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!!!