We had no paddling planned but exploring in the east arm was an option. But the boats were just not that comfortable and we decided to just hang out and play on the island. Lisa and I had our hearts set on catching a fish. We had seen Salmon jumping on the east side of the island so that was our destination. Travel to that side of the island required disturbing the already quite disturbed Oyster Catchers. It would also sometimes incite a dive bomb attack by the terns. We knew that the Oyster Catchers were nesting on the beach and tried to give them their space. We did get a chance to see their eggs when they were off nest. They blended amazingly well with the rocks and were arraigned in no obvious “nest” structure. They were just laid on the beach above the tide line. I can make no excuse for the terns.
Lisa and I both have little interest in fishing but a huge interest in eating fresh fish. We made two forays to that side of the island during the day. The first time Lisa did have a fish almost landed. We did see fish jumping each time we went over there but getting a bite proved difficult. In a last desperate attempt before committing to turkey fettuccini for dinner Lisa tried a few casts right by our tent. (She had wanted to fish there but Eric and I insisted that the other side was better. It was the only side we saw fish jumping.) On her second cast she had a fish hooked. I went into coaching mode. Keep the line tight, just drag him to the shore… (she would have done just fine). Before the fish had a chance to know it was out of the water Lisa was ready to release it. I would have nothing to do with it. Besides, it was hooked in a funny way. Convinced that we were keeping the fish the focus turned to a humane death. She was suggesting dropping a rock on its head! Two indirect hits on a crazed flipping fish convinced me that we were far more likely to get hurt than the fish was. I quickly beheaded it and cleaned it in the water to avoid attracting bears. Our dinner would be Pink Salmon!
We also spent time on the island exploring the woods and the geology of the shoreline rocks. At one point Lisa stopped for a little nap on the shoreline and within 10 minutes the water had risen to the point where her boots began to fill (funny thing about 20 foot tides).
Lisa and I were also approached by a couple in a double kayak with a little problem. It seems as if the guide service had dropped them off in a boat with a hole in it. They had fixed it with Duct Tape but it seemed a little foolish to head out on a 6 day paddle with a patched boat. Eric and I used our hand held marine radios to try to hail a nearby boat. Our radios would not reach all the way back to the ranger station but we assumed we would be able to communicate with a boat or cruise ship that we could see on the other side of the bay. We finally talked to a chartered 50 foot sailboat that relayed a message back to the ranger station. We had offered to let the couple trade their double for a couple of our singles. We only had about a mile and a half to paddle to the point where we would be picked up and were comfortable we’d be able to make it with the patched boat.
It was a very relaxing lay over day on the island. We appreciated not having to tear down and re-setup camp for one night. It all worked out quite nicely.
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