Victoria to Minstrel Island...
Tonight (Wednesday, May 2, 2007) we made a call on our satellite phone to Geoff’s parents and they will be relaying our position on to our newsletter/website sponsors at Regenesis, so if all goes well you may be reading about this in Newsletter #3 tomorrow. We are also mailing out a letter to Regenesis with more updates for the trip so far, so there will likely be another short newsletter very soon.
We are presently (May 2, 2007) spending the night in a cabin on Minstrel Island and weather permitting, we will leave for Echo Bay on Guilford Island, before heading through Sutlej Channel to Wells Passage and out into Queen Charlotte Strait, then up to Cape Caution.
The trip has presented lots of interesting experiences for us all since we left Victoria but there were times when the sea life fascinated Taq and times when there just wasn’t enough happening to hold his attention and he became rather bored with it all. Check out his picture when he thought we were leaving Wallace Island without him and he had to swim to catch up!
We have made a few gear changes as we moved along and sent a few things home, puchasing a few others that suit our needs better. It’s all a learning process.
We met so many great people on the trip up Vancouver Island’s eastern coastline and it is difficult to name them all, but they know who they are and we hope they know we are very thankful to all of them for their help and encouragement in so many ways.
You can see by the pictures that we have already experienced some memorable times. The sea life has been amazing. We see so much when silently travelling at such a slow speed so close to the water and shore.
The Snowbirds Demonstration Team (431 Squadron), flying their Canadair CT-114 Tutor Jet Trainers, put on a show over our heads that seemed like it was choreographed especially for us when we were canoeing past the Comox Air Base. What a front row seat!
After Quadra Island we had some very rainy, cloudy and windy days that prevented us from charging the phone batteries and also delayed us while we waited for the waters to calm down. The satellite phone calls cost almost $3 per minute so we obviously have to keep our calls to a minimum!
Generally, our progress has been good so far. There have been times when the waters were just too rough to push it and we stuck with our mutual agreement, made well before we left home, to always have consensus before we embark on another day’s travels. If one of us is uncomfortable with the weather conditions, then that vote wins.
We will try to get word of our progress out as often as possible so keep an eye on the website. We hope to have a “Latest Update” section on the website homepage shortly so you can follow our progress in between newsletters..
Thanks to all of you for your interest in our journey.
Pam, Geoff & Taq
Here is a Google Earth look at the kind of country we are canoeing through. The dotted line (bottom left) shows the routes of the Alaska Ferry, cruise ships, pleasure boats and work vessels as they leave or enter Johnstone Strait, on the East coast of Vancouver Island. You will see our location as of May 2, 2007 when we phoned in from Minstrel Island, and you will get some idea of our route for the next little while.
Publicity….The Nanaimo Daily News
Robert Barron interviewed us for this Nanaimo Daily News article which is archived on our website.
Publicity….The Comox Valley Echo
The Comox Valley Echo ran this story on our journey during our stopover in the Comox Valley
Publicity….The Comox Valley Record..
The Comox Valley Record gave us front-page coverage during our Comox stopover.
Publicity.... Campbell River Mirror
The Campbell River Mirror ran this little article alerting coastal travellers and dwellers of our presence in the area.
Click here to view article.
Publicity....The Orillia Today
The Orillia Today ran this story about our journey. Orillia is one of Geoff’s hometowns.
Click here to view article.
Anyone willing to be a re-supply location?
Depending on our progress, we’ll need to re-supply every few weeks. That involves buying fresh food, and picking up maps and supplements. Unfortunately, we don’t know people at each place we must stop. From time to time, we’ll need help from volunteers. This would consist of holding a re-supply package that comes in the mail until we pass through. Please keep an eye on our newsletter for upcoming places where we will need this type of help.
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