North By Northwest

“Still life” with kelp and jellyfish

Howdy,

Well, after a 6 month dry dock, except for SUP-in and crabbin, I’m in the water once more.  We’re at the northwest tip of the continental US, Neah Bay/Cape Flattery.  Stunning scenery, not so stunning waves, this morning anyway, but I went out anyway.  Brockway would’ve.  Mainly I had to test out my wetsuit/bootie combo in the 50F ocean.  Not bad, really.  Hands might suffer in an extended go-out, but all in all quite tolerable.  It was about 2’-3’ and mainly just walls.  Sandbars not doing so well at the moment.  Still felt GREAT though. 

Had an interesting day yesterday as we left Vancouver Island.  Got skunked at both Jordan River and Sombrio, by the by.  Beginning to think I’m a bit of a surf jinx.  The walk into Sombrio is awesome, though.  Turns out in Canada our Columbus Day is their Thanksgiving!!  Oh, so THAT’S why there’s so much traffic and the campgrounds are all a-buzz.  In spite of that we managed to find a spectacular camping spot by a river, complete with running salmon and many critters after them — bears, humans, eagles, seals swimming up river and hunting in teams.  Incredible.

So we thought we’d bug out on a Sunday on a long weekend.  Seemed like a plausible plan.  Downtown Victoria ought to be pretty quiet.  Ordinarily, I suppose that would’ve been the case, EXCEPT, for the marathon due to begin almost the moment we arrived!! Streets blocked off in all directions, and naturally Google Maps is of no help in such a situation.  With the assistance of a couple very helpful peace officers, and some gaps between real competitors and walkers, we made it to the ferry line. 

There you have it,

Kenny