Last night the Team pushed until sunset for an unprecedented 60 mile day, camping on the Comox shore, in order to be able to reach the Seymour Narrows at low slack tide today. As reported by R2AK, the Narrows have a tidal bore that can create whirlpools 60 ft across and 6 ft deep. Their strategy paid off after they pushed hard against a headwind to hit the Narrows at 1340 PDT, which they did almost on the dot, helped the last hour by a following ebb tide that pushed them to over 9 knots at times. Leigh reports that a Canadian Coast Guard boat was keeping an eye on them as they passed through, something they didn’t mind as headwinds made the passage tricky. The other human-powered boats all held up short of the Narrows, unable to be in place for the slack tide. After a tough two days the sisters made early camp just past the Narrows on Quadra Island, resting up for the days to come.
Perfect timing on the tide. Well done ladies. You deserve a shorter day and some rest after your big push to get to Seymour Narrows and through it safely.
Thanks Dick! It was exhausting, mentally as much as physically, to make it through Seymour Narrows. Despite the following current giving us good speed, they were not easy miles as a strong headwind picked up around Campbell River, and really hammered us as we passed the narrows.