal.

I also tried fishing off the steep rocks on the western side, only 30 feet from my tent. I got a few casts in but then my lure got stuck in the barnacles under the rock. I just left it there and planned to return later when the tide was out to see if I could loosen it. Sometimes I get really frustrated with fishing.

I again mustered the courage to try to fix my water filter. The glue I used was indeed strong so the only way I could re-separate the two pieces would be to cut them. So I got out my file on my Leatherman and started cutting around the shaft where it attaches to the handle bracket.

Once done I was ready to go. I again set up on a big log. I glued it back together and held it for a few seconds. Then I realized that I hadn’t put it through the red piece! Duh! I quickly pulled it apart and then shoved it through, covered in glue. In doing so the sharp edge cut off a bit of the gasket lining the hole.

You might also notice that there is a spring and ball inside that shaft. This is the pressure relief valve which is needed to maintain pressure; otherwise it won’t pump. When I cut the shaft this spring sprung out and the ball fell out. I was on a log above big round rocks. Of course the ball went down into the rocks. I carefully removed rocks one by one until I found the ball. I then added more glue and managed to hold everything together against the spring tension until it set. Finally, it was fixed. But what a gong show. I think I am getting more absent minded and short as I age.  When I was younger I used to do a lot of work on my bikes, including bearing maintenance. I had little ball bearings around all over the place and I managed to manage it all. This repair job should have been a 5 minute piece of cake, all I had to do was do a dry run and keep everything organized in a safe place, then glue it all together. The filter would have been as good as new, with all the strong glue literally melting and fusing the acrylic back together. But because I have become more impatient and disorganized, I just jumped into it without rehearsing exactly what I needed to do, and on top of that I was playing around with tiny little parts on a log on a rocky beach! Why didn’t I do this in my tent? And in the end the filter now squirts water when I pump it because I damaged the gasket.

So I think I need to pay more attention to these little things and not let myself get too old and absent minded. It is amazing I haven’t ruined a camera yet, with four of them sitting in my lap. So I guess I’m not too absent minded. I guess these kinds of experiences make certain things more obvious, when such critical outcomes can depend on doing things properly, and when you don’t get a second chance if you screw up. Luckily my water filter now worked again. I am going to filter all my water now. The only exception is groundwater seepage, and I won’t be seeing any of that in this dry weather.

Making dinner

I also retrieved my fishing lure after the tide went out by using a long stick to push the line away from the rock which loosened the lure.

That’s a long piece of driftwood

I bet that rock has a few stories to tell