B.C. man riding PWC around Vancouver Island

Bill Masters aims to complete 560-mile trip in less than two weeks

A British Columbia man has set off on a personal watercraft adventure around Vancouver Island, which is located off the west coast of Canada.

On Aug. 9 Bill Masters began a solo journey around the island on a 2004 Yamaha SUV 1200 WaveRunner. Masters is expecting the approximately 560-mile trip to take between nine and 14 days. Depending on the weather he hopes to complete about 60 miles per day.

Making the adventure all the more difficult is that the 58-year-old Masters will navigate the trip without GPS, using only a compass and line-of-sight bearings.

“I know he can do this,” his wife Naedeen Masters told the Kelowna Daily Courier. “He is a very driven person; he is a planner, a very methodical person, so he plans to the ninth degree. He’s planned this trip for, oh God, for at least two years. He’s looked at this from every angle.”

This 2004 Yamaha SUV 1200 WaveRunner is the same type of PWC being ridden by Masters.

Masters has a history of adventures. According to his daughter Kristy, Masters once drove to the Panama Canal in Central America and back by himself on a motorcycle and he is well prepared for this trip.

“There’s no support crew, just himself,” Kristy Masters told the Kelowna Daily Courier. “Everything, like fuel stops, has been charted. He has a slate that has all of his coordinates he needs. He will be camping. His food will consist of Powerbars, chocolate, nuts and beef jerky.”
 
Masters is equipped with a cellular phone and a satellite phone, but only plans on using them for emergencies.
 
“He wanted to do it with as little support as possible,” says Kristy Masters.