Sailing Northern Canada | Alone and at Peace

It's a late evening in summer. Our boat is tucked into an inlet on the western face of Pit Island, high on the northern coast of British Columbia. The sun disappears behind the mountains, a gentle chill settles in, and we row home in the blue hour, tiny specks of phosphorescence winking like faraway stars. We have a very long voyage ahead of us, but we can only take it one passage at a time. I'm Maya and this is my husband Aladino. We're sailing from northern British Columbia all the way to Mexico aboard our restored traditional sailboat Magic Carpet 2. Join us every Friday for a new tale from the sea. This is South to the Sun. Big eagle poop. Pit Island is a large island on the north coast of B.C. and we were anchored in one of its many inlets, completely alone. Oh, another one of those core sampling drillings. Oh, there's another one. Aren't they strange? Thank you. Okay, so if you haven't already gathered, it is evening. We are going to make a fire. We brought dinner things. Well, okay, we brought these marshmallows. We've been toting these around now I think for like three years since the first time we launched the boat. We just don't really eat marshmallows that much, but we keep trying. I made some hot dog buns. This is a really fun recipe actually. If you google 40 minute hot dog, no, 40 minute hamburger buns, it's a recipe for a yeasted dough that you can literally do start to finish in 40 minutes. There's no rising time. And then I've got crab roll fillings. They're really, really delicious. I think today might have been the warmest day we've had in the north so far. Yeah, I think so. There's a heat wave down south. It's like 35 degrees. In Europe too. And I watched Max here. 20 degrees. I know, but it's funny how it feels like a heat wave. Yeah. Well, there's the other extreme too. Nonna was saying you can't get out of the house. Oh yeah, I bet. How hot is it in Italy right now? I've been thinking about this and I think that being slow is a symptom of being happy. We're not in a rush to be anywhere other than where we are. I feel very deep in my soul that this is the place I will always want to return to. Not this specific inlet, although why not? It certainly is beautiful, but just this coast. This is where I am most at peace. Alone with the man I love. The last people on earth we could be surrounded by such grandeur. What a day! What one hecking of a day! One hecking of a jour. One hecking of a jour, I tell you. I tell you, I've told you. This is one day to souvenir for Tootletumps. Time of no more this. Oh man, truly the bare feet on the warm rocks. Bare where? Bare where? It'll be barefoot too. Oh, it just makes me want to... Oh, that's nice. Doesn't that feel wonderful? Yes. I feel like I'm 10 years old. Come jump with me. Stomp around a little bit. You see? You just need a good frolic. A good frolic solves everything. I think they're ready then. They're ready? Well, it's now worth sacrificing. Yeah. The bottom is getting a little black. Take them off then. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, take a bite. Tell me what you think and then I'll sit down. Definitely warm. And homemade buns. Wow. Much better than any store-bought ones. This is where it's at. So nice. Head up here quick and then use the northwesterlies to go downwind, slowly in the sun. Often in the b-roll you notice just a scrap of headsail out and it's not because the conditions are harsh. It's because I'm trying to troll for salmon and they like really slow speeds. So that's the other nice thing. Just put as much sail out as you need to go the right speed and then just enjoy. So this is pretty nice. We have gone past Ogden channel. Now we're in Petrel channel. Yeah. And soon past Anger Island. So let's go see what that's all about. In the summer, the wind often comes from the north, which works perfectly with our southbound journey. Typically the north winds bring clear skies and so on sunny days we slip downwind effortlessly. Instead, when a south wind blows up against us, it usually also brings clouds and rain. So those are the days we hunker down in an anchorage and wait it all out. Of course, the weather can change quickly up here and we've already seen glimpses of what can be. But on a day like today, the north winds blow steadily and we run along in front of them. Hey Aladino. Hey. What's happening right now? Well, we're not always strolling for salmon or going slow. So we decided to do some miles. We passed Anger Island. Yeah, the northwest here just comes straight in. This is basically open to the northwest and that's where it's blowing from. So it's definitely been in the 20s and higher, but I can see the destination in front of us. Pit Island and we're headed for Patterson Inlet. We'll check that out. I sense a paparazzi real close. That's really interesting. If you look at that island over there, I mean, it's tiny and it's pretty exposed to the southwest, southeasterlies or northwesterlies, but the trees are tall and straight. You would assume the opposite. Often these places, they show you what it's like because of how crooked the trees are. But yeah, that's rather striking. This is unique to this coast. The way the land folds around the water, creating narrow channels, perfectly protected anchorages, held in a saltwater cradle by the mountains. Usually, seeing the view of this land from above, the way it holds the ocean, makes me feel so at peace. But I have to admit to another feeling as well. A feeling growing steadily but persistently within me. Fear. Not right here, right now, but of what's to come. From everything we've heard, as we sail south, we will no longer find the perfectly still anchorages that we find nearly every night here. This coast has spoiled us. It is the perfect balance of adventure, wilderness, real sailing when you want it, but then a calm night, a peaceful sleep, and most important to me, a stable office space. As we sail down the west coast of the USA, I'm not scared about the sailing or the boat. I know that Aladino and I can do that part. But I am scared about keeping all of this going. I pour my heart and soul into these videos. It takes a lot of time down below on a laptop. I worry about the boat being tossed about, feeling seasick while trying to edit. I'm scared that I won't be able to do my job, a job that I love, that I've very carefully built and grown for nearly a decade. I know there are solutions to all problems, and I know that I will find them. I also know that the unknowns ahead carry great potential for beauty, for adventure, for brand new stories, and it's time to get some new stories. I know that. But oh, I also know I'm going to miss this. I'm going to miss this so much. Here we are at the end of the inlet. It splits into two and we took the south arm. The sound of those birds is so emblematic of this coast in the summertime. They're called a Swainson's thrush, and if you watched our northern voyage series last year, I had one in the intro of this series. Are you approaching your 30s? Well, they're everywhere. Oh my gosh, yeah. We've been joking about how bird watching creeps up on you as you age. But I haven't even seen them, so I'm not watching them. But I am listening to them. Well, and I spoke of woodpeckers that I'm in my 30s. Yeah. But it's really, it's every anchorage. They're everywhere. The Swainson's thrush with their song. Yeah, they are. I think I hear a little creek over there too. Some water, they're green. What you doing, chatzy? There's a few woodpeckers that have a construction site close by and I'm listening to them peck away. Oh yeah? Yeah. Ah, but it's also so nice to have so many places to tuck into after a sporty day. And it's so calm. Yeah, just enjoying the last little bit of sun. The forecast is turning soon, so it's really nice. Yeah. Yeah, it looks like we got a week of rain coming up. Yeah, often looks worse than it ends up being. But yeah, for the middle of summer, heat waves all around us. It's definitely something to see. Maximum temperature having been 19, which was today, and it's like going down to 13 max and like 8. Good we have a heater. Yeah. This is really nice. I'm sure there will be more. More heat waves. Well. Well, this has been a heat wave. Down south they're giving warnings to Vancouver and stuff. Yeah. Up here we're like, wow, we can wear a tank top finally. Oh yeah, and still like you have not seen me wear shorts. It's always layers come on and off, but we're used to it from Sweden. It was very similar. Yeah. Thank you for being here with us, for following us on this journey as we move ever more south to the sun. If you enjoyed this episode, you may enjoy my book. I published it earlier this year. It's called The Northern Voyage and it's a part coffee table book, part travelogue depicting our voyage along the BC coast last year. It's available online. My little brother is handling all of the shipping. Thank you, Dylan. I know it's a lot to handle and he's just one person, so yeah. Thanks for doing it, Dil. You can also find books in person at Pages Resort on Gabriola Island. I actually have signed all of the copies at Pages. So if you want an autographed copy, Pages now has autographed copies. Same with Ikaia Boutique in Gibsons on the Sunshine Coast. They have autographed copies. And then we also have Tailwind Books in Sechelt. I haven't autographed those copies, but Tailwind is just the sweetest and loveliest bookstore. If you're in Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast, could not recommend more. Huge thank you to the folks whose names are now appearing on screen for always going above and beyond to make sure that Magic Carpet keeps being produced. Like I've already said in this episode, I feel extremely lucky to get to make these videos. I feel really precious about this job and thing that we've built. I don't really know what to call it. It's not a business. It's like it's more than that, but it's not just a passion project either. I don't know. If you've got suggestions, let me know in the comments, but let's just call it a channel for now. We'll keep it simple. This channel means a lot to me. Thanks for being here for it. An extra big thank you to all of our patrons for making this all possible. Patreon is what keeps this alive and it's what allows this whole thing to be audience funded. Sorry, stumbled over my words there. I always do these outros just ad lib. I don't have a script for them like I do for the rest of the episode. But anyway, patron, wonderful, thank you. Yes, it means that we don't have to interrupt our episodes to read you ads and I feel really precious about that because I like these episodes and I don't want to put commercials in them, so thanks for allowing us that option. Okay, I am losing my train of thought. I will see you, as always, next Friday.