December 19th - Discovery Island (#116)

Olivier and I went for a spur of the moment paddle out to the Islands, since the forecast was not bad. It was a bit breezy (pretty steady 10-15 knots), and the current was turning to an ebb, so we decided to paddle around counter-clockwise. Before we got to Vantreight Island, I saw a couple of very big splashes and likely blows about a mile to the north of the VK (Fulford reef)  marker. I am pretty sure that we had spotted a pod of orcas, some of which were breaching!  We stopped briefly in the lagoon in East Chatham Island and saw over a dozen herons in the trees. The tide was high enough that I was able to paddle over spots I don't think I have paddled before! By the time we got to the south side of Discovery, we were experiencing reasonably lumpy water (the wind was closer to 20 kt) and by the time we got to Seabird Point, it was "exciting"... I had to employ more than a few braces! We stopped to catch our breath in boathouse bay and then made our way to cactus islet lagoon. The tide was still high and we counted 5 patches of prickly pear cactus on the south side of the islet. Two of the patches had been partly submerged recently - I hope they are tolerant of some immersion. On our way back, we dropped by Maynard (smuggler's) Cove to visit with Alex, Sheila, Morley and Jo who were heading out to play in the waves that were developing of Cadboro Point (the ebb current was meeting a SE swell from the Puget Sound area). All in all, a great day's paddle, with good paddling and plenty of wildlife too! I almost surfed into a seal at one point. Only 16 km to go before my 1000 km goal is reached...

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18 km, YTD 984 km