April 25th - Portland Island (#35)

Scott and I set out from Swartz Head to paddle out to Arbutus Point on Portland Island and visit Mark and Christine. Conditions were great and we had a nice time visiting with Mark and Christine. We saw eagles, turkey vultures, otters, mink, raccoon, mergansers and more!
I enjoyed paddling the surf ski on a longer paddle and managed to catch a bit of ferry wake at one point!

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14 km, YTD 304 km

April 24th - Oak Bay Marina (#34)

I went for a solo afternoon paddle to Oak Bay Marina and back on the surf ski. There was a bit of a SW wind and showers kept threatening, but by and large conditions were good. Otter and Northern Pintail.

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10km, YTD 290 km.

April 19th - Whiffen Spit (#33)

I participated in the guides exchange rescue scenario with RCM-SAR 37 off Whiffen spit. My main contribution was being willing to float around in the strait for 20 minutes while waiting for them to find me. I noticed how hard it was to swim in paddling gear, but also how warm and dry I stayed in my drysuit with fleece underneath. It was an enjoyable and educational exercise. I was also quite pleased how well the Hammer paddled. I did not have too much trouble keeping up with the group.

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10 km, YTD 280 km

April 18th - Cooper's Cove (#32)

I co-led an interpretive paddle with Daye in Sooke Basin for the guide's exchange. A nice group of 11 paddlers and we looked at geology, plants, marine life and more!

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8 km, YTD 270 km.

April 18th - Willows beach ((#31)

I helped guide an intertidal interpretive paddle with Dave for SISKA. The tide was not super low, but we had fun exploring the shoreline and shallow waters. I had to leave early to get to Sooke for an afternoon paddle, so hence the speedy paddle back!

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2 km, YTD 264 km

April 17th Cooper Cove (#30

I helped Gerhardt run a Greenland rolling clinic at the Sea Kayak guides' exchange. I did not cover much distance ( under 500m) but helped a few folks working on their rolls.

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0 km, YTD 262 km

April 11th - Gonzales Point (#29)

Dan and I went for an afternoon paddle out to Gonzales Point, hoping to stay in the lee of the stiff SW winds. It turned out to be hard work making our way to Mary Todd Islet. Coming back was fun and fast with the wind at our backs and small almost surfable waves. You can see dramatic differences in the colour(speed of the outward and return tracks. We found half a dozen golf balls while we took a break on the beach by the golf course!

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12 km, YTD 262

April 9th - Oak Bay (#28)

I went for an hour long after dinner paddle to take advantage of a lovely evening and daylight savings time! Decided to paddle around Mary Todd Islet for a change of scenery! On my way back I swung by the SALTS boats, Pacific Grace and Pacific Swift which are anchored in the bay. The Grace looked magnificent as it was coming into the bay under full sail! Average speed was 8 kph.

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8 km, YTD 251 km

April 4th - Flower Islet (#27)

I took Dan out for a try of SUPing and we went for a nice meander around the bay. The winds of earlier in the day had dissipated and we had a nice paddle. I can definitely notice different muscle groups in action. I was interested to see that the fasted paddling was when I was kneeling... not sure why. I saw max in his Laser by RVYC and ran into Riley and Kathryn out by Flower Islet.

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5 km, YTD 243 km

April 3rd - Cadboro Point (#26)

I joined Ben and Alex out at Maynard Cove for a paddle along the shore, but the waves were pretty good, so they both went and played in the big stuff while I practiced in the small waves. The surf ski is more stable than I thought! I managed not to capsize, though I came close a couple of times! A great way to start the day! I did a practice capsize at one point and had no trouble getting back on.

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11 km, YTD 238 km

March 31st and April 1st (#s 24 & 25)

I went up to Campbell River to visit with Alan and spend a couple of days paddling Surge Narrows. This time I was paddling my own P&H Hammer and it performed very well. All had the whole time on Video, so I will have to grab some clips. One highligt for me was when Alan and I were together on the wave for 16 minutes! While we were there we met Michael and Doug from Nanaimo Paddlers and enjoyed paddling with them. The wave was really good to me on both days! Thanks again to Alan and Chris (and Nootka!) for hosting me

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10 km, YTD 227 km

March 28 - Geldinganes, Iceland (#23)

I went for a Saturday morning paddle with The Reykjavik Kayak Club (http://www.kayakklubburinn.is/) out to Lundey Island. After a week of wind and snow we were faced by calm seas and sunshine. This was my last morning in Iceland of a two week trip, so it was a great way to wrap the trip up and get some fresh air before the long haul home. Thanks to Sveinn for organizing things for me and it was good to see a few familiar faces from my last trip.
The club house is well set up, made out of a collection of about 10 shipping containers, four of which make up the "clubhouse facility" and the rest of which are for kayak storage. The location is also a good one with access to a nice variety of paddling.
I hope to be back again and to be able to reciprocate the hospitality!

our track - click to en;large

zooming in to the clubhouse

10 km, YTD 217 km