Mike Jackson's Paddling Journal

Jan 29th - Dodd Narrows (#8)

2012-01-29T21:39:00.000-08:00

I drove up to Cedar to join Reale and Walter for a paddle into and around Dodd Narrows. There was a good south easterly wind and the ebbing current had set up quite a nice wave train running from the narrows to Round Island. We worked our way through the narrows catching back eddies and then spent some time playing in the top eddy. It took me a while to figure out how to get into it correctly, but I had lots of fun trying and got a chance to practice rolls in whirlpools! It was great to paddle a new place!

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10 km, YTD 92 km

January 21st - Gordon Head (#7)

2012-01-21T21:02:00.000-08:00

Michael E and I set out from Caddy bay with the intention of heading over to Chatham, but decided that the wind might make it "interesting" for the return, so we decided to paddle the lee shore to Gordon Head. You can see from the track that we were making a good pace with some small surf between Jemmy Jones and Cadboro Point. We stopped for a nice lunch break at Margaret's Bay and then made our way back along the same shore. The wind had picked up. Michael had trouble with his CD solstice and 20+ kt headwinds, but we were able to overcome this with a tow line on his bow to keep him going straight. A very nice paddling day with lots of variety!

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20 km, YTD 82 km

January 15th - Race Rocks (#6)

2012-01-15T19:57:00.000-08:00

I joined, Yves, Patti, Michel, Dorothea, Gerhard and Joanne for a day paddle out to Race Rocks from Weir's Beach. Conditions were nice with a max ebb of 5 kt at race passage forecast. We made good progress on our way to the race and had fun playing in the currents, overfalls and eddies around the islets. It was hard work heading back to Bentinck Island were we stopped for lunch and again after lunch heading across Pedder Bay into the wind and current. While at lunch we tried out my outdoor shelter which I got in the UK. Works well and warms up quickly inside! To debrief we went to My Chosin Cafe for a glass of Race Rocks Amber - how appropriate!

click to enlarge - lots of >10 kph on the way south, lots of <5 kph on the way north!

Close up around Race Rocks - click to enlarge

17 km, YTD 62 km

Jan 10th - Chatham (#5)

2012-01-10T22:13:00.000-08:00

Alex and I went for an afternoon paddle out to Chatham. A goal of the paddle was to give Alex more practice with a GP. I also got to try Alex's Shuna paddle which worked nicely for catching waves in a following sea.

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11 km, YTD 45 km

Jan 8th - Cadboro Bay (#4)

2012-01-08T16:04:00.000-08:00

I led a SISKA relaxed paddle (the first club paddle of the year) for a meander around Cadboro Bay. We had 27 boats and 28 paddlers (we were 28 boats and 29 paddlers for a while as Olivier joined us for a while). I was ably assisted by Jo, Dan, and Tom and we managed to do a great job of staying together. We were off the water by 1 ish and repaired to Olive Olio's for coffees and hot chocolates.

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9 km, YTD 34 km

Jan 7th - Jordan River (#3)

2012-01-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

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James and I went to JR for a bit of surfing with our Delphins. We both used Greenland paddles and had a blast. This was perhaps the best day of kayak surfing I can remember in quite some time! The waves were just the right size and green! I had some great rides. The GPS claims I hit over 20 kph several times. With some pointers from James, I found I was having much better control as well. Two wonderfully spent hours! Hopefully James will post some video soon! I was also surprised how much ground we covered!
Here is a link to James' video on Youtube. Gives a good idea of the conditions.
http://youtu.be/tBxX6BIfMJU

8 km, YTD 25 km

Jan 6th - Cadboro Bay (#2)

2012-01-06T17:21:00.000-08:00

I went for a quick paddle around the bay after work to clear some cobwebs. There was a brisk wind out of the SE and the F1 performed well. I noticed some pretty good waves at Cadboro Point in the distance.

the usual screenshot - google hybrid - click to enlarge

I tried some other map options using GPS Visualizer as well as the internet maps feature in Oziexplorer... they all have their pros and cons...

GPSViz - Open Street Map - click to enlarge

GPSViz - Yahoo Hybrid - click to enlarge

Ozi - Virtual earth map - click to enlarge

Ozi- Highest detail of virtual earth - click to enlarge

Oziexplorer highest detail chart - click to enlarge

Ozi- Race Rocks to d'Arcy Chart - click to enlarge

5 km, YTD 17 km

2011 paddle tracks

2012-01-01T16:15:00.000-08:00

I used Oziexplorer to plot all my tracks for the year and have displayed them at various zooms...

Cadboro Bay and environs -click to enlarge

You can see that I covered quite a bit of the bay...

South Vancouver Island - Ladysmith to Port Renfrew - click to enlarge

All the paddles for the year - click to enlarge

From BC to the UK...

Jan 1st - Chatham Island

2012-01-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

I paddled out to Cadboro Point to meet up with Ben, Brian, Peter and Lindsay. We had intended to play in the waves but the NE wind was making it small and confused so we went over to the sluice by Vantreight and had some fun playing in the eddies. There were even some surfable waves coming into the sluice! A nice way to satrt the 2012 paddling year! On our way back we ran into and chatted with Nick and Dave. I think I may have seen Paulo paddling across Baynes in the distance... You can see that the current was strong enough to carry us down to Jemmy Jones!

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12 km, YTD 12 km

MJ's 2011 year of paddling in review

2011-12-31T19:23:00.000-08:00

Another great year of paddling and the sixth one since I started blogging them on Jan 1 2006. I did not get quite as many paddles in as last year (105 vs 124 but managed to clock up almost the same number of kilometres (1217 vs 1214). "Killarney Kayak Base" continues to be the launch site of choice and I still paddle my Tahe Greenland most of all. Some of the year's highlights included: paddling on the Medway River in the UK with my Feathercraft Wisper and Northern Light 3 Piece paddle, doing the Port Renfrew to Victoria leg of our Island "circumnavigation", placing third in the rolling and overall at the Kayak Academy Greenland Week, Hosting Helen Wilson and Mark Tozer for a Greenland paddling and rolling workshop, figuring out a few more rolls (thanks Alan!). This sixth year brings my blogged total to 563 paddles and 7263 km. My favourite paddling wear has been my Kokatat Whirlpool bib combined with my Comfort Paddling Tuilik, which Paulo modified to roll together with the bib for a good seal. I still use my Superior Paddles Carbon Paddle but am now using my Northern Light paddles (Greenland and Aleut inspired) a lot as well (I am now distributing for Northern Light paddles too). I replaced my NRS rodeo socks, but am still getting a bit of life out of the old ones! I find I wear a Mustang inflatable PFD most of the time for comfort and convenience.
GPS Visualizer continues to be the site I use for all my track plots from my trusty Garmin Etrex Legend HCx.

Year/paddles/km
2011/105/1217
2010/124/1214
2009/116/1381
2008/75/1080
2007/66/1098
2006/77/1273

Many thanks to all of you who paddled with me this year, especially Dan and Paulo who paddled/put up with me the most! I hope to paddle at least 1000 km again next year and to try to average twice a week again!

Now, I must get things ready to start the New Year off with a paddle!

December 31st - Chatham (#105)

2011-12-31T14:26:00.000-08:00

Dan, Paulo and I set out for Cadboro Point where we met Olivier. We had a short play in the waves and then made our way over to the "sluice" by Vantreight Island. We then went around Chatham, stopping for a snack on a beach where we tested out my new "Outdoor Designs Group Shelter" which I bought while I was in the UK over Christmas. It works well and will be a piece of kit I bring on most paddling trips.
We made our way back across Baynes Channel and played for a bit more in the waves which were much larger now. I got tired pretty quickly but had some fun rides. Some of the waves towered considerably higher than me! I am hoping Paulo got some good video! At the end we ran into Scott and Michael who also came out to play in the waves. A great paddle to finish of the year!

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14 km, YTD 1217 km

December 30th - Ten Mile Point (#104)

2011-12-30T17:01:00.000-08:00

I joined up with Michael and Olivier for a paddle in the current and waves at Cadboro Point. The waves were not that big, but lots of fun and I had some good rides. The wind was quite strong, gusting up to 25 knots, so my trip back from Cadboro point was a slog. I could barely make 1 knot at times! I managed to make both of my revised goals for this year - 104 paddles (2x per week avg) and 1200 km (100 km per month), so I am definitely happy with the year's stats!

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13 km, YTD 1203 km

December 11th - Discovery (#103)

2011-12-11T14:32:00.001-08:00

Dan and I went for a nice morning paddle around Discovery, OTW at 0930 and back by 1230 including a short break on Vantreight. Conditions were nice and I was using my Northern Light Aleut-inspired paddle which worked well. Which reminds me - I am now distributing paddles for Northern Light Paddlesports and have both Greenland and Aleut-inspired paddles in stock.

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16 km, YTD 1190 km

December 10th - The Gorge (#102)

2011-12-10T16:18:00.001-08:00

Monica and I joined a SISKA relaxed paddle in the Gorge led by Gary. It was a cold morning but 11 of us set off up the Gorge towards Portage Inlet where we were met by sheets of ice! It was kind of fun paddling through the ice (neat sound!) but we decided it was not that safe for a group paddle and made our way back down through Tillicum Narrows to the Banfield Park area where we checked out a bunch of semi derelict boats that are moored there. After the group paddle, I went for a short paddle with Alex and introduced him to my Northern Lights Greenland paddle.

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11 km, YTD 1174 km.

December 3rd - Discovery Island (#101)

2011-12-03T16:57:00.001-08:00

Dan, Dennis and I set out for a morning paddle around the islands. After checking out some boats and moorings in the bay, we made our way through the yacht club and then out to the islands. It was a beautiful sunny calm day with little current. We stopped for a snack near Commodore Point and then made our way back via the Chain Islets.

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17 km, YTD 1163 km

November 27th - Discovery (#100)

2011-11-27T20:45:00.001-08:00

I led a SISKA adventurous paddle today to Chatham and Discovery Islands. 11 of us set out from the beach together and then we met up with 3 more out at Cadboro Point. It was raining when we started at 10 , but that let off by 11 and it was even sunny in the afternoon. The winds were pretty much as predicted by BWD, with winds gusting to near 20 knots around 1:30 or 2 PM (you can see the weather record from Ten Mile Point here). The stretch from the top end of Chatham to Strongtide seemed like hard work, but was over quickly - you can see we made slower progress. We celebrated Gary's birthday afterwards at the Smuggler's Cove Inn. Thanks to everyone who joined me on my 100th paddle of the year!

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18 km, YTD 1146 km.

November 19th - Chatham (#99)

2011-11-19T13:40:00.001-08:00

Dan, Gordin, and I set out from Killarney and met Paulo and Olivier out between Flower and Jemmy Jones Island. We paddled out into Baynes which was showing some nice waves with a flood current and a northerly wind. We turned south for a while to get some nice rides and then made our way around Chatham, with a visit to the inlet. As you can see from the track speed, it was a bit of a slog making our way back across Baynes but the waves were a nice size and fun. We stopped for a tea break in Maynard (Smugglers') Cove and then back to Killarney. Temperatures were barely above freezing and felt like several degrees below with the wind chill but we were well-dressed and pretty comfortable. A nice 99th paddle of the year!

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Paulo made some video of this trip: http://youtu.be/kn0z-UhZphg it was fun!

13 km, YTD 1128 Km

November 12th - Discovery (98)

2011-11-12T15:08:00.001-08:00

Dennis and I went for a morning paddle out to the islands. The forecast was for some rain and some wind later, but not too much. We did a quick check on a sail boat that seemed to drifting ashore to see if we could find a contact number, but no luck. We checked out my mooring which now no longer has someone sitting on it and then made our way out to the islands. We paid a visit to "Cactus Islet" in the inlet in East Chatham as the tide was nice and high. There were some small swells off the south side of Discovery which made for some fun around the rocks and then the rain began. I was able to make good use of my Kokatat Storm Cag!

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17 km, YTD 1115 km.

November 11th - Jordan River (#97)

2011-11-11T17:21:00.001-08:00

Scott and I drove out to Jordan River where we met Yves, Patti, Gerhardt, James, Joanne, Sheila, Jas, Roy and Chris to try a bit of surfing. The waves were a bit small and the wind built up after lunch but we had a good time anyway all getting a few decent rides. The Delphin performed well as did the Northern Lights Greenland Paddle. We had a great lunch of chili made by James!

4 km, YTD 1098 km

November 5/6 - Surge Narrows (#95&96)

2011-11-06T19:15:00.000-08:00

I joined a group of SISKA instructors on a trip to Discovery Islands Lodge and Surge Narrows for the weekend. We drove up on Friday and returned Sunday afternoon after two wonderful days on the water and two nights at the lodge. The Lodge was wonderful and we had great conditions including a current that maxed out at around 6 knots. While we were there on Saturday we ran into Alan, Brent, Jonathan and Paul who gave us some great tips on surfing the wave. At maximum the wave was hard for me to get onto and stay but we had a of of fun trying and some great rides before and after max. A great weekend! :)

16 km, YTD 1094 km

our track around the wave site...

October 29/30 - Greenland Week (#94)

2011-10-30T23:33:00.000-07:00

The 6 mile race

Alan D and I drove down to Issaquah for Kayak Academy's Greenland Week Competition. We arrived Friday night and camped in the State Park. On Saturday I took part in the 6 mile race and came 5th place in the Greenland Division with 1:05:52 which I was pretty happy with since it was almost 5 minutes better than the only other time I tried paddling this distance at a pace. Roy S came second, just over a minute behind the winner Wayne H.
On Saturday afternoon, we practice Harpoon throwing with Henry, Alan showed me how to do a vertical sculling roll, and finished the day off with a great salmon dinner and talk by Chris Avery about his trip to the Aleutians.
Sunday's activities began with harpoon throwing. I came third in distance (I should have done much better but fluffed my second throw!) and then came first in accuracy (Henry had made a really cool floating target) which was a demonstration event this year. The last event was the rolling. I was really happy with a third place finish with 129 points - a couple of new rolls for me made up for a couple of other rusty ones! 16 year old Chris S from Victoria came second with 183 points and Alan from Campbell River came first with 189 points and a nail biting elbow roll to finish a close competition. Great job Chris and Alan! Team Canada took all three places in the rolling.
My 5th, 3rd, and 3rd place finishes earned me 3rd place overall in the competition which was a great way for me to finish the event.
11 km, YTD 1078 km

Off to Seattle for "Greenland Week"

2011-10-26T23:10:00.000-07:00

I'll be heading down to Seattle on Friday for the weekend to participate in the Greenland Weekend competitions again this year. looking forward to meeting like minded Greenland Paddlers! There will be a few of us heading down from the Island! I will need to demo either the Great Canadian beer Roll or a Hockey Stick Roll!

October 23rd - Discovery (#93)

2011-10-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

Jennie, Michael and I took Tim (visiting from the UK) for a trip out to Chatham and Discovery Islands. Conditions were superb - sunny and no wind to speak of and a reasonable flood current. I was surprised that there was no current in the "sluice". Tim got to try my Greenland Paddle and may be a convert! We stopped off in Loon Bay on the way back and did some rolling.
A great day on the water!

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16 km, YTD 1067 km

October 9th - Cadboro Ppoint (#91)

2011-10-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

I went out with Kirby to do some filming of a traditional style kayak for a video project of his. Conditions were nice and calm and it was great to be pout in the Disko bay again. Hopefully the footage turned out well!

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7 km, YTD 1040 km

October 8th - D'Arcy (#90)

2011-10-08T21:55:00.000-07:00

I led a SISKA energizer paddle today from Island View Beach to D'Arcy Island and back. We were a group of 19 and conditions were excellent - no wind and a bit of current. The early morning fog had burnt off before we left the beach. All in all a very nice paddle! In the evening I helped host a pool session and did a bit of rolling.

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18 km, YTD 1033

October 7th - Cadboro Bay (#89)

2011-10-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

I went out for a quick afternoon paddle to check on some moorings and do some geocaching. I checked on the boat that is sitting on my mooring and left them a note... I looked for Simon's mooring which seems to have disappeared... I then checked out two geocaches that are fairly kayak accessible in the bay.

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3 km, YTD 1015 km

October 2nd - Brentwood (#88)

2011-10-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

Dan, Bill and I met up in Brentwood Bay to do a test 6 mile/10 km route as a sort of practice for possibly racing at Greenland week.The 9.5 km course took us an hour and 10 mins, at an average speed of 8.2 kph (4.4 kt, 5.1 mph). It was a reasonable workout and a good pace for that distance. After that we spent some time practicing with Bill's harpoon. Bill had at least one good throw of 40 ft.

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10 km, YTD 1012 km

September 17th - Sidney Spit Cleanup and 1000 km (#87)

2011-09-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

Monica and I joined the SISKA beach clean up paddle to Sidney Spit. Monica was paddling her new Feathercraft XPS and using a Greenland paddle. Conditions were very nice as we made our way out through the Little Group and then to Dock Island, before running with the current to Sidney Spit. We walked the beaches of Sidney Spit and gathered up about 5 small garbage bags full. Quite a bit less than last year which is a good sign. This paddle was a small part of the 26th International Coastal Cleanup day. As a bonus today I went through the 1000 km mark for the year!

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10 km, YTD 1002

September 16th - Chain Islets (#86)

2011-09-16T17:35:00.000-07:00

Dan, Gordin and I went out for a morning paddle before Gordin and I had to be at work. We had a nice run out to the Chain islets and then back up through the Chatham Islands.

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12 km, YTD 992 km

September 11th - Discovery (#85)

2011-09-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

George, Gerhardt, Dan and I went for a lovely Sunday paddle around Discovery. Conditions were sunny and calm and we had cooperative currents. I was using my Aleut-inspired paddle and Dan was using his wooden Aleut paddle. They are definitely good paddles for maintaining a good cruising speed. I think I saw more paddlers out there today than I have on any other day this year - everyone else had the same good idea!

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17 km, YTD 980 km

September 9th - Jemmy Jones (#84)

2011-09-09T20:07:00.000-07:00

Monica and I went for an after dinner paddle out to Jemmy Jones. It was a wonderful calm sunny fall evening!

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5km, YTD 963 km

Google stats

2011-09-08T19:17:00.000-07:00

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I just discovered the stats function in the blog maintenance page - kind of neat to see where the 10,000 or so page views have come from...

September 7th - Rolling at Thetis Lake (#858)

2011-09-08T19:12:00.000-07:00

Paulo and I joined James and Sheila for a rolling practice session at Thetis Lake. It was worth the wait for a good spot! It was nice to do some rolling again after a month's break! James continues do do amazingly well!
No track plot for this trip since I left the GPS at Home... but here is a rough guess...

1 km, YTD 958 km

Paddling around the Island in pieces?

2011-09-05T14:31:00.000-07:00

Back in 2006, Pete, George and I did our first West Coast Paddle from Quatsino to Nootka Sounds (http://mhjpaddling.blogspot.com/2006/07/trip-journal-july-17-to-27.html) and the next year we did from Nootka to Renfrew (http://mhjpaddling.blogspot.com/2007/07/july-20th-to-28th-nootka-sound-to-port.html). After that we gave it a yeasr break before we did the next leg from Hardy to Quatsino (http://mhjpaddling.blogspot.com/2009/08/august-21-to-30-north-island-s-84-to-89.html). Last week we did from Renfrew to Victoria, thus completing a trip over four separate trips from Port Hardy to Victoria via the west coast. I think my goal eventually is to make it all the way around the island which means I have from Nanaimo to Port Hardy still to do. Alan (Nootka on WCP) has very kindly taken a bunch of my trip logs and turned them in to an image of the whole island showing the various legs.

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PS, I am not trying to beat Joe O'Blenis' 16 and a bit day record!

September 5th - Discovery (#82)

2011-09-05T14:21:00.000-07:00

I decided that I wanted to get in a lst paddle before school starts again tomorrow. Fortunately Paulo was available and came over on his bike - I was able to provide a boat and paddle! We set out to go around Discovery Island, passing in between the Chathams. Conditions were a little windy at the start but calmed down - by the time we finished it was warm, sunny and calm! Lots of paddlers out and about. We ran into Ron and Thor out on Chatham and stopped for a brief chat.

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16 km, YTD 957 km - looks like I should be OK for my 1000 km goal for the year with almost 4 months to go!

September 3rd - James Island (#81)

2011-09-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

Monica and I joined 22 others on a SISKA paddle around James Island, led by Michael E. Though there was a bit of a headwind to begin with, this diminished as did the current and we had a great day. It was nice to meet many fellow paddlers again. It was nice that Paul made it over from Mission and Larry from Shawnigan Lake.

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15 km, YTD 941 km

September 2nd - RVYC (#80)

2011-09-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

Monica and I went out for a test paddle with Monica in the CD Expedition. Though it is a big boat, she seems to like it. We wanted to do a test paddle before the club paddle on the 3rd. All went well and I checked out the moorings as well.

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2 km, YTD 926 km

August 25-27 - Port Renfrew to Victoria (#s 77-79)

2011-08-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

Monica kindly drove George, Pete, Dennis and me to Port Renfrew where the four of us began our 3 day trip back to Victoria. This was the last part of our West coast "expedition" from Port Hardy to Victoria over several trips. The weather and conditions were very much in our favour and we made great progress each day - average speed was well over 7 kph for the trip. Crossing from Cape Calver to Trial island we rarely were travelling at less than 10 kph! The mornings were typically calm and foggy, especially the first two with tail winds picking up in the afternoon. We found great little camping spots near Sandcut creek on the first night and in a small pocket beach near Aldridge Point on the second night. This was the first trip that I had used the Northern Light "Aleut inspired" paddle and it performed very well. I also was able to make good use of my pacific action sail. This was a great trip!

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109 km, YTD 924 km

August 23rd - Caddy bay (#76)

2011-08-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

I went out with Claire for a nice afternoon paddle around Cadboro Bay. Sunny and calm! Claire had the Tahe and I paddled the F1.

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4.5 km, YTD 815 km

August 20th - Medway again (#75)

2011-08-20T03:55:00.000-07:00

I paddled the last section of the Medway today so that I have now paddled the entire navigable stretch. It was fun going through all the locks. the last Canoe Pass was exciting enough that I got splashed when the wave came over my bow! The Wisper is now packed and ready for the trip home. It has been great having a packable kayak and a three piece Greenland Paddle for Northern Light paddles.

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14 km, YTD 811 km

All 4 trips - click to enlarge

August 17 - medway photos

2011-08-17T12:58:00.001-07:00

Here is a link to the photos from the last three days on the Medway.
Medway photos

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Tonbridge,United Kingdom

August 17th - Medway (#74)

2011-08-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

My third Medway trip was in the Tonbridge area. I launched from the Haysden Country Park and paddled down to thr fourth lock (East Lock). I saw some more boaters today including quite a large group of canoeists. There are fishermen scattered along the river. I also had fun going down the "canoe passes" which were little sluices designed for canoes to pass the locks - almost whitewater paddling! Tomorrow I hope to do a fourth leg to complete the navigable section of the Medway...


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all three days

18 km, YTD 797 km

August 16th - Medway again (#73)

2011-08-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

I managed to get out again today and launched this time near the medieval bridge in East Farliegh (where I finished yesterday). I paddled down to the Allington lock just past Maidstone. It was another delightful paddle on the river. I hope to post some pictures soon via picasa...

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14 km, YTD 779 km

August 15th - Medway (#72)

2011-08-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

I managed to get out paddling on the Medway River in Kent. The Medway is a river with locks so it is very "flat water". However, the river is wonderfully quiet and peacful with very little traffic and few people. As I had brought the Feathercraft Wisper and my Northern Light 3 Piece paddle, I was able to drive to Yalding, assemble and launch the kayak, paddle for a few hours and return. A delightful day's paddle.

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19 km, YTD 765 km

August 7th - Helen Wilson clinics (#71)

2011-08-07T19:45:00.000-07:00

I helped organize another two clinics today. The morning one was was an intermediate Greenland rolling session for 7 paddlers and everyone made great progress. In the afternoon I was one of 7 students for an advanced Greenland rolling clinic. Though I did not master any new rolls I got much closer to being able to do my elbow roll, a spine roll and a forward finishing norsaq roll. All in all we had a great weekend with Helen Wilson of Greenlandorbust.org and Mark Tozer of Edge of Adventure. Mark and Helen made a great team and it was a pleasure hosting them. Hope to have them both back next year!

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5 km, YTD 746 km

August 6th - Helen Wilson Clinics (#70)

2011-08-06T19:34:00.000-07:00

I helped to organize a couple of rolling clinics today with Helen Wilson and Mark Tozer (Mark is a BCU 5 star coach from the UK). In the morning we worked on Greenland paddling strokes and in the afternoon we did a beginner rolling clinic in Beaver Lake. We went all the way from the basic forward stroke to draws and sculls.

4km, YTD 741 km

August 5th - Loon Bay (#69)

2011-08-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

Bill and I went for a morning rolling session in Loon Bay. It was good to do a few rolls to get ready for Helen Wilson's clinics this weekend! The Tahe Greenland is such a great rolling boat!

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2 km, YTD 737

August 3rd - Chatham (#68)

2011-08-03T21:36:00.001-07:00

Paulo and I went for a short afternoon paddle around west Chatham Island. It was sunny and warm and we kept up a good pace.

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10 km, YTD 735 km.

July 31 - Symphony Splash (#67)

2011-08-01T00:15:00.000-07:00

I set out from James Bay Anglers to join Suzy, Simon, Lisa and Graeme as on water donation collectors for the Symphony Splash. What an event! It was great to be on the water supporting this great event. The view in front of the barge was excellent and it was fun to be part of the "sea otter raft". It was also great to see several friends and alumni. The paddle back at night was fun - my kayalu light worked very well!

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6 km, YTD 725 km

July 24th - Russel Island (#66)

2011-07-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

I joined 19 other paddlers for a SISKA paddle, led by Gary, from Moses Point to Russel Island. Conditions were truly summery, warm and calm! We had a great paddle, keeping up a good pace and had a nice visit with Heike, Hans and John who met us at Russel Island. I also explored Russel Island and the homestead for the first time. We also met a foursome of other paddlers who were paddling a beautiful wooden double and a two hole baidarka.

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19 km, YTD 719 km

July 23rd - Haro Strait SAREX (#65)

2011-07-23T17:21:00.000-07:00

Seven SISKA paddlers (Dennis, Alan, David, Jeff, Gerry, Sheila and me) went out into Haro Strait again to do a sea rescue exercise. Conditions were very benign - no wind and a little bit of an ebb current. Once again it was a great learning experience for SISKA members and OBSR crews. I was in the water for a little over 35 minutes and was actually quite comfortable in my drysuit. While waiting for rescue we drifted over 1 km this time.

click to enlarge

10 km, YTD: 700 km

July 22nd - Discovery (#64)

2011-07-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

I paddled out to Cadboro Point where I met up with Dan and Paulo for a paddle around Discovery. I was using my new Northern Light "Aleut-inspired" paddle and am getting to like the extra power and am getting used to not wanting to hold the paddle on the shoulder! Conditions were nice and we had a 8-10 knot SW wind on our flank for much of the trip. All three of us were almost matching as we wore our Comfort Paddling tuiliks and inflatable PFDs.

click to enlarge

17 km, YTD: 690 km

July 21 - Chatham (#63)

2011-07-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

George and I went out for a paddle around Chatham Island - It was the inaugural paddle for his newly refurbished Feathercraft Khatsalano. Another nice day on the water!

George's Khat

click to enlarge

10 km, YTD 673 km

July 20 - Discovery (#62)

2011-07-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

Dan and I went for a morning paddle out to Discovery. Conditions were good and we kept up a good pace. As a bonus we saw Orcas by Commodore Point on Discovery. I was using my Northern Light Aleut-inspired - it definitely allows me to keep up a good pace.

Click to enlarge

18 km, YTD 663 km

July 17th - Telegraph Bay (#61)

2011-07-17T16:43:00.000-07:00

Liz, Graham and I went for a nice Sunday morning paddle around Ten Mile Point. Conditions were nice and calm though overcast. The current was ebbing nicely as we went around Cadboro Point and had dropped by the time we returned. Graham was paddling my wisper and I was paddling an F1. There were lots of small bait fish around and we saw, eagles, otters, geese and a seal - as well as quite a few paddlers.

10 km, YTD: 645 km

July 9th - Haro Strait (#60)

2011-07-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

I joined Jo, Sandy, Gary. Fraser, Michael, Dorothea, Dennis and Dan for a SISKA search and rescue exercise with Oak Bay Sea Rescue. We basically paddled out into Haro Strait and had OBSR try to find us and rescue four of us. It was a great learning opportunity for all of us. We drifted almost 4 km before being found. Getting us on board a rescue boat is also a challenge. All in all a very productive exercise.

click to enlarge

18 km, YTD 635 km

July 7th - Discovery (#59)

2011-07-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

Dan and I went for a morning paddle around Discovery. The forecast was for strong SW winds so we decided to go counter clockwise. We made excellent time, averaging about 6.8 kph moving av. I stopped briefly at Commodore Point and we both had a good break on East Chatham. The wind did build up and the Tahe Greenlands performed well as usual. I was also using my Northern Light Aleut-inspired paddle which also worked very well. I definitely find it to be a powerful paddle design.

15 km, YTD 617 km

July 6th - Oak Bay (#58)

2011-07-06T23:06:00.000-07:00

I joined Mody, Christian, James, Annette, Roy, Peter and Angela for an evening paddle and pub trip to Oak Bay Marina. Conditions were wonderful and we had a nice brisk paddle. Afterwards we repaired to the Smugglers Cove Pub to celebrate Mody's birthday! Happy birthday Mody!

9 km, YTD 602 km

July 6th - Cattle Point (#57)

2011-07-06T17:14:00.000-07:00

I went for a nice paddle along the shore of Cadboro Bay with Jenny and Emily. We made it to Willows Beach and then turned around. Jenny and Emily were in my Wispers and I was in the F1. It's been good to paddle the other boats for a change! On the way back I stopped to visit with Bill and Dee aboard HelioMare - nice boat!
Mt Rainier was visible again - I just checked in Oziexplorer and Rainier is over 210 km away from Cadboro Bay!

6 km, YTD 593 km

July 5th - Oak Bay (#56)

2011-07-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

Ed and I set out from Killarney for a paddle along the oak bay shores. Conditions were beautiful - another sunny summer (at last?) afternoon. We poked along the shore checking out Willows Beach, boats moored in the bay and others at the marina. We had some help from the flood current on the way back. I visited briefly with some people sailing a "nonsuch" - an unusual but effective boat rig. I also chatted with Bill from the Heliomar who may have encountered chain from Morgan's lost mooring buoy.

Me in Cadboro Bay with HelioMare

Mt Baker

Willows Beach

me in the F1

10 km, YTD 587

July 1 - 3 - Discovery Island (#s 53-55)

2011-07-03T22:07:00.000-07:00

Monica and I joined Dennis and Sue for a camping trip to Discovery Island. We paddled the Feathercraft Wispers and I towed the Kaboose. We were thus able to camp comfortably out of two low volume boats. I have finally figured out a way to use my feathercraft skeg to prevent the kaboose from yawing too much. I now feel pretty comfortable taking it out on a trip with either the Wisper or the Tahe Greenland. I will post images of the skeg set up in a few days.

towing the kaboose with a wisper

We had great views of the Canada Day fireworks in the harbour on Friday night and then enjoyed a leisurely paddle around the Island on Saturday. We came back fairly early today as there were some strong winds in the forecast.

27 km, YTD 577 km

June 29th - Loon Bay (#52)

2011-06-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

James and I went out for an evening rolling session in Loon Bay. There was quite a bit of wind - gusts over 35 knots out in the straits - but Loon Bay was calm. The water is still pretty cool and I was a bit stiff. James taught me a new variant of a back deck roll he had come up with!

3 km, YTD 550 km.
Two of the go pro videos from the trip:

June 26th - Cadboro Bay (#51)

2011-06-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

I took Heather, Paul, Josh and Becca for a Sunday afternoon paddle around the Bay. Conditions were magnificent again and we had a great paddle. Not much wildlife to be seen other than dozens of Canada Geese. Rainier and Baker were both visible - Rainier was particularly clear.

click to enlarge

5 km, YTD 547 km

June 26th - Discovery Island (#50)

2011-06-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

Dan, Paulo and I went for a Sunday morning fast paddle around Discovery. Conditions were sunny and nice with not too much current. We managed a moving average of 6.8 kph (3.7 kt) for the whole paddle - it felt good to get out and clear out the cobwebs!

15 km, YTD 542 km

June 25th - Portland Island (#49)

2011-06-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

I joined a SISKA energizer paddle from Amherst to Portland. Conditions were good, though forecast to increase in the afternoon - did not happen. Bill and I helped escort a paddler who was not feeling well back to Amherst after making it almost to Coal and then caught up with the rest of the group at shell beach on Portland.
We were 20 in all - 18 for much of the paddle though. Thanks to Tom for leading.

20 km, YTD 527 km.

June 24th - Finnerty Cove (#48)

2011-06-24T16:52:00.000-07:00

Dan, Kelly, Christine and I went for a paddle around Ten Mile Point to Finnerty Cove. It was a bit windy in Oak Bay so we figured that there would be a nice lee on the north side of the point and such was the case. Kelly and Christine were paddling the two F1s and Dan and I were in Tahe Greenlands. Lots of young geese around and we had a close encounter with an unwary river otter. It popped up to find itself a few feet from Kelly's boat and got the shock of its life! We had clouds, sunshine, a very brief rain shower and een some thunder!

13 km, YTD 507 km - nice to be half way to my annual paddling goal!

June 23rd - Elk Lake (#47)

2011-06-23T21:49:00.000-07:00

I went up to Elk Lake for a SISKA meet and spent a couple of hours playing around with my new Northern Light paddles. Lynn, Brian, Michael and Dorothea were there too and all of us were using GPs at some point!
The lake is soooo warm!

4 km, YTD 494 km

June 19 - PC Intro Course (#46)

2011-06-19T22:07:00.000-07:00

Tom and I taught a Paddle Canada Introduction to Kayaking course with 7 participants. They were a good bunch and we made steady progress with their skills - all passed! Conditions were a tad windy so we tucked up by the yacht club for all the strokes and wet work. Mike and Jennie helped out as well as they wanted to observe a course.

2 km, YTD 490 km

June 18th - MEC Paddlefest (#45)

2011-06-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

I did an introduction to Greenland Paddling clinic at the MEC paddlefest at Willows Beach. I was up at UVic until almost noon and made it down just in time for my clinic. After the clinic I helped out with the Oak Bay Sea Rescue Table, did a little wandering around and also helped OBSR do a kayaker rescue - I was the rescuee! It was great to run into many friends at the meet!
The weather kept a lot of folks away but I think it was a successful event in spite of the cool damp weather.

2 km, YTD 488 km

June 16th - Discovery (#44)

2011-06-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

Dan and I went for an afternoon paddle around Discovery. There was a reasonable wind and a good flood current building. I was test paddling my two new paddles from Northern Light paddles. I used both the standard 3 piece GP and also the Aleut inspired one. Both worked well and felt good. The Aleut inspired paddle does seem to have more bite/power - especially when used with the concave face as the power face. will continue to test it out - the GP can also easily be turned into a storm paddle.
I'd like to say that my pace never dropped below 10 kph after Seabird point, but my batteries were flat and I had not put the spares in my cockpit bag! The crossing of Baynes and especially the crossing of Rudlin bay were fast with a tail current!
Iam presenting a clinic on Greenland Paddling tomorrow at the MEC Victoria paddlefest. Stay tuned!

click to enlarge

16 km, YTD 486 km.

June 11-12 - SSTIKS (#s 42,43)

2011-06-12T22:43:00.000-07:00

Dan, Dorothea and I drove down to Twanok State Park for SSTIKS over the weekend. It was a great gathering of Greenland paddlers and we met many very nice people. We ran into several Canadians which was great - James and Melissa from Vancouver, Ken and Tom from Campbell River and of course Gerhardt and Shannon from Victoria. I did a bit of work on my rolls, still working on my elbow roll but also got a start on a couple of sculling rolls. I also participated in a forward stroke clinic with Henry Romer and got a couple of good ideas for teaching Greenland Paddling. It was great to see Jeanette, David, Roy, Dubside and Helen again - last time was at the Greenland event in Seattle last November. The meet finished with a very fun competition which involved some unusual legs based on a 130s movie of a Greenlandic story of the Wedding of Palo. I also learned how to play dead fish polo which was good fun! The drive was not bad - 2 hours from the Port Angeles ferry.

click to enlarge - the short paddles around the park

click to enlarge - Twanoh is dead centre in this image

Update - here is the first clip I shot with my new GoPro - looks good in HD!

4 km, YTD 470 km

June 1 to June 5 - Telegraph Cove (#s 38-41)

2011-06-07T23:18:00.000-07:00

I went up to Telegraph Cove again this year with our school's Grade 10 experiential programme students and had a great few days of paddling. We went by water taxi to Echo Bay and then paddled our way back to Telegraph Cove. We finished a night early due to 40 knot wind forecasts in Johnstone strait (that never materialized). On the way up in the water taxi we had great sightings of Pacific white-sided dolphins. In echo Bay we had a wonderful visit with Billy proctor and toured his "museum". On our way ti Owl Island we visited a salmon farm to learn a bit about the business. The next day we went to Village Island where we met the other group and also toured the old village site. A visit to the "Earth Embassy" to learn about the traditional use of cedar took up most of the next day. Our last paddling day followed the south coast of Hanson and then ferried over in the current to look at the pillow basalts on the Blinkhorn pennisula. We decided to head back rather than risk being wind bound the next day. We went for a nice hike up to a viewpoint above Bauza Cove the next day.The weather for the trip was excellent - virtually no wind and only some rain during the first night!

click to enlarge

65 km, YTD 466 km

May 29th - Caddy bay (#37)

2011-05-29T16:46:00.000-07:00

I helped out in the afternoon with a SISKA clinic with Wayne Horodowich. It was a beautiful day and participants were learning and practicing their braces. The clinic went well and the water was still green. I got to try the toksook paddle again after 8 years - not bad - much better than I remember. I collected a sample of green water to look at under the microscope at school!
I'm of on Tuesday to Johnstone Strait and the broughton group for a 6 day trip with some of our grade 10 students.

click to enlarge

3 km, YTD: 401 km

May 28th - Chatham (#36)

2011-05-28T17:40:00.000-07:00

Dan, Paulo and I went out for a short afternoon paddle around Chatham Island. I was keen to test the new hood that Paulo had put on my Comfort Paddling Tuilik. At the end of the paddle we did a bunch of rolls and the new neck seal is much better - barely a drop after multiple rolls. Caddy Bay was bright green with algae again - just like last year.

11 km, YTD 398 km

May 27th - Cadboro Bay (#35)

2011-05-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

I joined several other SISKA instructors for the afternoon portion of a clinic with Wayne Horodowitch of the University of Sea Kayaking. We had a very productive afternoon learning about vearious stroke progressions. I also got to do my first test of a Northern Light 3 piece Greenland paddle (I have one on order...). Wayne is a great instructor and I also enjoyed his evening presentation on leadership. BTW, Caddy Bay was green with algae again, not quite as much as last year but visibly green!

2 km, YTD: 387 km

May 21-23 - Gulf Islands (#s 35-37)

2011-05-23T22:08:00.000-07:00

I co led a trip with our grade 11 students from Ladysmith to Portland Island. As I had to get to work on Tuesday, I left them behind at Portland and made my way to Swartz Bay.
We began the trip in drizzle in Evening Cove, near Ladysmith and paddled over to Thetis. Unfortunately the gap was dry and we had to do a short portage. We then went over to Reid Island where we saw a beutiful flower covered island that we decided not to camp on ( a combination of probable habitat damage and dificulty beaching kayaks). We made our way south to Chivers Point on Wallace which remarkably only had one other group there so there was plenty of room for us. An 18 km day. The next day we made our way south to Prevost Island by way of a stop at Walker Hook. The wind picked up a little bit in the afternoon, slowing down our progress. Camping at Prevost was excellent. A 19 km day. On the third day the group made its way to Arbutus point on Portland Island. We made excellent progress, arriving at Arbutus point (15 km) by noon. Peter paddled out to Arbutus point to meet me and we paddled on back to Swartz head (8 km). The rest of the group will make their way to Tulista Park on Tuesday.
Conditions were great, the group was great and I was working with two other wonderful guides Toni and Nick.

The whole route - click to enlarge

Day 1 - click to enlarge

Day 2 - click to enlarge

Day 3 - click to enlarge

The trip photo album
Total trip for me 60 km, YTD 445km

May 17th - Loon Bay Rolling (#34)

2011-05-17T18:01:00.000-07:00

James, Dan and I went for a rolling session in Loon Bay. A nice calm sunny afternoon. All three of us were in Tahes. We stopped by the yacht club on the way back to visit with the SMUS sailing group and show them some rolls. James did great and was able to go all the way to reverse sweep rolls and even an elbow roll! Made me jealous!

3 tahes!

2 km, YTD 385 km

May 14th/15th - Ladysmith (#s 32 and 33)

2011-05-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

I went up to the Ladysmith Paddlefest on the Saturday to give a towing clinic and then participate in the grand opening of the BC Marine Trails Network. I joined a flotilla of almost 100 paddlers paddling from the Dunsmuir Islands across back to Transfer Beach. It was an impressive sight as shown by the photos John at Kayak Yak took.
Here is a link to John's album: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spuzzum42/sets/72157626596809711/

(me at the left in the Tahe Greenland)
The weather held all day Saturday and I was able to head out for a nice paddle around Sharpe and Coffin points with Scott and Mark. It was a great day to be a part of - celebrating the Trails Network opening. I saw several old friends and met many new ones.
On Sunday Alan (from Campbell River) and I put on a rolling demo around noon where we did a good collection of Greenland competition rolls. I think it looked pretty good as I had several good comments about those kayak ninjas out there. Alan was paddling Dan's Tahe Greenland T so we were in almost matching boats and otherwise black outfits.Unfortunately for the vendors it was raining steadily most of the time (not a problem for rolling!) but I had a bit of time to wander through exhibits. I saw a Pungo (but did not paddle it - intermediate paddlers only!) but did get a shot of myself (Thanks Nikki!) in a Jackson Kayak! I test drove a couple of new Maelstrom/Boreal boats the Vaag 174 and the Vital 166. These wer both very comfortable and easy to maneuver and were a blast to roll - dare I say almost as easy as my Tahe!
All in all a great weekend - and thanks to Mark and Christine for theior hospitality on Saturday night!

My routes for the weekend. (click to enlarge)

not my Kayak! Even though it has my name on it!

18 km, YTD 383 km

May 13 - Cadboro Bay (#31)

2011-05-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

Paulo and I went out for an evening paddle in the Bay. I was trying Dan's Tahe Greenland T and Paulo was trying mine. I was also testing out a new tuilik hood design of Paulo's - worked very well. Off to Ladysmith for the paddlefest weekend.

6 km, YTD 365 km

May 8th - Sooke (#30)

2011-05-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

Monica and I joined the SISKA relaxed paddle from Sooke River Campground (where we had held our second annual club campout). Conditions were nice and we were 17 paddlers. There was a bit of wind, but not enough to cause trouble.

11 km, YTD 359
I probably put a km or two in addition to the above while hunting ducks and running some paddling clinics at the campout...

photo by Liz Lilly (click to enlarge)

May 3rd - Rolling (#29)

2011-05-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

Dan and I went for a rolling session in the bay - first real rolling session of the year. Most rolls worked out OK, though a few need some finesse! It was good to practice again!
Standard and chest sculls, standard and reverse sweep rolls, butterfly roll, armpit, crook of arm, behind the neck, storm and cross arm rolls, norsaq roll, hand and pebble rolls. Tried an elbow roll but just ended up in a body brace. All of them worked fine on both sides.

4 km. YTD 348 km

May 1st - Cattle Point (#28)

2011-05-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

Monica, Jack, Mary and I went out for a lazy Sunday afternoon paddle to Cattle Point. It was sunny and calm and a delightful paddle. Nice view of Mt Baker and even Mt Rainier was visible in the distance!

6 km, YTD 344 km

April 30 - Cadboro Bay (#27)

2011-04-30T11:30:00.001-07:00

I went out for a quick paddle around the bay in the F1 as the rest of the weekend may be busy! The F1 is so light to carry and paddles very nicely. averaged 6 kph including a few stops.
RVYC folks are getting ready for the sail past tomorrow...

6 km, YTD 338 km

April 23rd - Cadboro Bay (#26)

2011-04-23T19:01:00.000-07:00

I headed out of Killarney with Ed and Rick - both from Westcoast Paddler - for an afternoon paddle in the bay. Conditions were nice and sunny with a bit of a breeze. Ed is visiting from the Prairies so borrowed an F1, I paddled the other F1 and Rick paddled his Trident Angler.We saw otters in three different locations on the way to and from Cadboro Point. The tide was very low - as you can see from a couple of detours on the track! The route through the yacht club was too narrow to pass at this tide. We decided to adjourn to Smugglers Cove for a beverage to finish of a nice afternoon of paddling!

click to enlarge

6 km, YTD 332 km

April 17th - Harbour Celebration (#25)

2011-04-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

I launched at James Bay Anglers Ramp to paddle over to the Songhees and participate in the first (hopefully annual) Harbour Celebration. I did a bunch of demonstration Greenland Rolls and also the sea kayak race. Surprising myself, I came in as the first sea kayak in spite of using a Greenland paddle! I averaged 8.5 kph (4.6 kt) over the 2.34 km race route. The day was a bit cool and showery, so the turnout was not as good as hoped for but it was great to see many familiar faces. David Anderson spoke well.

click to enlarge

the race route detail

5 km, YTD 326 km

April 16th - Discovery (#24)

2011-04-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

Michael E, Dan and I set out to go around Discovery Island. It was Michael's first proper paddle with a Greenland paddle and he took to it pretty quickly. We encountered calm and favourable conditions to begin with and decided to go around the top side of Chatham to take advantage of the lee. We decided to make a figure eight so as not to have to fight the tide across Rudlin Bay and were rewarded by speeds of up to 7 kt going across the south end! We stopped in boathouse bay for a snack lunch and then continued on up between the Chathams. On our crossing back to Cadboro point, Michael experienced trouble turning his CD Solstice in beam winds and we ended up getting swept a fair ways down stream. Dan put a line on his bow which made a huge difference and we were able to slog our way back home against wind and current. Winds were gusting in the 20-25 kt range. It was 30-40 kt around Trial Island! We were all a tad tired when we made it back to the beach!

click to enlarge

18 km, YTD 321 km

April 9th - Discovery (#23)

2011-04-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

Dennis, Dan and I set out relatively early from Killarney and went around Discovery. There was a fairly strong ebb building as well as a decent south-westerly wind so there were a few waves. We had to work hard along the south side of Discovery. We stopped briefly for a snack on Vantreight Island and made it back shortly after noon. Another nice day on the water!

click to enlarge

15 km, YTD 303 km.

April 7th - Jemmy Jones (#22)

2011-04-08T20:37:00.000-07:00

I managed to sneak out after work for a quick paddle around the bay. It was a beautiful afternoon and I was in a short sleeve top... it was great to be back on the water after a few weeks' break. On my way back I met up with a couple of paddlers and also stopped off to chat with the folks on Freya and Heliomare.

6 km, YTD: 288 km

March 19th - Poole and Swanage (#21)

2011-03-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

I joined Mike Holgate from Poole Bay Kayaks and his friends Graham, Stephen and Jackie for a paddle from Poole to Swanage by way of Old Harry Rocks. The day was a magnificent one and the water was calm as we made our way along the coastline of spectacular chalk cliffs. We managed to paddle through some neat arches and into some fun tidal races. We landed in Swanage and managed to make our way to a fish and chip shop where we obtained lunch! The paddle back was also assisted by some current and we had a couple of fun waves to surf.

click to enlarge

20 km, YTD 282 km

2011-03-19 pentaxw20

March 12 - Cadboro Point (#20)

2011-03-12T13:21:00.000-08:00

I paddled out to Cadboro Point this morning in the hopes of catching some nice waves in Baynes. When I got out there I met Nick, Alex, Peter and a couple of others who had the same idea. The waves were big but quite confused and I had a hard time catching waves - even when I switched to a euro blade... I was also pretty tired by the time I stopped... I need to work on sprints!

9 km, YTD: 262 km

March 8 - Discovery (#19)

2011-03-08T17:11:00.000-08:00

I had no classes this aft so decided to head out and join Gordin and Dan who were out on Chatham (having set out from Maynard Cove). Once we met up we set out to go around Discovery. The current was flooding and the SE wind turned to a strong SW wind in time to make the jaunt along the south side of Discovery a slog! There were a few fun waves to play in by Virtue Rock and Heritage Point. The current gave us quite a boost around Heritage point.

click to enlarge

15 km, YTD 253 km

Feb 27th - Chatham (#18)

2011-02-27T13:31:00.000-08:00

Dan and I set out for a short paddle out to the Chatham group.I decided to paddle the Delphin to give it another test drive and also it was much easier to launch than the Tahe in the waves that were coming in - the wind was fairly steady at 30 to 40 kph from the SE throughout the paddle. It was relatively slow work going out and much faster coming back with the wind at our tail! As we launched, we met up with a group doing a Level 2 instructor course with Mike and JF. They looked like they were going to have fun too! We had fun almost surfing all the way back.

12 km, YTD 238 km

Feb 26 - Jemmy Jones (#17)

2011-02-26T13:28:00.000-08:00

Dan and I went out for a morning paddle despite the chilly light snow conditions. There were some waves which made it a challenge to launch without a flooded cockpit. The wind was in our face on the way out which slowed us a bit and when we made it out to Cadboro Point, we saw that some waves were building - so we went and played for a while. I got a few excellent rides. We then went over to Jemmy Jones and the NW side of Caddy Bay.
Level 6 mitts and MEC Hott Mitts definitely make paddling in these conditions practical. We were both quite warm with our Comfort Paddling Tuiliks over other clothing.

click to enlarge

8 km, YTD 226 km

Feb 23 - Caddy Bay Snow (#16)

2011-02-23T15:02:00.000-08:00

Well, school was cancelled so Monica and I decided to go for a ski around Gyro Park and then for a paddle in the Bay! It was snowing lightly when we left and then a bit more as we went along and the wind picked up. It was neat to paddle in the snow!

4 km, YTD 218 km

2011-02-23_caddysnow

Feb 20th - Trial Island (#15)

2011-02-20T13:52:00.000-08:00

Dennis and I paddled to Oak Bay Marina where we met up with Gordin and then continued on to Trial Island. It was a beautiful day, currents were in our favour both ways, what more could we ask for? The tide was quite low so we got great views of intertidal life along the shores of Trial. we also stopped and chatted with the light keeper for a few minutes. Lots of sea birds on the water, including a group of "old squaw" or long-tailed ducks.
On our way back we noticed a strange vessel in Oak Bay and went to investigate - it turned out to be an almost completed, home built(?) small hovercraft!

2011-02-20_trial

17 km, YTD 214 km

Feb 19th - Discovery (#14)

2011-02-19T14:14:00.000-08:00

Paulo, Dan and I set out from Killarney Kayak Base for a paddle around Discovery. There was a reasonably strong cold northerly wind (steady around 25 kph and gusting to around 40 kph). The sun was shining brightly and we headed fairly straight for Commodore point on Discovery. A bit of current help and a few surfing waves made for a good speedy trip. Seabird point back to Chatham for lunch was a bit of a slog against the wind but the beach was sheltered, sunny and beautiful. We made our way across Baynes with a moderate flood pushing us towards Cadboro Point and a few fun waves. We ran into Patti and Yves again in the bay as they were practicing towing

15 km, YTD 197 km

February 13 - Margaret Bay (#13)

2011-02-13T22:17:00.000-08:00

Dan, Dennis, Gordin and I set off for a morning paddle along the coast. We met up with Dave S and the VSKN paddle in Arbutus cove and paddled with them to Margaret's Bay. I had to get back by 1 PM so we paddled back fairly quickly. Fortunately we had an ebb current to help us.

18 km, YTD 182 km

Feb 12th - Chatham (#12)

2011-02-12T16:26:00.000-08:00

Dan twisted my rubber arm and I decided to go for a short morning paddle so as to clear my head for grading and report writing - it sort of worked! Paulo, Dan and I set out from Killarney and paddled out to Chatham. We poked around islets and went through many normally impassable passages since the tide was high. We also went into Cactus Islet Inlet and checked out the cacti that still seem to be alive after their inundation by a winter king tide. We stopped by 10 mile point so that Dan could check out the seal on his new Tuilik by Comfort Paddling.
On our way in we ran into Daniel, Patti, Yves, Michel, James and Mac who were heading out to play in Baynes.
This was also the first time I had taken out the "new" Cape Falcon F1 that I had traded with Gerhardt for the Disko Bay. It's a bit bigger than my other one, but paddles nicely.

14 km, YTD 164 km

feb 7th - Baynes (#11)

2011-02-07T12:45:00.000-08:00

I paddled out to Cadboro Point to meet Yves in the hope of having some nice waves there. The current was building and there was a stiff SW wind, but not too much action at the point. However we could see a line of waves stretching from Jemmy Jones Island to Chatham Island so we paddled over to Strongtide and then played in some very big green waves. The Delphin performed well and I had some great surf runs. It was hard work staying with the waves as the current was fast but it was fun and I returned exhausted! It was great to get out 4 days in a row!

11 km, YTD 150 km

Feb 6th - Discovery (#10)

2011-02-06T22:17:00.000-08:00

George, Dan, Gordin, Paulo, Gerhardt and I set out from Killarney to paddle around Discovery. It was a grey misty moisty day. Gerhardt wanted to try the Disko Bay and I decided to paddle the Tahe. When we got out to Cadboro Point, we metu up with Patti and Yves who had been having a blast playing in the waves. We joined them for a while (I wished I had the Delphin today!) and then made our way over to the "sluice" by Vantreight. Nice currents. We then continued on around Discovery, had a nice lunch and carried on around Discovery. the wind picked up a bit during the afternoon. We stopped between cadboro pt and flower islet to do some rolling - Dan had to try his new Comfort Paddling Tuilik!

17 km, YTD 139 km