April 24 and 25 - Dubside (#s31-33)

Over the weekend we(SISKA)  ran 3 on water rolling and Greenland paddling clinics with Dubside. The first one was an introduction to Greenland paddling and the other two were intermediate and advanced rolling. The rolling was done in Loon bay for its wind protection and convenience. We also ran a beginner rolling clinic in the Crystal pool on Sunday evening. A very productive weekend thanks to Dubsides expertise and teaching.

I improved all of my existing rolls and got closer to a storm roll and forward rolling stick roll. I figured out the swan roll (two rolling sticks) as well as a “brick roll” (a hand roll holding a rock).



10 km, 5 NM, YTD 433 km

April 17 and 18 - Pender (#s 29 and 30)

Dan and I set out from Amherst in Sidney to paddle over to the Westcoast Paddler (http://www.westcoastpaddler.com/) campout on Pender Island. The 18 km paddle over to Bedwell Harbour was blessed by good conditions, a favourable current and several porpoise and auklet sightings.

We had a nice evening visiting with the WCP campout group and then set out at 0830 on Sunday to paddle 38 km back to Victoria. We could not have asked for more favourable conditions! Light winds and an ebb current for the whole trip! You can see that our speed was boosted for virtually the whole trip with a big boost right after D’Arcy Islands. We ran across several porpoises, many rhinoceros auklet pairs, crossed into US waters, avoided freighters and ferries, and passed a few halibut fishermen on the flats south of D’Arcy.

 56 km combined, 30 NM, YTD 423 km

April 17th - Marina rally (#28)

Monica and I set out from the Gorge Rowing centre to participate in the rally against the Mega Marina Proposal. There was a good turnout and the size of the area proposed is huge. In spite of there being well over a hundred boats, they did not begin to fill up the area!

On the track you can see the size of the marina area as I paddled the circumference.



6 km, 3 NM, YTD 367 km

April 13th - Rolling (#27)

Dan and I went out for a couple of hours rolling practice in Cadboro Bay. We began in Loon Bay and had an excellent session. We then paddled over to the Cadboro Point area and practiced a bit more. Dan helped me invent a new (to me) roll…



5 km, 2.5 NM, YTD 361 km

April 11th - Telegraph (#26)

Gordin and I set out from Caddy Bay  for an afternoon paddle. Conditions were very nice, light northerly breeze, sunshine and not much current. We paddled the shoreline out to Cadboro and Ten mile points and then around to Telegraph Cove. The trip back had a bit of current in our favour and we were treated to X-rated otter action! There were lots of Harlequin ducks, Buffleheads, Great blue herons, Turnstones and more to be seen.

 10 km, 5 NM, YTD 356 km

April 10th - Discovery (#25)

Mark, Dan and I went for a nice afternoon paddle around Chatham and Discovery Islands. Nice and sunny, but a cool north wind… with the wind at our backs, we were definitely faster on the outward trip.

 15 km, 8 NM, YTD 346 km

April 5th - Little Group (#24)

Dan, Mike and I set out from Aherst to paddle around the Sidney area. We originally had plans to go to Rum, but winds and currents were not favourable so we worked our way up wind for a while and then surfed our way down wind to the Little Group and had lunch on Shell Island. After lunch we went to Johns passage to look for some current action, but there was not much. Had a nice day!

 13 km, 7 NM, YTD 331 km

April 3rd - Discovery (#23)

Dan, Paulo and I set out from Caddy Bay to go for a paddle around Discovery – my first in four weeks! It was a bit windy early on and there was a fun overfall off Vantreight Island. We played in it for a while and then carried on around Chatham and Discovery Islands. I was out of paddling shape, so the 16 km trip was a bit tiring! After yesterday’s wind storm it had settled down a lot.

 16 km, 9 NM, YTD 318 km