The original story of Kayak Bill appeared in the October 2005 issue of Sea Kayaker and generated some interesting responses to our editor. Should we admire him for living his dream, being self sufficient and making so few demands of society and the environment. Or should we have ignored this story because he made no contributions to society and left his wife and child to return to the wilderness?

This second article (available on-line only) came to us at a later date and fills in a few more details in his life.

What are your thoughts about this unique individual?

I had not heard of Kayak Bill until reading the article in December. I don’t think we need to admire him or ignore the story. As you say he made no demands on Society.
If he was suffering in his former life, then he did what most people do in this world. Change it.

He walked away Is this selfish? I don’t think so.

I Kayak and I camp (wilderness preferred) I leave my wife and kids most weekends to go Kayak camping. Its called walkabout….. food for the soul. My wife of (33 years) understands this urge so do my children.

What has he given to Society? Probably nothing more than an insight for us to see into a small part of the life of a person who has challenged life, nature and all it had to throw at him.

Kayak Solitude.

I really enjoyed the story of Kayak Bill. I wouldn't consider him a hero or slacker....just a unique man who exhibited self-reliance and the need to exist as he did. On occasion I enjoy a solitary paddle or hike. Kayak Bill's lifestyle is certainly understandable to me.

Steve

This guy seems to have become somewhat the stuff of legend --- whenever ppl describe a certain camp-spot or hidey-hole here on the coast as a really good one, the question always seems to come up as to whether it's a "Kayak Bill campsite". I'd sure like to get the real skinny on him though because he's an interesting character.

I forgot to include this question in my last post --- did Bill commit suicide? I've been exchanging e-mails with Randy Washburne --- the guy who built the cabin at burnett bay, and he thinks that's how bill's life ended but can't remember exactly where he heard that. I'd read bill had a .22 he used for venison (there's an over-abundance of deer on many islands here, and they are an introduced species on the charlottes that have damaged the diversity of plant life there). Not that suicide would necessarily be something untoward, in my opinion a quick decisive end may be a better quality option than a long, drawn out period of increasing pain and suffering and infirmity in unfamiliar surroundings.

While the coroners report has never been released the evidence did not support suicide as a cause of death for Bill. That rumor was going around for quite a while but to our knowledge has been determined to not be true.

MIkeMIke --- ok, thanks for that. I appreciate the response.

For anyone who has ever met Kayak Bill, they would know that he certainly was not a slacker. He had a different idea of how he wanted to live his life and it had nothing to do with western conventions.
I first met him in 1994. He had been caught in a storm and had to take shelter at the light house in Bella Bella where I just happened to be visiting. That was the thing about Kayak, you could never plan to see him. Everytime I did see him, I thought it would be the last. The great thing about him was that it did not matter if you never saw him again because having spent time with him made you feel as though you had experienced something very special no matter how fleeting.
I have this beautiful painting in my living room that he painted for me many years ago. Everytime I look at it, I am reminded of the time I spent with him. I think it might be the only night scape he ever painted.

I can't believe that anyone would think that Bill was a "slacker." He did what he loved and his son and I loved him enough to let him do it. If truth be told, I encouraged Bill to go because I knew he would never be happy living "in a nest." We loved him dearly and his loss cuts deep.
If anyone would like to see some of his art work check out Westerly's web page at http://www.kayakbillprints.com

Please disregard this post. Doing a search engine test I wanted to bury this as deeply as possible bjE8864RGB

I'll take it down in a few days

Your friendly administrator
Mikekayak

I don't see why "Kayak Bill" has to be considered either, or one or the other. I certainly don't see him as a "Slacker". That is a shalow label I think we can set aside altogether.
He may be a "hero" to me in the sense that he went and did what some people only talk about, and most never remotely consider.

Certainly an inspiration to me-- I confess that I've entertained romantic notions of "paddling away" from "it all", though without the experience, determination, and perhaps fortitude to make it happen as this man did. Most likely without the sincere desire as well- I like the variety that a modern life affords.

Very fascinating and impressive, though!

I am one of the four Seattle kayakers whose ears were "chewed off" in the Shearwater bar by Keith Webb after he returned from his trip to Bill's most remote haunts in 2005. It was my first trip to the BC coast. I had never heard of Kayak Bill but it inspired more adventures. I've returned three times since and each trip plan has included visits to Bill's camps.

In 2007 I stayed at Bill's camp on Dallas Island. It was in OK shape still and we were astonished to find a narrow boardwalk through the forest that wandered through the woods. At a fork in the boardwalk was a signpost with fanciful carved arrows pointing in both directions. There was no lettering on the arrows to suggest where they led. Choosing the right fork we were led to a platform built over a freshwater seep surrounded by Skunk Cabbage. Bill’s water supply. Following the other fork we found that it branched across the island and up the hill.
Ramps, stairs and flat catwalks wound through the forest in a way that suited Bill. Seldom direct and often indirect to, apparently, visit a favorite tree or to cross a ravine that didn’t need to be crossed. The boardwalk was constructed of what he found available. Some of the stairways built up the hillsides were made from round sections of logs cut to length and set into the ground. Handrails were built of straight-ish long sections of driftwood while the upright standards were often twisted and appeared to have been purposefully chosen for their artistic value rather than their suitability for the purpose. There were some logs that had fallen across ravines that he had flattened to provide a walking surface. Some with a hand hewn cross-hatch pattern and some with crushed shells pressed into their surface to increase traction. One large sloping log bridge had stairs cut into it. Handrails were the norm. Some of the path was constructed of 16 foot lengths of 4 x 12 lumber that he found somewhere. These pieces of lumber were very heavy and placed far into the forest. He had to drag them for hundreds of yards along a winding up and down boardwalk to set them in place. Hung along the trail at strategic distance and at head height were small pieces of brightly colored plastic doo-dah flotsam to mark the way. He had a large pile of them stored at his camp
I believe that Bill lived a modern day hunter-gatherer lifestyle. While Bic lighters were a part of his normal day so, too, was gathering water and providing food. The BC coast bounty is rich but it takes time each day to harvest. In his spare time he built infrastructure. From what I have seen of that infrastructure it could not have been produced by a slacker.

Jon
http://3meterswell.blogspot.com

I really enjoyed the story of Kayak Bill.The role of the hero is really legendary.I am new here and very glad that the such an interesting stories are shared here.
Tanks for every one.