Sometime during the night, it started to rain, and there was a 10-15 mph wind coming up Grenville Channel out of the southeast. This was the hardest rain I had seen yet on this leg of the trip. As I looked out at the wind and rain, and considered the fact that I had to paddle at least 20 miles to get to the next campsite, I decided that today would be a good day to take a break from paddling. Besides I reasoned, it would give my aching shoulders a chance to rest. I hated to miss a day of paddling, but I really did not want to spend 6 hours paddling in the rain and big waves.
Because it was raining and windy I didn't get any good photos today. I took this one from my tent at 10:45pm the night before.
I spent the day trying to stay dry under my tarp and out of the wind and rain. Eating was the main event of the day, as I had plenty of food, and I wanted to not only lighten my load, but also put back on some of the weight I had lost in the last two weeks. I used the time to select and mark on the charts possible campsites that were spaced about twenty miles apart that I could shoot for over the next three days. For this, I referenced photocopies I had made of the books, “Kayaking the Inside Passage” and “The Wild Coast 2”. I could depend on these two books to give me an idea of how many potential campsites were ahead of me along my route. After finishing reading all the printed material I had with me, I wished for a paperback to keep me occupied during all the hours of being stuck in the rain on this beach.
The wind and rain I was experiencing, was part of a weather pattern I had read about that is common for this area. As low pressure approaches the coast from the west, there will be one or two days of clear weather with winds increasing out of the south followed by a few days of rain with variable winds.
There was no recreational boat traffic today in Grenville Channel as the sailors and fishermen were probably riding out this storm in safe harbors in the area. I did see tug boats pulling barges and log rafts along with the BC and Alaska ferries, and cruise ships passing by.
