August 25-27 - Port Renfrew to Victoria (#s 77-79)

Monica kindly drove George, Pete, Dennis and me to Port Renfrew where the four of us began our 3 day trip back to Victoria. This was the last part of our West coast "expedition" from Port Hardy to Victoria over several trips. The weather and conditions were very much in our favour and we made great progress each day - average speed was well over 7 kph for the trip. Crossing from Cape Calver to Trial island we rarely were travelling at less than 10 kph! The mornings were typically calm and foggy, especially the first two with tail winds picking up in the afternoon. We found great little camping spots near Sandcut creek on the first night and in a small pocket beach near Aldridge Point on the second night. This was the first trip that I had used the Northern Light "Aleut inspired" paddle and it performed very well. I also was able to make good use of my pacific action sail. This was a great trip!

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109 km, YTD 924 km

August 23rd - Caddy bay (#76)

I went out with Claire for a nice afternoon paddle around Cadboro Bay. Sunny and calm! Claire had the Tahe and I paddled the F1.

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4.5 km, YTD 815 km

August 20th - Medway again (#75)

 I paddled the last section of the Medway today so that I have now paddled the entire navigable stretch. It was fun going through all the locks. the last Canoe Pass was exciting enough that I got splashed when the wave came over my bow! The Wisper is now packed and ready for the trip home. It has been great having a packable kayak and a three piece Greenland Paddle for Northern Light paddles.

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 14 km, YTD 811 km

All 4 trips - click to enlarge

August 17 - medway photos

Here is a link to the photos from the last three days on the Medway.
Medway photos

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Tonbridge,United Kingdom

August 17th - Medway (#74)

My third Medway trip was in the Tonbridge area. I launched from the Haysden Country Park and paddled down to thr fourth lock (East Lock). I saw some more boaters today including quite a large group of canoeists. There are fishermen scattered along the river. I also had fun going down the "canoe passes" which were little sluices designed for canoes to pass the locks - almost whitewater paddling! Tomorrow I hope to do a fourth leg to complete the navigable section of the Medway...

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all three days

18 km, YTD 797 km

August 16th - Medway again (#73)

I managed to get out again today and launched this time near the medieval bridge in East Farliegh (where I finished yesterday). I paddled down to the Allington lock just past Maidstone. It was another delightful paddle on the river. I hope to post some pictures soon via picasa...

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14 km, YTD 779 km

August 15th - Medway (#72)

I managed to get out paddling on the Medway River in Kent. The Medway is a river with locks so it is very "flat water". However, the river is wonderfully quiet and peacful with very little traffic and few people. As I had brought the Feathercraft Wisper and my Northern Light 3 Piece paddle, I was able to drive to Yalding, assemble and launch the kayak, paddle for a few hours and return. A delightful day's paddle.

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19 km, YTD 765 km

August 7th - Helen Wilson clinics (#71)

I helped organize another two clinics today. The morning one was was an intermediate Greenland rolling session for 7 paddlers and everyone made great progress. In the afternoon I was one of 7 students for an advanced Greenland rolling clinic. Though I did not master any new rolls I got much closer to being able to do my elbow roll, a spine roll and a forward finishing norsaq roll. All in all we had a great weekend with Helen Wilson of Greenlandorbust.org and Mark Tozer of Edge of Adventure. Mark and Helen made a great team and it was a pleasure hosting them. Hope to have them both back next year!

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5 km, YTD 746 km

August 6th - Helen Wilson Clinics (#70)

I helped to organize a couple of rolling clinics today with Helen Wilson and Mark Tozer (Mark is a BCU 5 star coach from the UK). In the morning we worked on Greenland paddling strokes and in the afternoon we did a beginner rolling clinic in Beaver Lake. We went all the way from the basic forward stroke to draws and sculls.

4km, YTD 741 km

August 5th - Loon Bay (#69)

Bill and I went for a morning rolling session in Loon Bay. It was good to do a few rolls to get ready for Helen Wilson's clinics this weekend! The Tahe Greenland is such a great rolling boat!

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2 km, YTD 737

August 3rd - Chatham (#68)

Paulo and I went for a short afternoon paddle around west Chatham Island. It was sunny and warm and we kept up a good pace.

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10 km, YTD 735 km.

July 31 - Symphony Splash (#67)

I set out from James Bay Anglers to join Suzy, Simon, Lisa and Graeme as on water donation collectors for the Symphony Splash. What an event! It was great to be on the water supporting this great event. The view in front of the barge was excellent and it was fun to be part of the "sea otter raft". It was also great to see several friends and alumni. The paddle back at night was fun - my kayalu light worked very well!

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6 km, YTD 725 km