Polly and I went out for a morning paddle to Cadboro Point. Conditions were a bit lumpy but not too bad. In spit of there not being much tide change the current was ebbing strongly at Cadboro Point. I was paddling the F! while Polly paddled the Tahe. This might be one of the last paddles of the year for me since I am heading south soon...
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6 km, YTD 707 km.
I went for a solo paddle out to Cattle point. As I went through the RVYC, I stopped by Andante and had a good chat with Dennis. The birding was good and I saw nearly 50 black oystercatchers! https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S97178260 I was also pleasantly surprised to see a pair of rhinoceros auklets.
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6 km YDT 701 km
I went for a nice paddle around the bay with my neighbour, Ally. We more or less managed to squeeze a paddle in within a weather window as it started raining a bit when we returned. Out at Cadboro Point the waves were quite lumpy so we decided not to cross Baynes Channel and instead paddle to Jemmy Jones and Cattle Point. We saw a good selection of birds: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S97087942 - 18 species.
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8 km, YTD 695 km
Dan and I went for a late morning paddle around the islands. We had great conditions and I spent some time checking out Griffin Island as I am becoming an assistant warden for the ecological reserve. I saw plenty of birds, but not enough to count them all! So the bird list uses present for many of the species. 18 total which is not bad - the highlight was seeing a long-tailed duck for the first time this season.
https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S96859324
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16 km, YTD 687 km
Dan and I paddled over to Loon Bay to do some rolling. I am happy to say that I can still do forward and reverse finishing standard rolls, butterfly rolls, storm rolls, norsaq rolls and hand rolls! I am definitely a tad rusty and not as limber as I would like to be!
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I paddled out to Cadboro Point to join dan and Paulo for a paddle around Chatham and Discovery Islands. It has been a while since I have done a longer paddle so this was quite hard work, but it felt good! Fortunately the forecast winds did not appear, though there was quite a bit of "Salish swell". I saw lots of the usual winter birds: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S96493798 It was nice to see Heerman's gull on its way through the area!
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I managed to get out for a few paddles while I was up in the Great Bear Rainforest on Cascadia.
Once in Kitlope anchorage, Once in McMicking Inlet on Campania and twice in Chief Matthews Bay. Given the season and the rains I was happy to get out even this much.
Kitlope anchorange Sept 20 - 2 km
Chief Matthews Bay 30 Sept - 6 km
MckMicking Inlet 9 Oct - 2 km
Chief Matthews Bay Oct 11 - 6 km
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| click to enlarge - Kitlope 29 Sept |
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| click to enlarge - Campania 09 Oct |
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| click to enlarge - Chief Matthews Bay - 30 Sept |
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| click to enlarge - Chief Matthews Bay 11 Oct |
16 km, YTD 643 km
I went for a short paddle out from Mackenzie Beach while we were camping at Crystal cove Resort. Conditions were nice with very little swell. The Aquaglide inflatable is not the fastest craft! :)
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3 km, YTD 627 km
I managed to get out for a short afternoon paddle on the SUP. Conditions were nice with a bit of a wind coming into the bay. I saw Ned and George in the boats as I paddled through RVYC
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4 km, YTD 624 km
While working as expedition leader for Maple Leaf Adventures on board MV Cascadia I managed to get out for 7 paddles over two trips. I enjoy paddling these Aquaglide Chelan 155 inflatables. They are comfortable, track well and are not too slow! :)
#58 - August 20 - Chief Matthews Bay - 3 km
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#59 - August 21 -Kitlope Anchorage - 3 km
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#60 - August 23 - McMicking Inlet, Campania Island - 5 km
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#61 - August 25 - Cameron Cove, Barnard Harbour, Princess Royal Island - 3 km
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#62 - August 28 - Chief Matthews Bay - 4 km
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#63 - August 30 - Cameron Cove, Barnard Harbour, Princess Royal island - 3 km
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#64 - August 30 - McMicking Inlet, Campania Island - 3 km
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24 km total, YTD 620 km
I managed to get out for a late afternoon paddle with Fraser. We had great conditions with minimal wind and current. We saw some of the usual suspects ( https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S93391139). It was neat to see so many belted kingfishers. I also ran into Ben who was paddling out in the islands and saw Ryan and Eric on the way back by Flower Island.
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13 km, YTD 596 km
While working on the Lindblad National Geographic Explorer, I managed to get out for a paddle with a guest in Geirþjófsfjörður in the West Fjords near Dynjandi waterfall. Nice calm afternoon and we saw well over 100 Eurasian oystercatchers. My only paddle out of the country so far this year!
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3km, YTD 583 km
I went for a morning paddle around the bay. Conditions were nice and calm and sunny. My primary purpose was to do a census of the Canada geese that are along the shores of the bay. They are currently molting, so will not fly and are easy to count. I counted 217 geese between Cattle Point and Cadboro Point. Only 5 were clearly young birds. In addition I saw a nice assortment of sea and shorebirds (rhinoceros auklet, black oystercatcher, killdeer and a good number of purple martins at the yacht club
https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S91492903
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Dan and I went out for a morning paddle around the islands - probably my last chance for a month - and had a great paddle. Conditions were windy but not bad - a bit of lumpy water here and there. It was still ebbing when we started but had turned to flood by the time we returned. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of rhinoceros auklets we saw - three groups of 20+ near Jemmy Jones Island.
https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S91449736
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15 km, YTD 572 km
Dan and I went for a morning paddle out to the islands and conditions were excellent, no wind and little current. It was one of the few times I have paddled through the "sluice" with no current. Looking at our track back from Commodore Point, it is pretty straight. We saw many Canada geese - one wonders how many of these pests the bay can support! Visibility was not great so we could not see Mts Baker or Rainier.
https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S91143425
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15 km, YTD 557 km
I paddled over to Staines Islet to meet Fraser who is briefly in Victoria and go for a paddle. The current was fairly strong crossing Baynes, but not enough to make the water lumpy! Fraser wanted to practice his self rescues so i coached him a bit on scramble and paddle-float reentries. After that we went to play in the currents between Vantreight and Chatham islands - the "sluice". We had fun ferrying across the current and also doing eddy s-turns. https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S90939411
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11 km, YTD 542 km
I went for an early SUP to avoid the heat (might have been better todo it later in the day and fall in!) and to deposit some crab shells back into the bay. It was a beautiful morning and I had a leisurely paddle looking for birds. Though there were not many species, most were different from my usual! belted kingfisher, greater yellowlegs and many purple martins around the yacht club docs. The nest boxes must be working! https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S90909396
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2 km, YTD 531 km
I paddled out to Cadboro Point (Maynard Cove) to meet Dan and Paulo for a paddle around the islands. We had favourable currents on the outward and return journeys which was nice! We could see both Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker today which was nice. There were now California or Steller's sea lions on Brinn Rock, though there were plenty of seals around. I saw a good number of marbled murrelets in their summer plumage https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S90712315
We had some fun chats about how so many people are on the conspiracy theory bandwagon...
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The morning after my return from the six-week debris removal expeditions I managed to get out for a morning paddle with Dan. It was great to get out on the water after several weeks with almost no paddling. The wind and the current did not cause us much trouble (minimal lumpy water) and we saw quite a few others on the water. I found a scotsman fender/buoy on Griffin island which I managed to bring home! Mt Baker was nice and clear, but we could not see Mt. Rainier. Marbled murrelets, rhinoceros auklets, harlequin ducks, black oystercatchers, Canada geese, great blue herons were on the bird list. Looking at the track, we were able to keep up a steady pace.
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15 km, YTD 513 km
Carl and I went for an evening paddle to join the gang on the beach by the bog forest. We had the wind behind us on the way out and against on the way back to Cascadia. It was a beautiful evening and we also went for a short hike to the bog forest behind the beach. There were lots of sundews in the bog - more than I have seen before.
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| paddle track - click to enlarge |
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| trail to the bog forest - click to enlarge |
8 km, YTD 498 km
Dan and I went for a morning paddle (last one before I leave for MDRI2021) around the islands. There was a bit of a northerly wind but virtually no current. We decided to go through the Chathams instead of around and I saw someone on Alpha Islet ER and went to check them out. It turns out it was Matt F so no problem and we carried on. We also saw someone on Jemmy Jones and I explained to him that it was an ecological Reserve. he apologized and left the island. (I am in the process of becoming an ER warden). No lumpy water today and not that many birds. We saw Oystercatchers displaying which was cool. https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S87222848
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15 km, YTD 490 km
I paddled out to Cadboro Point to meet Dan and Paulo for a paddle around the islands. Today the sky was overcast with occasional sprinkles. The predicted 5-10 knots of wind decreased to -5 as predicted which made for easy paddling. The buffleheads have definitely all gone and there are fewer species of birds around now. https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S87028821 It was nice to see a few marbled murrelets around.
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15 km, YTD 475 km
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I helped lead a SUP session for SMUS grade 8s. We did not paddle very far, but had a nice time exploring the bay! :)
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6 km, YTD 451 km
I went for a quick solo paddle around the bay on the surf ski. I stopped for a chat with Kellie and Eric at their new house. The sea was rippled and I saw relatively few birds. https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S86391998 Interestingly, no buffleheads today - looks like they may have all gone!
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8 km, YTD 445 km
I paddled to Telegraph Cove to lead a club paddle out towards Gordon Head. Conditions were good and we had a nice paddle. I was not fully focused on birding, so the check list is incidental: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S86391771
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19 km, YTD 437 km
I went for an early morning paddle around the bay in front of the Ralph River Campground (before we left to head back to Victoria). The sun had risen but had not reached the lakeshore until the end of my paddle. I saw a few common mergansers and Canada geese. It is interesting to see the root systems of all the trees that were logged before the lake was dammed.
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7 km, YTD 418 km
Bill and I went for a nice morning paddle from Ralph River campground to Lower Myra Falls. The lake was flat calm with spectacular reflections. We saw a few common mergansers and Canada geese.
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13 km, YTD 411 km
I went for a morning paddle with Bill from the campground around Cape Lazo. We saw lots of harbour seals, heard a California Sea lion as well as lots of red-breasted mergansers and harlequin ducks. Fabulous conditions again!
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7 km, YTD 398 km
I went for a solo morning paddle along the shore towards Goose Spit from our campground. Weather conditions were spectacular - calm and sunny. I saw quite a few common loons and red-breasted mergansers and then a flock of 1000+ scoters and long-tailed ducks
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9 km, YTD 391 km
Dan and I paddled out to Cadboro Point, where we met up with Paulo for a paddle around the islands. There was not much current to begin with - a slight flood had started. By the time we got near to discovery we realized that the stiff westerly would make paddling westwards along the south shore of Discovery a challenge, we decided to paddle a figure of eight. As it turned out that was a good decision, but we paddled in some of the lumpiest water I have seen for some time! The winds at Trial were steady around 25 knots and I am sure we were paddling in 20+. When we eventually made it back I was a tad tired! I did not keep a bird checklist today... too busy paddling! By the time we were heading back, the flood was strong and between the headwind and the current, we had a hard time making it back past Cadboro Point.
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17 km, YTD 382 km
I joined a group organized by Gary to paddle out and around the Islands from Turkey Head/Oak Bay Marina. We made our way past the Oak Bay Beach Hotel to Gonzales Point before heading out to the Chain group and the Islands. We had spectacular conditions and a nice lunch break in Rudlin Bay. I am not sure when I have seen so many boats out and around the Islands! The birding was good and I saw marbled murrelets in summer plumage! ( https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S84889527)
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Jenny and I SUPed over to Loon Bay via the yacht club for a short afternoon paddle. Great conditions and a nice little paddle! The tide was way out as you can see from the starting position!
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2 km, YTD 348 km
Dan and I went for a morning paddle around the islands. conditions were calm and we could see all of Mt Rainier to the south. There was a bit of current. The Steller sea lions were out on the rock by seabird point. There were plenty of birds around (https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S84695457) and it was nice to still see a marbled murrelet around as well as some rhinoceros auklets
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I paddled over to Turkey head by the Oak Bay Beach Hotel (about 4 km) to help lead a SISKA "energizer" paddle. The original intention was to paddle to Gonzales Bay but it seemed like there was a stiff westerly so we opted to stay in Oak/Cadboro Bay. Lots of the usual birds: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S84231389. My paddle ended up being about 8 km longer than everyone else's due to the back and forth!
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24 km, YTD 331 km
Dan and I went for an afternoon SUP around the bay and encountered very nice almost windless conditions. It is neat how much more one sees of life under water from a SUP versus a kayak due to the angle.
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6 km, YTD
I led a group of SISKA paddlers on a "light" paddle around the bay. It was a nice relaxed jaunt around the bay. When we rounded Cadboro Point we encountered a stiff northerly breeze and lumpy water, so I decided to take the groups over to Jemmy Jones and the other side of the bay. It was nice to have Monica join me! We saw most of the usual birds: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S84104872 (17 species)
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8 km, YTD 301 km
I paddled over to Staines Island to meet Fraser and we went for a nice paddle in the rain! The wind was low but the current was building and the water in Baynes was getting lump. So we decided to paddle over towards Cattle Point. Shortly after we left Chatham I spotted a strange animal... It was a sea otter, which I have not seen in this area for years! The birding was also good! https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S84045510
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12 km, YTD 293 km
I paddled out to Cadboro Point to meet Dan and Paulo for a paddle around the Islands. Conditions were magnificent - little wind and little current. The birding was good with 23 species observed ( I did count some birds on land!)https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S83967492 It was nice to see a couple of marbled murrelets in Rudlin bay. We saw that the wolf sculpture was being installed on the Cheryl and David's property by seabird Point. It looks great! We had a nice break on a beach in Rudlin Bay. I saw and heard a song sparrow and a white-crowned sparrow.
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| The wolf sculpture is being installed - click to enlarge |
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| Steller sea lions on the rock by Seabird Pt - click to enlarge |
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| Black turnstones and Surfbirds by seabird point - click to enlarge |
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| Three nice kayaks on the beach - click to enlarge |
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| My track - click to enlarge |
17 km, YTD 281 km
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