Today is august 15th. Eight weeks ago I broke my ankle, an avulsion fracture of my left distal tibia to be exact. At the time of injury I didn’t pass out or throw up but only due to Helens reassuring voice to breathe and the potential to fall 20 feet on to sharp rocks and into the ocean. We were camped a hundred yards away on a tiny remote beach in Kyuquot Bay on Union Island. We had climbed to the exposed western side of the island to take in and sketch and marvel at the beauty of where we were and the distance we had paddled from (Spring Island) on rolling swells early that morning.
Helen helped me hobble back to our camp where I applied an “icy Hot” menthol pad in lieu of actual ice, 2 tensor bandages, a tight smartwool sock and my neoprene boot velcroed securely for support. Tylenol and Advil became my 2nd best friends, next to Helen who pretty much did everything else. We decided to wait until the next morning and listen to the weather report on our radio to determine our next move. We were a long 16km paddle back to Fair Harbour with limited pull out or camping opportunities. In the balance we had 4 days of food and water left and more important enough tylenol and advil for a week. But I had questionable strength and endurance issues now and honestly , significant pain.
It was so beautiful the next morning; our first wake up of trip with sunshine streaming in the tent. I could feel things shifting in my foot but how could a day of rest hurt the situation. And by rest I mean sitting in my kayak , paddling through a pristine chain of islets, in awe of giant kelp, clear deep turquoise water, lions mane and moon jellies, listening to the language of ravens and hummingbirds, discovering waterfalls and hidden lakes, reefs and sea caves.
Later that afternoon we decided to check on the weather and discovered that we were in a dead zone for reception. No radio contact at all, not the social channels, not the weather channel, not the coast guard channel, on either of our radios. Helen started hiking searching for a pocket of reception and finally got through around 7 and arranged a water taxi from Voyager in Kyuquot Village to get us out the next day at noon. The trip was prematurely over. My much anticipated summer of paddling adventures with friends was put on hold.
And I am pouting. (And painting a little.)
This week I start physiotherapy and hopefully by Labour Day I will be back to work and back to normal.
