August 18-31 - Maritimes (#s75-84)

Monica and I took our Feathercraft wisper kayaks to NB, PE and NS for two and a half weeks of exploring. I managed to get in 10 paddles and 62 km in total. There were a few days when I wanted to paddle but it was too windy...

62 km, YTD 698 km

overview of paddling locations - click to enlarge

#75 Hopwell Rocks - August 18

Monica and I went paddling around Hopewell rocks at high tide. It was pretty windy and weird paddling in "chocolate milk". It was neat to be paddling around rocks 30+ feet above where we had been walking the day before!

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8 km

#76 Riverside Albert - August 18

Monica and I went for a quiet afternoon paddle and enjoyed the tranquility of a river paddle. It is neat how you can be on a river and get such a different perspective on the countryside.

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6 km

#77 Bouctouche - August 19

I went for an evening paddle along the shore near Bouctouche.

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5 km

#78 Darnley - Cabot Park - August 21

Monica and I were staying at Jack and Mary's cottage in Darnley and I managed to get out for a few paddles. Jack and I paddled from "their beach to Cabot Park where Monica and Mary picked us up!

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7 km

#79 Darnley - Bird Rock - August 22

I went for a solo paddle along the shore to "bird rock". the wind was from the south-east, so this shore was fairly protected. I was able to catch a few small waves on the way back. You can see that my trip back was a lot faster!

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8 km

#80 - Millvale to Stanley Bridge - August 24

Jack and I went for a nice paddle down the Stanley River. Lots of nice properties along this stretch of the river!

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6 km

#81 Cape Breton Island -South Harbour - August 28

Monica and I went for a morning paddle around South Harbour near Cape North on CBI. There was a bit of wind, so we did not venture out into the ocean..

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7 km

#82 Cape Breton Island - Black Brook Cove - August 28

I went for a solo paddle along this shoreline. This was an amazing piece of coastline with great surge channels and bays littered with giant granite boulders. The pink granite was also cut across by black lava dykes and faults. One of my favourite paddles!

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5 km

#83 Cape Breton Island - Marion Bridge - August 31

Monica and I went for a sunny morning paddle on the Mara River at Marion Bridge, inspired by the "Song for the Mira" which is a favourite of ours!

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Celtic Thunder Plays Song for the Mira

6 km

#84 Isle Madame - August 31

I went for a short last paddle before packing up the boats on Isle Madame. There are so many more places I want to paddle out here!

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4 km

July 7 - Oyama (#s 62, 63, 64)

While in Oyama on our way to Alberta, I managed to squeeze in three paddles. A solo morning paddle and an afternoon paddle with Monica and a solo SUP outing. Conditions were nice and sunny and calm.

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17 km combined, YTD 534 km

June 21st - Oyama (#57)

I managed to sneak in an early morning paddle while out in Oyama for the weekend. It was nice to do a quick tour of the "south bays", check out old haunts and to stretch out a bit. Okanagan mornings are lovely!

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7 km, YTD 510 km

August 18-22 Broughton Archipelago (#s 62-66)

Ater our Kyuquot trip, we figured that we were far enough up island that we should do a trip in the Broughtons, so we took Natural C-lection  for a 6 day cruise amongst the islands and channels north of Johnstone Strait. We had our two Feathercraft Wispers on the boat's roof rack and found that the boat and wispers worked very well as a "mothership" system. We managed to get in 5 paddles during our 6 days. I had previously paddled as far as Echo Bay with the SMUS experiential groups and it was neat to see some of the areas further afield.We were blessed with decent weather and minimal winds throughout our trip.

August 18 Sophia Islets

Monica and I anchored in Growler Cove and launched the Wispers for a paddle out to the Sophia Islets.This was our first attempt at "mothershiping", and it was very successful (except that I forgot my GPS!)

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6 km (est), YTD 768 km

August 19 Village Island/Mamalilaculla

After a foggy morning in Blackfish Sound and a visit to the earth embasy on Hanson Island, Monica and I went to Village Island to visit the abandoned village of Mamalilaculla on Village Island. I had been here several times with the SMUS groups and it was good to see this spectacular sight again. Quite reminiscent of places we saw in Haida Gwaii.

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2 km, YTD 770 km

August 20 Burdwood group

After a night in Echo Bay marina, we went to the Burdwoods for a paddle. We had the "kayaker beach" to ourselves that day, shoretied the boat with our anchor buddy and went for a nice paddle around several of the islands in the group. The camp site is an excellent one. The seals around here seem much darker than in Victoria.

5 km, YTD 775 km

August 21 Lacy Falls

After spending the night in Watson Cove and going for a short hike to see an old cedar we paddled back to look at Lacy falls again close up. These falls are very pretty. we noticed that the flow was noticeably less this morning than it had been the afternoon before.

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5 km, 780 km

August 22 Booker Lagoon

At the recommendation of Anca and Max of Kwatsi Bay Marina, we went into Booker Lagoon at high slack, set our prawn trap, found a private cove and then went of a paddle to explore the lagoon. I went a bit further than Monica and chatted with another boat (Y-Knot) that was anchored in another cove on the SW arm of the lagoon. The prawning was successful and we had an amazing bear watching experience after dinner in our cove. A sow was teaching her two cubs to turn over rocks for crabs and such. They were only a couple of hundred feet away from us and completely ignored us for about an hour!

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7 km, YTD 787 km

March 2013 - Florida trip (#s 13-22) (long post!)

(This is a long post as I am inlcuding the whole trip with 10 paddles in it!)
Monica and I went to southwest Florida for a two week spring break trip and managed to get several great paddles in. We packed the two Feathercraft Wispers into their bags and checked them in as standard 50lb bags - ended up costing us $20 per boat extra each way for the second bag. Our trip focussed on manatees and birds which we saw in good numbers. The land in Florida is FLAT, and the inshore waters are shallow. Most of our paddling was in 5 ft or less of water. The Wispers were great boats for this trip, giving us light comfortable and familiar boats to paddle which could be kept in the trunk of the rental car or carried on the roof. We bought a Malone Handirack to carry the boats on the roof, and it worked reasonably well once we had good bow and stern tie downs. I had my 3 piece Northern Light Greenland Paddle and Monica had a 4 piece Feathercraft paddle.
We basically had no fixed plan for the trip, flying into and out of Fort Lauderdale and we rented a full size car for the whole trip. No hotel bookings were made except for the last night. We drove straight to Cape Coral by way of "Alligator Alley" to pick up the Malone Handirack and the owner of the store recommended that we stay in a small place in Matlacha by Pine Island. We thought we might spend a couple of nights there, but ended up spending 4! We went for a nice day paddle to the west of Pine Island, as well as a couple of forays into Cape Corals canals where we managed to see a few manatees and some good birds. We also made a morning trip to Manatee Park in Fort Myers where the manatees take advantage of the warm waters coming out of the electric power station.
After Matlacha we went north to Crystal River in the hopes of swimming with Manatees. On our first attempt we took a tour, but the weather had been warm and there were three smallish dozing manatees by the spring. We decided to try again the next day (the night before was cold!) on our own, using the kayaks and had much better luck, getting to swim with our "own" manatee for a while. After that, we decided to head south to Everglades City where we stayed at a great lodge called the Ivey House. Again we thought we would stay a couple of nights but ended up staying four! The folks at the Ivey House were super friendly and helpful. On our way south we stopped for lunch at the Manatee Viewing center run by Tampa Bay Electric - we saw more than 40 manatees taking in the 29 C (85F) water.
The Everglades were spectacular with their mangroves and saw grass prairies, and we managed several paddles as well as a "ten thousand Islands boat tour". In addition, my friend and past student, Martin , came down to Everglades city with his flats boat and we had a great day on the water - the highlight was Martin hooking a 60 or so lb tarpon!
After Everglades city, we made our way to the Keys (stopping at Shark Valley for a 15 mile bike ride) for a couple of nights, staying in Key Largo. The wind was pretty strong for the time we were there, so we did not do any snorkelling or as much paddling as I would have liked. We tried to drive out to Key West, but got fed up with the traffic and turned around at Big Pine Key - after checking out some key deer.
For our last day we decided to leave the Keys and check out the Flaming area of Everglades park and had a great day of bird and gator watching.
All in all, the trip was all we hoped for and we saw more wildlife than we expected (lots of manatees, lots of alligators and well over 60 bird species), had some nice paddling in warm water and weather, and ate lots of tasty fish (grouper and mahi mahi).
Below are all the paddle write ups:

Paddle #13 - Pinelands to Part Island - March 16

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Our first paddle in warm shallow waters. We made it out to Part Island (which is for sale for 1.5 M$ or so!) 13 km.

Paddle #14 - Matlacha to Sirenia Park, Cape Coral - March 17

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We paddled around Matlacha Island and spent some time looking for manatees in Sirenia Park as well as exploring some mangroves. 11 km

Paddle #15 - Fort Myers Manatee Park - March 18 AM

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Monica and I went to Manatee Park in Fort Myers were manatees were gathering in the warm waters around a power station - this was the first time we had come really close to manatees! They are BIG! We rented a double from the park concession for an hour! 1 km.

Paddle #16 - Matlacha to Sirenia Park and Cape Coral - March 18 PM

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Monica and I went for an early paddle over to Cape Coral again. This time we saw quite a few more manatees as well as a dolphin. 10 km

Paddle #17 - Crystal River - March 21

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Monica and I paddled to the springs and had our snorkelling gear with us. We hopped out of our kayaks, tied them up and went for a great swim with the manatees! 5 km

Paddle #18 - Halfway River Mouth - March 22

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Monica and I joined a ranger-led paddle with a couple for Germany and another from the Netherlands. 8 km

Paddle #19 - Halfway River Loop - March 23 AM

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This ended up being our longest paddle, and it was quite warm so were tired by the end of the paddle! Lots of mangrove tunnels but not much birdlife. Fortunately we had a good map as it would have been easy to get lost! 14 km

Paddle #20 - East River - March 23 PM

east river evening paddle - click to enlarge

I went for a solo paddle and joined up for a while with a group from the lodge. There was a large rookery of ibises and egrets near the start of the paddle which became very busy at the end of my paddle just as the sun was setting. As I paddled into the first mangrove tunnel, I was startled as three alligators splashed to escape! While I was on this paddle, Monica went back to the Marsh trail that had probably the best birding of the trip the nigh before. You can see both the mangrove channels and the sawgrass prairie in this image. 5 km

Paddle #21 - John Pennekamp Coral reef State Park - March 26 AM

Largo Sound - click to enlarge

Monica and I decided to go for a protected paddle in the mangroves of Largo sound out of the state park. It was fun exploring the mangrove channels. A highlight of this paddle was finding a small bay with dozens of upside down jellyfish! 8 km.

Paddle #22 - Seafarer resort to shell Key - March 26 PM

seafarer resort to Shell Key

This was my last paddle of the trip and a chance to explore the keys a bit. I went on my own as it was quite windy. You can see the Intracoastal waterway rout quite clearly in the image. I saw a few of the usual seabirds and a small shark. On the way back from Shell key, the waves were big enough to surf a bit! 10 km.

Total trip paddling summary - 10 paddles, 85 km, YTD 224 km.

July 28- Aug 4 - The Saône River (#s 52-58)

Monica, Sharon, Bill and I spent a week on a river boat cruising down the Saône River in France. We started in Gray and finished near Louhans. I brought two Feathercraft Wispers with us and they made 8 outings during the week.I assembled them our first morning and kept them on the deck all week.

Heuilley-sur-Saône:  I went for a short "test" paddle over the lunch break and discovered that it was possible to get in and out of the kayak directly from the boat! (3 km). I had not figured out the tracking app on my phone by this point so there are no speeds.

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Auxonne: Bill and I went for an evening paddle down the canal and then back up into the marina. (Monica and Bill went for another paddle down the canal the next morning) (6 km)

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St. Jean de Losne:  Bill and I went for a before breakfast paddle up the Saône and then up a small creek. A kayak was a great way to see the river. (8 km)

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Verdun: Bill and I went for another morning paddle around the island of Verdun and saw the extent of past floods that reached 8 m above the current level! (4.5 km)

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Verdun to Gergy: I went for a solo paddle down the river and waited for the boat to catch me up in an hour or two. I was able to catch a short ride on the bow wave of a river boat. (10.5 km)

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Tournous: Bill and I went for a paddle down the river while Monica and Sharon cruised in the boat. (6 km)

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La Truchere: Bill and I went for our last paddle up the Seuille and back. Another magical morning with mist on the water as we began the day. (9 km)

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47 km, YTD: 651

The overall picture!

April 29th - Brentwood Bay (#34)

Monica, Bill, Sharon, Heather and I went for a nice relaxed paddle into Tod Inlet. Conditions were overcast but nice and calm and we had a great "family" paddle. Sharon had one of my Wispers and Heather had the F1. We did some harpoon practice with a Scotty pump masquerading as a seal target... I need to practice a bit more to get some range. We also discovered a weird phenomenon whereby Heather was able to move both boats forward by pushing back and forth on my tahe... not quite sure why we were able to make progress!

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 7 km, YTD 433 km

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

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 9th - Jemmy Jones (#84)

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

August 20th - Medway again (#75)

 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 17th - Medway (#74)

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)

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)

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

July 17th - Telegraph Bay (#61)

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

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