We were supposed to wait for the tide to come up but nobody seemed willing to do that. I towed my full kayak across the mud flat, which actually had a firm sandy surface. I went back and helped carry two other boats out. Then I figured I had done my duty and could launch. Question: How long does it take some people to pack their kayaks” Answer: “How much time do I have?” I can pack in two hors if I’m focused. With all morning to get unfocused in, some people are not ready yet by noon. When the water picked up my kayak, I stayed close to shore and went through a protected rock garden of calm shallow water that had been mudflat an hour ago. I ate lunch there sitting in my boat.
The air looked foggy around the point but this cleared up as we got underway. The map for the next point on Flores Island showed an offshore island. But this was connected to the rest of the island by a gravel spit. I landed and portaged (actually dragged) my kayak across to take a shortcut. Everyone else kept going and found another shortcut: a slot through the island.
Half our group went straight point-to-point and spent half of the afternoon offshore. I saw a gap in the shore and an island on the map and headed for the slot. Doug Hamilton caught up with me and we entered to find fantastic rock gardening close to shore. Don Barch and John Somers showed up a few minutes later. The rest of the coastline was one slot after another cove the whole way, a very beautiful and fun shore to explore. Even though this was a short half day of paddling, I wore myself out making my big heavily loaded touring boat turn corners all the time.
The group of rock gardeners caught up with the point-to-point paddlers about the time we got to the planned camping area. Another long sandy beach in a cove with two other groups of kayakers already there. We set up our camp half way between the other groups.