September 27th - Feathercraft (#95)

I went to Vancouver to try out a very lightweight Feathercraft Kayak, the Kurrent. Weighing in at 10 kg it will be very easy to take on a plane trip, not to mention carry to the beach. I found it comfortable and responsive and similar in many ways to the Wisper, which I have paddled for 10 years(I also went to get a repair done on my Wisper). You may not be surprised to know that a red Kurrent is on order. I also tried rowing their Baylee 2 and 3 rafts which could make a great tender for Natural C-lection...

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1 km, YTD 815 km

September 25th - Cadboro Bay (#95)

I went for a short afternoon paddle around the bay in the surfski. It was sunny with a 5 knot north wind making for a rippled sea surface. It was clear enough that I could see Mt. Rainier, 215 km away on the other side of Seattle as well as Mt Baker. There were a few other paddlers out.

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5 lm, YTD 814 km

September 24th - Discovery Island (#94)

Dan, Paulo, Rob and I went for a morning paddle around the islands. Conditions were very calm and there was a slight flood running. In spit of that we were able to average 7.0 kph for the paddle.
We stopped for a break on the beach at Rudlin bay and had a look at the Park closure signs. Though we kept an eye out for the wolf, we did not see him.

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15 km, YTD 809 km

September 24th - Discovery Island (#94)

Dan, Paulo, Rob and I went for a morning paddle around the islands. Conditions were very calm and there was a slight flood running. In spit of that we were able to average 7.0 kph for the paddle.
We stopped for a break on the beach at Rudlin bay and had a look at the Park closure signs. Though we kept an eye out for the wolf, we did not see him.

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15 km, YTD 809 km

September 23rd - cadboro Bay (#93)

I took the surfski out for a quick morning spin around the bay. The two SALTS boats were at anchor which made a pretty sight. They usually anchor in cadboro Bay on Thursday nights, as they finish their trips in Victoria Harbour on Friday afternoon. The wind picked up as I was paddling and I even got a few rides on the way in!

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5 km, YTD 794 km

September 19th - Cadboro Bay (#92)

Bill and I went for an afternoon paddle around the bay. There was a bit of a SW wind that helped us cross the bay quickly, but otherwise conditions were nice. We were both in skin-on-frame boats, though Bill's is a more traditional design.

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6 km, YTD 789 km

September 18th - Discovery Island (#91)

Paulo and I went for a Sunday morning run around Chatham and Discovery Islands. We did not see the wolf or any campers. Today is the last day that the park is open (until next spring?) since it is being closed due to the thoughtless actions of a group with a dog last weekend. Conditions were excellent. The strong ebb current did not cause us too much trouble! We saw lots of birds as well as river otters, sea lions and harbour seals.
At this rate I am well on schedule to complete my 1000 km and 100 paddle goal...

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15 km, YTD 783

September 15 - Flower Island (#90)

I went for a tour of the bay on the Starboard SUP. Very nice sunny conditions and clear water. There are 6 beached boats on the shore at this point. The one at the end of Killarney which came ashore right after they removed the other two on the Saanich side is still there as are 5 on the Oak Bay side...

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4 km, YTD 768 km

September 13th - Discovery Island (#89)

Paulo and I went out for a morning paddle around the islands. Great conditions. We heard the Growler jets taking off from Whidbey Islands about half a dozen times.

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15 km, YTD 764 km

September 11th - Discovery Island (#88)

I joined Rob and Jeff for an early morning (0730) departure from Gyro Park to paddle around Discovery. We had wonderful conditions. (Overcast enough that I did not exacerbate my sunburn from yesterday!) There were quite a few campers in Rudlin Bay and we chatted with a trio from Port Angeles who were over for the weekend. It was nice to see three more paddlers with skinny sticks! The flood was a bit against us on thew way out, but it also helped us on the way back!

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15 km, YTD 749 km

September 10th - Paddle for health (#87)

I paddled over to Willows Beach to be one of the "leaders" for the Paddle for Heath fundraiser paddle for families with childhood cancer. (If you would like to donate to this cause, please do so here.)
The group paddled back to Gyro beach and then returned to willows for a lunch stop. After it was all done, I paddled back to Killarney! Lots of boats on the water! We had over 100 paddlers on the water and we had a great paddle.

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15 km, YTD 734 km

September 9th - Tour de Cadboro (#86)

I went for a solo morning paddle around the bay in the surfski. It was pretty foggy out so I decided to cut things a bit short and not venture too far. I visited the Pacific Swift briefly and saw a pretty good fog bow for most of the trip back from Flower Island since the sun was low and behind me.

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6 km, YTD 719 km

September 4th - Discovery Island (#85)

I arranged to head out the morning after our late night return from the Maritimes! Dan and I went for "the usual" and had a very nice paddle. We met up with Paulo and a few others who had been camping in Rudlin Bay. They had heard the wolf this morning. There was quite a strong ebb running when we cross over to the islands, but it had weakened for the return.

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15 km, YTD 713 km

August 18-31 - Maritimes (#s75-84)

Monica and I took our Feathercraft wisper kayaks to NB, PE and NS for two and a half weeks of exploring. I managed to get in 10 paddles and 62 km in total. There were a few days when I wanted to paddle but it was too windy...

62 km, YTD 698 km

overview of paddling locations - click to enlarge

#75 Hopwell Rocks - August 18

Monica and I went paddling around Hopewell rocks at high tide. It was pretty windy and weird paddling in "chocolate milk". It was neat to be paddling around rocks 30+ feet above where we had been walking the day before!

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8 km

#76 Riverside Albert - August 18

Monica and I went for a quiet afternoon paddle and enjoyed the tranquility of a river paddle. It is neat how you can be on a river and get such a different perspective on the countryside.

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6 km

#77 Bouctouche - August 19

I went for an evening paddle along the shore near Bouctouche.

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5 km

#78 Darnley - Cabot Park - August 21

Monica and I were staying at Jack and Mary's cottage in Darnley and I managed to get out for a few paddles. Jack and I paddled from "their beach to Cabot Park where Monica and Mary picked us up!

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7 km

#79 Darnley - Bird Rock - August 22

I went for a solo paddle along the shore to "bird rock". the wind was from the south-east, so this shore was fairly protected. I was able to catch a few small waves on the way back. You can see that my trip back was a lot faster!

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8 km

#80 - Millvale to Stanley Bridge - August 24

Jack and I went for a nice paddle down the Stanley River. Lots of nice properties along this stretch of the river!

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6 km

#81 Cape Breton Island -South Harbour - August 28

Monica and I went for a morning paddle around South Harbour near Cape North on CBI. There was a bit of wind, so we did not venture out into the ocean..

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7 km

#82 Cape Breton Island - Black Brook Cove - August 28

I went for a solo paddle along this shoreline. This was an amazing piece of coastline with great surge channels and bays littered with giant granite boulders. The pink granite was also cut across by black lava dykes and faults. One of my favourite paddles!

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5 km

#83 Cape Breton Island - Marion Bridge - August 31

Monica and I went for a sunny morning paddle on the Mara River at Marion Bridge, inspired by the "Song for the Mira" which is a favourite of ours!

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Celtic Thunder Plays Song for the Mira

6 km

#84 Isle Madame - August 31

I went for a short last paddle before packing up the boats on Isle Madame. There are so many more places I want to paddle out here!

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4 km