Fortune Bay, South Coast
The Beginning
Here
is the public boat launch in Pool's Cove, right next to the ferry
terminal. A man came out when I parked in the lot, I suppose to sell me
a ferry ticket. I asked if I could use the boat launch for my kayak. He
sensibly answered, "That's what it's there for!"
So I continued on, "Is it okay to leave my car here for a week? The sign says no long-term parking."
"Well," he thought about it, "should be okay. You'll be coming and going each day, right?"
"No, I'll be away for seven days."
His eyebrows jumped. I took it as an expression of great surprise, given the taciturn demeanor otherwise. "Well then, you'd better park over there on the other side by that boat." And that was that.
Tide was going out, and I only had a few hours to find a campsite before dark. I looked around at the vast bay beyond, at the great knobs of the headlands, and the enormous space of it. There was a moment of panic, and then I got to work.
Within a half hour or so I had everything packed and was in the kayak and paddling for the nearest place where I thought there might be a bit of flat beach. Right off, I realized how deceptive distances are here. What I thought would be a quick crossing turned out to be more than a mile. When I got there, there was a house in the cove. I kept going. Eventually I stopped at a bit of meadow at the mouth of a river. It was a little challenging to pull the boat up, and it was a scramble up the slope to the campsite. But it was a beautiful site. Here is my route for the first day, all of 3 miles. Doesn't look like much, but I'd just driven 8 hours to the ferry, slept on the floor overnight, then drove all the way here. I was beat.
So I continued on, "Is it okay to leave my car here for a week? The sign says no long-term parking."
"Well," he thought about it, "should be okay. You'll be coming and going each day, right?"
"No, I'll be away for seven days."
His eyebrows jumped. I took it as an expression of great surprise, given the taciturn demeanor otherwise. "Well then, you'd better park over there on the other side by that boat." And that was that.
Tide was going out, and I only had a few hours to find a campsite before dark. I looked around at the vast bay beyond, at the great knobs of the headlands, and the enormous space of it. There was a moment of panic, and then I got to work.
Within a half hour or so I had everything packed and was in the kayak and paddling for the nearest place where I thought there might be a bit of flat beach. Right off, I realized how deceptive distances are here. What I thought would be a quick crossing turned out to be more than a mile. When I got there, there was a house in the cove. I kept going. Eventually I stopped at a bit of meadow at the mouth of a river. It was a little challenging to pull the boat up, and it was a scramble up the slope to the campsite. But it was a beautiful site. Here is my route for the first day, all of 3 miles. Doesn't look like much, but I'd just driven 8 hours to the ferry, slept on the floor overnight, then drove all the way here. I was beat.