Yesterday was a long day after a fitful sleep interupted several times. We arrived in Bear Cove, near the ferry dock in Port Hardy, about 6pm, which is what our shuttle driver, Nick, figured we'd be pulling in at. We had Nick drive us over to get water. Something unnecessary, but it saved us a few steps carrying the water back a couple of containers at a time. We paid him for a service which he had not tried to offer before, and we were grateful. We really weren't sure how were were going to get from Victoria to Port Hardy, and his service was the key. After that, I felt very much alone. There is not a lot going on a Bear Cove. We got busy packing the boats, and we were underway around 7pm with more stuff than would fit inside the boats.
Winds were light with a slight, intermittent mist. The only waves were from boats passing on the far side of the cove that makes Port Hardy. It was the perfect 2-hour paddle to get some of the travel and excitment out of our systems. As a good omin, we were entertained by a sea otter pounding a clam on it's chest as we made our way across the open water of a small cove housing a fish farm. Peel Island is about 4 nm (nautical miles) from Bear Cove, and even with this short run, it was a welcome sight when we paddled onto the beach of broken clam shells around 9:00pm.
[Let the paddling begin]
It took us couple of hours to get the tents set up and boats situatated high above the high-tide line. I took a sponge bath with a few drops of Dr. Bronners in a couple of cups of water and called it a night. Peter was already settled down in his hammock tent strung between two root balls pushed up high onto the beach from a long-ago storm. I was having trouble falling asleep probably from the too-late coffee and my left arm aching to wear I could not find a comfortable position to be in. I took an Advil and was laying there waiting for it to take effect when I hear Peter cussing and mumbling about something. He is camped far enough from my tent that I thought he was just having a dream of some sort, so I let him have his dream. Yet, he didn't stop. I called out to him to see if he was alright. I didn't really understand what he said, but how he said it made me get up and see what was going on. His hammock tent had turned bottoms up and he was tangled inside trying to get out without damaging the tent. Cue inappropriate comments from me. We re-jiggered the tent set up and went back to bed with the promise that there would be no plan for the next day. (sorry, no pics)
This morning, it was clear that we were going to take a down day. The weather forecast rain on and off most of the day and there was enough wind on the water to take advantage of a day to reset and get things better organized. We set up tarps to protect us from the wind and rain. I think I was napping by 9am. The first nap of the day.
At 4pm, I am rousing from my 3rd or 4th nap. I've lost count. It's been a good day. The sun is coming out as the tide is rising on the beach of clam shells.
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