Late awakening with mixed feelings: reluctance to end this interlude of pure living in the present and eagerness to get back to a less simple existence. Slow breakfast of oatmeal and granola. Murray collected clams in the low-tide mud flats, enough for two each. Sunshine.

With assistants, Steve completed Zunoqua and mounted her on a log facing into the bay. Rob created an artful arrangement of grass, rock and roots. Careful cleanup of the campsite and deliberate packing of kayaks, gear and personal effects to be ready for Dennis’ appointed arrival at the moment of high tide. A measured goodbye to this peaceful land and seascape.

Dennis planned to arrive at 1:30, exactly high tide. He actually got to us at two p.m. along with Leonardo, his quiet stepson. Dennis was probably not happy that the tide was already falling. No problem for this pro. He knew just what to do, as he slid the boat in parrallel to the shore held at the bow by a snag protruding out over the water, and by Leonardo with a pike pole, holding the boat in just enough depth to float and yet reachable from shore. He lifted the legs a little, but left some room to lift them some more if they came down onto the rocks.

Dennis nimbly two-stepped down onto and along the wobbly snag ashore and back, and then at his urging and our cheering, Leonardo believed in himself and pulled it off too. It was a race against time to get loaded and out of there before the our ship was grounded. Up went the heavy kayaks, whose bows were lifted to him for levering into place on his racks. Dozens of parcels of gear were passed on board by a human chain—“a chain means that nobody moves." And we squeaked out of there with the help of pike poles pushing us off into the deeper water.

 Perhaps in return for the offering of Zunoqua, Dennis went well out of his way on the trip back to Telegraph Cove to a bay in Johnston Strait where he found Dahl’s porpoises to race and cavort with the boat for our entertainment.

http://www.wildlifecharters.com/whales.html

http://www.victorialodging.com/marine-ecotour/wildlife-vancouver-island.html

http://people.whitman.edu/~yancey/surface.html

These critters have more fun!

Then he proceeded to the middle of the Strait for a close encounter with an Orca which spouted and surfaced. To see these speedsters scooting around our boat bow wave and wake, and to watch the orca working some salmon over were trip highlights.

Back in the Cove, the unpacking went smoothly, we paid our last bills, and Rob the provider came up with beer for everyone. Dennis told us of an even more remote kayaking spot on the mainland near the mouth of Seymour Inlet and Burnet Beach we could go to next year.

The long car trip back down Vancouver Island was relieved by dinner at the Cable Cookhouse Café in Sayward, a unique landmark constructed out of 26 tons of steel logging cable. The complex accounting of payment and reimbursement was completed over hamburgers and more beer and homemade blackberry pie. Peter Behr waited 1.5 hours for his dinner to come and it was the wrong one after all that. Murphy's law! The blackberry pie and ice cream was divine. We cleaned them out.

Murray's pome

departure

two clam each lunch appetizer

after morning low tide beach scour

and completed departure prep

before ceremonial d’sonoqua

statue presentation

says proper broughton farewell

with high tide water taxi arrival

-

dolphin whale show

again

is proper way to return

before two hour cable car dinner confusion

and frantic inspection bookings

welcomes back

to real world

august 27

owl island – return