February 28th - Cadboro Bay (#22)

I decided to try the SUP as a "crabbing platform" and used a kayak paddle while seated. I came home with one nice crab which will do us both for dinner. There were not as many birds visible on my route today - only 3 species: buffleheads, Canada geese and g-w gulls. https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S82541263

The SUP board with a kayak paddle worked pretty well and I may have been going faster sitting with a kayak paddle than standing with a SUP paddle! The board was definitely stable enough to bring a trap out of the water as well as rebaiting etc. You can see where I drifted while bring the trap up and emptying it as the orange section. The ten knot SE wind was pushing me slowly back into the bay.  

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3 km, YTD 191 km

February 27th - Cadboro Bay (21)

I led two SISKA workshops on towing today. We learned about the gear involved and practiced various techniques. We had good conditions for both clinics, though by the end of the day, the water had become a bit lumpy with the increasing wind. At the end of the afternoon, a few of us paddled out to check my crab trap which had two nice keepers in it. Another nice day on the water!

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6km YTD 188 km

February 19th - Cattle Point (#20)

Dan and I went for a late morning paddleboard out to Cattle Point. It was a bit windier than we expected/wanted which made the paddling a bit challenging as the water was lumpy in places and we are not as steady on the boards as in our kayaks! Our speed on the way out against the headwind was slower than the return as can be seen in the track. However, we never got up to our usual kayak cruising speed! As we did not go far from the shore, I did not see that many bird species (11): https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S81955989

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5 km, YTD 182 km

February 17th - Cadboro Bay (#19)

I went for a birding paddle around the bay on the surf ski, stopping to look at and try to photograph some of the birds I saw (see below). I saw 21 species https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S81846543 including the starlings on the road walking home! You can see many of the spots I stopped to look/photograph by the slow spots on the track.

common goldeneye - click to enlarge

a pair of marbled murrelets - click to enlarge

male and female hooded mergansers - click enlarge

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7 km, YTD 177 km

February 16th - discovery island (#18)

I paddled out to Cadboro Point where I met up with Dan and Paulo to paddle around the islands. Conditions were great, with a following current, until we rounded the corner at seabird Point (There were about 20 Steller sea lions on the two rocks). From Seabird Point to Commodore Point we were fighting a stiff headwind and lumpy water. Once around Commodore Point, the wind was on our side and the going was easier though we had current against us. You can see a big difference in my speed over ground between the outward trip and the return. Since the tide was at a middling level, there seemed to be many more shorebirds around including a small sandpiper I coould not ID. Today was a good birding day with 29 species recorded! https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S81768543

my track - click to enlarge

16 km, YTD 170 km

February 13th - Cadboro Bay in snow (#17)

I went for an afternoon paddle because I could! :) There was ~8 inches of snow in the street walking down to the beach but the bay was reasonably calm. I managed a good birding session with 14 species (https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S81273597) in spite of the visibility. No one else on the water today and the RVUC boats were under snow (see below)

a view of the bay - click to enlarge

another view of the bay - click to enlarge

Dighies @ RVYC - click to enlarge

my track - click to enlarge

5 km, YTD 154 km

February 7th - Cadboro Point (#16)

I led a group of SISKA paddlers (Sean, Julie, Darlene, Steven and  Leanne) out to play in the currents at Cadboro Point. We had fun learning how to do eddy to eddy S-turns and get a feel for moving water. Unfortunately we had to leave earlier than intended due to rising winds. We had a bit of lumpy water and wind in our face for the paddle back to Flower Island. It was cool to see both ancient and marbled murrelets close to Flower Island. We also had nice views of harbour seals and river otters. The bird checklist is here: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S80627050

A cool coincidence. Jennifer P happened to be flying by the point in a friend's plane and took this shot - you can see the kayaks from two of our group below the "glass house":

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Steven and Sean by the glass house - click to enlarge

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There is a link to view a zoomable version temporarily available here:  https://www.gpsvisualizer.com/display/20210207180305-01099-map.html 

7 km, YTD 149 km.

February 6th - Finnerty Cove (#15)

Edgar and I set out from Cadboro Bay in relatively good conditions to paddle out to Cadboro Point and Maynard Cove where we met Jennie and Delcie. Due to the westerlies the current channel was a bit sloppy so we decided to paddle northwestwards and made it to Finnerty Cove for a lunch break.

If you look at the track plot, you can see by the colours that we had the westerlies and current in our face slowing us down. You can also see that Edgar and I had a strong headwind slowing us down between Cadboro Point and Flower Island. Between Cadboro Point and Flower Island the waters were a bit lumpy but for the rest of the trip we had pretty calm seas. It was harder to see birds in the lumpy waters, but we still managed to find 15 species: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S80554151 It was good to get a nice look at some surfbirds - I have not seen them very often this winter. I was also happy to see both ancient and marbled murrelets fairly close to shore.

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14 km, YTD 142 km

February 5th - Cadboro Bay (#14)

Dan and I went for an afternoon SUP around the bay. It was a bit windy from the SE to begin with which made paddling out hard. We crossed the bay, which was a bit lumpy, kneeling and then took a big rest at Flower Island. While we were resting the wind died down. A bit harder to see birds today but I still saw the usual suspects: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S80486902

Paddling a SUP definitely uses a different set of muscles!

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5 km, YTD 128 km

February 3rd - Chatham Island (#13)

 I Joined Jennie's group of Wednesday paddlers (Jennie, Julie, Julia, Pat, Diane and Barry) for a play in currents at Cadboro Point. A nice ebb had set in and we had fun ferrying back and forth and playing in the eddies. After a while we decided to head over to Chatham, encountering some lumpy water on the way. The "sluice" was running well and we had fun playing there too. On the way back the current was weaker and we made it over to Jemmy Jones and Cattle Point. We experimented with each others' paddles and I was able to give some pointers on greenland-style paddling. Sunny without too much wind made for a great day on the water. I was not as focussed on birding today so I submitted an incidental ebird list: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S80387242 The view of Mt. Baker today was spectacular!

our lunch spot - click to enlarge

Yours truly playing in the current - click to enlarge

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13 km, TDT 125 km

February 1st - Cattle Point (#12)

Dan and I went for a nice afternoon SUP paddle out to Cattle point. We managed to miss the rain and the wind as Dan wanted to try SUPing again. It was nice to be up high and seeing the water from a different perspective. No murrlets today, but we did not go very far from shore. Not as many species as normal but we still saw most of the usual suspects! https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S80292520

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5 km, YTD 110 km