BAINBRIDGE ISLAND PADDLING SOCIETY 2001 SUMMER TRIP

UNDER CONSTRUCTION, I will post some pictures when I get them. I have asked, but no one has sent me any pics yet. I can use prints or you can email them to me. If you have any pictures of this trip that I can post here please let me know.

We had a small group for the BIP trip this year. Only 6 Bippers in 5 boats, all kayaks. Tom and Brooke paddled their new double. Bobbie, Karin, Tena and Earl paddled their singles. It rained as we were packing up at Toquart Bay, but stopped soon after we shoved off. We had a little wind on the crossings on the way out, up to 15 mph at Peacock Channel, but that was the strongest wind of the week. The weather was cool the whole time which is why the wind didn't kick up more. We camped on Willis Island with lots of other people and a Scout Troop. Each day we paddled around some of the Islands, going as far as 12 miles one day. It's very beautiful paddling among all the rocky little islands covered with old growth cedars. We saw more Eagles than Sea Gulls. Saw a few whales, Orcas and Grays. The most interesting thing was an archeological dig on Benson Island. One of the First Nations men gave us a talk and a guided tour. It was his band's home village they were digging up - "the people from the smelly place". Called that because of all the rotting whale carcasses. Their most famous chief was a very succesful whale hunter and could affort many wives. He had a nick-name something like "copulates a lot" because of all the wives. Actually, they had a slang term for copulates. The most challenging thing was using the composting toilet which smelled so strong you couldn't breath. The pump had broken, so it wasn't working properly. The paddle back to Toquart Bay was interesting because of pea soup fog. We could only see about 1/8 mile at the start. It was fun to take a bearing off the chart and follow it. Then when an island appeared out of the fog, to determine if it was the one on your course. As we progressed visibility improved to 1/4, 1/2 then 1 mile. It didn't totally clear off 'til we were back at Toquart.

This is a picture of Stacey from a previous trip