Photo by Rebecca Ross
Got a call from Leigh and Clare of Team Don’t Tell Mom and we could almost hear the rock striking the VHF radio as she asked if Canada secretly changed the channels they used for marine weather broadcasts because they couldn’t get the forecast and they sure as hell weren’t rowing into Queen Charlotte Sound without knowing what weather might be coming.
As we heard pieces of plastic ricocheting off the phone we answered, “Not that we had heard.” As they continued their own form of electronic troubleshooting we wandered into other topics and particularly calories. “We planned on eating 5000 calories a day, but we literally cannot stuff that much food into our mouths and do anything else.” She explained that last night they were pretty hungry, but sleep was way more important so they had to prioritize. “If we ate that much, we wouldn’t have time to row.”
It sounded like their VHF suffered enough damage to finally give us a squelch or two of marine weather forecast and it allowed them to talk some about the days ahead. “We plan day by day, but we’ll try to cut south in Queen Charolette Sound as soon as possible. Or bounce from island to island if the weather is rough.”
Today was a rough weather day for them, with an early start to avoid the wind, they finished battling strong northerlies before finding camp.
“We’re tired, but we found a dope campsite. It’s nice and sandy. We’ll be starting again at 4:30.”
Fair winds, you rowing juggernauts. Team Don’t Tell Mom is made of two elements yet discovered on the periodic chart.