Around Victoria

Hi Folks,

     First of all...  I would like to thank all of you who have emailed me in support of the venture.  Believe it or not...  I have even gotten some atta' boys for holding down the fort and supporting Sean.  It has been hard!  Some days pass quicker than others!  I am just glad that 

Sean has gotten around Victoria safely and there is an end to this outrageous trip sooner than we might think.  

     As you know, Sean took a layover day in Uculeut when there were fierce winds and minimal visibility.  The next day, the winds dropped and he departed for Port Renfry.  I think the thought of turning around or aborting the trip were still in his mind, but he persisted and went with his instinct and (VHF radio) that stated better weather.

     With the wind at his back, he got to Victoria pretty quick.  I think he was a day early than had predicted.  Awaiting him in Victoria (I believe in a sea kayak) was a friend of a friend of his.  This kind man took him in for the night at his house.  Sean phoned me from the strange area code to let me know that he was okay.  He was charging his cell phone among other things...

It looks like (as of 10 mins ago.) he has made it South of Nainamo and camping out for the night.

     Again...  Thanks for your emails, phone calls, questions, and support.  They are immensely appreciated.  

     gina and shea bella

Storm bound in Ucluelet

Hey Folks,

I have just read Gina's updates to my blog. She is such a trooper, looking after the house, the dogs and Shea Bella whilst I am out 'playing' and she even finds time to update my blog bless her! Of course my Mum is there helping too and I will forever be grateful to them both for this opportunity.

So I am here in the small town of Ucluelet storm bound with winds of 30-40 knots from the south east which once again is in exactly the wrong direction. I made the decision to stay put after listening to the weather forecast on my VHF radio issued by the Coast Guard. Thank goodness I did. I took a walk out to Amphrite Point Lighthouse and the sea conditions were horrendous. Horizontal rain, less than 1/2 mile visibility and a very rough sea. So it has given me the opportunity to catch up on my emails and the blog.

I want to thank Gina's Mum who is 'on the case', following my every move and watching my back, especially when the Spot Messenger website was down for a while. She now has a personal contact with the folk at Spot who will update her if the site requires any more maintenance in the future!

I also want to thank Rob Avery who has sorted out a delivery of a container of Valley Sea Kayaks for me whilst I am out 'playing'. It is reassuring to have him looking after business in the Pacific Northwest for me.

So how's it been? Well I am completely in awe of this island. I will be writing in detail about my adventure later but for now I just want to say that from the moment I said goodbye to Brian Coggan as we left the bay at Port Hardy, I didn't see a single human being for 6 days. I saw a couple of boats in the distance but that was it. The north west of the island is by far the most remote place I have been. Sure there was evidence of human activity and maybe it is just the time of year but it was quite an experience to not see anyone or be able to talk to anyone for such a long time. I did monitor my VHF radio for weather reports but even that was sketchy reception at times. What I did see were lots of bears (I shared my first beach with a Mum Bear and her cub - they didn't seem to mind!), whales, seals, porpoise, loads of sea otters and some very big and scary sea lions! Please tell me they don't bite because at times they were coming very close and roaring at me and I was paddling away as fast as I could! I was delighted by the sea otters which seem to be really pletiful north of Clayoquot Sound. I have spent much of my paddling hours 'writing' a children's story in my head for Shea Bella. I think I have a nice story line going and may publish it online if it is any good. It is about a baby sea otter called "Kelp" and his journey around Vancouver Island...

Anyway, the weather forecast is not great for the next two days at least and not great for the next 6 days. I am confident I can get to Bamfield across Barkley Sound from here but the problem is the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The wind gets channeled through the Straits and there are potentially few places to land if the swell is big. They are giving swell heights of 4-5 meters at the moment. I need to be able to make good mileage and I cannot do that if the wind is too strong.

So I have to wait for the wind to drop. It is forecast to do that tonight, but to pick up again from the SE tomorrow. Saturday sounds better but the wind is forecast to pick up again from the SE on Sunday and Monday. I had hoped for NW winds to blow me down the Straits but it seems that the northwest winds that are predominant in summer were switched off as soon as I set foot on the island! Of course I wonder if I my strategy was wrong. Maybe I should have started at Victoria and headed up the west coast. It's always easy in hindsight. And there is a good chance I would be up around Cape Scott right now and they have a hurricane wind warning in effect up there at the moment!

Anyway, I will try to be patient. I cannot afford to take any uncessary risks with this next section. They don't call it the 'Graveyard of the Pacific' for the fun of it and I do not want to be added to the long list of lives lost on this notorious section of coastline. I have just heard that Dan Henderson, who is trying a clockwise circumnavigation is holed up in Port Renfrew. I am sure he is having the same concerns as I am having. At least he will have a tail wind but that can be tough too if the wind is too strong.

Thanks for your interest and I will try to keep you posted or get my darling wife to let you know what I am doing or just keep checking the Spot page.

Cheers
Sean

Arrived at Ucluelet

     I spoke to Sean this evening, and he has arrived at Ucluelet.  To be honest, he sounded exhausted.  He has been fighting headwinds pretty much his whole trip.  The water has been very choppy.  There has not been much swell or dangerous waves breaking over him.  Just constant chop and wind.

     With that said...  He went into town today to an internet cafe to look up the weather.  Tomorrow and the next are expected gale force winds in a Southeasterly direction.  This is not favorable.  He plans to get though the next big crossing by sneaking in between the small islands and sheltering himself from the wind.  

     With that said, I felt like telling him to abort the trip, but could not allow those words to escape.  When you love someone and feel like they are "unhappy," or could be physically drained...  You want to embrace them and be close bye.  

     I held back any words of ending the trip and later Sean thanked me for that.  He thanked me for my support and says that "this will carry him through the rest of his journey."

     Sean plans to paddle really hard the next two days through the gale force winds and making Victoria by Sunday.  We are nearly a third of the way done with his trip.  He is still on track of his route plan even though he has setbacks with the weather.

     Keep your head high Mr. Morley!!!

Day 5

     Well, it looks like Sean slept on an island last night in between lots of river mouth crossings.  He has squawked me several times throughout the days letting me know that he is still moving and making progress.

     Day 5!!!  We hope that he is feeling well and getting in lots of good strokes.  Looking at the VI, he still has a bloody long way to go.  Will be break the record???

I keep looking at his progress and wondering well, "if he paddled this far today, how long will it take him to get to Tofino?"

     In the town of Tofino, I believe he will have cell phone access.  That could occur by tomorrow or the next.  I will update the blog after I have a conversation with Sean.

     Until then...

     gina

Day 3 at Winter Harbour

     If you all log onto www.riverandocean.blogspot.com and scroll down to the www.findmespot.com/shared site you can actually see the progress and location of Sean.  He is Day 3 into his epic journey and appears to be doing well.

     He has made it around Cape Scott (which was the most exposed) Northwesterly point of VI.  Hopefully now, the wind will be at his back and he can cruise down the Western portion of VI with a smile on his face.

     Sean has a couple big river mouth crossing to cross, so stay tuned...

Sean Departs Port Hardy on 9/24

Hi Folks,

     I am Gina, Sean's wife.  He has given me the task of keeping folk posted on his journey.  I am happy to do so in between work and taking care of our daughter.

Sean departed Port Hardy on 9/24 in the afternoon.  He was reluctant to do so because of some gail force winds, but the weather was clearing and he was eager to get his first two strokes in the water.  

     He is using his Nordcap LV instead of the Rapier 18 by Valley SeaKayaks. He performed a test run in the Rapier in the morning, but felt because of the stormy conditions he will be more stable in the LV.  

     I have been receiving squawk's from his GPS system.  He will squawk me upon arrival to a new destination and in the morning before he departs.  It seems to be working so far.  His first camp out was successful and I will update you all as soon as he makes it around the Northwest corner of VI.

     Cheers for now!!!

     Go Sean!!!  

     Our daughter Shea Bella can now say "Dada Kayak!"  She is 17 months old.

     

 

Starting today

The forecast is looking okay for a start this afternoon to make use of the ebb and the remaining SE winds to carry me towards Cape Scott. The wind is forecast to drop Thursday into Friday and back NW so that should give me the opportunity to get around Cape Scott and then have the wind at my back for a couple of days. I have to say the extended forecast is not good with a big low developing up in the Gulf of Alaska in four to six days time. That could bring some strong wind and big swell to the west coast which is not ideal. I will need to get south of the Brooks Peninsula before all that arrives!

I will of course continue to monitor that and make the right decision if conditions get too big.

So I plan to start as soon as I can this afternoon. Keep watching....

Cheers
Sean