Day 2 - Shucking Oysters
Discovered an oyster bed. Aaron was brave enough to leave the kayak and collect huge oysters for supper. Fishing proved to be a failure again.
Expedition Fishbait: In May 2001, five friends embarked on a kayaking trip through the Broken Islands group of the Pacific Rim National Park off Vancouver Island. This is the journal of that trip as kept by me. To see all the photos from this trip you can view the associated photo gallery.
Previous: Day 1 - Gibralter Island
Day 2 — Monday
4am Monday morning — Dups discovers a flaw in their tent setup. There is a large puddle of water owing to a lot of rain, his and Dave’s sleeping bags are soaked at the bottom. He returns to sleep. If he’s asleep, he doesn’t have to deal with it.
7am Monday — Dups and Dave discover the problem. Both return to sleep.
10am Monday — Rain is not subsiding. Everyone awakes. No one has been eaten by animals yet. Aaron discovers why Dups and Dave’s tent is leaking and fixes the problem. Dups and Dave stop crying.
1pm Monday — Finished Lunch / Breakfast after setting up the tarp. We have collected enough rain water to fill the water we have used. Discovered that the hatches of the “DupsiDavie” are not waterproof. This could be a problem. We ignore it. Too late now. We also discovered that you should flip kayaks on the beach in case of rain. Too late now.
2–5pm Monday — Discovered waterfall on the island. We can have really, really cold showers now. Aaron and Dups do photography with assistant Dave. The life in these waters is amazing. With word from the coast guard and slackening rain the group suited up and went kayaking.
6:30pm Monday — Discovered an oyster bed. Aaron was brave enough to leave the kayak and collect huge oysters for supper. Fishing proved to be a failure again.
7:30pm Monday — Cooked up a storm while Aaron took a shower. He was wild-eyed in his complaint to the Quartermaster about “shrinkage”. The menu was curried potato and oyster. We might actually be eating better here than at home. Had trouble finding the spices as they were being hidden by the life jacket belonging to a seventh member of the island: Bucko. We guess he needed to be taken seriously. Never mind. Aaron was named Chief “Shucker”. THE OYSTERS WERE FUCKING ORGASMIC!.
12am — Whilst washing dishes in the ocean, Dave and Aaron discover that the seas are filled with phosphorescent life. They react to rocks being thrown in or whenever the water is disturbed. They call the others.
12am — 1am — The group happily torments the life. Dishes are finally done and sleep is had.