#sea kayak

[connorphilpphotography]

[britishcolumbia]

Kayak trip part 2: the paddlin

See the next post for route

[wgm-beautiful-world]

Ha Long Bay

[jenuptoolate]

Kayaking Around Monkey Island, Puerto Rico

Kayaking Around Monkey Island, Puerto Rico

[assorted-aesthetics]

ds9 is like. i want to go home. can't go home. i want to be among my people. i cannot abide and am sickened by the actions of my people. i am completely alone. this station is too crowded. anyway have i told you about my homeplanet

[bestiarium]

The Aasivarluit [Inuit mythology]!

The oceans have fascinated humans for millennia. As such, it is no surprise that a great many cultures from around the world have their own stories about scary and dangerous creatures from beneath the waves. One such being is the ocean-spider, or Aasivarluit, a massive monster from Inuit mythology.

As the appellation ‘ocean-spider’ implies, the Aasivarluit resembles a spider, albeit an unnaturally large one. It is a dangerous, giant animal and it was known to prey on unsuspecting kayakers by waiting underneath the surface of the sea and then pouncing upwards when a suitable victim appeared. In the absence of human prey, the monster was known to hunt walruses and seals for sustenance. 

It doesn’t appear to be a common creature in Inuit mythology, in fact, all references I could find only mention one single story about the Aasivarluit:

A man was kayaking near the coast of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland (although it was called Godthåb back then). Suddenly he saw a massive object beneath the waves, which confused him greatly because he was familiar with this location and he knew that there was no shoal nearby. He then remembered stories about giant aquatic spiders, and quickly deduced that this must be the thing that suddenly appeared beneath his kayak. Indeed, he looked down into the water and saw a giant eye.

But the man was a skilled kayaker and he managed to get away safely. It is said that a less experienced kayaker would certainly have perished in his situation. 

The idea of a giant oceanic spider that eats people might have originated as a cautionary tale (as in, don’t venture too far from the coast or the giant spider will eat you). While stories about giant animals are not uncommon in Inuit culture, the Aasivarluit is certainly a rather strange monster, considering that there are no marine spiders in real life (although there are freshwater spiders). Technically, sea spiders do exist, but they are spiders in name only: they belong to the class Pycnogonida whereas real spiders are Arachnida. They only share a vague resemblance (though there are some really pretty and weird sea spiders out there, I recommend googling them).

Sources: Rink, H., 1974, Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, Montreal, McGill-Queen’s University Press, first published 1875, 473 pp, p. 471. Christopher, N., 2013, The Hidden: a compendium of arctic giants, dwarves, gnomes, trolls, faeries, and other strange beings from Inuit oral history, 191 pp, p. 134-135. (image source: @another_maker on Instagram)

[aurosoul]

Channel Islands sea caves

[seasidemoonrise]

[britishcolumbia]

Kayak trip part 3: the route

This trip was a 6 day/5 night course launching from Lund and going counter clockwise around West Redonda and Cortes. On the map I used different colours for different days.

Day 1: Lund to Refuge Cove. My arms were absolutely killing as I got used to the paddling technique, and I was exhausted by end of day. The weather was misty and windy which made the trip seem incredibly daunting.

Day 2: Refuge Cove to Walsh Cove. This day was sunny and my strength was back, and the site was beautiful. Camping on tiny islands and storing food in the boats meant wildlife was near-zero concern. It was a good day to go for a cold dip.

Day 3: Walsh Cove to Rendezvous Island South. This was the worst day for everyone else. The weather was downpour and the water was rough. But, we got to pass Toba Inlet which was amazing. On this trip was me and my partner, and our guide (a dear friend of ours) and his girlfriend.

Day 4: Rendezvous Island South to Carrington Bay. This was a short, sunny day with the wind on our backs. We even got to sail a bit with a tarp. The lagoon we stayed at is near the rave site on Cortes. This was the best beach for a dip. This is also where our guides girlfriend drunkenly told me about her affair and bullied my boyfriend.

Day 5: Carrington Bay to the Twin Islands. This was a 27km paddle in the heat. When there's no wind it feels like paddling in molasses. We passed Whaletown and Plunger Passage and saw a humpback in the distance. We got cell service again in this area, and timed the tide right to stop at Sharkspit for lunch. The most welcome part of this day was going around Smelt Bay Provincial Park and using a toilet and sink.

Day 6: Twin Islands back to Lund. The last day was bittersweet. We stopped at North Copeland for lunch, same as we did the first day, except this time I was much more confident steering and getting out on my own. We used double kayaks so we had twice the power, but we lagged behind our guide and his girlfriend since his paddling was way more efficient than ours. It's always a bummer to end a trip, but nice to get away from the girlfriend.

We spent a few days in Powell River afterward to see the salmon run and to shop at Ikea in Vancouver before heading home

[rainshowersszz]

canoe-ing🫶🏻

[rosechata]

digicamdrew

[goculi]

[heycrystalsmithart]

Underwater jellyfish and seals - just below the kayak. Turquoise jewel ocean.

Digital illustration from "Maybe A Whale" children's book. You can see the book over here.

[cursed-angelic-art]

As an aroace person, I may not understand the yearning for the touch of a lover after a long separation, but as a Marylander who hasn't been on the open water all summer, I think I get the gist.

[downfalldestiny]

Hobbies 🎣🌊 !.