Sailing to the Town at the Edge of the Ocean

Good morning! We are anchored in the Bunsby Islands. We're about to put the dinghy in the water and just go out for a row, see what we can see. And you know what? I actually realized something this morning. Every single time we have gone out for a row in the dinghy or even just sat in the cockpit and really, you know, paid attention to everything happening around us, every time we have seen something. Some form of wildlife, whether it's sea otters or deer. But there's just, there's so much here that it is impossible, if you're paying attention, to not see something. And that is so unique. That is, it's just amazing. So we're gonna go out for a row and I'm absolutely certain that we will see something cool and I'm gonna bring the camera with me. The Bunsby Islands are just south of Brooks Peninsula. If you're new to our channel, my husband Aladino and I have been exploring the coast of British Columbia on board the sailboat that we spent five years restoring. And we're now making our way down the west coast of Vancouver Island. Here we go! But if you have been watching this series of videos all along, perhaps you'll remember several months ago when we explored Night Inlet on British Columbia's mainland. I refer to that trip as the voyage of a lifetime because it was so intense, so spectacular, and so demanding. When we emerged from Night Inlet, we were physically and emotionally exhausted. And that's a little bit how we feel now after rounding Brooks Peninsula in the last episode. Brooks had the same sense of wild, the same rugged grandeur, the same sense of risk and adventure that demands constant vigilance. In fact, several things happened on Brooks that actually didn't even make it into last week's episode. Most notably is that for a fleeting but heart-stopping moment, we did actually see the animal that made these prints. For reference, this is my hand next to it. We did not get any footage of it, which is why it didn't make it into the video. But more on that at the end of this episode. Anyway, my point is is that after Night Inlet and now after Brooks Peninsula, we felt tired. We needed a few days to rest and recover and that is what the Bunsbees offered us. Calm water, protected anchorage, time to sink inwards and recharge. It's so calm here, hey? It is. It's beautiful. Spring. Arrived. Okay. When the time came to keep moving south, we left the Bunsbees and moved on a gray ocean beneath gray skies. Right, so we're just motoring along the coast. We are heading towards Cayu Cuat, where they have a general store hopefully with some fresh vegetables. But as we were going along the coast, we saw this massive cave. So we're gonna go have a quick look at it. Wow, what a cool spot for a lunch hook. So we just dropped the anchor. It's a little deep. Yeah, there's coves, caves, waterfalls, and it's quite unexpected. I do a lot of research to like things to see and places to go around here, but the thing is really just, yeah, you've got to keep your eyes open and meander close to shore when the weather allows you to, and you gotta explore and find things on your own. So this is a really cool pleasant surprise to find along the way. What's on the menu today, chef? Well, Aladino caught a wonderful lingcod, so we've got some of that and then just some rice. I've got my sprouts. This is an amazing substitute when we're out of fresh vegetables. So I'm glad that I've got that. Amazing, thank you. You're very welcome. Buon appetito. Now that was a good lunch. Oh, besides just the fishing fun. I love fishing for lingcod and salmon here. Still on my bucket list? Hell a bit, but yeah, we shall see. The lunch was also to see how the boat behaves, how well the hook is set, things like that. It's always good that we study those things a little bit before venturing to shore, if at all. But we have decided to go row around a little bit. It looks like very challenging landing situations, but at least by rowing around we get to see the caves from a little closer and a little better. So that sounds exciting. We're gonna do that. Oh, pretty cool. So that's the same cave, but from the other side. So it's actually a tunnel that goes across this little mountain here. Yeah, that's why it was so well lit. We could see inside of it. That's pretty cool. Why? I don't know. Because maybe treasure is hidden in there? Yeah, I guess that's one of the reasons. But landfall is not that easy, so we're just gonna see it all from the dinghy for now. Our next stop is the small community of Cayucut, a community spread between a small cluster of islands which band together to form tenuous protection from the wild pacific storms which can blow through here. So far, we've been lucky with the weather and our unseasonably late southbound trip is paying off. There's a bit of a buoy maze. It took me a minute after not having buoys for so long. All right, how do I have to Well, and it's reversed from in Europe. Hey, the colors. Two more and then we're in the bay. Yeah, so Europe and North America have different directly opposite color schemes for their buoys, which is super annoying. So here it's red right returning. Upon entering a harbor, you keep the red to your right or your starboard. Europe is the exact opposite. It turns out that in this tiny community clinging to the edge of the sea, we met someone who quickly became a very good new friend. So how do I even start this? I think, okay, what we have here is this place has really shown the limitations of video as a storytelling medium. Different mediums have their different pros and cons and, you know, our experiences here are probably better told through a book format or a written format. Something that you may have noticed in our videos is that we very rarely film our interactions with other people. The fact is, is that Aladino and I are alone a lot and we already film a lot of our lives. So when we do meet kind people that we get along with well, it feels like a really special and sacred thing. And I never like changing that dynamic by introducing a camera into it. To me, at least the relationships and memories we form along the way are best expressed through words that can be crafted afterwards instead of invading the moment itself. Essentially, we came into the dock. To be honest, I really didn't feel like it. Not stoked about having to go and get provisions and didn't really feel like dealing with a marina and people and all of that. But we needed vegetables. So we came in, tied up to the dock, and then a guy approached us around our age and we started chatting a little bit. And then he realized that he recognized us from the videos and we started chatting some more. And it turns out that he actually grew up here. And so he just told us a whole bunch of stories about what it was like to grow up here. His family lives on a little island just off the main town. I mean, it's a small town. There's one store. But so he has a little skiff and he comes in and out. And we just really clicked. And we went for a hike around the whole island together when we first got here. And then we invited him to the boat for dinner. And then the next day he took us out in his skiff to one of the islands on the nearby here that's just open to the Pacific, big wide open beaches. And we saw a whole bunch of wolf prints. And we just had the most wonderful time. Meeting people along the way and creating these memories is kind of the point of cruising. And it's really special when that happens. It was a remarkably calm day. But our new friend Jeff pointed out parts of this island, which have been permanently altered by winter storms. These islands really do lie on the edge of the Pacific and the weather definitely isn't always so settled as it was during our visit. But it was fascinating to learn about what it was like to grow up here. A school boat would pick up Jeff and his siblings every morning and take them to the public school, which is in the nearby indigenous community. The local store gets some things in but at a cost, of course, so big grocery runs are done infrequently, and they require a boat trip and then a car ride. It was fascinating to speed around these islands in Jeff's skiff, speeding through areas where our deeper and larger boat wouldn't be able to go. One of the things that we talked about was the finding of glass floats. And as far as I understand it, glass floats were, or are, but I think mostly were, made by Japanese fishermen to, you know, hold up the ends of nets or to mark nets or anything. And apparently, some bigger Japanese boats actually had like glass blowing capabilities on boards that they could make their own floats. And of course, every now and then, the floats would break free, and sometimes they find their way across the entire Pacific Ocean to the shoreline here. And finding these glass floats, especially one that's still intact, is a really rare but really, really, really special event on this coast. I think they used to be more common, you know, now it's plastic floats that are being used much more, but you can still find them. It is really unusual. So we were chatting about this. Aladino and I have been keeping an eye out the whole time we've been on the West Coast, but of course, we haven't found any. And our friend Jeff has found several, and so he gave us this parting gift, which is so incredibly special. A small, a small glass float that he found floating just off of Actis Island, which is just off the coast here. It's got this beautiful patina from where the sea has worn it. And I mean, this is so meaningful. What a gift. It's just spectacular. So we're gonna have to find a way to display it on the boat in like a special, in a special way. But Jeff, thank you so much. I mean, Jeff really turned what was just going to be a quick stop for provisions that we didn't even really feel like doing into something really special. It's, I guess, a good reminder that things are always unexpected when you're out here and things can turn so quickly. And we feel really lucky that all of this has come to pass. And so we will leave Cayuquette with really, really special and wonderful memories and head off further down the coast. Have fun for the rest of the journey. Thanks, Jeff. See you later. Onwards we go, Amore. Onwards we go. Oh, what an awesome guy. Yeah. Yeah. I think we will be friends from now on. Yeah. Yeah. Also, what a cool place. What a can't wait for some, what future adventures might bring. We left Cayuquette in the fog, hoping that it would soon burn off as we continued our southbound voyage. It's been a dream of mine to write a book since I was about five years old, but it also gives me the chance to tell the stories that I couldn't capture with video. And that is just one of the reasons why I've decided to turn this whole series into a hardcover book that will be out in late March or early April. For example, I mentioned that we saw the animal that left those prints on Brooks Peninsula. It was a very fleeting and very unexpected encounter. And in fact, we didn't even have cameras with us because we were just going for an after dinner stroll along the beach and we weren't filming it. So that's a story that didn't make it into the videos, but which is told in my upcoming book, The Northern Voyage. I'm so excited about that. I'm so excited to have these two mediums, video and the written word. They both offer things that the other can't offer. And I think, yeah, being able to combine them together to have this video series and a written format book, along with a lot of photography in there is really special. I'm so, so excited. I will have pre-orders available soon. And of course, I'll let you know as soon as it's ready. Okay. With that, thank you for being here. Thank you for watching. We post a new episode nearly every single Friday. The only time we miss is if it is a month with five Fridays, then we take the last Friday off. So we post four episodes a month. Extra big thank you to the folks whose names are now appearing on screen for always going above and beyond to make sure that these episodes keep being produced. A really big thank you to all of our patrons. We would not be able to do this without the support of our audience. We are really proud of being completely audience funded and that's, yeah, that's because of Patreon. That's of folks donating two bucks a month. Whatever, whatever you want to do, it's totally flexible how you sign up. And in exchange, we provide real-time updates on Patreons. You get a bit of a glimpse into what is going on in life in real time on Patreon. Okay. I think that's all my updates as always. Thank you for being here. Thank you for watching. We will see you next Friday. Bye for now.