May 24th - Chatham Island (#40)

I went for a solo paddle in the Tahe out to Chatham Island. I did a runaround Alpha and Griffin Islands and then a tour of the inlet with "cactus islet". Lots of roses and stonecrops in bloom. I enjoyed listening to some tunes on my ipod safely encased in a pelican ipod case.
16 km, 8 NM, YTD 476 km

May 22/23 - Sailing to Rum (not a paddle!)

Monica and I took the Hunter 19 for an overnighter to D'Arcy Island - it was the first time taking it out for a "real trip" and it performed well. We were able to sail up to DArcy on Saturday, do a loop around DArcy in the afternoon as well as a couple of shore excursions. On Sunday we headed up to Rum using the outboard and the jib, did a short walk out to Tom Point and then made our way back against a reasonably bumpy sea. We took another break at DArcy when the wind started to abate and the return trip to cadboro Bay was calmer. The 4 hp outboard seems to be able to keep the Hunter at a reasonable 4 to 5 knot speed.

May 20th - Caddy Bay (#39)

Christine, Kelly and I went out into Caddy Bay to go over kayak rescues. They were able to demonstrate their wet exits as well as several T rescues,

1 km, 0.5 NM, YTD 460 km

My 15th - Ladysmith (#38)

I went up to Ladysmith for the paddlefest and gave a towing clinic first thing and then did a rolling demonstration with Alan. The towing clininc and rolling demo went well and it was a great day to play around and in boats!

2 km, 1 NM, YTD 459 km.

May 14th - Cadboro Bay (#37)

Dan and I went out for a morning rolling session. We went to the bay between Flower Islet and Cadboro Point and worked on a number of rolls.  On our way out we passed the Pacific Swift –  a beautiful ship! I was able to pull off a couple of swan rolls as well as feeling better about my forward finishing sweep roll. I also felt I could do brick rolls reliably on both sides. I also checked up on my sailboat which is now out on its mooring.

 5km, 3 NM, YTD 457 km

May 9 - SISKA Campout (#35 and 36)

Monica and I went to Sooke River Campground for the first annual (hopefully) SISKA campout. We camped at the edge of the river and spent Saturday and Sunday doing clinics and paddles and socializing. The weather was excellent and we had a great time. I also got to try stand up paddling! I also got to prcatice quite a few rolls!

 12 km, 6 NM, YTD 452

May 1st - Caddy bay (#34)

I went out for a quick solo paddle around the bay in the F1. It was quite a low tide and many of my usual routes were blocked! I saw geese with goslings, river otters, auklets and murrelets. looking at the track plot, I did not realize that Caddy Bay was Juan de Fuca Strait and that the bay was also Esquimalt bird sanctuary…



7 km, 4 NM, YTD 440 km

April 24 and 25 - Dubside (#s31-33)

Over the weekend we(SISKA)  ran 3 on water rolling and Greenland paddling clinics with Dubside. The first one was an introduction to Greenland paddling and the other two were intermediate and advanced rolling. The rolling was done in Loon bay for its wind protection and convenience. We also ran a beginner rolling clinic in the Crystal pool on Sunday evening. A very productive weekend thanks to Dubsides expertise and teaching.

I improved all of my existing rolls and got closer to a storm roll and forward rolling stick roll. I figured out the swan roll (two rolling sticks) as well as a “brick roll” (a hand roll holding a rock).



10 km, 5 NM, YTD 433 km

April 17 and 18 - Pender (#s 29 and 30)

Dan and I set out from Amherst in Sidney to paddle over to the Westcoast Paddler (http://www.westcoastpaddler.com/) campout on Pender Island. The 18 km paddle over to Bedwell Harbour was blessed by good conditions, a favourable current and several porpoise and auklet sightings.

We had a nice evening visiting with the WCP campout group and then set out at 0830 on Sunday to paddle 38 km back to Victoria. We could not have asked for more favourable conditions! Light winds and an ebb current for the whole trip! You can see that our speed was boosted for virtually the whole trip with a big boost right after D’Arcy Islands. We ran across several porpoises, many rhinoceros auklet pairs, crossed into US waters, avoided freighters and ferries, and passed a few halibut fishermen on the flats south of D’Arcy.

 56 km combined, 30 NM, YTD 423 km

April 17th - Marina rally (#28)

Monica and I set out from the Gorge Rowing centre to participate in the rally against the Mega Marina Proposal. There was a good turnout and the size of the area proposed is huge. In spite of there being well over a hundred boats, they did not begin to fill up the area!

On the track you can see the size of the marina area as I paddled the circumference.



6 km, 3 NM, YTD 367 km

April 13th - Rolling (#27)

Dan and I went out for a couple of hours rolling practice in Cadboro Bay. We began in Loon Bay and had an excellent session. We then paddled over to the Cadboro Point area and practiced a bit more. Dan helped me invent a new (to me) roll…



5 km, 2.5 NM, YTD 361 km

April 11th - Telegraph (#26)

Gordin and I set out from Caddy Bay  for an afternoon paddle. Conditions were very nice, light northerly breeze, sunshine and not much current. We paddled the shoreline out to Cadboro and Ten mile points and then around to Telegraph Cove. The trip back had a bit of current in our favour and we were treated to X-rated otter action! There were lots of Harlequin ducks, Buffleheads, Great blue herons, Turnstones and more to be seen.

 10 km, 5 NM, YTD 356 km

April 10th - Discovery (#25)

Mark, Dan and I went for a nice afternoon paddle around Chatham and Discovery Islands. Nice and sunny, but a cool north wind… with the wind at our backs, we were definitely faster on the outward trip.

 15 km, 8 NM, YTD 346 km

April 5th - Little Group (#24)

Dan, Mike and I set out from Aherst to paddle around the Sidney area. We originally had plans to go to Rum, but winds and currents were not favourable so we worked our way up wind for a while and then surfed our way down wind to the Little Group and had lunch on Shell Island. After lunch we went to Johns passage to look for some current action, but there was not much. Had a nice day!

 13 km, 7 NM, YTD 331 km

April 3rd - Discovery (#23)

Dan, Paulo and I set out from Caddy Bay to go for a paddle around Discovery – my first in four weeks! It was a bit windy early on and there was a fun overfall off Vantreight Island. We played in it for a while and then carried on around Chatham and Discovery Islands. I was out of paddling shape, so the 16 km trip was a bit tiring! After yesterday’s wind storm it had settled down a lot.

 16 km, 9 NM, YTD 318 km