Soaking Up The Sun At Lawn Point

The boys put on this morning, paddled across the mouth of Quatsino Sound and a little further down the coast. They saw a couple of grey whales, their first of the trip. By the time they had covered 10 miles the wind was so strong they were forced to land ... and thats saying something knowing Keirron! It was a NW wind, but 35+ knots and building a dangerous sea state. Because of the wind they have both switched to flat paddles instead of using their wing paddles. In the strong winds they were having trouble hanging on to the wing paddles which was causing fatigue and tendinitis. They were in camp at Lawn Point by 10am and have been able to enjoy a day of sunshine and spectacular views, despite the wind. They are really enjoying themselves! Apparently, Keirron has now sunburned the top of his legs to match his arms. On a short hike from camp they came across fresh wolf tracks and are hoping to spot some wolves before they leave. Perhaps someone should remind them they are on a record attempt (I keep encouraging them to just enjoy it ... maybe I'm a bad influence?).

The weather forecast is for the NW gales to ease off to 15 knots tonight, then light winds tomorrow before strong to gale force SE on Wednesday as another storm system comes in Wednesday and Thursday. So tomorrow is their window to get around the Brooks Peninsula. For those of you who are wondering why their milage has diminished so much these last few days, this is a very serious and demanding coastline subject to extreme weather and wind conditions. It is also a very remote location, and so its no place to take risks. In my opinion they have been doing extremely well to make any progress at all given the conditions. As they say "Mother Nature bats last". -- Jon