Voyage of the Pilgrims: OOPS General Meeting Feb, 26 2014

Presenters: Jonathan Walpole, Kirti Walpole and Jenny Johnson

In the summer of 2011, Jonathan Walpole, Kirti Walpole and Jenny Johnson paddled a thousand miles down the west coast of Canada. Starting from Prince Rupert, British Columbia, they followed an exposed outer coast route down to Vancouver Island. From there they switched to the more protected, but still remote and spectacular, inside passage route.

After six weeks of paddling 10 or more hours a day they finally ran out of water to paddle in Olympia, Washington. They skillfully timed their trip to coincide with one of the coldest and wettest early summers on record for the notoriously cold and wet British Columbia coast. In this talk and slide show, they will recount their epic struggle against perpetual wind, rain and tidal currents as they worked their way down the pristine, untouched wilderness coastline of the Great Bear Rainforest.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the Pilgrims are Kirti’s and Jenny’s kayaks. They are “Pilgrim Expedition” sea kayaks from Sea Kayaking UK (SKUK), designed by Nigel Dennis specifically for smaller paddlers. This was their first major expedition.