I paddled out to Cadboro Point to join Paulo and Dan for a paddle around the islands. There was a bit of a flood current to begin with which appeared to have dropped off by the time we finished. We made a brief stop in Rudlin Bay. We saw a lot of harbour seals..
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15 km, YTD 98 km
I went for a solo morning paddle around the bays. Nice calm, sunny, conditions with a strong ebb running (you can see it gave me a nice push from Cadboro Point). I went out to Cadboro Point and then made my way towards Oak Bay marina (using the Oak Bay Beach Hotel as a range marker). Saw the usual suspects bird-wise and a good number of hauled out harbour seals. I also saw a group of 5 California Sealions off Willows Beach.
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11 km, YTD 83 km
I paddled out to Cadboro Point to meet Dan and Paulo and we went for a great paddle around the islands. Sunny and calm with a strong ebb current running. You can see from the track that we received quite a boost on the southbound section and that I got carried well down Baynes on my way back across. I barely made it up past Cadboro Point to meet Dan and Paulo! Saw quite a few long tailed ducks, black turnstones, black oystercatchers as well as a couple of red-necked grebes. baker was barely visible in the distant haze and I could not make out Rainier. Just made it to 50 km for the year!
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Pete and I got together for a paddle in the Bay. We had grand ambitions of making it to Oak Bay, but it was a bit windy, so we turned around at Cattle Point. It was great to paddle with Pete again and catch up!
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5 km, YTD 35 km
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I paddled out to Staines Islet where I met Fraser for a nice coastline paddle. We got to chat lots and catch up. We saw a river otter, a harbour seal, lots of buffleheads, hooded and common mergansers, oystercatchers, Canada geese and more.
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As soon as I got back from Antarctica, I managed to get out for a paddle with Dan and Paulo. I meet them out by Cadboro Point and we did the usual circuit. Plenty of good winter birds about including 250+ ancient murrelets in Baynes channel. https://ebird.org/checklist/S295276124. I also saw some river otters and harbour seals.
Weather was great, sunny and light winds. Ebb current throughout. I could see Mt Baker easily and could just make out Mt Rainer when I started.
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Dan, Paulo and I went for an early paddle (0800 start) so we could get back in time for the SISKA lunch. Conditions were great - a little current against us but not too bad and no wind to speak of. I could see Mt Rainier and Mt Baker. We kept up a good pace (avg 6.1 kph, just over 3 knots) and I was back at the beach in 2 hours 25 minutes. There were a couple of noisy California Sea Lions on the west side of Chatham and then some noisy Steller sea lions (and one California) on the rock by Seabird Point. All the sea lions seen were males.
We had the usual birds: https://ebird.org/checklist/S286720019
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I organized a Wednesday Group paddle for 12 of us to leave from Caddy Bay (where else!) and head out to the islands. The winds were light and the tide levels high so we visited lagoons and passages that are otherwise impassable. The currents were not too tricky, though they seemed stronger for the return across Baynes Channel.The cacti in Cactus Islet Inlet were still there and seem to be doing well in spite of their position so close to the water. We had lunch in Rudlin Bay. We saw plenty of birds: (https://ebird.org/checklist/S286288322)as well as both Steller and California sea lions and harbour seals.
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17 km, YTD 349 km
I paddled out to Cadboro Point to join Dan and Paulo for a paddle around the islands. I could just make out the tip of Mt Rainier above the Puget Sound clouds! Conditions were good with favourable tides and light winds. I however was out of shape and my back was not happy - too much time out of the "saddle"?
It was good to see the winter birds in full swing - 19 species https://ebird.org/checklist/S285687706
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I went for another solo paddle to Oak Bay in the F1. Conditions were great with sunshine and a helpful current both ways. saw some murrelets, oystercatchers, geese and plenty of seals en route.
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I paddled along the coast to Oak Bay and back. I had to paddle against wind and current on the way out and had some help on the way back. Saw several black oystercatchers and heard a belted kingfisher.
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9 km, YTD 239 km
I led a SISKA paddle out to the islands with a nice group of 12 others. We started off with a mild flood and ended with a mild ebb, but there was a moderate 10-15 kt SW wind throughout (except when we were in the lee of the islands). We had lumpy water crossing Baynes each way but not too bad. After lunch I decided to stay in the lee of the islands rather than round the SW corner where it was facing the wind and waves. A beautiful sunny day on the water! We had some nice birds (14 species noted!) https://ebird.org/checklist/S264601713
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17 km, YTD 230 km
I took the starboard SUP out so that I could dump some salmon carcasses in deep water... Results of a successful fishing trip!
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I paddled out to Cadboro Point to join Dan and Paulo for a paddle around the islands. Great conditions and a lovely day on the water. Birding highlight was seeing a bunch of rhinoceros auklets while crossing Baynes. https://ebird.org/checklist/S261510669
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I led a very small SISKA group (just Craig, Rod and myself) for a "light" paddle from Caddy Bay to telegraph Cove and back. WE made it comfortably in two hours and I was home for lunch!
Not a lot in the way of birds: turkey vultures, Canada geese and Black Oystercatchers.
Conditions were very nice with a gentle ebb current throughout, sunshine and calm seas. Visibility was not great - could not see Rainier and could barely see Mt Baker.
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10 km, YTD 197 km
Jennie and I went out for a short morning paddle to check out the kayak she wants to buy - A Norse Isun - and we went out to Cadboro Point and back. We saw Yves and Patti and Julie about to launch out of Maynard Cove and had a nice catch up chat while Jennie tested the kayak out - looks like a nice kayak! We saw a nice selection of the usual birds: yellowlegs, bufflehead, goldeneye, hooded merganser, harlequin duck and glaucous-winged gull.
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I organized a "Wednesday Group" paddle out to the islands and we (12 of us) had a great day on the water. there was a strong ebb running in the morning so we decided to head south from Cadboro Point to take advantage of the current. The grey section in the track is where we were going over 10 kph! There was a bit of lumpy water in Baynes, but not too bad. There were a lot of black oystercatchers around - I saw over 60 during the paddle! The usual Steller sea lions were on the rock off Seabird Point. We stopped for lunch in Rudlin Bay and then had coffee at Moka House after.
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17 km, YTD 150km
I went for a solo paddle out to check the traps - no luck this time so I brought them both back. Nice conditions!
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I went out to check the traps and came home with two keepers. Beautiful conditions!
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3 km, YTD 126 km
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