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It’s nearly time for me to go home to Wales so i’ve been busy making the most of being in the Pacific Northwest. On Tuesday I joined Shawna & Leon on an overnight trip to Sucia island with 5 clients on a 5-day course. I arrived just as the sun set on a beautiful calm evening with a stunning sunset, just in time to help them eat dinner & chat over a fire! The next morning I left early to paddle to Victoria on Vancouver island to catch up with Alex Mathews and his wife Rochelle ( and I better not forget their cat Simon !) It was a gorgeous paddle in calm seas with a huge push from the ebb tide. I covered the first 13 nautical miles in less than 2 hours which was very exciting – i was flying along at an average speed of over 6 knots! Once I started to head south i had less tide and found myself saying ‘oh damn, I’m ONLY travelling at 5.5 knots” Of course I had to pinch myself and remember that 5.5 knots is still pretty good in a seakayak! Finally after 30 nautical miles in 5 hours 15mins I pulled in at Gordon Head – i’d been feeling really strong and fit the whole way across but as I got out of the flow and into an eddy, I began to feel tired. Typically, the coastline here consists of steep cliffs with lovely houses perched on top – each one with a thin steep set of steps leading up from the beach. There was no way I could carry my kayak up those and I paddled south for another mile or 2. Finally I came across a beach with loads of people on it. A very kind man helped me carry the kayak up the steep narrow steps and Alex came to pick me up.

I met Alex & Rochelle briefly at the West Coast seakayaking symposium a few years ago and Alex foolishly said ‘If you’re ever in Victoria, come and visit’! He writes lots of magazine articles, especially for Wavelength and Adventure Kayak magazines. He’s also recently written a book called ‘Rough water seakayaking’ ( publised by Heliconia press), so I was interested to chat to him. We had a lovely evening, ( which involved lots of nice food and taking Simon the cat for a walk along the seafront!). The next morning Alex and I went paddling to Baynes channel – a tidal race very near to Victoria. It was lots of fun with some good rides. Alex and I paddled around nearby Chatham and Discovery islands, then he paddled back home and I carried on back to Orcas island. I didn’t have quite so much tide with me on the way back, and I wasn’t feeling quite so mighty so it took me a bit longer – 24.5 miles in 4hours 45 minutes – still an average of almost 5 knots though and another beautiful day. coming through Cattle Pass at over 10knots was a highlight! I landed in Deer Harbour and Leon came and picked me up.

Tomorrow ( Saturday ) I’m giving a talk at Eco-Marine in Vancouver, then I fly home on Sunday. There will just be time tomorrow morning to squeeze in a final paddle at Deception Pass with Matt & Djuna from Body Boat Blade, and Michael Callahan from EcoMarine!

That a long title to this blog, but I’ve had a busy couple of days! I spent yesterday filming Dubside, Warren Williamson, Mathew and Tom Sharp ripping it up in Deception Pass with their seakayaks and greenland style blades. Warren has been paddling almost exclusively at Deception Pass for 7 years and it shows as he slides his boat effortlessly into frightening looking whirlpools and then does a roll on a turbulent eddy line, just for fun. His favourite trick seemed to be floating downstream through swirling whitewater with his boat upside down and only his face out of the water on one side. I’ve seen people in this position before, but only in moments of panic. In contrast, Warren could have been whistling his favourite song he looked so relaxed! Towards the end of the session he wasn’t wasting energy playing in the waves unless a boat sped past adding a bit more excitement with it’s wake! It’s only Dubside’s 3rd or 4th time at Deception Pass but he also looked great snaking up the eddylines and spinning in the whirlpools and he certainly wan’t afraid of being capsized as he could just call up one of his 30 or so different rolls.

I also filmed Dubside doing some of his rope tricks – there wasn’t time for me to have a go – luckily as I certainly couldn’t have pulled my body over the top of a high rope using only 2 fingers!

Today I tagged along with Dubside in Everett where he lives doing his favourite thing – Comando kayaking. Dressed all in black and pulling a small black troley containing his feathercraft folding kayak he surepticiously catches a bus across town. He blends in perfectly which is his aim, but if you look very closely you’ll see the black wetsuit boots and the zip of the farmer john wetsuit under his black jacket. If he’s careless you might spot an ankle length dreadlock poking out from the bottom of his trousers – although he refused to let me film this – “It’s not about the dreadlocks!”.

So we caught 2 busses then pulled our folding kayaks a few hundred meters to a river. Dubside put both kayaks together in less than 30mins and we were ready to go. Far from resenting the several hours taken to cath busses and put the kayaks together, Dubside loves the independance of not needing a car, and has a huge grin on his face as he tells me he can pull his kayak out the water wherever he wants, he doesn’t have to come back to the same place – provided there’s a bus stop nearby of course! And I have to admit I did find it a little exciting to be on this unusual sort of adventure ( although my bright red clothing didn’t quite fit in with the stealth approach!) It was kind of cool to be floating down a river with the current, seeing all the trucks and cars wizz past on bridges above us while watching ospreys interacting on pilings, having seals pop their heads up behind us and a blue heron fly in front of the kayaks. We were in the city but removed from it – observers.

Anyone interested in Dubside should check out his website by clicking here. YOu can also buy DVDs of him rolling or doing his rope tricks. Thanks to Tom Sharp for driving me around and making this filming happen!

Today Matt from Body Boat Blade took me paddling to some of the tide races around the Orcas islands. We took the ferry to Lopez island and had a fun day in the Cattle Pass area. The tide was flowing at 3-4 knots and there was a bit of wind to kick up the waves a bit. We kept moving about to different races, playing at spinning our kayaks on the eddylines and surfing the waves. The best playspot came last as we found a smooth rock platform just below the surface which was really cool to watch underneath the kayaks. The tide rushed down the platform and hit the seabed, slowly the water built up in the bottom until there was enough to form a surging wave rushing forwards against the tide. It was fun and gentle to start with and then the race kicked up a bit giving a wetter ride and some good waves with burried bows! We spent over 3 hours non-stop paddling from race to race and I’m feeling content but a bit tired now!

Tomorrow I’m going to Deception Pass – another place with strong currents and sharp eddylines – to film Dubside and Warren playing in the water with their greenland paddles. I better get some rest!

BILL REID’S HAIDA WAR CANOE

I don’t have time to reflect too much on the trip yet as we are keeping busy living! It’s been a fun few days in Queen Charlotte chatting to people and surrounding ourselves with art, dancing & food, all with a Haida flavour. We went to a great seafood feast at the herritage centre where we were served, amongst other things, herrings eggs on kelp ( I don’t think I’ll be seeking them out again but I enjoyed trying them!). After dinner we were entertained by Haida dancing, which was really colourful and interesting. We were also lucky enough to chance upon 2 of the artists at the centre who are spending 3 months making 90foot long Haida war canoes – almost the first time theyv’e been made for over 100 years. The only other ‘modern’ Haida canoe is already at the centre – it was designed and overseen by the famous Haida artist Bill Reid 20 years ago. It’s an incrediblly beautiful cedar canoe that is paddled every year in races and to transport important people. I find it amazing that the Haida regularly paddled these canoes over 70km to mainland Canada, raided towns there and paddled back with slaves. We think we’re adventurous to kayak in the waters that they paddled in year round just to collect food to live. You gotta admire that!

Shawna later found out that one of the artists carving the canoe also made a limited edition Haida print that she’d just bought.

THE BLINKING HOUSE AT WINDY COVE, BY ROBERT & REG DAVIDSON, THAT WE STAYED IN

Yesterday we got the ferry over to Sandspit on Moresby and went to visit the home of Neil & Betty Carey, the couple who built & lived in the cabin at Puffin Cove on the west coast of Moresby that we stayed in. Neil was pleased to invite us in & show us some of their thousands of Japanese glass balls and whale bones that they beachcombed. We could show him a few photos of Puffin Cove and let him know how the place is doing.

LOOK CLOSELY AND YOU’LL SEE PUFFIN COVE CABIN

SHAWNA & LEON WITH NEIL CAREY

Today we hired a car and drove to a few sights, including the location where the famous tree, the Golden Spruce, was cut down in the middle of the night by a logger in 1997. We looked around lots of shops & galleries searching for the perfect piece of Haida jewelry made from argillite, a black shale-like rock that is only found in Haida Gwaii and only Haida people are allowed to carve. Eventually Shawna & I both chose necklaces that we liked, mine was by Myles Edgars & hers was by his daughter Amy. We later drove through Old Masset and stopped at a house which said ‘Argillite carvers, visitors welcome’. Incredibly, inside sat Myles & Amy carving away!! So we all had to buy something else directly from the artists! In the shop in Old Masset I fell in love with a beautiful bentwood box ( which had just sold for $18,000 !), 5 mins later the young guy who had carved it walked in the door! I took a photo in case I can ever afford to commission one!

THE WONDERFUL BENTWOOD BOX WITH IT”S MAKER
At the risk of going on I’ll tell you one more story! Earlier in our kayaking trip we camped on the beach outside Old Masset. The next morning a man drove up to the beach and threw away some crab remains. We asked if it was OK that we camped there and he said, “Sure. I don’t mind, I just think it’s funny that someone is camping in our garbage dump”! It turned out that the man was the famous Haida artist Reg Davidson and we had a great chat with him. We’ve since seen his artwork and his name in many books & shops. A few weeks later in Rose Harbour, Reg’s brother, the even more famous Haida artist, Robert Davidson happened to be there on a charter yacht so we got to chat to him aswell. He told us that the long house we’d spent the night in at Windy Bay on Lyell island was designed by him and painted by his brother Reg!

I really love the fact that we’ve met so many of the people who are keeping Haida art alive. Art is really important to the Haida as it’s an expression of their connection with the land & a huge part of their history. They never used to have a written language so family crests on clothing and on totem poles were used to tell other people about a persons family and status. Most of the crests are of animals, encouraging a respect for the bears, killer whales, eagles and ravens that sustained the Haida, and lived alongside them. Haida art developed over 10,000 years and is really beautiful and sophisticated.

Tomorrow we take the ferry back to Prince Rupert and begin a 4 day journey back to Body Boat Blade…..

THE WAR CANOES BEING BUILT AT THE HERRITAGE CENTRE

MYLES CARVING AN ARGILLITE TOTEM POLE