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

June 14th - Discovery Island (#44)

Dan and I went for a morning paddle around the islands. Nice conditions with a steady ebb throughout. Lots of seals around as well as a few harlequin and oystercatchers. Nice to get some distance in!

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16 km, YTD 416 km

June 11th - Oak Bay (#43)

Dave and I led an inter-tidal exploration paddle out of Willows beach. We had a nice low tide and saw plenty of low tide zone life. This is always a fun, short paddle with lots to look at.

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3 km, YTD 400 km

June 10th - SISKA picnic (#42)

I helped out with a crabbing clinic  for the SISKA picnic which we helpd in Gyro Park. The crabbing was a bit slow (catching only females and undersized males) but we were able to show that it works! :) A great day of fun and games!

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5 km, YTD 397 km

June 2-6 - Broughtons (#s 37-41)

Together with Beth Anne and Pete, I led a group of seven grade 10 students on a 5 day, 4 night,  paddling trip into the Broughtons. We had excellent conditions with dry weather, light winds  and weak or favourable currents (possibly the best of any of these trips I have done!). We saw plenty of wildlife (humpback whales, Steller sea lions, harbour and Dall's porpoises, Pacific white-sided dolphins as well as plenty of birds including several active bald eagle nests). I also ran into an old friend, Mike D, from Galapagos days, who was working at Orca Lab. We also had a great visit to Alert Bay and the Umista Centre.

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72 km, YTD 392 km