Our day got most interesting when we stopped paddling! A green canoe with an engine approached the small bay we’d just landed in. Dora, her husband Putulik and their 10 year old daughter Mariam were on a day trip from their home in Wakeham Bay looking for caribou to hunt. They invited us to come with them on their boat a few km up the coast to a good fishing spot. JFs eyes lit up… We quickly pulled the kayaks above the high water mark and jumped into the boat, sitting besides fishing rods, guns, coolers and warm clothes. Dora was really chatty, telling us about the local way of life and asking us questions.

The wind really picked up as we arrived at the river mouth. We all tried casting, and JF very happily landed a nice arctic char. He proudly tried eating it the Inuit way, at least the way that Tommy and Annie ate theirs in Quaqtaq. He but straight into the raw flesh. I had a taste too, it was very tender but I prefer it cooked!

After 30 minutes or so, we we called over to a picnic. The coolers were opened to reveal everything from locally smoked fish to Tim Hortons donuts. We were encouraged to help ourselves to whatever we wanted multiple times. We were even treated to some wine, our first alcohol for 3 weeks. The kindness of the people we are meeting here is very warming and we ares very grateful to Dora and her family for sharing their experience with us.

Prior to that, it was another hot sunny day with very little wind. We treated ourselves to an extra 90 minutes sleep this morning and felt well rested and strong on the water. We covered about 26 nautical miles along another beautiful rocky coastline with lots of outlying islands. But it’s people we met that will stick in our memory of today.

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