22.13 150.28 Cape Townshend 75km perfect run with strong wind and tide through beautiful area, but lost my “securely strapped to the backdeck” PFD with ACR epirb. How stupid! Yes, I should better put it on…

The signs are getting better…and bigger…amazing, when there is no pinch of civilisation anywhere, you are attracted by the only sign anywhere…to camp again on the paved military dead end road.

To get there, I was passing a beautiful area with strong tidal range and quite some announced tidal races…it was a bit choppy here and there, that choppy in the gap south of Island Head that I even put on my PFD again…this was the last time I could do it….

In the quiet leg way offshore across the mouth of the Strong Tide Passage and about 5 km before Cape Townshend I took it off again and strapped it as usual on the backdeck…there it must have happened…my Kokatat Ronin PFD including my ACR epirb went swimming on their own!!!

I turned around that close before the night’s destination just to check the sea behind me – a gaping emptyness on my backdeck!!! Peter Treby told me on setting me off in Queenscliffe when I did fix the PFD on my backdeck:” Turn around and check on it occasionally…”

Now it is gone. the bungee knot went loose from the extra thick hook…shit happens! Maybe it goes swimmingon it’s own because I don’t love PFD’s…

I was cussing at myself and turned the boat to have a look…no chance to paddle much backwards at all in steep following seas and strong winds and tides in the “right” direction…I did it for about 1/2 hour to punish myself and looked and looked…nothing. It may have come off already quite early…

When I eventually turned around Cape Townshend, an amazing quiet and peaceful reef section with a beautiful scenery and lovely little beaches was waiting for me…one turtle scared me to death…but as I said, I was attracted to paddle on to the oversized sign on the wide beach…