By Barb Thomson

Special to Black Press

鈥淟ong before the white man and long before the wheel, when the green dark forest was too silent to be real.鈥� Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian Railroad Trilogy

鈥⑩赌⑩赌�

On June 29, we rounded Cape Caution for the first time.

From Port McNeil, we crossed Queen Charlotte Strait in fog to Skull Cove, where we waited and watched the weather. The next day, four boats, including ours, turned on the radar and faced the open Pacific rollers. The fog lifted and when we passed the Cape and crossed Smith Sound to drop the hook in Fury Cove, I felt that we had, in the words of the Waggoner Cruising Guide (2019), surmounted a 鈥渇earsome barrier鈥� on our passage north to Pruth Bay, Calvert Island.

Pruth Bay is the anchorage in front of the Hakai Institute, a private research facility whose grounds you may cross to find the trail to the West Beach. At the top of the ramp from the dingy dock, there鈥檚 a lovely set of wrought metal chairs and tables where boaters sit to find Hakai鈥檚 guest Wi-Fi signal before they find anything else.

To find yourself on the West Beach, imagine Pacific Rim National Park鈥檚 Long Beach without signs, parking lots, roads, or for the most part, people. Definitely without Tofino or Ucluelet. It鈥檚 like that, a wild green place where you hear the surf long before you see the ocean, and the white sand is so fine it lifts with the sea fog in the air. We walked the easy trail to the broad crescent beach, where we met two wolves on their way to breakfast.

The black wolf stopped and loped some metres away, before curling up on the sand like your neighbour鈥檚 German shepherd at rest. The lighter wolf did not turn, but came closer, staring, either curious or inviting us to get out of the way. We were transfixed.

It takes a while to be away from home. For a surprise encounter with the real world to interrupt whatever stream of daily news runs through you. Now boaters are talking about Starlink and the freedom of limitless connectivity no matter where you go. No more outdated marine weather reports or searching for information about 鈥� well, anything.

鈥淲e download movies from Netflix,鈥� claimed one mariner.

No more unanswered texts or emails or Facebook posts. There are gains and losses to everything, where both the dark wolf and the light wolf greet us.

Barb Thomson is a boating enthusiast who writes regular columns for the Comox Valley Record.