December 31st - the paddling year in review

Well, I didn't make it out on the 31st - it was a tad cold and windy, but I did have a great year of paddling.
I didn't make either my distance or paddle number goals, but I had a lot of fun travelling instead.
The year total of 86 paddles and 728 km was an average number of paddles but the lowest distance of the 12 years of my blog. The km per paddle for the past three years has been pretty constant at 8.5

Year #	Year	# paddles	km total	km per paddle
1	2006	77	1273	16.50
2	2007	66	1098	16.60
3	2008	75	1080	14.40
4	2009	116	1381	11.90
5	2010	124	1214	9.80
6	2011	105	1217	11.60
7	2012	87	1001	11.50
8	2013	92	1063	11.60
9	2014	98	911	9.30
10	2015	120	1025	8.50
11	2016	129	1076	8.30
12	2017	86	728	8.47
	Totals	1175	13067

Looking forward to another good year of paddling in 2018!

December 25th - Jemmy Jones (#86)

I went for a midday paddle around Cadboro Bay after a nice morning walk on the beach with the girls. Though the temperature was not warm 3C, there was no wind, so it seemed quite reasonable!
I met Jeff, another Greenland paddler out near Staines Islet and had a bit of a chat. By the time I got home, the snow was almost melted!

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ready to take the surf ski out - click to enlarge

6 km, YTD 728 km

(PS, it does not look as if I will make my 100 paddle, 1000 km goal this year! Too much time spent having fun doing other things!)

December 19th - Chatham Island (#85)

The day after my return heme from Ecuador, i went out for a morning paddle with Dan. It was pretty windy with a stiff northerly breeze and an ebbing current. You can see that we made good progress on the outward journey, but the return trip was a slog! Probably one of the hardest paddles I have done in a long time! The wind was pretty steady in the 20 knot range with gusts up to 30! Quite a few marbled murrelets around! You can see from the RVYC wind data that the wind was pretty strong while we were out (9 to 11:30)! Our return track was pretty slow - at times it seemed like we were barely making progress!

the route - click to enlarge

today's wind graph - click to enlarge

12 km, YTD 722 km

December 13th - Buccaneer Cove, Galapagos (#84)

I went for a kayak near Buccaneer Cove. It was quite choppy and windy but still fun! Good views of magnificent frigatebirds and Nazca Boobies.

the route

zoomed out to show James Bay

2km, YTD 710 km

December 12th - Tagus Cove, Galapagos (#83)

While on board the National Geographic Endeavour II, I managed to get out for a session on a paddle board in Tagus Cove. It was my first time SUPing in Galapagos and I enjoyed the perspective - I saw plenty of green sea turtles as well as a couple of flightlesss cormorants and Galapagos penguins!

zoomed out to see the crater

the track in Tagus Cove

2km, YTD 708 km

November 25th - Tortuga Bay, Galapagos (#82)

I hiked out to Tortuga Bay and rented one of the sit-on-top kayaks that they have there for $10. I had a fun time there seeing plenty of reef sharks, green sea turtles, mangroves, birds and more! Before the paddle I had the opportunity to go snorkeling as well. A magical spot to visit. I went there 13 time during my 3 weeks in Galapagos!

the route in the bay

The bay in relation to Puerto Ayora, showing the trail

3 km, YTD 706 km

November 1st - Discovery - Orca and Humpback (#81)

Dan, Paulo and I went for a morning paddle out to the islands. great conditions with wonderful wildlife today. Crossing Baynes Channel we spotted and watched a male orca for a few minutes and then as we rounded the top end of Chatham Island, we spotted a humpback which basically preceded us all the way down the east side of the islands. Nice to see two types of whales on one trip!
Lots of birds out as well including marbled murrelets and surf scoters.

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15 km, YTD 701 km

October 29th - Jemmy Jones (#80)

I went for a late morning row out to Jemmy Jones using the oarboard  SUP combo. The system worked pretty well and I think I have just a few adjustments to make to make it excellent. It is definitely a workout rowing the SUP! Again, another lovely clear day with nice views of Mt.Baker.
I also checked out my new slip at RVYC... I will be keeping Natural C-lection there once I have the bottom painted. Again, a little slower against the northerly wind...

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6 km, YTD 686 km

October 27 - Discovery Island (#79)

Dan and I went for a morning paddle around the Islands.  Conditions were nice with good views of Mt Baker as well as a good number of birds, sea lions and seals. No one else on the water! You can see that the northerly wind slowed us a bit on the way back... or we were tired!

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15 km, YTD 680 km

October 24th - Ten Mile Point (#78)

I went for a quick before dinner paddle as it was a beautiful calm evening. I could see both Mt Rainier and Mt Baker on my paddle due to the clear, clean air. I also saw a couple of groups of river otters - one around Ten Mile Point and the other by Cadboro Point..Average speed over the paddle was 8.2 kph (4.4 kt) - the surf ski is a fast boat!

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6 km, YTD 665 km

October 22nd - Cattle Point (#77)

I went for a quick morning paddle on the surfski to take advantage of a weather window. There was a bit of a S/SW breeze which slowed me down on the outward journey, but sped me up on the return. There was a large flock of American wigeon near the beach when I launched, but not much else on the water today. On my way back, I saw a nice rainbow across Cadboro Bay. It was complete at times and the secondary bow was visible on both sides!

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5 km, YTD 659 km

October 18th - Rapid lake (#76)

I went for an afternoon paddle in Rapid lake, Whitney, after  a great bike ride in the morning and wonderful hikes the day before. I was able to spend two full days exploring Algonquin Park near Hwy 60 - wonderful area! Lovely fall colours and no crowds! I think many of the birds have flown south, but I did see a great blue heron and a couple of common mergansers. I stopped for a rest on a gneiss rock in the sunshine!

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7 km, YTD 654 km

October 14th - Mill Lake (Parry sound ON) (#75)

Claire and I went for a nice paddle into Mill Lake from Harmony Outdoor Inn and Ontario Sea Kayak Centre run by James and Dympna. I was visiting Claire in Toronto and decided to take her out of town, we had nice conditions and good weather as we paddled a double.  Not too many people on the water at this time of year. We saw lots of Muskoka chairs on docks! Unfortunately I forgot my GPS, so the track is estimated... It was great fun to paddle with Claire in between her knitting! :)

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15 km, YTD 647 km

October 12 - Cadboro Bay (#74)

I went for a quick morning paddle out to collect the crab traps that I had left out. There was one nice keeper in one of the traps... :)
There was a pacific loon in the bay which was nice to see.

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3km, TYD 632 km

October 9th - Discovery Island (#73)

Dan and I went for a nice morning paddle out to the islands. Conditions were good with not too much current. We saw sea lions and seals and managed to pick up some crabs from my traps on the way back!

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15 km, YTD 629 km

October 7th - Ten Mile Point (#72)

I went for another morning paddle, but this time I went in the opposite direction to Ten Mile Point. Conditions were pretty good, though there was a pretty stiff headwind from Cadboro Point to Jemmy Jones! I saw a few Canada geese, cormorants, marbled murrelets and a beautiful male harlequin duck!

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I was using the kayak activity on my Garmin Vivoactive HR watch and this is a link to the page for that activity. Shows some interesting stats... https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2061856489

8 km, YTD 614 km

October 6th - Cattle Point (#71)

I went for a quick morning paddle out to Cattle Point and back. There was a fairly stiff breeze from the S, which made for a slower outward and a faster return trip! Starting to see the winter birds around. there was a good flock of American wigeon at the beach when I started.

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5 km, YTD 606 km

September 29th - Cameron Cove (#70)

While I was on a Maple Leaf Adventures Great Bear Rainforest trip from Bella Bella to Kitimat, we managed to squeeze in a short paddle on one of the nice calm days. Cameron Cove was a great spot for a paddle and can be a place to see wolves and bears as well as many birds. As I was returning to the MV Swell, I spotted whale spouts outside the cove which eventually led us to a magnificent display of bubble net feeding!

Cameron Cove - click to enlarge

click to enlarge - zoomed out to see the location

5 km, YTD 601 km

September 23rd - Gorge (#69)

I went for a morning SUP paddle in the Gorge. Nice conditions. Lots of snail(?) eggs on the eelgrass. Plenty of Canada geese around. Lots of airplanes in the harbour. GPS battery did not work so track is manually created!

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12 km, YTD 596 km.

September 4th - Caboro Bay (#68)

I went for a morning paddle around the bay. Another beautiful one. I could see the forest fire smoke starting to come in. Visibility is getting less. Ran into Don who was out for a nice paddle with a friend. Since this was a morning paddle, the tide heights were very different from the past few afternoons. Very little current. The channel at Cadboro Point was dry, so I did not go around! There was a tug with a log book just getting going in Oak Bay.

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8 km, YTD 584 km

September 3rd - Cadboro bay (#67)

I went for another afternoon spin on the surf ski. It is a nice way to do a quick paddle around the bay. I stopped to chat with friends a couple of times and also to take some weed of my mooring buoy! Mt Rainier was no longer visible today due to haze.

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7 km, YTD 576 km

September 2nd - Cadboro Point (#66)

I went for an afternoon paddle out to Cadboro Point with the surf ski. I do like how fast the surf ski paddles! It is so light to carry and simple to set up. The only worry I have is hitting the rudder on a rock!
I stopped a couple of times to chat with friends along the shore. We live in such a wonderful paddling area
I saw a bull California Sea Lion on my way back from Jemmy Jones. The bump on his head was quite noticeable. I also saw a group of young harlequin ducks - they did not want to fly way!

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7 km. YTD 569 km

September 1st - Cadboro Bay (#65)

Jenny and I went for an evening paddle on SUPs along the south side of Cadboro Bay. It was a beautiful clear cal evening, with the view clear all the way to Mr. Rainier.

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3 km, YTD 562 km

August 29th - Cadboro Bay (#64)

I went for a quick after lunch paddle to get a bit of exercise and took the surf ski - so light and fast!
I averaged 7.9 kph over exactly 1 hour of paddling!
I saw a few marbled murrelets and picked up a floating Clamato juice bottle. The ebb current definitely slowed me down on my way to Cadboro point, but also sped me up on my way to Flower Islet/Evans Rock! Nice to get out again!

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8 km, YTD 559 km

August 26th - oyama (#63)

I managed a couple of short paddles/rows while we stopped in Oyama on the way back from Calgary and Idaho (for the eclipse!). In the morning I took the sit on top for a short daybreak paddle. Beautiful light and calm quiet water - nothing but me and a few grebes!
In the afternoon I inflated the Baylee2 and took it for a row over to the bench. It handled a 5 km row quite nicely. It was a bit slower than the kayak, but rowed well. Lots of boats on the lake on a Saturday afternoon!

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8 km, YTD 551 km

August 16th - Discovery Island (#62)

George and I went for a morning paddle around my favourite local islands, and we were in for a treat. The weather and currents were good, though there was some lumpy water in Batnes Channel. As we approached the NE corner of Chatham Island I thought I could see several whale spouts - by their size, and since they were behind a rocky point, I thought they were humpbacks, but as I got closer it turned out they were a pod of orcas hunting along the shore. I am pretty sure that they were playing with a seal, but did not get a close/clear enough look! What a treat to see orcas - some came pretty close to us! We fought a bit of wind and current across Rudlin Bay, but otherwise had favourable currents.

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15 km, YTD 543 km

August 15th - Discovery Island (#61)

Dan and I went for a mid-day paddle around the islands. The weather was great, light winds and sunny and the currents were slack or weak.We stopped for a snack in the park. Nice to get a substantial paddle in! :)

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15 km, YTD 528 km

10 paddles in Alaska (#s 51-60)

I spent July 16 to August 12 aboard MV Swell in southeast Alaska working as a naturalist for Maple Leaf Adventures. During that time I was able to lead ten short paddles with guests. Not too much details about each paddle, but all were fun!

overview of paddle sites as red dots - click to enlarge

#1 - Windham Bay - July 18th - 2 km

Windham Bay click to enlarge

#2 Gambier Bay - July 21st - 5 km

Gambier Bay - click to enlarge

#3 Warm Springs Bay - July 22nd - 2 km

Warm Springs Bay - the tide was right for getting into the salt lagoon!

#4 Magoun Islands - July 24th - 4 km

Magound Islands - click to enlarge

#5 Magoun Islands - July 25th - 2 km

Magoun Islands - July 25th - click to enlarge

#6 Warm Springs Bay - July 28th - 6 km

Warm Springs Bay - click to enlarge

#7 Gambier Bay - July 29 - 6 km

Gambier Bay -click to enlarge

#8 Good Island, Gambier Bay - August 1st - 6 km

Good Island Gambier Bay - click to enlarge

#9 Gambier Bay - August 8th - 5 km

Gambier Bay - click to enlarge

#10 Stone Island, South Etolin - August 10 - 4 km

Stone Island - click to enlarge

42 km total for Alaska - YTD 513 km

July 15th - Discovery Island (#50)

Dan and I went for a nice morning paddle out to the islands. The winds were light as we started as was the current which made for easy paddling all the way to Rudlin Bay. We saw the Discovery shuttle, Simon and Cheryl's boat in Rudlin Bay. On our way back we encountered some lumpy waters in Baynes Channel. We even got a few surfable waves.
Off to AK tomorrow, probably won't get too many paddles in, but will try! :)
I am a bit behind schedule for my goal this year! I may have to do a lot of paddling in the fall!

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15 km, YTD 471 km.

July 12th - Discovery Island (#49)

Dan and I went for an early morning paddle around the islands. There was a bit of wind to start, but this then died down. Baynes was ebbing but was only lumpy well to the south of Cadboro point. We were able to keep up a good pace and had fun catching a couple of waves. It was nice to get out for a longer paddle!

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15 km, YTD 456 km

July 10th - Carmichael Passage, Haida Gwaii (#48)

I managed to get one short paddle in during my 2 week stint in Gwaii Haanas aboard S/V Maple Leaf - too many other fun things to do! On my last morning, I managed to get out for a quick paddle by myself and then another short one with a passenger. It is wonderful to explore the shore by kayak. One of the many creatures I saw was one that has a very fine name: leafy hornmouth! (it is a snail that preys upon barnacles).

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click to enlarge - zoomed out for context

3 km, YTD 441 km

June 18th - MEC Paddlefest - Willows Beach (#47)

I went to willows beach to participate in the MEC paddlefest. I was instructing two clinics, one on the forward stroke and the other on Greenland paddling. Both were well-attended and went well.
Though the day was a bit grey and drizzly, the winds were calm, so conditions were nice. I also got to meet Finn Steiner (and his mom who took one of my clinics). Finn is the youngest person, at 17, to paddle around our Island. Check out his blog. Finn Graduates high school this coming week!

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5 km, YTD 438 km

June 17 - Discovery island (#46)

Dan, Robert, Paulo and I went for a morning paddle around the islands. Conditions were great for a relaxed paddle as there was little in the way of wind or current. Great chats as we paddled along trying to solve the world's problems! :)

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15 km, YTD 433 km

June 15th - Cadboro Bay Towing Clinic (#45)

Edgar and I led an evening towing clinic for SISKA in Cadboro bay. The strong afternoon winds and rain had abated and the bay was nice and calm. We went over different types of tow, towing gear and other aspects of towing and then spent a couple of hours practicing. We towed each other out to the two SALTS boats, Pacific Grace and Pacific Swift, which were anchored in the bay for the night.

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2 km, YTD 418 km