43. IAATG: Out of Pt. Hardy
photo by Dan Elliott
November 1, 2024, IAATG: out of Port Hardy, mid August 2024
A week before leaving on this paddle I fell off my bike on a trip and scraped some skin off my left arm. This was not good. This is the same arm that had become seriously infected in French Polynesia in 2005 and has been a problem a few times since. (see Chapter 20). I knew that I might have issues, so I arranged a doctor’s appointment to get some antibiotics the day after I got home. By the time I got there the arm was already red and swollen. Although by the end of the week the arm seemed pretty good, I took some of Theresa’s heavy duty pain killers just in case. These would turn out to be helpful in an unanticipated way.
On the trip were Dan, his daughter, Amelia, 9, and me.
After we got home Dan Elliott and I traded photos online. I sent mine with the initials IAATG. Only later would he learn they meant: “It’s all about the girl”. I ‘ve taken many photos of the area we visited over the years, didn’t need more, and when I got back realized that Ames was in nearly every photo I had. Dan emailed me his pics labelled DRA. Later I learned that meant “Dinosour Rides Again”. We have a lot of fun.
I was curious about how Ames would be on this, her first kayak trip. She was amazing. Lots of shells, rocks and crabs inspected. Cartwheels, chasing seagulls, drawing on the sand, and reading. Even while sitting in the double kayak with her dad for many hours, she asked him: “why am I so happy?” Part of this is due to the amount of time she spends outdoors on beaches and in forests with her involved dad and two younger siblings. Dad juggles home care with two part time jobs while Katherine is off teaching.
Loading the kayak
At Skull Cove: “Ames walks over the sharp rocks on her bare feet. No problem. Katherine didn’t pack socks, and she doesn’t mind. She is having a terrific time. Sleeps a little in the kayak, paddles very occasionally, which actually does seem to speed them up, for a short time. Like, 5minutes, max.”
At Beach and ½”: “Ames is excited to be here. Her just made-up joke: “Why don’t seagulls fly over the bay? Because then they would be bay gulls, and everyone would eat them”.
Photo: Dan Elliott
When we were approaching the little island off this big beach we saw a blow. A little later a grey whale broached beside us and then dove, flukes up in the air. Wow! Ames was over the moon. What a greeting. Earlier we had seen 3 dolphins chasing fish that were popping up everywhere. And all along: more sea otters (Otties) than I have ever seen. They raise their big wide heads, stare, look momentarily befuddled, like: “what is this?” Then dive.
We have three generations here. My first trip was with Sue in 1985. We found the little cabin. Dan and Evan came with me when Evan was about 12. Before that Evan, Sue and I had paddled when he was 3 out of Bella Bella. This may be my last trip here, at 76. Dan said he may not be back for awhile. Three kids, busy life. But Ames will remember this trip and place, she’s loving it.
Ames was nestled into the big curly stump on the beach, facing the forest, reading her book: “The Lost Hero” by rick Riordan. I was facing her, on a log, reading “The African Samurai” by Craig Shreve, looking out to the water. She calmly said to me: “Doug, there is a bear behind you”. I stood up and turned around. And there was a really big black bear, wet and muscular, standing on a log, just a few feet away. Sniffing. Dan was off a bit, cooking pancakes with ghee. Brought the bear in. The bear took off when I turned around and thrashed through the salal.
It was a bear! photo Dan Elliott
Next came the chopper. It landed down the beach and five guys peeled out. Pilot and 4 guys working on contract to the Coast Guard to install an antenna on the south end of Calvert Island. Must be near Grief Bay, good campsite. This is mid August, prime fog time. These guys had been mostly hanging around for 11 days waiting for a clearing. Odd time for the Coast Guard to be sending out these guys. Was the decision made in Ottawa? The guys were happy with their work, knowing that outdoor jobs that pay are increasingly hard to get. I’m reminded of my own work with kayaks. There were other small companies making fiberglass and plastic kayaks. In Canada and the States. All the designers were guys. They and their companies are gone. Most boats are being made offshore. One guy had been working near Kelowna and living there, I think. Didn’t like the heat and smoke. The place is burning. Loves the west coast. (There is a large bird right now soaring, almost hovering, and then diving into the water near shore. White/grey, looks like a large hawk, bigger than any seagull. What?)
Next came two kayakers, Tod and Jess, who beached here. They are paddling down from Bella Bella via Goose. No map, no chart. Young. Seem to revel in not knowing where they are. They camped on the beach south of here. Later, their two friends, Christian and Kelly, motored over in a skiff, having moored their sailboat at the horseshoe shaped bay just north of here. Friends of the kayakers. He lives onboard, don’t know if she does. He is on his sixth circumnavigation of Vancouver Island, wants to go bluewater. Surfs whenever and wherever he goes.
Later a wolf padded by to the small island near here, unseen. Also, mink and deer tracks, fresh. Now just the three of us. Ames describing her book. Dinner of fusilli, pesto sauce, cabbage and candied salmon finished and cleaned up. Delicious. Bannock is a hit with Ames and Dan too. I like their Japanese curry, recommended by Shiro Ose.
Yesterday we left in dense fog. We did see a few fishers in boats off the south point, looking quite glum. Didn’t wave. After that, no sight of land, just fog for the next 2 ½ hours. We heard boats off to our starboard side, probably on a straight-line GPS course to the Southgate Group, so we curved in towards land to avoid them. A bit unnerving, especially initially when they were close. We were north of Vancouver Island, so the ocean swell embraced us. Ames got sick and almost lost her breakfast. Once it cleared up a bit and we could just make out land she slept and was woken up when, still in the gloom, we happened on a humpback whale, quite close. Woosh! Long and sleek, it dived, flukes up. Awesome.
Reading in Shelter Bay
Dan and I were sore and tired when we arrived here. He, paddling the big double kayak, me, travelling with age. My left hand is swollen again, will I need more antibiotics? Today we rest, the forecast is not conducive. Lovely beach. Was sitting on my cushion in the forest and was entertained by a perfect, tiny mouse scurrying, digging, searching. Oblivious to me. Otties offshore, on their backs, cracking shells open on their favorite rock tool stored on their belly. Snap, snap, crack! No bear prints this time. Last time, with Evan, there was a resident. Reading Marcus Aurelius. Perfect. Two herons squawking.
Bell Island
Crossing in the fog from Shelter. One boat was going very slow, we couldn’t quite tell how close, ended up waiting a few minutes as it went by, unseen. Worried that it was a tug towing a barge. Dense. All compass and GPS. After Walker group we could make out a cruise ship, just the upper decks, hull shrouded. Waited for it, too.
Closing in on Port Hardy
Dan, Ames and Doug
I am writing this just a few days before the American election, with a feeling of fascination and foreboding. The great myth of the American “Shining City on a Hill” is going to take a hit. Roughly half the voters are going to choose a convicted felon, liar and grifter in thrall to the oil and gas industry and this time surrounded only be sycophants. With a finger on the nuclear button. I don’t really understand this, but I suspect that the huge inequality in the society is behind many of the issues. The American economy is on a tear, better than the other G7 countries, but most people are not feeling it. No longer is a rising GDP raising all the boats. Instead, most are still at the same tide level as in the 1970s. Many people are having to live with precarity, like those in the global south. And they are angry. This anger is exploited by extremists through racism, hate and demagoguery. Expect chaos.
The U.S. is tipping towards autocracy. The whole planet appears to be on a different tipping point. Record CO2, record oil and gas production and drilling, record air and ocean temperatures, record ocean acidification, record Arctic and Antarctic ice loss, declining AMOC. On the consumer side: increasing global meat consumption and air travel. Biggest ever bloated North American cars and trucks. In our Western culture we don’t seem to care about future generations of humans and other life. We can’t consume our way out of our problems (as if this were a path to well being) because nature has reached a tipping point. In 2023 huge forest fires burned across Canada. Forests are no longer carbon sinks. The greenhouse gas emissions, if compared to those of countries, would have been fourth worldwide, after the emissions of China, U.S. and India. We don’t even measure or account for that. This may be the major tipping point that future generations will look back on.
Now, for the good parts:
Cycling Without Age
Cycling Without Age takes people with disabilities on cycle rides. It was started in Copenhagen in 2012 and is now in 52 countries. There have been over 2.5 million rides and 575,000 people served. In our group there is a resident and a companion plus a pilot who rides the bike. People in this organization are amazing and caring. I am lucky to cycle with this group. Lots to learn.
Pender (S,DA,YES) Island Sea Harvest (more information in chapter 41)
If you want the most sustainable source of protein, go no further than the sea. Raising shellfish uses the least amounts of land, water, and pesticides with the least amount of GHGs released than any other protein source. Amazing.
I first started talking about this project with Tsawout First Nation and the Southern Gulf Islands Community Resource Centre (CRC) in 2021. Progress has been slow, but we are making headway in forming a partnership between the two organizations. The leaders in the CRC are professionals, way above my pay scale, who have experience managing large enterprises. The fisheries managers in Tsawout have long term strategies to enhance the natural environment and their own food resources. How lucky to have stumbled onto this. It is important to remember that there are folks and organizations around the world that are striving to benefit humanity and the natural world.
I am lucky to have been born in a place with security, ample food, and clean water. By the sea. What a gift to be alive today! What a blessing!
