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
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 led a SISKA relaxed paddle from Telegraph Cove/Bay to Margaret Bay along the Gordon head coastline. We were 12 paddlers and enjoyed a nice shoreline paddle. We had occasional showers and very little wind, though there was a 1ft confused sea which made for lumpy water in places. I noted 10 bird species (https://ebird.org/checklist/S223541672) along the way - the white-winged scoter was the most unusual for me. The beach in Margaret Bay was a bit sloppy so we had lunch in Vantreight Cove. We finished early and 9 of us were able to join up for coffee at Moka House after.
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10 km, YTD 166 km
I paddled out to Cadboro Point to join Dan and Paulo for a paddle around the islands. Conditions were excellent! We met Alan and his group of Thursday paddlers on our way back - nice to see a few mor friends - I have not seen many this year due to a lack of paddling time! It was a great way to celebrate Aphelion - our greatest distance from the sun! I managed to remember to record the track with my watch today!
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I paddled out to Cadboro Point to join Jennie and her "Wednesday wonderers" for a paddle out to the islands. Conditions were excellent and it was nice to catch up with a bunch of friends. I met Paulo at Rudlin Bay as I was heading back and we had a nice run with the current. Saw lots of Canada gees, some harlequin ducks, rhinoceros auklets, bald eagles, and a couple of marbled murrelets
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Dorothea and I led a club clinic to practice sea kayaking in currents. The five participants all made great progress over the morning. At the end I took a short detour to play in the lumpy water at Cadboro Point Light. Also on the way back we saw Paulo, Dan and Ellen paddling back from going around Discovery and stopped for a quick chat. A nice morning on the water!
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I spent a nice day instructing a group of five SISKA paddlers in the rest of a Paddle Canada level 1 course. Conditions were good. calm in the morning, a little afternoon head wind to test peoples' forward stroke! Everyone seemed to pick up extra skills and we had a great day on the water. There were some nice birds seen: a bald eagle eating while being pestered by crows, a grebe, a black oystercatcher, some killdeer, some black turnstones, pelagic and double-crested cormorants, harlequin duck, mew and glaucous-winged gulls.
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I led a SISKA "light" paddle from Caddy Bay to Oak bay and back. There were four of us which made for a nice tight group and we noodled our way along the shore. fog came down around Cattle Point and stayed with us until after lunch. We saw black oystercatchers, greater yelowlegs, black turnstones, glaucous gulls, mew gulls, rhinoceros auklets as well as several harbour seals and a river otter. After the group paddle I did a quick run over to RVYC to check on my dinghy. There is a Hallmark movie being filmed at the club today!
13 km, YTD 544 km
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