We packed the kayaks on a rocky beach in down-town Tofino. There is no-place to get water in the town except to go to the public park and fill the waterbags in the stainless steel sinks in the bathrooms there. The park system knows that this is a kayaking Mecca, they have a big parking lot where they will let you pay to rent a parking space for extended stays.
We finally launched in a drizzling rain. I figured this was the Pacific Northwest and we would be camping in the rain most of the trip. I had my twelve foot square Noah’s Tarp to hide under, rain gear, wetsuit, paddle jacket. Drizzling rain is not a problem.
We headed northwest to camp on Vargas Island. Crossing over to the east shore of the island and paddling up that. Rounding the northeast corner we paddled only a short distance before finding a sandy beach above the high tide line. I found a shelf under the trees with a layer of pine needles insulating me from the sand. The drizzle had stopped and we had a dry night, although my tent was damper under the edge of the canopy than it would have been in the open. I don’t mind, anything to get away from some sand.
Don told us that he had done a lot of work organizing and getting us all here. He was tired of being the one in charge, the one to blame. He wasn’t going to do it any more. It was up to someone else to do the planning for the next day. He PUT ME IN CHARGE! So I had to look at the maps and decide what we would do the next day. Fortunately, my last act would be to put someone else in charge the day after that…