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We
launched our 50 year old Chestnut canoe, 'Takatu'* in Fulford Harbour
on Saturday and paddled around for a few hours. Those are the facts,
but they doesn't tell the whole story. This wood and canvas canoe has
been our life companion and has had many adventures, mostly as we
paddled and camped our way through the Gulf islands of BC. The
familiar stroke of our paddles, the surge and lift of the canoe and
sounds of wind and waves was so evocative of a once younger couple of
kids just starting out on their life's adventure together.
The
weather forecast was not promising, North-west winds gusting to 50 km., so we selected a local launching site that should provide
a sheltered lee and were soon running out the harbour along the
southern shore before a gusty breeze. “Look”, says Heather,
holding up her paddle as a sail, “see how fast we are sailing”!
Oh, oh, I could see that the wind would soon force us into the beach
at that rate and so we angled back across the bay seeking more
shelter along the northern shore. Further out in the bay the gusts
were powerful and kicking up a chop and it took some extra effort to
keep the bow from blowing off down wind and carrying up with it out
of the bay. Soon though we were skimming past the beacon and the
Skeleton Islets, disturbing an eagle busy eating a large fish and
nodding to some oyster catchers nesting on the rocks and then we were
in the shelter of Indian Point at last. We gently nosed our way among
the low tide seaweed, rolled up our pants, stepped out and pulled our
canoe ashore. How good we felt, still filled with the adrenaline of
our windy trip across the bay.
After
a snack and stretching our legs we began a hard slog against the wind
back up the northern shore, gaining shelter from every little bay and
point of land. Whenever a gust arrived however we had to paddle
directly into it or be blown onto the rocks. Dig the paddle in, lean
into it, keep up a fast pace - we made good progress especially in
the gaps between the gusts, and the closer we came to the ferry dock
at the head of the bay the easier conditions became. We pulled ashore
for lunch on a beautiful shell beach and sat and admired our canoe,
red against the green seaweedy low tide beach. From there it was just
a few more minutes back to the dock and the carry up to the car. A
very satisfactory first paddle of the summer.
*
We named our canoe 'Takutu' after a river in the Rupununi district of
Guyana where we once lived and worked with CUSO.
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