Tuesday started grey as promised. No problem once you are in a dry suits. And visibility was OK. That was the most important thing as we had a one hour crossing of the shipping lane in Chatham strait ahead of us.
It promised to be a grey day that would take some effort. At least the first whale of the day appeared after a hundred metres or so of paddling.
We planned a short day to about Point Retreat, ca 22 km. Mikko had identified some promising beaches just around the corner.
The crossing was uneventful, half a dozen or so boats crossed our path, mostly small and all at a good distance.
Eventually we came to the prospective camp site. It looked OK. Except for the quite fresh tracks we interpreted as a bear sow with two cubs.
We tried another beach about a km further on, but another set of tracks in the pebbles meant it was also disqualified as a campsite.
But not as a late lunch/early dinner site. We had been out for five hours/25 km and needed both rest and food. An empty stomach predicts bad decisions…
So after a good rest, a big helping of spaghetti and a couple of cups of strong coffee we weee good to go. The plan? Paddle on and find a solution.
After 10 km we got to a place called Shelter island, about 15 km from Auke Bay where we will drop off the kayaks. There were some nice beaches to be seen, but to each beach a cabin. Private property. Trespassing is not encouraged in the US we understand, so they were off limits unless there was someone we could ask for permission.
A boat did arrive, and we paddled over to ask for help. It was Jessie who turned out to be living on the island with wife, son and his parents. The only permanent inhabitants on Shelter Island.
jessie was very helpful and explained that yes this was all private property, except a 500 by 500 m lot of land which was a state park to protect a tree with an eagles nest. This was just adjacent to their property, if we can over they would help us get the kayaks out and show us a place we could camp.
We asked about bears. Very few bears around here, and besides they had dogs, so even less adjacent to their property. They took no precautions. What’s not to like? We gladly accepted Jessie offer.
On shore we were greeted by the whole family, plus three summer volunteers from WWOF (https://wwoofusa.org/en/). The WWOF’ers were here mainly to help secure firewood for the winter.
Soon camp was set up including the tarp to shelter for the rainy forecast.
It was a great help. We could have ended up paddling into the night.
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