In Which We Lose Our Kitchen.

Well our poor man's cruise over two nights and a day to Ketchikan from Bellingham in the Alaskan Marine Highway System was quite enjoyable. We met some great folks off on their own adventures including a cyclist on his way to Nome, which is way up north about as far as you can go. He was then heading south with the tip of South America his destination! What he didn't mention, which we found out later looking at his blog was that was just a warm up enroute for riding around the world.

Our little adventure started as most do in the supermarket. Food choice was quite a juggle as we couldn't cater as we would normally do with as much fresh veggies, bacon, salami and other goodies as we can carry. First of all space in the kayak is a bit more limited, extra warm clothes, bear spray, food hanging rope and pulleys and more were taking up space. In addition prepackaged food has little or no smell compared to veggies, bacon etc so are less likely to attract bears.

Food wrangling and other chores completed we headed into the centre of Ketchikan to find dinner. 

The Inside Passage is a cruise ship honeypot, the centre of town was little more than a few streets of gift shops, some tacky but some with amazing artwork. We preferred 'our' end town, the working end with marina berths of hundreds of fishing boats and all the active scruffiness that goes with it. 

Finally the next day on the high tide we were packed and on the water. The forecast for the rest of the week was for NW winds but no rain. Feeling good and with no real headwinds to plod into we made good progress crossing Behm Canal to camp at Caamano Point. 

Now to find a spot for the tent, then a kitchen spot at least 200ft away and judge the next high tide mark. 

Finding a spot for the tent can be hard as there is only a very narrow margin between the top of tide and the forest. It is good practise to camp out in the open with good visibility so you can spot bears approaching before they see you. That margin between tide mark and forest though is usually piled high with drift wood logs from 1.5m in diameter down. 

It was a glorious evening, clear skies, flat calm seas and a view to die for. The high tide during the night was a meter higher than the day time high so with the kayak tied up and our kitchen safely above the predicted water level we settled in for the night.

The next morning though proved you are never too old or experienced to totally stuff it up. I was up first and immediately noticed the kayak was exactly where we had left which was good, the same could not be said of our billies, bowls and mugs. It was obvious by the actual high tide mark that where we had left them was JUST below the highest water level. I started scouting around for them thinking the bowls and mugs would have floated but not the billies. The tide was way out but we scoured the 400m of sand and around the rocky shoreline a bit confused they must be here somewhere they can't have floated away. Then it dawned on us, we had been using a piece of sawn pine timber driftwood about 4"x10"x18" as a 'table' and I had neatly stacked billies, bowls and mugs on it before going to bed. All our kitchen things had been lifted gently by the tide and floated away on their own little raft.

We had no choice but to head back to Ketchikan and go shopping again. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid kayakers! Not happy! 

Now in our fifth days paddling we've learnt a lot including of course to be very wary of judging the high tide. The weather forecasts are not as accurate as we are used to from the BOM, in fact they seem to bear little relation to what we get. We've had very settled weather generally and when it's calm and sunny it's quite hot but as soon as as the slightest of breezes picks up it gets cold very quickly. When the wind does pick and they have generally been headwinds no sooner do we settle in for a long plod, they die away. 

The water is COLD! You really wouldn't want to fall in and be there for very long even when wearing our dry suits. The dry suits have been wonderful, just perfect with a set of thermals underneath we are very comfy warm and slightly damp all day whether in the kayak or ashore. 

Finding good landing spots can be tricky with very few beaches and a predominantly rocky shoreline but we haven't been stuck afloat yet. As we anticipated the tidal range of over 5m is real hassle with the heavy double. For example at Caamano Point launching at dead low tide in the morning involved wheeling the kayak to the waters edge on the trolley then two trips each with all our gear. Nothing like a 2.5km walk for each if us before a days paddling.