June 13th

 What a whirlwind day! Peter had scoped out the terrain at low tide the previous afternoon and saw that we had a nice little sandy area to launch from in the morning. I quickly made a cup of coffee and the last of the tortillas, peanut butter, and granola, and ate while I was packing. The tide was just beginning its flood, and if we hurried, we could have everything packed before it overtook our sandy area. Tents down and stuffed into their sacks, we started packing and moving bags down to the rocky area sitting next to the preferred sandy area. Then, we moved the boats down and placed them on the sand. By now, we had developed a pretty good rhythm working together to carry the boats over difficult terrain. "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast" is something that I learned playing firefighter, and it definitely applies to carrying kayaks over rocks and wood and uneven terrain. 

[Packing boats on soft sand was nice]

[Rocky, uneven terrain]

Once everything was packed, we settled into the boats for just a few minutes before the water lifted us up, and we were on our way. 

It was a quiet, somber paddle the two nautical miles to the dock we had seen on the map. The large grey blob on the map turned out to be a logging processing area. Probably where the slow-moving tug was towing a raft of logs that we watched last night. The dock we saw on the map turned out to be a private dock. There were lots of cars at the dock, but no office or people. A sport boat pulled up while we were just getting there, but they just pointed down the inlet a bit, where there was a beach where we were allowed to park our kayaks. The dock was private property. They did let us know that there was cell service there, which saved our bacon. 

[Eve River is where we landed]

Peter and I brainstormed for a bit about how we get out of that dock area and who maybe could help us do that. Denise, Pam, and Becky back home were searching the interweb, as well. There were boat-based transport services that would end up costing us a couple of grand to get us to Victoria, but the mode seemed excessive. We were already at a place with a road. We contacted paddling shops all the way down to Victoria looking for leads. Car rental places were happy to help if we could get to them to rent the car. The problem was how to get to them. Finally, I found some kayaking communities in Campbell River and asked on their site.

We got very lucky finding somebody looking for something to do that afternoon. After a couple of missed communications--Facebook is like that--we were able to connect with Maureen, who agreed to drive an hour and a half one-way to come pick us up. Bonus: she had been to the launch site we were at!

After being bewildered by Apple Maps' incorrect directions, she found us ready to load the boats on her car rack and stuff our stuff into the back of the car. We were off! We had already found a hotel in Campbell River that was willing to try to find a place where two 6-meter boats could reside. The "willing" was more common than a cynic would think, but most people have a hard time understanding what a 19-foot kayak looks like. We eventually found a place and hoped for the best. 

[In front of the Discovery Inn in Campbell River, B.C.]

With only a slight inconvenience to a couple of ladies talking at a table in the hotel courtyard, we threaded the boats through the lobby into the courtyard. We weren't sure that they could stay there the next day, though. By the time we got everything done, it was going on 10:00pm. It had been a full day. 

Thank you, Maureen, for saving two old guys in kayaks!