September 28th - Rolling at the Guides Exchange, Ucluelet (#72)

Gerhardt and I led a Greenland rolling session for half a dozen participants at the fall SKGABC guides' exchange in Ucluelet. Despite a windy day, we found a nice quiet spot to teach and practice at Little Beach. We spent the morning on rolls and then part po0f the afternoon on Greenland paddle strokes. We also took some time to poke our noses out into the bigger sea conditions outside the bay - long enough to decide it was not a place to take a group! People made good progress, and we managed not to get too rained on. The day finished with a magnificent meal at the Kwisitis feast house. On Sunday the waves were even bigger so surfing was not recommended. Instead,I went for a great little hike along the Wild Pacific Trail. I also got to experience sleeping in a yurt at the Wya campground - very nice!
Gerhardt has posted some nice pics of the exchange here

3 km, YTD 855 km

September 24th - Discovery Island (#71)

Dan and I went for an afternoon paddle around our favourite islands... Conditions were great, with a weakening ebb and little wind throughout. the water was almost glassy at times. We maintained a pretty good pace, keeping up a moving average of 6.9 kph. Lots of seals around. We stopped off for a snack in Rudlin Bay and then near Commodore point to check an area that the wolf had been using. No fresh sign there though...

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15 km, YTD 852

September 21 - Discovery Island (#70)

Dan, Paulo, George and I set out for a morning paddle around Chatham and Discovery. We thought we might be paddling in fog, but it cleared up before we got out of the bay! Conditions were excellent with little wind and not too much adverse current. We stopped off for a snack by Heritage Point and were able to keep up a good pace throughout. A great way to start the weekend!

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15 km, YTD 837 km

September 14th - Discovery Island and Orcas (#69)

George and I set out on a foggy morning from Killarney at 9:30 to meet Olivier at Cadboro point. soon after we rounded the corner by Flower Island, we saw orcas. We thin they were transients, but we were not that close. They were near Jemmy Jones when we were at Flower. They continued on past Cadboro Point and off into Haro strait. What a way to start a paddle. The rest of our paddle was relatively uneventful, with good sightings of seals, turkey vultures, kingfishers, oystercatchers and more. We saw the ORS Discovery shuttle in Rudlin bay as well as a group of campers there. We stopped for a snack by Commodore pOint and then made our way back on a slackening flood tide. George and I stopped by Natural C-lection on the way back. I decided to take Natural C-lection back in onto the trailer after we got back.

Orca by Cadboro Point Light

 

Orcas in the fog

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16 km, YTD 822

September 12th - Discovery Island (#68)

Dan and I went for an afternoon paddle out and around Discovery. There was a gentle ebb running throughout, and the weather was wonderful! Sunshine and virtually no wind. I went over to the mooring to check on Natural C-lection and then we went around Discovery in the opposite direction to our usual! We stopped in boathouse bay for a 20 minute snack break and managed to maintain a decent pace in spit of both of us feeling out of shape/practice! I hope to get plenty more afternoon paddles in this fall. Based on the track log we paddled for almost exactly 2 hours, averaging 7.35 kph (almost exactly 4 knots).

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15 km, YTD 806 km

September 2nd - Cadboro Bay (#67)

I took Claire, Jayson, Julia and Rebekah for a paddle around the bay. I paddled the Disko Bay, Claire the LC, Jayson the T, Julia the Delphin, and Rebekah the F1. Amazngly I had enough safety gear for all of them! (I probably could have done one more!). We had a nice paddle around the bay in great conditions. I finished the paddle with a short rolling demonstration. This was the first time in a sea kayak on saltwater for all but Claire and me! A nice thing to do on my last day of the summer holiday!

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4 km, YTD 891 km