Raft Covfefe – Part 2 | sterlingpearce

So first of all, we knew how unbelievably lucky we were with the weather. We experienced some of the nicest west coastal days I’ve seen in any month, let alone October. Waking up everyday to brilliant blue skis and checking weather reports that indicate more of the same, one falls into an automatic morning routine. Coffee, surf check, fish check, coffee, beer/ breakfast, then surfing or fishing. By then, it’s time for lunch, followed by the alternate activity. Mix in the odd firewood mission, beach adventure or water expedition, and you end up with full days that fly by in slow motion. The experience is somehow both hyper- and sur-real, at the same time. Live in the moment. Wooooaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……….

Evening hot tub conversation dissolves into a vague contemplation of reality and our place in the universe, followed occasionally by a re-invigorating midnight skinny dip in the surf. Stories are regaled of past missions to this very spot, under these very stars, and we giggle at how much more energy is expended when we hiked in instead. Many praises to the almighty canoe. Many praises to the wonderous longboard, Johnny No Plan, and the Radish siblings, Eli-Jah Wood, Knotty Girl and The Darkness . All hail the immense Pacific, for bringing us back, time and time again, while showing us mercy and not smiting us with an epic northeast Pacific low pressure system. Hallelujah.

One big, happy, surfriding family, with an active participant engaging the swell behind.

This rugged coastline hides an endless variety of beaches, coves and garbage, each more beautiful and strange than the last. No, I’m not exactly sure how that works. Jagged headlands offer just enough vantage to pique one’s curiosity about what’s around the corner. A cabin, perhaps? Or maybe the world’s largest kinder egg? Possibly a pack of wolves, or a black bear sow and cub? Could it be a passing whale, or the beached and grotesque form of what used to be a sea lion? How about millions of shells? There’s only one way to find out…

Every once in a while, something special catches the eye. A big chunk of sandblasted glass, a huge gnarled stump and a perfectly framed west coast sunset all present themselves when the time is right and the appropriate sacrifices have been made. Fortunately, the sacrifices are not uniform in space, time or effort, and this particular trip graced us with a fantastic assortment of easy moments that will linger a lifetime.

Pretty sure this represents some kind of rift in the space/time continuum, but nobody went in to find out. Besides, where else could we go?

Total Pacific immersion, three times, during crab trap retrieval wearing swim trunks and cotton t-shirt. Survived to tell the tale, thanks to our luxurious over-preparedness. Still, a good day.