November 26&27 - Surge Narrows (#s 113&114)

I went up to Campbell River to stay with Alan and spend two days paddling the wave at Surge Narrows. On Saturday we with Walter and on Sunday Walter and Craig. The 3 or 4 of us had he wave to ourselves, and the wave was pretty friendly throughout our time there. I learned a few more things about staying on the wave and had some wonderful rides. I figured out that a 5 minute ride at 6 knots is like riding a surfing wave for 1 km! Conditions were pretty good with very little wind and some light rain. A Steller sea lion checked us out at one point and gave us a look that made me think we were hogging his wave! You can see the current was still fast as we returned from the wave both days, but the tide had risen to the point where the wave had flattened out. Hope to head back up again soon!

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8 km, YTD 968 km

November 24th - Jemmy Jones Island (#112)

Dan and I went for a morning paddle in the windy bay. We had to work hard to paddle out against the 20 kt wind and also had to go to Loon Bay to empty our cockpits after launching!  You can see the slow progress we made out and then the wonderfully fast, almost straight, return. We were able to catch and surf a good number of waves on the way back. An hour after our return, the bay was calm! A short but fun paddle!

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6 km, YTD 960 km

Novemebr 22nd - Cadboro Point (#111)

I went out to Cadboro Point in the afternoon to play in the waves which were predicted to be big in Baynes. I had to paddle fairly hard against a headwind to get there, and when I got there, the waves were bigger than I wanted! I chatted for a while with Ben and then paddled home with the wind at my back - catching a few small waves! Buffleheads, hooded merganzers and a pacific loon were on the bird list.

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6 km, YTD 954 km

November 20th - Cadboro Bay (#110

I went for a nice solo afternoon paddle out to Cadboro Point and around the bay. It was pretty bumpy out in Baynes, but I did not try to play init as I had no helmet and no spotter. It is nice to daydream on a solo paddle, enjoying the peace of the outdoors. There were lots of buffleheads in the bay.

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7 km, YTD 948 km

November 16th - Discovery Island (#109)

Dan and I went for a morning paddle around our favourite islands. Winds were calm and there was a strong ebb. The air is getting colder - I needed gloves for part of the trip! We did a bit of a figure of eight for a change of route.

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15 km, YTD 941 km

November 14th - Cadboro Bay (#108)

I went for a quick afternoon paddle around the bay in between stints of marking! Conditions were overcast with a 5-10 kt SE wind. I saw sea lions, seals as well as surf scoters, oystercatchers, cormorants and more. It is easy to keep up a good pace in the surf ski!

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6 km, YTD 928 km

November 12th - Cadboro Bay (#107)

Monica, Steve, Melissa and I went for a nice morning paddle around the bay. Despite the forecast, conditions were nice and calm and the rain was minimal. We saw many kinds of birds as well as seals and otters. We had a relatively strong flood near Cadboro Point, so decided not to go any further. We had the Whisky 16, the Hammer, the F1 and my Tahe Greenland out! Almost emptied the grage for a moment!

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8 km, YTD 920 km

November 10th - Discovery island (#106)

Dan and I paddled out of Killarney and met Paulo at Cadboro Point after which we headed over to the islands. Conditions were calm and overcast. The Growlers of Whidny island were busy taking off or landing and making quite a noise. We saw the wolf near Heritage Point near the SW corner of west Chatham Island. He gets around quite a bit!

15 km, YTD 912 km

November 5th - Discovery island (#105)

Dan, Paulo and I went for a nice morning paddle. The wind was pretty calm and the current was a building ebb that slowed us down in places. Lots of seabirds around as well as a Steller sea lion in Baynes and seals all around Chatham and Discovery.  Paulo had just received a new paddle from Gearlab. It is one of their nukilik models. The two piece paddle as a very solid join as well as exchangeable tips. It also moved nicely through the water. It is not as light as the Superior paddle (still my favourite) and has a much smaller diameter loom. We also made a detour to Strongtide Islet to pick up a crab trap float that Dan had seen recently - I came home with loot! :)

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15 km, YTD 897 km