September 26th - Cadboro Bay Seal pup (#94)

I went out for an afternoon paddle with Heather, Becca and Monica. We made our way out towards Cadboro Point slowly along the north shore of the bay. Before long Becca had a curious visitor - a seal pup who kept wanting to climb aboard. The pup stayed with us for almost an hour visiting all four boats but seemed to prefer the blue wisper! We also saw great blue herons and a group of otters out by Flower Island. A magical afternoon!

5 km, 3 NM, YTD 914 km

September 25 - Race Rocks (#93)

Dan and I co led a SISKA "adventurous" paddle out to race Rocks. As things turned out the conditions were excellent: sunshine, little wind, low currents and an experienced group of 14. The sea lions at the Race were spectacularly noisy! We had coffee at the new Pedder Bay coffee house afterwards. Nice set up and definitely convenient!

17 km, 9 NM, YTD 909 km

Sept 21 - rolling in Loon Bay (#92)

Dan and I went for an afternoon rolling session in Loon Bay. The water is getting cooler. I am still working on my elbow roll which I got once in probably a dozen tries. You can see me reading Helen Wilson's email under water to try and figure things out... I am close but not quite there...

more photos here 

2 km, 1 NM, YTD 892 km

September 19th - James Island (#91)

I joined David, David, Don, John and Dennis for a VSKN paddle around James Island. The forecast was for rain and it poured as we left Cadboro Bay, but by the time we got to Island View Beach, the rain had stopped and the fog was lifting and the wind was light! We had a nice paddle around the island and lunched on a beach (below high tide of course!) on the east side of James. There was a bit more wind and wave action on the south of James as we made our way back to the launch. We had sunshine by lunchtime - another surprisingly nice day on the water!

16 km, 9 NM, YTD 890 km

September 18th - Thetis Lake (#90)

I assisted Joanne in giving a PC Intro to Kayaking course at Thetis lake. The weather ended up being nicer than the forecast and we did not see rain. Thetis was nice and warm for rolling and it was a nice change to paddle in fresh water!

4 km, 2 NM, YTD 874 km

September 17th - Cadboro Point (#89)

Liz and I went out to Cadboro Point for an evening paddle - Liz wanted to try out her brand new P&H Scorpio LV and also pick up once of Kent Card's nice Greenland paddles. It was nice paddling as dusk fell though we did get rained on a bit...

5 km, 3 NM, YTD 870 km

September 16th - Chatham Island (#88)

Paulo and I went for an after work paddle to Chatham. It was calm but raining gently - a very we(s)t coast day...
We did a bit of rolling here and there. Paulo was using his newly made tuilik and it seemed to work well.
We stopped on the way back to check out the Pacific Swift which was anchored in the bay for the night.

10 km, 5 NM, YTD 865 km.

September 15th - caddy bay (#87)

Dan and I took the Tahes out for an afternoon roll/paddle in the bay. Flat calm but rainy. The Tuiliks were great for these conditions - we felt in our element. I am still working on my elbow roll - did not quite have it today...
The other rolls were all fine. Thinking about entering the Greenland competition in November...

4 km, 2 NM, YTD 855 km

September 12th - SISKA Sidney Spit Cleanup (#86)

I led a SISKA clean up paddle to Sidney Spit as part of the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. The weather was rainy but calm and we had a nice paddle via Ker and Dock Islets to Sidney Spit where we spent a couple of hours picking up garbage. We filled 5 garbage bags and also found some big pieces of foam. The Parks Canada boat took our haul away
Some photos posted here.

10 km, 6 NM, YTD 851 km

September 11th - caddy Bay (#85)

I took Liz out into Caddy Bay to try out the Sirocco and the Tahe Greenland as she is looking at boats. She also tried out a bunch of paddles including my Greenland Carbon by Superior Kayaks. Conditions were nice.

5 km, 3 NM, YTD 841 km.

September 4th/5th - Newcastle Island and Joe's finish (#83/84)

I drove up to Nanaimo to be there for the finish. Robin from Atlantis Kayaks had organised a corn roast for Joe and many Atlantis fans. I met Helen Wilson (greenlandorbust.org) of the Duke point ferry and we made our way over to the camp at Newcastle Island in our Tahe Greenlands (Thanks to Mel for transporting our camping gear which would not fit in the Greenland!). Though conditions in the Gulf Islands were fairly calm there was a stiff NW wind in the Strait of Georgia. When we made it to Newcastle, we met Sheila and Jo Anne, Yves and Patti, Roy and Annette and many others.
After eating some wonderful corn for dinner, we heard that Joe was passing through Dodd Narrows so a few of us headed to the southern tip of Protection Island to wait for Joe. Just before dark, we spotted a speck which quickly grew into Joe, still paddling strong. We paddled the last few kms with Joe to his record setting finish of 16 days, 12 hours and 14 mins. What an accomplishments. After celebrating at the finish (Brechin Boat ramp) we made our way back to camp on Newcastle and had a few beers to celebrate Joe's amazing feat of athleticism and endurance.
A few photos of the finish:

2010-09-05_joeoblenis

On Sunday morning we had a relaxed breakfast, broke camp and I had a short but very productive rolling lesson with Helen - managed to do a couple of elbow rolls and also learned the cross arm roll. Thanks Helen!

We were so proud of Joe - he is a very unassuming and modest champion!

16 km, 9 NM, YTD 836 km

September 3rd - Jemmy Jones and Joe O'Blenis (#82)

After meeting Joe at Fonyo Beach to deliver some water and food and help set up the CHEK TV interview, I zoomed back home and hopped into the Tahe to paddle out to intercept Joe on the way by. The wind in Oak Bay was a strong southwesterly and I eventually made out a small speck coming towards me through the waves. It quickly grew larger and I met up with Joe as he was about to turn north on the final legs of his record-breaking Vancouver Island circumnavigation. We paddled along together for a while and then Joe took a short food break just north of Ten Mile Point. He paddled on to Cowichan head for the last night of his trip.
Some photos at:

2010-09-03_joeoblenis

10 KM, 5 NM, YTD 820 km