We mustered at the Sealegs Kayaking center at Transfer Beach in Ladysmith. I was surprised at how old some of the women were. Half of the group were in their 30s and 40s and the other half were 55 and over. Some of the older women looked quite fit and confident while others...um, didn't.
The Sealegs Kayaking staff fitted us for PFDs and then inspected our baggage. They made quite a few of the older women move their belongings into dry bags. (One woman brought luggage, can you believe that?!?) A van arrived and transported us to a beach north of Ladysmith, where the kayaks were pulled up onto the beach and the rest of the Sealegs staff were busy packing supplies into the kayaks.
Loading the kayaks was a bit confusing. The owner of Sealegs Kayaking, Bud, said in a half-jokey voice that we might have to leave some of our stuff behind if it didn't fit into the kayaks. He made it clear that the camp supplied were more important than our gear. I thought he was joking, then saw how much stuff had to be loaded into the kayaks that I realized he was serious. Luckily we managed to get everyone's stuff into the 'yaks - phew!
Simone and I shared a 2-person kayak. It was quite heavy - we were loaded down with equipment - but glided through the water quite nicely. We paddled from the beach to Ruxton Island, where we had a "float break". From there we paddled down to De Courcey Island. We pulled into Pirate's Cove on De Courcey for lunch.
Simone in ze kayak:
Lunch was Greek salad, chicken, potato chips - my favorite! - hummous and pita, etc. Yum. We tried to help set up and serve the food but the Sealegs guides chased us away. After lunch we had a long paddle over to Valdez Island. We pulled in to our campsite at Blackberry Point around 4pm.
Fantastic rock formations on De Courcey Island:
The Sealegs guides set up the kitchen in less then 30 minutes and set about making dinner. The rest of us paired off and set up our tents. They had 3-person and 4-person tents so that meant sharing. Simone and I hooked up with Donna, who I met on the Tunisia tour. An older woman named Sam asked to share the tent as well. We agreed but it made things quite tight inside.
The outhouse, get it?:
Dinner was a gorgeous shrimp and veggie stir fry, followed by cake for dessert. I tell you, they fed us well! A lot of us broke out bottles of wine at "wine-thirty". On the advice of an experienced kayaker at work I'd packed a "bag" of wine - you buy a box of wine and then pull out the bag inside. It packs into small spaces, is flexible, and when you're done you don't have to haul back empty bottles. Genius!
After dinner Crazy Pete showed up. Bud had earlier explained that Crazy Pete was a guy who'd been living in the Gulf Islands for the past 30 years. He was a bit of a vagabond, camping illegally, getting evicted from one island or another, and collecting a suspicious variety and amount of stuff that he sold every now and then to make money. I found him really interesting and we talked about everything from raccoons to marine legal rights to herbal remedies. Everyone else in our group avoided Crazy Pete, which was fine by me because it meant I got Pete all to myself! He told a few tall tales, but there was a surprising amount of truth in what he said.
Chevy, Crazy Pete's fetch-loving dog:
No one slept well that night. Sam was a snorer and had wicked bad sleep apnea. Also, we managed to set up our tent on a slope so everyone was fighting gravity. For me, the worst part was the bump under my back. I couldn't sleep on my back because the bump would over-extend my spine and I'd get back spasms. I couldn't sleep on my side because the bump would force my spine into some kind of wicked scoliosis curvature. I resorted to sleeping on my stomach, but that meant cranking my neck to the side.
Breakfast was eggs, pea-meal bacon (yum!), yoghurt, and fruit. After breakfast the guides had a confab and suggested that we stay in camp for the morning to conserve energy and go out kayaking in the afternoon. As a substitute for the morning kayaking they proposed a full moon kayak at night. Everyone thought that was a good idea.
Some people went for a hike that morning. Others lounged on the beach. The guides helped Sam set up a small tent just for herself, which put her at ease and made Donna, Simone, and I very happy. I roamed around aimlessly and then finally went into the tent to lie down and see if I could catch some extra winks. It was really hot so I didn't sleep, but lying down did help me relax and recoup some energy.
Kathy lounging on the beach:
Seastars were abundant along the beach:
For our afternoon kayak trip we paddled down to Shingle Point, which is native reserve land and technically off-limits, but it was common for people to go there for picnics and suchlike. We paddled past Shingle Point and south to another beach, where we stopped for a break. A lot of people went swimming. The beach was lined with blackberry bushes so there was a lot of blackberry picking going on as well.
The beach just past Shingle Point:
Sam being Sam:
Back at base camp, the guides cooked up another fabulous dinner. I got into the wine a bit and remember having some hilarious slurry conversations. After everyone departed for the full moon kayaking trip I happily trotted off to the tent and went to sleep. I don't even remember Donna and Simone coming into the tent. Unfortunately I snored until around midnight, which made it hard for them to fall asleep.
Breakfast was superb once again. After that we all broke down our tents and started packing our dry bags for the return trip. The guides broke down the camp kitchen and started loading the kayaks. We were ready to leave by 10am.
Left to right: Joanne, Brendan, me, Colleen, Kathy, Sam, ?, Carolyn, Marilyn, Simone, Donna, Sally, ?, Anne-Marie, ?, Ericka, Lauren, and Chevy pleading for more fetch:
We paddled from Valdez Island to Thetis Island, stopping mid-route for a water break. On Thetis we went into a very shallow cove that was full of eel grass and sea cucumbers. The guides pulled up a couple of sea cucumbers for us to marvel at. Simone gave the guides an impromptu lecture on sea cucumbers and the importance of the eel grass as a nursery for sea life.
After visiting the shallow cove we paddled around to a rock beach where we pulled up the kayaks and the guides prepared lunch. I was tired so I stretched out my PFD and laid down on it - I know, I know, you're not supposed to do that but I was tired! I managed to catch a bit of shut eye, waking up only when the guides got into a wickedly funny debate about the best way to dispose of human "scat". The preferred method seemed to be the "shit put", or pooping onto a bit of wood and then flinging the poop into the ocean or the woods.
After lunch we embarked on our longest paddle, from Thetis to Ladysmith Harbour. We were asked to travel in a much tighter group because of the prevalance of marine traffic. We got to ride a couple of wakes, which was fun, but most boats slowed down as they passed so they didn't cast such a big wake into our group.
We pulled up onto Shell Beach, just opposite Transfer Beach, for a rest. We were quite the sensation with the other beach-goers when we pulled up in our 13 kayaks! The guides had a swim and then lay down on the beach for a rest. They were clearly tired after waiting on us hand and foot for three days! I sat apart from the group, enjoying a bit of alone time. After 30 minutes or so we got back into our kayaks and headed for Transfer Beach.
Shell Beach rest stop:
Kalvin and Brendan resting up on Shell Beach:
There wasn't much shoreline at Transfer Beach because the tide was high, so we could only beach two or three kayaks at a time. The Sealegs Kayaking folks carried the kayaks up the steps to the grass, and asked us to help unpack the kayaks. Sealegs gear went into one pile while our gear went into another pile. Simone and I recovered our gear fairly quickly and hit the road, eager to get home, shower, and go to sleep! The trip home was mercifully quick with just one point of congestion on the Malahat. I had a good long shower, a bit to eat, took two Ibuprofin and hit the sack by 7:30pm. What a trip!
