Nov 7th - Oak Bay (#102)

Dan, Dennis and I set out from Caddy Bay to paddle around Chatham, Discovery and Trial Islands. We though we would have a significant current assist, but we only had it for a bit…  As we set out from the bay there were a couple of sailboats on the beach that had washed ashore in the recent blows. I am glad I brought mine in a few weeks ago. We had good weather, no significant wind and sun for most of the time except for the last half hour or so were we had some hail and heavy rain (for a few mins). It was neat to do a paddle with such a high tide – new places to paddle over! I took the NF Shadow for a change and it performed well. We had a nice lunch break in sunshine on the north Trial islet.

 rain and hail by Gonzales point. boat on caddy bay beach!

 22 km, 12 NM, YTD 1194 km

 

November 4th - Cadboro Bay (#101)

Dan and I went for an afternoon paddle and roll in Caddy Bay. I snuck out early from work and we did a warm up paddle to 10 mile point. Nice afternoon and fun rolling!

6 km, 3.5 NM, YTD: 1172 km

October 31 - Sidney Island - (#100)

Dan, Heike, Paulo, John and I set out from Amherst to paddle around Sidney Island. There were some reasonably strong winds forecast, but these did not materialise. It was alonger paddle than I have done in the past few weeks, so I was pretty tired at the end. The Tahe Greenland performed well in some chop at the south end of Sidney and was a good choice for the day. Paulo and I did some rolling at the end of the day.

 26 km, 14.5 NM, YTD 1166 km

Oct 25 - Discovery (#99)

Dan and I set out fairly early from the end of Killarney to paddle around Discovery, planning to be back by noon. Conditions were better than predicted andthe winds were quite light. I was paddling the Tahe Greenland which continues to impress me with its handling. I was able to practice some of the strokes I learned with Shawna and Leon yesterday and hope to do more in the pool tonight. I saw Liam and Sheila in Rudlin bay where they were doing a guides’ exam. Hard to believe that this is paddle #99  of the year and we staill have over two months of paddling to go!

 16 km, 8 NM, YTD 1139 km.

Oct 24th - Shawna and Leon Clinic (#98)

I participated in a strokes clinic put on by SISKA with Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme. We had a great morning improving our strokes and also learning some good teaching techniques. I definitely improved my bow rudder, bow draw and bow jam strokes – a great morning! (and I also really enjoyed their talk up at UVic last night on their Haida Gwaii trip!)

 4 km, 2NM, YTD 1123 km

October 11th - Discovery (#97)

Dennis and I went out for an afternoon paddle around Discovery. We stopped briefly at the yacht club to have a look at a Megabyte which is for sale. We also touched land for a few mins in Rudlin Bay to take a break. I was paddling the Tahe Greenland but did no rolling as there was a bit of a nip in the air! There was a bit of an ebb building as the afternoon progressed and it  gave us a bit of a push in a couple of spots. The Tahe is a nice fast boat!

 15 km, 8 NM, YTD 1119 km.

September30-Oct 4 - Vargas Island (#93-96)

I co led (with JF) a group of grade 11 studentrs on a paddling trip around Vargas Island. Due to an extra trip back to Tofino from Milties Beach, I ended up paddling 49 km (instead of 32 km). After some heavy rain during our first night we had calm conditions and mostly sunny weather for the rest of the trip. We took a day “off” on “Fingers” beach. Amazing weather for the west coast AND October!

 49 km, 26 NM, YTD 1104 km

September 27 - Gabriola Island (#92)

Monica and I went up to Gabriola so I could participate in the fall SKGABC guides’ exchange. It was great meeting new people with a similar interest and I also got quite a few good ideas. It was also fun to show off the Tahe Greenland. Everyone who tried it seem to come up with a big grin after their first butterfly roll! On Sunday we went to Drumbeg Park and Gabriola passage to play around in the currents. I continue to be impressed with how well the Tahe Greenland handles.

4 km, 2 NM, YTD 1055 km 

 

September 20th - Sidney Spit Cleanup (#91)

Corinne, Roger, Duncan, Dennis and I set out From Amherst to paddle over to Sidney spit to do a SISKA cleanup of Sidney Spit as part of the RD great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. Conditions were excellent with a reasonable ebb in the morning which turned to a gentle flood after lunch. We paddled over to the Flower Group and then to Dock Island for some scenic variey and encountered a little bit of current in between the islands. From Dock Island we caught the current to Sidney Spit, avoiding the many racing sailboats. We landed at the north tip of the spit and then proceeded to do our cleanup. Much of the debris was miscellaneous plastic bits and pieces and pieces of styrofoam. We had a nice paddle straight over to Sidney on the return and I did some rolling in the Tahe Greenland when we were back at the beach.

10 Km, 5 NM, YTD 1041 km

Light station destaffing

It has come to my attention that the Government wishes to destaff and automate more lightstations on the west coast. Having seen many of these stations and met the keepers, I do not support this proposal and encourage you to sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/Lights1/petition.html and let your friends know about this.

 

September 5th - Fulford harbour (#90)

Monica and i set out for a paddle from a beach near Kellie and Eric’s in Fulford Harbour. We went over to visit the Jackson Islets (which are called “eyelets” on the Oysteractcher conservation sign!) and then over to Russel Island and then back over towards Eleanor Point.

 8 km, 4 NM, YTD 1041 km 

August 21 to 30 - North Island (#s 84 to 89)

A brief report of our trip… will be posting more details and picytures and video soon

We (Pete, george, dennis and I) drove up to Port Hardy on Friday August 20th. We encountered some heavy rain near Sayward but this had pretty much stopped by the time we got to Hardy. After chatting with Pat from Odyssey Kayaking (http://www.odysseykayaking.com/)( a great help in many ways) we decided to overnight in Hardy at the North Coat trail Backpackers Hostel (http://www.porthardyhostel.webs.com/) and have a good meal at Sprty’s Bar and Grill (great food!). The folks at the hostel were friendly and the rates were good and it was just around the corner from Odyssey Kayaking and our planned launch spot.

Day 1 August 22nd – Port Hardy to Cape Sutil –

Day 2 August 23^rd – Cape Sutil to Guise Bay -

Day 3 – August 24^th Guise Bay – stormbound

Day 4 – August 25 – Guise Bay to Hanna Point

Day 5 – Hanna Point, Sea Otter Cove to San Josef Bay

Day 6 – San Josef Bay – stormbound

Day 7 – San Josef Bay to Grant Bay

Day 8 – Grant Bay to Coal Harbour

Our trip track log:

The zoomable Google Maps track can be found at: http://www.islandnet.com/~mjackson/google/northisland2009trip.html

Total trip was 201 km, 108 NM, YTD 1033 km

Average moving speed: 5.6 kph, 3 knots. Moving time: 36 hours

SPOT Messages from trip

I have condensed the spot messages into one posting: (some how I missed the message on August 22 at Cape Sutil…)

Friday, August 21, 2009 –  Port Hardy

Latitude:50.7207 Longitude:-127.4909
Time:08/21/2009 18:56:57 (America/Vancouver)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=50.7207,-127.4909&ll=50.7207,-127.4909&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Sunday, August 23, 2009 –  Guise Bay

Latitude:50.7714 Longitude:-128.4022
Time:08/23/2009 16:47:40 (America/Vancouver)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=50.7714,-128.4022&ll=50.7714,-128.4022&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Monday, August 24, 2009  – Guise Bay

Latitude:50.7713  Longitude:-128.4019
Time:08/24/2009 16:58:14 (America/Vancouver)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=50.7713,-128.4019&ll=50.7713,-128.4019&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

 

Tuesday, August 25, 2009  -Hanna Pt, San Josef Bay

Latitude:50.6708 Longitude:-128.3421
Time:08/25/2009 20:19:24 (America/Vancouver)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=50.6708,-128.3421&ll=50.6708,-128.3421&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 – San Josef Bay

Latitude:50.6736 Longitude:-128.2732

Time:08/26/2009 15:00:26 (America/Vancouver)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=50.6736,-128.2732&ll=50.6736,-128.2732&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Thursday, August 27, 2009 - San Josef Bay

Latitude:50.6737 Longitude:-128.2732
Time:08/27/2009 09:37:30 (America/Vancouver)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=50.6737,-128.2732&ll=50.6737,-128.2732&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Friday, August 28, 2009 – Grant Bay

Latitude:50.4798 Longitude:-128.0979
Time:08/28/2009 21:43:33 (America/Vancouver)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=50.4798,-128.0979&ll=50.4798,-128.0979&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Saturday, August 29, 2009 – Coal Harbour

Latitude:50.5988 Longitude:-127.5812

Time:08/29/2009 17:21:25 (America/Vancouver)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=50.5988,-127.5812&ll=50.5988,-127.5812&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

August 19 - rolling in caddy bay (#83)

Dan and I went for a rolling practice session in Cadboro Bay. We also were able to show my mom what I have been learning! Another beautiful day and rolls keep getting smoother.

 2 km, 1NM, YTD 832 km

August 17th - 10 mile point (#82)

I had a window of opportunity and went out for a solo paddle to 10 Mile Point and back. Nice conditions. I paddled the CD Expedition to make sure all was ship shape for the North Island trip.

8 km, 4 NM, YTD: 830 km