70 degrees, Clear
NW @ 10 - 20 knots
W swell 2 meter with 2 - 3 foot wind waves
I left
Blackney Beach while the NW wind was at 10 knots with the knowledge that it
would build. The forecast called for
moderate seas with NW winds at 15 – 20 knots, a westerly swell to 2 meter with
wind waves to 3 feet. I wanted to make
as many miles as possible before it gained in strength. The bad news was that
it built more quickly than I anticipated. The good news was that it was mostly at my
back.
Shortly
after leaving the beach Herbert Point gained my full attention and was a
harbinger of what south Calvert’s finest features had to offer. Progress became a "Game of Points" with
each point contested and earned. By the
time I rounded Stafford Point I was a bit battle weary and ready for something
else. With no particular plan I tucked
into the lee of Stafford and mindlessly toured calm Chic Chic Bay. That was a bit of a trap, though, as the
deeper I went into the bay the more I was committing to paddling
cross-conditions to get back out. Coming
to my senses I looked ahead, got back on track and gained Charley and then
O'Neil Islands. Both were real pleasures
to meet and gave me a taste of what they could produce if they seriously had a
mind to be contentious. Like a couple of
rough drunks in their home bar they needed to be studied and navigated with
caution.
After four hours of wet work watching, managing and bracing into conditions that approached from over my right shoulder my neck had gotten pretty stiff and I was ready for a break. As I approached the passage between Sorrow Island
and Cape Calvert I saw that Grief Bay was still
out of sight on the left and that current running out of the passage was stacking
waves and creating a line of white water. My GPS indicated that a shoal was responsible
for the unpleasantness on the left and that I should be able to slide though
deeper water mid-channel. I hurried
through it and retreated to a kelp bed just inside the weirdness for a
well-deserved mental and physical rest.
After
some relaxation and refueling I paddled on in to "tropical" Grief
Bay. It was obvious why Kayak Bill had chosen this isolated setting for a camp
site. landing on the lovely sand beach I chose to set up my tent near the stream.
Walking
along the beach I didn't favor my chances of finding his camp yet there it was,
just inside the forest with the wind block still intact. It was very easy to see.
It was an unusually shaped camp built to utilize the existing forest. The
firewood rack was still in place and 1/2 full of wood perfectly cut to Bill's
dimensions. Moss and Salal had taken
over the camp so any of his usual personal possessions now belonged to the
forest.
I was
surprised to learn that the flood current ran north along the entire outside of
Calvert. It seemed to me that it would
be easier for the flood this far south to run into Fitz Hugh Sound, Rivers
Inlet or turn north near Herbert Point. I
guess that means that paddling this shoreline from north to south on a high
pressure day is more comfortable on an ebb.
As I relaxed on my warm sheltered beach I
reflected on how I had paddled for the past three days in green water up to my elbows
and been challenged by current, winds and topography. I thought about what Topher Donahue had said
in 1997 when describing his first free ascent of North Howser Tower in the
Bugaboos by the “All Along the Watchtower Route” describing it as the perfect climb.
He said: “The perfect climb is a perfect
balance. It is not a climb without doubt
or fear, but a climb with just the right amount of doubt and fear offset by
motivation and confidence. It means a
difficulty that suits the climbers: adequate challenge allowing one to feel
progress, yet requiring exceptional performance to succeed.”
Once again I had found the Hakai Luxvbalis /
Calvert Island paddling experience had delivered. I had not been without doubts and fears but I
had prepared and had to perform near the height of my ability.
It was the perfect route.
I highly recommend it.
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