April 16th - Discovery (#24)

Michael E, Dan and I set out to go around Discovery Island. It was Michael's first proper paddle with a Greenland paddle and he took to it pretty quickly. We encountered calm and favourable conditions to begin with and decided to go around the top side of Chatham to take advantage of the lee. We decided to make a figure eight so as not to have to fight the tide across Rudlin Bay and were rewarded by speeds of up to 7 kt going across the south end! We stopped in boathouse bay for  a snack lunch and then continued on up between the Chathams. On our crossing back to Cadboro point, Michael experienced trouble turning his CD Solstice in beam winds and we ended up getting swept a fair ways down stream. Dan put a line on his bow which made a huge difference and we were able to slog our way back home against wind and current. Winds were gusting in the 20-25 kt range. It was 30-40 kt around Trial Island! We were all a tad tired when we made it back to the beach!

click to enlarge

18 km, YTD 321 km