It was a beautiful quiet morning in Grant Bay. Ngaio woke me up again early so we could leave on the outgoing tide and catch the incoming tide later in the day. The ocean had a steady swell and the water was glassy. We paddled out into the bay, heading for winter harbour. We were only looking at a 15km paddle so we were able to take our time.

We stopped in the kelp and watched the otters, they were so curious and we had one friendly fella come so close to the kayaks, poking his head up and checking us out. We made our way around the point and into the mouth of the harbour. It was such a beautiful calm day neither of us felt like rushing, I paddled to shore and got the drone up while Ngaio stayed on the water with her resident Steller sea lion.

We were using our map to get to winter harbour, which wasn’t as easy as it should have been! After we dug out the gps we made sure we were heading to Winter harbour rather than one of the many inlets on either side, once we were sure it was an easy 5km paddle to finish off the day. We cruised into winter harbour, a cute tiny seaside town where we would be spending the next few nights.

I needed to stop in here to charge my batteries and devices, I've got the most ideal Goal Zero set up for solar charging, but we have only had one or two days of sun since we started! During the storm I drained all my batteries, having back up plans is just a reality of documenting a trip like this.

We pulled our boats up and followed the signs to the building which was a general store, liquor store and accommodation. Even though we have loved camping, we were both very excited for a hot shower!

GPS Tracker Tips - If you are following Brando & Ngaio on their TRACKME GPS tracker, here's a tip; Once you follow the link, click on the 'Brando & Ngaio' location icon and select 'path'

(If the Brando and Ngaio Icon does not show up on the map click the menu then participant list then 'show all')

(first image and blog via satellite phone)

#kayaking #paddling #kayak #Canada #Nature #FirstNations #expedition #VancouverIsland