Saturday, November 30, 2013

November 30th - Discovery Island (#84)

Dan, Paulo and I went for a quick morning paddle around our favourite islands. Conditions were nice. We did not stop anywhere and were back at Killarney Kayak base by 11 AM.
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15 km, YTD 990 km

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

November 27th - Discovery Island (#83)

Dan and I went for another afternoon paddle (I was able to get off work early) and had another great paddle around Discovery Island.Conditions were good though there was a stiff ebb current helping us run south, but hindering us on our way back. We saw a group of about 10 paddlers crossing back from Discovery as we were heading over, and I ran into Eric taking pictures on the beach by Flower Island. (only 25 km to go! Maybe Saturday?). We also saw a solo paddler heading out across Baynes as we were returning.
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15 km, YTD 975, 7 kph (3.8 kt) moving average speed

Sunday, November 24, 2013

November 24th - Discovery (#82)

Dan and I went for a Sunday afternoon quick spin around Discovery. Conditions were magnificent; sunny with only a little wind (5-10 kt from the N). We ran into Robin and Mark and then Scott and Michael and stopped to chat with both groups for a few minutes off the west side of Discovery. Looks like only 40 km to go for the 1000 km yearly goal, but 18 more paddles if I want to do 100!
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15 km, YTD 960 km.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

November 16 and 17 - Surge Narrows (#80&81)

Olivier, George and I went up to Campbell River for the weekend to paddle Surge Narrows with Alan. We stayed with Alan and went over to Quadra each day. Brent was there on both days and on Sunday we also saw Jonathan, Ken and Peter. The wave was very nice each day (best on Sunday) with the current maxing at just over 7 knots. For me the sweet spot was between 4 and 6 knots, I think, as I found it hard to get on and stay on when it was  around 7. It was George's first exposure to the narrows, and he got a few good rides. George also got some good video I think, and I got some good rolling and rescue practice.
On Sunday I got to paddle Brent's Gemini SP which performed very nicely in the wave. Despite being mid November, we had sunshine for much of both days!
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15 km (probably more since I did not record my time in the Gemini), YTD 945 km

Monday, November 11, 2013

November 11th - Discovery Island (#79)

Dan, Paulo and I paddled out to Cadboro Point to meet Olivier and then the four of us proceeded over to Chatham and Discovery Islands. The air was incredibly clear - we could easily see the outline of Mt Rainier over 210 km away! There was a brisk Northerly wind which pushed us a bit to begin and then slowed us down on the way back. The tide was also very high (just a few cm below the orange lichens), so we took the opportunity to check out cactus islet lagoon and other spots which can only be visited when there is plenty of water. the prickly pear cacti look to be in good health. we kept an eye out for the wolf, but did not see it. We also observed a few minutes of silence at 11 in remembrance, while we were stopped at Rudlin Bay.
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19 km, YTD 930 km

Sunday, November 03, 2013

November 3rd - Discovery (#78)

Dan and I went for a Sunday morning paddle. we started an hour earlier than planned since Dan forgot about the time change! Conditions were magnificent. sunny and calm - quite a contrast to yesterday's winds that shut down some of the ferry routes for a while.
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15 km, YTD 911 km