January 15th - Race Rocks (#6)

I joined, Yves, Patti, Michel, Dorothea, Gerhard and Joanne for a day paddle out to Race Rocks from Weir's Beach. Conditions were nice with a max ebb of 5 kt at race passage forecast. We made good progress on our way to the race and had fun playing in the currents, overfalls and eddies around the islets. It was hard work heading back to Bentinck Island were we stopped for lunch and again after lunch heading across Pedder Bay into the wind and current. While at lunch we tried out my outdoor shelter which I got in the UK. Works well and warms up quickly inside! To debrief we went to My Chosin Cafe for a glass of Race Rocks Amber - how appropriate!

click to enlarge - lots of  >10 kph on the way south, lots of  <5 kph on the way north!

Close up around Race Rocks - click to enlarge

17 km, YTD 62 km

March 6th - Race Rocks (#22)

Dan, Heike, Paulo and I set out from Weir’s beach to paddle out to Race Rocks and into Becher Bay. Conditions were spectacular – I think I may have picked up a sunburn in spite of sunscreen! Summer in early March! We had a great boost from the ebb current on our way to Race rocks and played around in the tidal race channels for a while. We saw seals, eagles, oystercatchers, sea lions and dolphins! Lots of fishing boats out, especially around Church Rock. We stopped off for lunch in a small cove on the edge of Becher Bay and then made our way back along the shore to try to avoid the current.I changed the speed scale on the track map as we had speeds of up to 14 kph with the current!

 23 km, 12.5 NM, YTD 302 km

I don’t expect to get much paddling in until April as I am off to Ecuador on the 13th…