Summary of Learning:

• Don't let Angela play with Bear Bangers at 6am
  
• Bear Bangers are really loud!
  
• Bear Bangers are really really loud…
  
• 25 Nautical Miles means you are going to hurt the next morning
  
• When you change your destination… remember to re-evaluate your route!
• When you and your paddling partner set off in different directions… call a guides meeting!
• Try to avoid the rocks... 6 in one day is a bit excessive
• When it seems like it is twice as far as you thought... consider re-measuring the distance
• When it becomes obvious that you aren't going to make slack tide... give up and lie in the sun
• If Angela carries the bananas... plan on making banana bread...
• Before heading into 'Civilization' remember to Simmer Down
• Chewable vitamins are bad for your teeth
• Chocolate before noon is not an addiction
• Chocolate before 7am might be an addiction but we don't care
• Chocolate chips are part if a healthy breakfast
• When the Vegetarian gets that look in her eyes... let her kill the fish...
• Massages don't always feel good
• It's okay to take the long way around...
• If you hear something that sounds like a Sea Lion dying... look for a kayak being dragged up the beach on pool noodles
• Remember not to be such a nutter when being video taped... (the rest of the time it is fine to be a nutter)

Various Pictures - Christine

Rain or shine

Morning tea and weather

Happy to be there

Sorry little fish... but you sure tasted goood!!!

Movie Star

Match made in heaven...

We don't like chocolate.... really...

Home....

Through My Own Eyes... - Christine

I took the ferry over to Alert Bay today. We have been in Port McNeil now for 4 days… a little longer than we had originally planned and anticipated… It was nice to just pass the time today. To not worry about re-supplying, to not worry about fixing kayaks, to not worry about organizing and preparing… that is all done. It was nice to just let go of it all and relish in the luxury of having 4 months to complete this journey. There is no need to worry about lost days due to uncontrollable events. So I took the ferry over to Alert Bay today and just let the misty coast engulf me in its history. I walked the boardwalks imagining life in the late 18 and early 1900’s. Gazing at the little coastal homes stilted above the water and nestled on the shores edge I imagined life through the 1900’s during the fishing glory days. I walked the streets and enjoyed the town as it is today, not abandoned, not left behind…. Actually it was quite bustling.  I visited the First Nations Cultural Center and let myself fall into that world for a couple of hours. It was remarkable and a total treat to experience not only the history on display but also the culture in action as a young woman shared her gift for the songs of her culture… Not a performance… she was simply using the space to practice and share with a fellow musician.

Now I am sitting in the comforts of a friend’s house, back in Port McNeil, preparing to set out again tomorrow and thinking of what words I can leave behind.

We have been gone for about three weeks now. There is a part of me that feels like I have nothing to say... because things are just the way they are supposed to be... which is great. Then there is a part of me that has so much to say, so much to express and this intense desire to somehow convey what it is like to be out here day after day... finally living the dream. Those of you that know me.... can probably guess I'm leaning towards the latter of the two...

I find it intriguing that I started this journey with a story from my childhood because I find myself continually feeling like a little kid again, constantly making links and correlations to being that young little being full of life and imagination. Those of us in the guiding industry, perhaps we never do grow up... we have found our own Never Never Land where we play games of Adventure, Make Believe, and sometimes even House. It feels surreal sometimes to be scavenging through the driftwood strewn beaches looking for the perfect logs to build the perfect 'fort' only now that we are grown ups we call it a 'shelter'. Sometimes when making dinner... I can't help but laugh because it reminds me so much of having Tea Parties and Easy Bake Ovens. When the sun is shining and the air is warm we are quick to strip the layers off, wandering the beach in our underwear like little sun babies. But why not?

Why not live in a world of total bliss and contentment without any inhibitions? The best part is that it isn't even Make Believe! How lucky are we to be living our lives exactly how we want to be, to be able to do only what we want to do in a day... how simple to only have to decide if we should paddle now or later, if we should have one wrap or two for lunch and if we should bake a dessert tonight or just eat more chocolate. Why not release the worries of the world and live today, just for today? Maybe it is selfish... and of course it isn't always that easy... there are many paddle strokes in a day to contemplate the world over... but those stolen childish moments of bliss sure feel good and I have no intentions of stopping them! In fact my intentions are to revel in them, to revel in those moments of bliss and happiness just as much as those moments of sorrow, frustration and sometimes even anger. This is a journey through my own eyes... it is everything that I want it to be... the experience is consuming.

We laugh. We laugh so much that it hurts. We are so deliriously goofy and silly that it makes the world (our world) a wonderfully fabulous place! We have had our moments of frustration and those times when we are a little off but they are so minute that they hardly leave a mark in the sand and they are nothing the first high tide can't wash away. It is no surprise that we travel so well together and that we laugh so freely, but it is a welcome confirmation to know that we were right.

Self-inflicted/provided entertainment is a daily occurrence. We have no shortage of stories to tell and things to laugh about. It is easy to be humble out here. It is easy to be humbled… It is a completely different experience to be out here with only ourselves to be accountable to… with no clients to be concerned about. I have learnt and experienced so much more in these three weeks simply because I had the freedom to try… The freedom to make a mistake (and thankfully the paddling partner to correct me when I am wrong!). We both make our mistakes and we are both better paddlers for it.

We have days where we talk endlessly, every paddle stroke is fueled by words. We have days where we hardly say a word at all, every paddle stroke is fueled by thoughts. Sometimes we experience the sounds around us, sometimes we push play and create our own soundtrack... individually singing along to our chosen mood (what a sound it must be to the outsider!). But whatever the day is…. We are always there… taking it in.

The scenery has been incredible, moving from the familiar setting of the Southern Gulf Islands into more and more remote areas of the coast. Slowly finding that ‘home’ no longer had to be a designated campsite and instead could be just about anywhere our hearts desired. The luxury being that we could paddle as far or as short as we wanted… sometimes resulting in home not revealing itself until 8, 9 or even 10pm. We have found small communities nestled in beautiful bays, turning the corner and finding just want you would imagine for an old coastal village… a horseshoe shaped community with a wooded church in the middle, a multi-functioning general store, wooden character homes and grassy, mossy rolling hills. I have fallen in love many times over with this coast… There is comfort in knowing there is so much space out here… I can’t say it is untouched, the forests tell that story… but there is space and it is beautiful. It feels good to breathe… It feels good to see it through my own eyes…

We are more than ready to expand our lungs again tomorrow… after the fiascos of Port McNeil we have decided that maybe we should avoid towns from now on… Paddling is easier… Oh, and looking at the bottom of your boat is also a bad idea… better to leave some things as ‘what you don’t know’!! All is well that ends well. 

VIDEO CLIPS

Stats

Stats on Angela: Stats on Christine

Strokes taken in:
One minute: 78 52
An hour: 4,680 3120
A day: 37, 440 24,960 (Average 8 hours a day)
total: 786, 240 524, 160

Food Consumed in one day:
Breakfast:
1 Bowl of Porridge and lots of brown sugar
1 bannana

Snacks:
2 fruit rollups
1 mars bar
1 builder bar
1 bag of sharkies
Various dried fruit

Lunch:
2 wraps with veggies and lentils
1 real apple (SOOO delicious)

Supper:
1 cup quinoa
1 fish
veggies
4 slices of Bannana chocolate chip loaf (plus one of christine’s slices inevitably goes to Angela)

Various Pictures - Angela

Waiting for the weather gods to call!




















Our Vegetarian has proved herself as an excellent hunter! She caught, killed, filleted and ate her own fish! To date, Christine the vegetarian has caught eight fish, Angela the meat eater has caught three. Christine the vegetarian has filleted her fish way better than Angela the meat eater has. Christine the vegetarian has cooked up the fish more flavourful than meat eater Angela. Angela the meat eater is contemplating becoming a vegetarian!















A calm day on the water.






























My beautiful mango boat that will not be seen again on this trip!

Two members have given up - Angela

Already TWO members of our team haven’t been able to cut the rigorous demands of paddling to Alaska. My mango sea kayak has left us, maybe to never be seen again. I experienced some major gel coat issues and leaking bulkheads. So, today I drove back to Horseshoe bay, retracing 20 days of paddle strokes and reliving many memories along the way. I swapped my mango boat for a blue boat of same make and model. A huge thanks to Bob at Deep Cove Kayaks in Vancouver for finding a not so common boat and delivering it to me at Horseshoe Bay.

The second member of the team to leave us is part of one of my teeth. Today while driving back from Nanaimo, I was eating a chewable vitamin, and part of a tooth fell out. So, I am currently on the phone to all the dentist offices in the area trying to figure something out! Turns out none of them are open on Monday or even most of this month! New career goal: Dentist in Port Mcneil.

25 Nautical Miles - Angela

Day 16:

Christine and I awoke early on Craycroft Island to a windy morning. The marine forecast predicted increasing winds throughout the day. We had decided the night before to get in as much paddling before the winds as we could. We had a quick breakfast, packed our gear, jumped into our boats and began the journey for the day. Holding our breaths hoping the forecast would be wrong, and excited for the day to unfold and hold us in its fascinating grip.

The day did not disappoint. Up to date we had seen seven bears, all amazing encounters but mellow and appropriate. A different side of nature revealed itself to us this day as a great old bear gave chase to a small yearling. They flew effortlessly across a boulder and log strewn bay, lunged up a 20 foot cliff without a thought. The yearling rocket launched himself up a tree and 20 feet out on a limb while the older bear sat at the bottom to wait. We did not have the heart to wait and see what would unfold.

By mid afternoon the predicted winds had not come and the world took on a uniform grey as the winds stopped, the rains slowed, and Johnstone Straight showed us a softer side. We both felt good with muscles warmed up, food in our bellies we decided to keep going as long as we could. With determination in our strokes, we paddled past bay after bay, past watching seals and curious sea lions.

As afternoon turned to evening the waters around us turned silky smooth. As evening soon turned to night, we slowed our strokes and let the mood of the night envelope us as we came upon a beach to call our home for the night. Our respect for bears soon had us calling out “Yo Bear” as we set up a tarp and our bivy sacks for the night. A quick re-hydrated meal would provide our bodies the sustenance required for more paddling after a few hours of sleep. We both fell asleep exhausted but content with our amazing day.

Day 16 has been our longest mileage to date, 25 nautical Miles. This translates to 45 Kilometers. We were on the water for 13 hours with a few hours of waiting out winds, having lunch and various other breaks to bring feeling back to our neglected legs.

D-DAY

AND THEY'RE OFF!
Aprox. 3:30pm Monday May 4th
2009

Packing our boats for the first time was a bit scary! It took us over two hours and we left a bit of stuff behind. No camp chairs, no boyfriends, no large novels!

Celebrating our departure!















Finally on the water, two very happy girls.

My beautiful boat arrived just in time, one day before our meeting on Galiano Island. My nature dictates that I am fully prepared days ahead of time, but the delay in my boat has forced me into last minute preparations. Outfitting, changing bungee designs, adding under-deck bags and trying to make it all fit.















Today's news:
Crossing Borders Expedition departure date.
The weather today is calling for south-east gale force winds, 30-45 knots. Hopefully we make it off Galiano today!
The Canadian Navy has lost a torpedo in the area!

We are both excited for push off, when all the worries and concerns of modern day life will be left behind us on the dock, except of course for those floating torpedos.

We are starting a new life today. One dictated by the winds and currents. One where we can sit on a beach, walk through the forests, paddle alongside the whales. Connected like we should be with the natural world around us.














The Speed Machine!
Model: Chatham 18, made by Necky.
Length: 18 ft
Width: 20 "
Color: Mango

Favorite activity: Surfing
Hero: Angela Bueckert
Dream Date: Paddling into the sunset!

Being a Girl!

The neighborhood I grew up in used to put on these bicycle rodeos for the kids. We would all dress up, decorate our bikes and then ride down the street in a big parade. We would be beaming with pride in our moment of glory. The best costume was always awarded a prize and we coveted winning that title. At age 3 I can’t say I had a firm grasp on the ins and outs of the bicycle rodeo, but I did have an older brother who thoroughly conveyed the excitement of the event. So, when my mom asked me what I wanted to dress-up as I knew it had to be something good. Sure in my decision I announced that I was going to go as Beautiful. My mother tried to explain to me that I couldn’t dress up as Beautiful, I needed to pick someone or something to dress up as, for example, my brother was going as a farmer. I didn’t really know what she was talking about or what the problem was, but I did know I was going to be Beautiful. My parents humored me. They painted my tricycle pink, outfitted it with balloons and streamers and I wore my most beautiful pink dress complete with white tights and black shiny shoes…. I was beautiful and I knew it.

You will never guess who won the prize that year. As it turns out, you can dress up as Beautiful. A little pink can go a long way.

As I grew older and drifted along the sliding scale of what defines you as a girl, I moved away from the pink. I steadily worked towards defining myself as a tomboy, a girl who liked mud, sports and animals just as much as the next guy and especially as much as my brother. I left behind the little girl in the pink dress, the one that was afraid to get dirty, the one that was set on being beautiful. Growing up a girl you just can’t be both, it doesn’t work that way, little girls either run with the boys or they play with their dolls.

I quickly decided that I hated Barbie’s… But I loved GI Joes. GI Joes and She-ra, She-ra was okay because she was tough and my brother had He-man.

I’ve been running with the boys ever since. I ran with them through school, playing sports and proving capable in the outdoors. I ran with them through college and university proving to be a strong and worthy asset for the outdoor industry. I ran with them out in the field, carving out a place for me in the outdoor industry, all the while proving my worth, strengths and capabilities. All that time I was running with the boys trying to make up for being a girl… and then at some point during the race it occurred to me… I am a girl! Why am I playing by the boys’ rules?

I get to play in the mud, I get to like sports and animals just as much as the next guy and then I get to turn around a put on the pink dress. I get to go as Beautiful.

So I find myself back at pink. I didn’t slide back down that scale I worked so hard to climb, quite the contrary. I’ve gone full circle, continuing to progress forward taking with me everything that I was and still am and found again that there is a girl behind the mud and the sports and she thinks pink is pretty beautiful.

Meet Gypsy, my Pink Kayak...

 

Today is D-Day!!!