March 18th - Horne Lake (#11)

I went for a solo paddle around the top end of Horne Lake while Monica and I were camping there. There were quite a few fishermen out by the river mouth but not many fish being hooked! It was nice to do a freshwater paddle for a change. We also went for a nice hike in the area

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8 km, YTD 114 km

May 18-20 - TRAK Surf camp (#s 32-35)

I went to Wya Point Resort for a 4 day TRAK kayak surf and coastal paddling camp. It was really neat to meet a wonderful group of TRAK owners and also to paddle in a "one design" group where everyone was paddling the same kayak!
We did our first day of training paddling in Wya Bay working on skills. Our second day was a coastal journey from Wya Bay to Wickininnish on Long Beach, and the third day was a surf session at Long Beach.

Day 1 - click to enlarge - AM + PM paddles

Day 2 - Wya to Wick journey - click to enlarge

Day 3 - surf at Long Beach- Click to enlarge

Paddle 32 May 18 AM 4 km
Paddle 33 May 18 PM 4 km
Paddle 34 May 19 - 14 km
Paddle 35 May 20 - 2 km

YTD 280 km

March 22nd- Lake Mead - Battleship rock (#21)

In the middle of our 7000+ km road trip we decided to take a "day off" and we spent two nights in Callville Bay Campground. I went for an afternoon paddle out along the shore of Lake Mead (to avoid paddling withdrawal symptoms!). The wind was quite strong throughout the paddle, mostly around 10 knots, but at times probably 25 knots. It was neat to paddle a desert shoreline, and freshwater for a change. The lake level is over 100 feet lower than its max level in July 2000! It was impressive to see how much difference that would make to the shoreline.
I have a temporary link to the GPSVisualizer site that shows good detaiul of the shore: http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/display/20160403133453-32227-map.html
I had to work hard against the wind on the way out and then had the NW wind at my back for most of the trip back. At times I was almost surfing, but paddling back into Callville bay was hard work!
I would enjoy paddling Lake Mead again. I think there are lots of places that one could camp. St this time of year there are hardly any boaters around. I saw one other boat during my entire trip!

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13 km, YTD 235

February 25th - Discovery Island (#15)

Dan and I went for my 8th paddle around Discovery this year! It was a beautiful morning with a strong ebb at the start. I decided to take the TRAK as I wanted to check it out before Monica's and my upcoming trip. We got a good push down Baynes Channel with the ebb and it slowed us down a bit on the way back. Looks like they are doing some work on Strongtide Islet at the radio towers... not sure what.

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15 km, YTD 182 km

May 8-10 Cowichan Lake (#s 40-43)

I went up to Gordon Bay for the weekend to test out the new to us travel trailer (Keystone outback LE 21) and do some paddling. I went out once for a short paddle on the inflatable SUP and then had 3 really nice paddles on the lake in the Trak 1600. I have had the TRAK for a year but had not assembled it! It was easy to assemble and performed well. I was able to keep up a decent pace in it and it maneuvered well. The first trip was to the north and west and i dropped by Youbou, the second was a shorter one to check out Goat Island, and for the third one I went east to Bear Lake.
The travel trailer worked well, except that the batteries were shot and need replacing.

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the travel trailer and the TRAK 1600

39 km, YTD 374 km