DAY ONE
We decided to aim for an 11 a.m. launch. We were not very good at hitting targets. It quickly became apparent that SOME of us had different priorities than others. Food priorities.
I'm a minimalist camper, taking dehydrated foods that pack with a minimum of space. John has a very large boat so he picked up a lot more food - cans, boxes, and bags. Lorrie and Phil leaned toward the far other end of the spectrum - bags of fresh veggies and fruits, a loaf of bread which I ended up carrying in my cockpit between my legs, and... a pie.
After a half hour, I was packed. At the one-hour point, we finally admitted that the pie was not going to be making the trip with us and we set about consuming it right then and there. I could see this was going to be a very different trip from my solo journeys!
We set off at last, through the most placid of seas, weaving through island after island. Lorrie was learning navigation, and this was a perfect location for it.
Lorrie checking our location.
Phil wondering if it's too late to go back and have one more slice of pie.
We passed under the causeway and into the Bay of Exploits, wending through more islands as we moved toward Summerford Arm. Exploring Farmers Island, we found a camping site that we all liked. The water was clear down 20 feet and more. It was well-protected from wind. As we poked around, a mink stood on a rock and stared curiously at us before scuttling away.
Lorrie and Phil pitched their tent on a juniper-covered hummock. John set up the tarp for the kitchen area and Lorrie immediately began prep on what would be a nightly performance of excellent cooking. It was also a way to lighten the weight of the boat, a fact that I didn't figure out until several days had passed and I was still carrying all the meals I'd brought for the group. Lesson learned: always bring perishable food and claim that it HAS to be used immediately!
I pitched my tent on a grassy spot on the next island over. John put his squarely on the cobble bar between the two islands. Would the high tide inundate his tent sometime around midnight? He was gambling that it would not....
We all agreed that John's tarp made a fantastic kitchen area. The view wasn't bad either....
That night, the water would creep up to within inches of John's tent, and then recede. And, rain began to fall. And wind to blow. It stormed and blew all night.
Mileage = 10 mi.
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