I realized I didn’t have a lighter or matches. Seriously? I’d been planning this trip for months, but now scared and emotional, I was forgetting the most basic things. I needed to get a grip. Two hours later, I’d clawed my way 10 kilometers along the


coast. As a red sun dropped over the ocean, I dragged my board up a pebble beach, and set camp in a hobbit-like enclave of dark salal and fir. My alarm woke me at 4 a.m. It was still pitch black. The tent


was sodden with dew. Thirty minutes later I set off in fog, feeling my way along the shore. The ocean was glass. Seals followed curiously in my wake, and the cries of oystercatchers and gulls echoed off rocky headlands. By mid afternoon, I’d made 60 kilometers, leaving civilization


far behind. That night I camped among grass-tufted dunes littered with the fresh prints of a wolf pack. Finally, I had some traction. There was no template to follow, or instruction manual to read. I


wasn’t aware of anyone attempting the same trip on a SUP, which meant plenty of unknowns swirled through my mind. How would wind and swell affect the board? Would the D-rings I glued to the deck survive being maytagged by a wave? How would I land and launch in surf, for with a fully-loaded board and a long fin I couldn’t just drag my board up the beach. With surf breaking over reefs and rocky shores to my left, and the immensity of the Pacific to my right, I developed a simple routine. Wake early. Be on the water by sunrise. Perpetually watch the sky, the winds, the currents, the tides. And paddle; hour after hour. Day after day. The crux of any trip from Hardy to Tofino is rounding the Brooks, an immense point jutting 20 kilometers into the Pacific, the so- called Everest of the Pacific Northwest. For years I’d imagined the move in my mind, and played through every variable. But as I approached, a low-pressure system descended, forcing me to take shelter in a cove. Hours later, a lobster boat putted in. Two sun-bleached men


invited me aboard. Offered an omlette. Suggested that if the winds didn’t break, they could carry me around the Brooks the next morning. The forecast was for five days of gales. At home, my wife and boys were waiting. Would I be cheating


myself to accept help? Or would I be cheating my family if I waited a week in this cove, just to say I’d paddled every inch of the shoreline? Eventually I looked at the Village Idiot baseball cap I wore, and my way seemed clear. Two days later, the Brooks behind me, I set off again. A friend once referred to paddleboarding as the snowshoeing of the ocean. It’s slow and plodding, and some might argue without justification when compared to a seaworthy kayak. Admittedly, the inability of my board to fight a contrary wind left me feeling constantly exposed. The slightest stirring of the air brought a shadow of doubt. More than once I fought for all I was worth, down on my knees, to reach the safety of land. Yet, as a kayaker and canoeist for more than two decades it felt good to stand up. I saw more standing, both in the water below and on the ocean ahead. That’s the first SUP metaphor for life: stand up whenever you can. And the second: stop worrying about falling. As every paddleboarder knows, it is easy to put a fantastic amount of mental and physical energy into staying upright. Yet, whenever we do fall, it’s never as bad as we imagined. Stand often, fall often. But take my advice for what its worth, coming from the Village Idiot.


Bruce Kirkby finished his 500-kilometer expedition in 20 days. A bestselling author and explorer, see more of his work at www.brucekirkby.com.


More boats, boards and gear at www.paddlingbuyersguide.com 41


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