We escaped from the bugs at 2:10 the first hour spent mostly floating along with a steady current. Soon enough we entered the fast water section and sooner than expected arrived at Bastion Rock, we stopped on the right before the island, Steve decided to go the "easy" right channel route that we had used in '06. I waited for a report via radio, I intended to run the main channel and was hoping for some tips on which side would be best. The left channel is very wide and it's a long way to the bottom, it's simply not possible to get any useable view from the top of the rapid. I waited for a long time before the radio finally cracked, unfortunately these walkie-talkies were completely useless, I managed to grasp only a few words, it was clear Steve was trying to warn me about something but I had no idea what, something about the right side but was that the right channel or the right side of the left channel, should I avoid the right or go right? Finally in frustration I just went for the main channel, I started out towards the center and then moved to the left, it was actually pretty easy, there was a good sized eddy on the left before the bottom section, I was able to pull in to check out and spot the clear route back towards the center that provided an easy finish. I spotted Steve high up on the Esker on river right, he'd gone up to attempt better radio reception, he had wanted to warn me about a large ledge on river right of the right channel should I have come that way. I didn't remember this ledge from '06, probably at that time it was high and dry.

The next rapid was a monster, a single drop with a huge wave train. I watched from the top as Steve headed out on a center left line that took him directly into the biggest flow, if he was trying to cut through to the left it wasn't going to happen! I saw his boat rise up then vanish then rise again and then NOTHING, I keep looking for another 20 seconds and then there he was again apparently still in his boat! I headed into the flow staying mostly center and then cutting hard to the right to avoid the huge center wave train, I aimed to cut through a big diagonal wave to hopefully miss the big frothing mess, I hit the wave at just the right angle, the river tried to suck me back but one power stroke and I was into the large eddy pool on the right. I scanned downstream to look for Steve but from my vantage I could not see him bailing just downstream also on river right. I rested for a few moments and took some pictures of the huge main wave train.

Next step was to get out of the eddy and find Steve, three times I paddled out to the eddy line to skirt the main flow which was boiling and seething with whirlpools and waves, each time I found myself forced back into the eddy to re-circulate right back to where I started. On the fourth attempt I went out further and paddled harder, just barely making it across the line and into the downstream flow. Steve was finished pumping his boat, he had rolled out on the second stack, belly flopped back into the still upright canoe and managed to paddle to shore completely full of water, an impressive self-rescue.

The next big rapid was somewhat similar on a smaller scale; I managed to get through reasonably cleanly catching some nice air on the 8' - 10' waves, only possible because of my spray deck. Steve went more to the left where the waves were smaller but still needed to bail a considerable amount of water. There is a ton of current along here with swifts and perhaps some small sunken rapids, with an easy CI at the left side of the island. We now have 6 - 7km to Nine-Bar Rapids, we drift some of it, a quick snack and a bit of rest especially for Steve who has had the hard paddling and bailing. Soon enough we reach the start of Nine-Bar, it's pretty big! We worked our way leftish trying to find the least amount of waves, water is crashing over my deck and I can see it's swamping Steve's boat which quickly fills to the gunnels, we eddy out on the left after the first third, I'm in good shape so help to pump Steve's boat. We move out again with mostly the same result, Steve stays closer to shore and pulls out to bail, I go slightly further, I can see where the ledge is although there is no actual "seeing", across the entire river there is only one small portion where a rock is visible, we creep down the shore to within 30 metres of the drop, Steve heads for a spot near the left shore, I follow, it's tricky, a three step ledge with the middle needing a sideways path to the right, difficult not to get sucked into the white aerated water when attempting to turn back downstream. I pulled into the eddy right below the ledge; Steve was again bailing a bit further downstream. I took some pictures before heading downstream to join him. That was it! We had done the rapids for the day and were left with a 5km float. Fortunately it had been quite warm today the sun even poked out once in a while with a nice evening sky as we floated through the totally calm open water, the river widens where the two channels around Great Island reconnect. It's a pity the bugs were bad, we would have dawdled longer to watch the numerous seals in this section but instead set to paddle the last bit to the water station cabin.

As before it's all neat and tidy, the docking much closer to the front steps this year. We move in and set to munch a variety of snacks followed by Knorr Tomato Veg Soup followed later with a concoction of Thai red rice, dried mushrooms, veg, peppers, tomatoes supplemented with half an onion and a chicken breast. We stayed up very late reviewing our maps and planning the remaining days. We will leave tomorrow for one of the rock sites that are 28 - 33 km downstream.

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