April 11&12 - Port Renfrew (#10, 11 &12)

I went to the Ocean river Port Renfrew Paddling Symposium as an assistant instructor. I helped Finn and Beth-Anne with Rock Gardening on the first morning, Justine for intermediate surfing on the first afternoon and then Mike and Justine for rock gardening on the second morning. We had great participants and fun in spite of low swells.

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22 km, YTD 51 km

February 23 - Port Renfrew Surfing (#8)

I went solo surfing off the river in PR - the break was in a different location due to a lower tide. Got a couple of nice rides!

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2 km, YTD 87 km

February 21 - Port Renfrew Surfing (#6)

I went for a solo paddle off the San Juan river in Port Renfrew. There were some nice waves and I got a couple of good rides! Saw a common loon!

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4 km, YTD 77 km

February 21 - Port Renfrew (#6)

I went for a solo paddle in Port Renfrew on the San Juan river mouth looking for some small surf to play in with the Hammer. There was very little surf but I did find a small break at the end of the beach and got a few runs. I saw a nice selection of birds. It was nice to be out on the water in Renfrew!

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2 km, YTD 56 km

November 21st - Jordan river (#51)

I went for a surfing paddle out at Jordan River. Conditions were nice with very few people on the water and waves that were just big enough for me to have fun but not so big as to be a challenge for me. A great first surf paddle in a while!

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2 km, YTD 366 km

January 24th - Port Renfrew (#3)

I was up at the cottages in Renfrew doing some maintenance and managed to get out for a nice play in the surf by the San Juan rivermouth. The waves were not too big but still gave me some great rides! The Hammer is fun in surf! :)
There were some nice birds around as well including surf scoter, pacific loon, common merganser, bald eagle and more.

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5 km, YTD 15 km

June 2nd - SISKA Picnic (#38)

I joined the gang at the SISKA picnic for the day and managed to get out for a short paddle in the afternoon. Though the track is only 0.5 km, I estimate that I actually went about 2 km as the GPS was not on for a good part of the time! We spent some time playing kayak games which involved races, stealing pool noodles from others' kayaks and various other crazy/fun antics!

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2 km, YTD 300 km

April 14th - Sooke rock Gardens (#22)

I assisted Scot and Jordie in leading a "rock garden" class for 8 SKGABC guides as part of the guides' exchange. We had perfect conditions - no wind and just enough swell to make it interesting but not so much as to make it too "exciting". The participants all finished the day with big smiles, so I think the class was a success.

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6 km, YTD 192 km

January 27th - Rodeo Beach to Bonita Point (#10)

My second day's class was "advanced rock garden play" and we launched into some surf off Rodeo Beach under the leadership of Paul Kuthie with David Santanello and Roger Smith. We had a great day exploring under and around Bird Island as well as amongst the rocks and reefs out to Bonita Point Light. We went through tunnels, and slots as well as over various pour-overs and had a blast! I need to do more of this! :)

The main symposium site

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8 km, YTD 105 km

January 26th - Marin Headlands rock gardens (#9)

At the Paddle Golden Gate Symposium, my first class was an excellent session on rock garden skills and safety run by Bill Vonnegut. After a series of exercises on strokes and rescues, we made our way past the Golden Gate bridge to play in the rocky shores of the Marin headlands. I had a blast practicing playing in front of steep cliffs, pour overs and slots and learned a lot about what spots are safe (relatively!) and to look out for big swells that might surprise.

Shot by Tom of the group passing under the bridge

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9 km, YTD 97 km

January 3&4 - Surge Narrows (#2&3)

I joined Alan and Craig for two days of paddling the wave at Surge Narrows. On the first day I paddled a borrowed Sterling Progression which did not suit me very well, so I had a pretty slow day of paddling. On the second day I paddled my familiar Hammer  and paddled until I was tired! :)
The GPS battery ran out on day 1, so the track is an estimate after I arrived at the wave. It is amazing to watch and listen as the wave develops and the current sped rises to around 7 knots!

Day 1 - click to enlarge

day 2 - click to enlarge

7 km, YTD 23 km

March 31st - Sooke to Jordan River (#19)

I joined a SISKA meetup paddle from Sooke (just east of Otter Point) to Jordan River. This was organized by Gary and I was paddling with Jeff, Reale, David and John. Conditions were excellent with little wind and an ebb current helping us in the morning. We paddled past Otter Point, Muir and Kirby creeks, Sheringham Point, French Beach, Point No Point and Sandcut Creek and I was able to finish the day with a short surf into the beach at Jordan River. Along the way we found a few rock gardens to play in. All in all a great paddle!

our route - click to enlarge)

25 km, YTD 170 km

January 13/14 - Surge narrows (#s 4&5)

I went up to Campbell River to paddle Surge Narrows with Alan and Craig. Friday the 13th was not a great one for me as I had brought the wrong spray deck and had left the spare at Alan's house. Craig lent me his deck for a while and I had some good rides early on. I then tried his delphin surf and had a couple of good rides followed by a capsize and a swim! I managed a cowboy self rescue in the rapids, but I had not zipped up the Peak leg zip drysuit enough so had a wet left foot for the rest of the day. On Saturday the wave was not easy for me to stay on as it seemed to want to throw me off to the left. I did get some good rides, but I think my confidence had been shaken by my swim the day before. I need to edge much more agressively.

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8 km, YTD 38 km

November 26&27 - Surge Narrows (#s 113&114)

I went up to Campbell River to stay with Alan and spend two days paddling the wave at Surge Narrows. On Saturday we with Walter and on Sunday Walter and Craig. The 3 or 4 of us had he wave to ourselves, and the wave was pretty friendly throughout our time there. I learned a few more things about staying on the wave and had some wonderful rides. I figured out that a 5 minute ride at 6 knots is like riding a surfing wave for 1 km! Conditions were pretty good with very little wind and some light rain. A Steller sea lion checked us out at one point and gave us a look that made me think we were hogging his wave! You can see the current was still fast as we returned from the wave both days, but the tide had risen to the point where the wave had flattened out. Hope to head back up again soon!

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8 km, YTD 968 km

Novemebr 22nd - Cadboro Point (#111)

I went out to Cadboro Point in the afternoon to play in the waves which were predicted to be big in Baynes. I had to paddle fairly hard against a headwind to get there, and when I got there, the waves were bigger than I wanted! I chatted for a while with Ben and then paddled home with the wind at my back - catching a few small waves! Buffleheads, hooded merganzers and a pacific loon were on the bird list.

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6 km, YTD 954 km

October 30th - Port Renfrew (#104)

I joined Reale, Jo, Jeff, Tony, Heather and Beverly for a paddle in Port San Juan. We paddled over to the north side of the bay and then poked our way along the shoreline up to Thrasher Cove (One of the starting/ending spots for the West Coast trail). There were magnificent caves, arches and stacks as well as pour-overs and slots to paddle through/over/around and I had a blast. I ended up high and dry a couple of times... It has been a while since I paddled this stretch of coast and it was well worth the drive! My only compaint is that the Hammer is slow! It seemed especially so when I was paddling against the river flow and tide near the end.

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13 km, YTD 882 km

May 28th and 29th - PPS (#40 & 41)

I was at PPS for a wonderful weekend of paddling. Great to spend time with old friends and make new ones! I went out for a full day trip to Rock garden from Whiffen Spit with Rowan and Jaime. Conditions were as flat as can be so we were able to get deep into many slots with little or no risk which was fun. we practiced many handy manouevering strokes and stopped for lunch on Secretary Island (landing on the rocks). On the second day I went for a short paddle in Pedder Bay itself to experiment and play with the Motionize Paddle unit. I am intrigued...

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9km, + 1 Km, YTD 411 km

February 6th - surge Narrows (#9)

I joined Alan, Brad, Walter, Gerhardt and Michael for a day's paddle at Surge Narrows. The wave was very friendly. Big enough to be fun but not too big. Much of the time it was wide enough for two of us. I got to try Michael's Sterling Reflection for a few runs. It performed nicely! This was a great day on the wave!

Alan's video edit from the trip. I am in the green reflection at the start.

Surge Narrows Surfing Feb 6 2016 from alyak on Vimeo.

The track - click to enlarge

zoomed into the wave area - click to enlarge

5 km, YTD 108 km 

November 27&28 - surge Narrows (#s 111 and 112)

I went up to Campbell River to spend a few days at Surge Narrows. This was an event that Alan had organized for the Nanaimo Paddlers. There were 6 of us on Friday and 9 on Saturday. The wave was good on both days and I was able to get my fill of paddling on the wave. I have some video clips that Alan took with his camera. I will post them on line eventually, but here is one short one of the wave at the end of the first day when I was tired and the  wave small again. https://vimeo.com/147157465
Two great days at Surge to start the season and good company as well. Thanks so much to Alan and Chris for hosting me. It was fun playing in the lumpy water behind the wave as well. I avoided getting sucked into any whirlpools! It is hard to describe how nice it is to feel the water rushing underneath your kayak while you virtually stay in one spot! A wildlife highlight was seeing a peregrine falcon chase a gull on the Saturday! I am looking forward to seeing some of David'd video as well.

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10 km, YTD 936 km.

April 19th - Whiffen Spit (#33)

I participated in the guides exchange rescue scenario with RCM-SAR 37 off Whiffen spit. My main contribution was being willing to float around in the strait for 20 minutes while waiting for them to find me. I noticed how hard it was to swim in paddling gear, but also how warm and dry I stayed in my drysuit with fleece underneath. It was an enjoyable and educational exercise. I was also quite pleased how well the Hammer paddled. I did not have too much trouble keeping up with the group.

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10 km, YTD 280 km