“Justine, it’s your turn”, JF gently rubbed my shoulder. I quietly grunted acknowledgement, not wanting to wake up Frank and Larry in the next door tent. Jf left over to kiss me and his cold nose was like an one pack against my cheek. I shivered as I threw on more clothes and pulled my drysuit over my bottom half. It’s my turn for the last shift which is 1am-3am this time. It’s the second best option after the first watch which was 7-9pm. We won’t always leave so early but we’re getting into a rhythm with the tides. Yesterday afternoon we landed around 4pm on a steep smooth ramp of rock, just before the vast muddy rock strewn plain below it was revealed by the falling tide. Three hours later, at low tide, this Boulder field extended several hundred meters. In the bay next to us, it stretched over 1.5km. With a 9.5m tidal range landing at a steep shoreline at midtide or higher makes our lives much easier. We are aiming to leave at 4.30am to avoid multiple long, tiring slippery portages with 4 kayaks and bags full of 28 days did and gear. Loaded each kayak weighs close to 200lbs with at least 1 bag on our back deck and another in the cockpit. Larry’s back deck was so low on day one that I could barely see his seam.

As I crawled out of the tent at 1am the sea was still and silent with a thin layer of mist dancing on the surface. It doesn’t get fully dark here, I could see low lying peaks on the mainland and a few other islands across the water. The red hilleberg tents on a somewhat flat section of rock are easy to spot with the rainbow fleet of Boreal design epsilons lying just below. Scanning for bears, I note that I would easily see a silhouette if one approached. I walked over to the kitchen area where our one seat I’d set up beside the 1000 lumens flashlight and two shotguns, one loaded with noisy bear bangers and one with lethal ammo. There are no bullets in the chamber and we hope not to use either. Frank filled up my thermos with hot tea earlier and I sip half of it down greedily. There’s a thin layer of one on the tent and It staves of the cold for a few more minutes.

I was dreading night watch as I need my sleep. Surprisingly I’m enjoying the peace, alone time and the chance to take in my surroundings. I reflect on the day, stretch a bit, sort out my maps and fill my water bag for the next day, and today I took selfies with the gun against the pink sky.

Update at the end of the day. After two days of slow progress in headwinds and the need to detour long distances around ever expanding islands, we had a calm day today with a favorable current. We made it about 40km to a cabin that Felix told us about. That means no bear watch tonight and a bit more sleep! we’re having fun, enjoying the new landscape and all getting on well.