March 25 - Cadboro Bay (#7)

I took the Trident Angler out to check my crab traps and it was a bit breezy (you can see I was slow on the return trip. (On the outbound you can see where I stopped to drop off the shells and stuff from the previous crabbing trip!) The crabbing was unsuccessful (one empty trap and one with two females) so I brought everything back.

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3km, YTD 30 km

March 2nd - Caddy Bay (#12)

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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3 km, YTD 126 km

March 1 - Caddy Bay Crabbing (#11)

I went out to check the traps and came home with two keepers. Beautiful conditions!

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3 km, YTD 126 km

Feb 11 - Cadboro Bay Crabbing (#3)

I took the trident angler kayak out to check on the crab traps. Managed to find a keeper in each trap!

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3 km, YTD 23 km

April 6th - Cadboro Bay (#20)

Monica and I went for an afternoon paddle. Monica was in the F1 and I was in the Trident. We paddled most of the way to Cadboro Point before turning back and checking and retrieving the  traps. We had 6 nice legal crab between us which was very nice! We saw oystercatchers, rhinoceros auklets, harlequin ducks and I was able to make out Mt Rainier in the distance - just! We also saw a moving buoy which turned out to be a diver positioning a mooring! You can see where the traps were by the slow sections on the track where I was drifting!

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5 km, YTD 101 km

April 5th - Evans Rock and Loon bay (#s18&19)

I went out in the afternoon to check the crab traps (enough for dinner!) and went around Evans rock. there were a few black turnstones on Evans Rock which is the first time I have seen them this year. After I got back I decide to head out again for a SUP paddle and went over to Loon Bay. Conditions were nice for both paddles with a light(10-15 kph) northerly wind.

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6 km, YTD 96 km

April 2nd - Crabbing (#16)

I went out to check the crab traps. Kept 3 nice male Dungeness. Saw rhinoceros auklets and surf scoters. Chatted with dean on Caddy Boy again.

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3 km, YTD 83 km

March 31st - Evans Rock (#14)

I went for an afternoon paddle to check the crab traps. One legal male Dungeness, which will make a nice meal for 2! The winds were not as bad as I expected and I saw a few other boats out. I like the trident for crabbing as it is pretty stable and fairly tough for getting back over the steps to the street!
I am seeing plenty of rhinoceros auklets around which is a good sign of spring!

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4 km, YTD 73 km

March 25th - Jemmy Jones (#12)

I went out to check the traps with the trident (forgot to post this entry on the day!)

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5 km, YTD 63 km

April 28th - Caboro Bay RVYC opening day and crabbing (#26 and 27)

I paddled out to join four other paddlers and many other sail and motor boats in the sailpast for the RVYC opening day. It was fun to be part of the event. After I had done the "sail past", following HMCS Grizzly,  I went out to look at my crab traps and determined that there were crabs in the traps! This resulted in a later trip... There are quite a few marbled murrelets and rhinoceros auklets around now!

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6 km, YTD 211 KM

After the earlier paddle I decided to take the fishing kayak (trident angler) which is stable enough to allow me to retrieve crab traps! (the whisky 16 was not so!). I came back with 3 nice Dungeness crab. You can see rom the track this was a pretty focussed trip!

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3 km, YDT 214 km

October 12 - Cadboro Bay (#74)

I went for a quick morning paddle out to collect the crab traps that I had left out. There was one nice keeper in one of the traps... :)
There was a pacific loon in the bay which was nice to see.

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3km, TYD 632 km

June 10th - SISKA picnic (#42)

I helped out with a crabbing clinic  for the SISKA picnic which we helpd in Gyro Park. The crabbing was a bit slow (catching only females and undersized males) but we were able to show that it works! :) A great day of fun and games!

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5 km, YTD 397 km

Claire's photos from my Christmas day crabbing trip

Here are some photos that Claire  took on my Christmas day crabbing trip. Claire crocheted the hat and I am wearing my new Stohlquist shift drysuit! This was the beginning of a successful crabbing trip!

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December 25th - Christmas crabbing (#127)

After a nice after lunch walk with the family I decided to head out and check/bring in the trap that IO left out in the bay yesterday afternoon. I was in luck as it had two nice keepers (as well as a red rock crab who did not want to leave!). I took a tour around Flower Islet and then paddled the shore back.
I go to try my new Sohlquist Shift drysuit which was very comfy on this cool day. This suit was a fabulous prize won at the SISKA Christmas party! Photos to follow! There were plenty of birds out on the bay, including several flocks of buffleheads.

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4 km, YTD 1053 km.

December 21st - Cadboro crabbing again! (#124)

I went out once again to check the traps. Fairly calm conditions with a bit of an easterly. Plenty of red rock crabs. I kept one RRC and one Dungeness. I am beginning to figure out how to rig and rebait efficiently! A few birds about including curious gulls and a couple of buffleheads.

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2 km, YTD 1031 km

December 20th - Cadboro crabbing (#123)

I paddled out against a stiff wind to check the traps today. Two keepers today, one Dungeness and another decent sized red-rock. I am enjoying the quick paddle out to check the traps, but would like it if it were more productive! :)
You can see that the westerly wind pushed me around a bit!

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2 km, YTD 1029 km

Decemeber 19th - Cadboro Bay Crabbing (#121&122)

I took the trident out to drop off some traps in the middle of the day and then went back out again just before dark to check the two traps and drop two more. Neither of the two that had been soaking for 3 and a bit hours had any legal Dungeness crabs. Quite a few legal red rock crabs, but I put them back... Maybe better luck checking tomorrow? :) Nice to get out though and use the Trident angler 13, which is well-suited to crabbing.

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4 km, YTD 1027 km

December 13th - Cadboro Bay Crabbing (#119)

I did a quick run out to check on some crab pots that Marc and I had dropped off on Monday. There was one legal crab in the two traps and my hands got a tad cold! Otherwise the Trident worked well for this. i will give it another go in the next week or two! There was a pretty cold north wind that drifted me south at a reasonable pace after picking up the first trap. My hands were too cold to rebait the traps! :)

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2 km. YTD 1007

August 13-15 Kyuquot Sound (#s 59-61)

Monica and I took the C-dory (Natural C-lection) up to Fair Harbour and met with JF. Our plan was to go out to Spring Island and try our hands at kayak fishing based out of the West Coast expeditions base camp. We took the Delphin and the Trident Angler. Spring Island and the WCE camp were magnificent and we had a great few days there in spite of some windy and rainy weather. It was great to see Dave and Caroline again and meet Morgan as well as guides Serina and Ben. We also ran into Mike P and his son Rowan! While at the camp, we got to meet Dave's Kyuquot "family" which was a real treat. There are some protected waters on the NW side of the island which allowed fishing to happen even when it was a bit nasty off shore. There are plenty of nice springs around! Monica and I fished out of the C-dory a few times and had some good results!

August 13 - Round Spring island with Monica

Monica and I went for a paddle around Spring Island together. Conditions were great with minimal swell, sunshine and spectacular scenery. Lots of sea otters up here.

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8 km, YTD 743 km

August 14 - playing in waves with Ben

The 14th was pretty stormy, and the swell had built up so when Ben paddled by saying he was going to play in the waves, I jumped at the opportunity to join! It was my first time surfing in kelp!

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10 km, YTD 753 km

August 15 - fishing

I took the trident out and tried trolling and handlining. I had no luck, but JF hit springs with his bucktail and a trolled hootchie.

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7 km, YTD 760 km

To and fro from the boat

We also used the kayaks to go to and from our boat which was moored at the SE corner of the bay to the WCE camp at the NW corner. About 400 m each way, so we added an extra 2 km to the route!

2 km, YTD 762 km

September 28/29 - Ucluelet and Grice Bay (#s 71 & 72)

I went up to Ucluelet to assist with a kayak fishing outdoor trip run by JF. It was great to do a trip with JF again! We stayed at Surf Junction Campground and spent one day fishing in Ucluelet Harbour and another in Grice Bay. The Ucluelet Harbour day was a bit cool and damp and there were no salmon biting. We managed to hook and land a few mackerel in the afternoon. The next day in Grice Bay was much nicer and we found a nice little bay near the east end that had a school of coho that were interested in cast lures. The students (Kevin, Jacob and Bryce) and JF  managed to hook into eight nice coho in a period of 2 hours around high slack. In addition Jacob was towed around the bay in his kayak by a 17 lb coho for a good fight! I enjoyed the paddling and trying out my trident Angler fishing kayak that has not seen enough use since I got it!

Ucluelet Harbour - click to enlarge

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29 km, YTD 852 km