Feb 25 - Discovery Island (#9)

Dennis, Paolo and I set off from Smuggler’s cove and met Mike and Craig off ten mile point where we played for a few minutes in the waves. We then made our way over to Strongtide Islet and then made our way down to Discovery. Had lunch on a North facing beach which was out of the wind. The wind was blowing at around 15–20 knots, gusting 25 or so for most of the trip. There were some very big waves off the SE end of Discovery which we managed to avoid. I managed to get the spiritsail up for a short while on the way back up past Chatham. There was a very strong current flowing through Baynes. Paolo and I played in the lower set for a while and then went to the set off 10 mile point to finish the day. Went for a sleeve of Beacon IPA at the smuggler’s cove to warm up and meet Tony and Gordin. An exhilarating day! I was paddling the Sirocco for a change – nice to paddle a very manoueverable boat. I was able to practice a few rolls and static braces.

 

14.5 km, 8 NM, YTD 136 km

Feb 17 - VCKC paddle to Coal Island (#8)

A group of 18 of us left Amherst under Susan’s leadership with assistance from Dan, Neil and Roscoe. We kept up a good pace and managed to cover a comfortable 15 km. The conditions we were expecting were delayed (it is windy and rainy now as I write!) and we had nice calm conditions with no significant current or wind. A very nice paddle which finished with a short visit to the Waddling Dog!

 

8 NM, 15 km, YTD 121 km

Some photos from the day:

    

King of Pop

I just found this video on youtube – Darren M took it on Jan 2^nd 2006!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnygH8AkMXY

 

Feb 11 - Portland Island (#7)

I went up early to Amherst to try out the SOF kayak. It seemed to perform just fine and I was able to roll it with no problems the first time. After trying it out for a few minutes, I decided to give it a go for the day paddle. Bill, Craig, Doug, John, Heike, Paolo and I headed out to Portland. We were fighting a bit of wind and current on the way out, but was in our favour for the way back!

The SOF kayak worked fine. It tracked well and was easy to control, though it was a bit slower than the other boats.

    

11 NM, 20.3 km, YTD 106 km

Feb 10 - Rum Island (#6)

Don, George and I left Amherst at around 9:30 and paddled our way out to Rum Island by way of Dock, Sheep, Brethour and Comet Islands. Weather was superb - felt like summer! Had a lunch on the south beach and made our way bay via Rubbly, Domville and Forrest Islands.

    

21 km, 11 NM, YTD 86 km