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During a five-day, in-depth exploration of one
of Sutherland’s previous routes—encompassing
West Crawfish Inlet, Necker Bay and Redfish
Bay, along Baranof’s exposed outer coast
south of Sitka—her curiosity was satisfied: a
mothership offered certain advantages, namely
gourmet meals prepared by a talented cook,
and a real bed.
“It was just fine to return to a warm, dry bed
that I didn’t have to rebuild from a pack each
night in the rain,” she said. “Food? We had
excellent food, good strong coffee, and good
wine.” Most enjoyable was the perspective
from the Home Shore’s tall bridge with its
large windows and 360 degree views. “I
especially liked sitting in the wheelhouse with
Jim, watching the land with binoculars, always
checking for future campsites.”
During one of their many wheelhouse chats,
Sutherland shared with Kyle her most dicey
paddle in southeast Alaskan waters—an attempt
to cross Sumner Strait between Point Baker and
Point Barrie after the tide had turned. With an unavoidably late
start, she put in at Point Baker and soon found herself being swept
toward breaking surf on Mariposa reef. “I should have gone back,”
she told Kyle. “But I thought, well, I’ll try for Strait Island, and about
this time a big freighter comes up behind me. I could just imagine
what they were saying: ‘Damn fool!’” Sutherland was 30 feet from
the breakers when she spotted calmer seas in a bed of kelp at the
reef’s south end. Gaining a handhold there, she eventually pulled
herself to shore.
Yet Sutherland’s few close calls seem to have been flukes,
wrenches in her meticulously laid plans. Her approach to paddling
was a good fit with the Home Shore’s: both
emphasize preparation and safety. “I can pull
out my large scale charts and spend hours
planning a trip,” she said. Kyle agrees. “She
was pretty knowledgeable for sure. Maps,
charts—we were continually pointing things
out, going back and forth.”
For the mothership crew, it was difficult to
assess who learned more during the charter—
Sutherland, who gained new perspectives on
the coastline, or themselves. Home Shore kayak
guide Ben Kyle had just returned from his own
solo trip when he met Sutherland. “She’s like
a little ball of fire,” he said. “She told me her
gear for three weeks weighs around 60 pounds,
a very small amount that she narrowed down
to be as efficient as possible. To get back from
my own trip and hear of her lightweight tarp
or how she packs her food, it definitely made
an impression on me.” Captain Kyle was more
succinct. “I learned a lot about little nooks and
crannies from her. I learned more about life.”
Thanks in part to new information gathered on the Home Shore,
Sutherland has plans to return to Baranof Island, as well as British
Columbia. “I’d like to explore the channels north and east of Bella
Bella, Roscoe Inlet especially,” she said. “When I’m too old for long
paddling trips, I’ll stay in a base camp or in Forest Service cabins and
do day trips. A lifetime is not enough.” Despite a great love of the
Alaskan and BC wilderness, Sutherland’s most cherished paddle still ➝
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June/July 2004 www.WaveLengthMagazine.com
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