July 27th - Cadboro Bay (#62)

I went for a nice short evening paddle. Sunny and calm with good views of Mt. Baker but not Mt. Rainier. A few other paddlers out - mostly SUPers. made it to 500 km! :)

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6 km, YTD 503 km

July 21st - Flower Island (#61)

I went for an evening paddle around the bay on the surfski. It was a bit windy and I wanted to check if the seal pup was around. I chatted with my friends who had seen it on their beach, but it was gone this morning... who knows where. You can see that the SW wind slowed me down a lot crossing the bay from Flower ti "Island 7". I saw a few pigeon guillemots feeding in the bay.

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6 km, YTD 497 km

July 20th - Cadboro Bay (#60)

I went for a mid-afternoon paddle since it was so warm in the house. It was noticeably cooler out on the water. I could see Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker nicely and I also saw several great blue herons and a black oystercatcher. Stopped along the Ten Mile Point shoreline to chat with a few friends and encountered the cutest baby seal (still had its umbilical visible) - which may have lost it mother... :(

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8 km, YTD 491 km - should make 500 on the next paddle...

July 19th - Gordon river/Port Renfrew (#59)

I went for a morning paddle in the inflatable Scamper to check out the channel at low tide. There was less than six inches of water in the main channel, so no heading out at that time in the C-dory! Lots of bald eagles about as well as one turkey vulture. It was nice to be out in the quiet misty morning. I also paddled around the marina to check out all the other boats! My track is shown aout 20 ft to the east of where it should be on the image - I did not padle through docks!

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4 km, YTD 483 km

July 10th - Cadboro Bay SUP (#58)

I went out a second time today, this time for a lesson from Sam at Gyro Beach Board Shop on paddling a SUP. She gave me a bunch of good pointers and I was definitely paddling more efficiently and straighter by the end. SUPing is growing on me!

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5 km, YTD 470 km

July 10th - Cadboro Bay (#57)

I went for a nice morning paddle around the bay on the surfski. There was a bit of wind from the S but not too much - overcast sky. Tide was medium-high and not too much current. I saw several black oystercatchers calling and flying around between Cattle Point and Jemmy Jones.

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8km, YTD 474 km

July 5th - Cadboro Bay (#56)

I set up a SISKA meetup paddle and was joined by Anton for a very nice paddle around the bay. Lots of people on the water today. I saw a marbled murrelet in winter (black and white) plumage which was a bit surprising

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8 km, YTD 466 km

July 3rd - Discovery Island Wolf Mural (#55)

Dan and I set out from Killarney to paddle out and around the islands to see the new mural by Paul Archer of Takaya, the Discovery Island wolf that was relocated and then shot this past winter. News article here. It was nice and calm with currents that were not too strong and a gentle steady rain.
We made it to the foghorn building where the mural was painted last week and decided to get out and check it out. Photos below! It is a beautiful tribute to the memory of this magnificent animal - who I last saw at close range in December.
After that we kept on paddling our usual route and ran into Dave, John and Alex who had been camping in Rudlin Bay for a couple of nights. We had a good chat as we paddled together around the SW corner of the island and then went our separate ways. Dan and I ran into three young women who were staffing the  Straitwatch zodiac and taking a break near Jemmy Jones.
This is the first time I have taken many pictures on a paddle for a long time!

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15 km, YTD 458 km

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click to enlarge - close up of Takaya

click to enlarge - Dan and the mural

click to enlarge - approaching from the water

click to enlarge - another view from the kayak

click to enlarge - yours truly and the wolf

click to enlarge - another shot with the mural

click to enlarge - around the corner - seals and orca