As mentioned previously, Joanne and I were invited to partake in a 3 day/2 night ocean kayaking trip by Jude. This happened the first weekend in August and we had a blast! Other than us 3 (who knew each other through blogging and are now fast friends), there were 5 others on the trip – all friends of Jude, who knew her from her academic life. Those folks, and our two fabulous guides made a contingent of 10 kayakers on this adventure.
Our two amazing guides from Majestic Ocean Kayaking: Jeff and the aptly named Marina! Learned so much from them. 💕
Captain Gary dropped us, the kayaks and all of our gear off at Moon Snail Beach on Dodd Island.
Moon snail on its namesake beach.We each received a laminated map of the area, to carry with us while kayaking. X marks the spot we were dropped off (and later picked up) at Moon Snail Beach on Dodds Island. In the upper right (under Crawford Lake) is the location of the Broken Islands Lodge. Broken line indicates Captain Gary picking us up at the lodge and depositing us on Moon Snail Beach for our last day of kayaking.Joanne and I in all of our kayaking gear (including spray skirt). I think Jude took this picture of us. One of our first stops, at the tiniest of the Tiny Islands. That’s Marina (L) and Joanne (R) in the shot. Joanne in her trusty boat (with Jude in the background).Eventually we made it to our cozy, comfy lodge for the next 2 nights. Where we were amply fed and watered. Our boats in the foreground, awaiting tomorrow’s adventure.Apres kayak. View from my Muskoka chair.A young black bear came to forage at the lodge’s beach every morning.Our mornings started out calm and foggy.But soon enough, the fog lifted to reveal stunning views.We took many breaks, allowing us to explore different islands and their beaches.Jude and Joanne (and one of Jude’s friends) relaxing during one of our lunch breaks on yet another island.Guide Jeff made sure we made it to Willis Island, to experience a giant cedar tree growing there. Jude in front of it. I used panorama mode to try to capture the whole tree (and Joanne) in this shot. I think I took this shot just before we headed into the roughest waters experienced yet, on this trip. On the last day. Some of our group were quite shook up by this experience (especially the newbies). Guide Jeff had said it was nothing we couldn’t handle, so I felt quite safe and enjoyed being tossed on the waves. Was I too stupid to be scared?
I used my happy-birthday-to-me new GoPro camera to take some video and GoPro made me a short highlight reel. Yay!!! The clouds and fog started rolling in on the afternoon of the last day, and it was perfect timing to load the kayaks (and ourselves) back on the boat and head “home”: to Majestic’s headquarters in Ucluelet.
And I wasn’t home too many days before this happened. Many thanks to our guide Jeff for giving me great advice on what type of sea kayak to look into.
Meet “Libelle” (lee bell uh). Dutch word for dragonfly.
I hope you enjoyed coming along for the ride on this fabulous adventure of mine (and Joanne’s and Jude’s). It was challenging and thrilling and contemplative and awe-inspiring and, and, and….it was a wonderful experience that I feel so grateful and privileged to have been a part of.
