Jan 29th - Dodd Narrows (#8)

I drove up to Cedar to join Reale and Walter for a paddle into and around Dodd Narrows. There was a good south easterly wind and the ebbing current had set up quite a nice wave train running from the narrows to Round Island. We worked our way through the narrows catching back eddies and then spent some time playing in the top eddy. It took me a while to figure out how to get into it correctly, but I had lots of fun trying and got a chance to practice rolls in whirlpools! It was great to paddle a new place!

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10 km, YTD 92 km

January 21st - Gordon Head (#7)

Michael E and I set out from Caddy bay with the intention of heading over to Chatham, but decided that the wind might make it "interesting" for the return, so we decided to paddle the lee shore to Gordon Head. You can see from the track that we were making a good pace with some small surf between Jemmy Jones and Cadboro Point. We stopped for a nice lunch break at Margaret's Bay and then made our way back along the same shore. The wind had picked up. Michael had trouble with his CD solstice and 20+ kt headwinds, but we were able to overcome this with a tow line on his bow to keep him going straight. A very nice paddling day with lots of variety!

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20 km, YTD 82 km

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

Jan 10th - Chatham (#5)

Alex and I went for an afternoon paddle out to Chatham. A goal of the paddle was to give Alex more practice with a GP. I also got to try Alex's Shuna paddle which worked nicely for catching waves in a following sea.

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11 km, YTD 45 km

Jan 8th - Cadboro Bay (#4)

I led a SISKA relaxed paddle (the first club paddle of the year) for a meander around Cadboro Bay. We had 27 boats and 28 paddlers (we were 28 boats and 29 paddlers for a while as Olivier joined us for a while). I was ably assisted by Jo, Dan, and Tom and we managed to do a great job of staying together. We were off the water by 1 ish and repaired to Olive Olio's for coffees and hot chocolates.

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9 km, YTD 34 km

Jan 7th - Jordan River (#3)

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James and I went to JR for a bit of surfing with our Delphins. We both used Greenland paddles and had a blast. This was perhaps the  best day of kayak surfing I can remember in quite some time! The waves were just the right size and green! I had some great rides. The GPS claims I hit over 20 kph several times. With some pointers from James, I found I was having much better control as well. Two wonderfully spent hours! Hopefully James will post some video soon! I was also surprised how much ground we covered!
Here is a link to James' video on Youtube. Gives a good idea of the conditions.
http://youtu.be/tBxX6BIfMJU

8 km, YTD 25 km

Jan 6th - Cadboro Bay (#2)

I went for a quick paddle around the bay after work to clear some cobwebs. There was a brisk wind out of the SE and the F1 performed well. I noticed some pretty good waves at Cadboro Point in the distance.

the usual screenshot - google hybrid - click to enlarge

I tried some other map options using GPS Visualizer as well as the internet maps feature in Oziexplorer... they all have their pros and cons...

GPSViz - Open Street Map - click to enlarge

GPSViz - Yahoo Hybrid - click to enlarge

Ozi - Virtual earth map - click to enlarge 

Ozi- Highest detail of virtual earth - click to enlarge

Oziexplorer highest detail chart - click to enlarge

Ozi- Race Rocks to d'Arcy Chart - click to enlarge

5 km, YTD 17 km

2011 paddle tracks

I used Oziexplorer to plot all my tracks for the year and have displayed them at various zooms...

Cadboro Bay and environs -click to enlarge

You can see that I covered quite a bit of the bay...

South Vancouver Island - Ladysmith to Port Renfrew - click to enlarge

All the paddles for the year - click to enlarge

From BC to the UK...

Jan 1st - Chatham Island

I paddled out to Cadboro Point to meet up with Ben, Brian, Peter and Lindsay. We had intended to play in the waves but the NE wind was making it small and confused so we went over to the sluice by Vantreight and had some fun playing in the eddies. There were even some surfable waves coming into the sluice! A nice way to satrt the 2012 paddling year! On our way back we ran into and chatted with Nick and Dave. I think I may have seen Paulo paddling across Baynes in the distance... You can see that the current was strong enough to carry us down to Jemmy Jones!

Click to enlarge

12 km, YTD 12 km

MJ's 2011 year of paddling in review

Another great year of paddling and the sixth one since I started blogging them on Jan 1 2006. I did not get quite as many paddles in as last year (105 vs 124 but managed to clock up almost the same number of kilometres (1217 vs 1214). "Killarney Kayak Base" continues to be the launch site of choice and I still paddle my Tahe Greenland most of all. Some of the year's highlights included: paddling on the Medway River in the UK with my Feathercraft Wisper and Northern Light 3 Piece paddle, doing the Port Renfrew to Victoria leg of our Island "circumnavigation", placing third in the rolling and overall at the Kayak Academy Greenland Week, Hosting Helen Wilson and Mark Tozer for a Greenland paddling and rolling workshop, figuring out a few more rolls (thanks Alan!). This sixth year brings my blogged total to 563 paddles and 7263 km. My favourite paddling wear has been my Kokatat Whirlpool bib combined with my Comfort Paddling Tuilik, which Paulo modified to roll together with the bib for a good seal. I still use my Superior Paddles Carbon Paddle but am now using my Northern Light paddles (Greenland and Aleut inspired) a lot as well (I am now distributing for Northern Light paddles too). I replaced my NRS rodeo socks, but am still getting a bit of life out of the old ones! I find I wear a Mustang inflatable PFD most of the time for comfort and convenience.
GPS Visualizer continues to be the site I use for all my track plots from my trusty Garmin Etrex Legend HCx.


Year/paddles/km
2011/105/1217
2010/124/1214
2009/116/1381
2008/75/1080
2007/66/1098
2006/77/1273


Many thanks to all of you who paddled with me this year, especially Dan and Paulo who paddled/put up with me the most! I hope to paddle at least 1000 km again next year and to try to average twice a week again!


Now, I must get things ready to start the New Year off with a paddle!

December 31st - Chatham (#105)

Dan, Paulo and I set out for Cadboro Point where we met Olivier. We had a short play in the waves and then made our way over to the "sluice" by Vantreight Island. We then went around Chatham, stopping for a snack on a beach where we tested out my new "Outdoor Designs Group Shelter" which I bought while I was in the UK over Christmas. It works well and will be a piece of kit I bring on most paddling trips.
We made our way back across Baynes Channel and played for a bit more in the waves which were much larger now. I got tired pretty quickly but had some fun rides. Some of the waves towered considerably higher than me! I am hoping Paulo got some good video! At the end we ran into Scott and Michael who also came out to play in the waves. A great paddle to finish of the year!

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14 km, YTD 1217 km

December 30th - Ten Mile Point (#104)

I joined up with Michael and Olivier for a paddle in the current and waves at Cadboro Point. The waves were not that big, but lots of fun and I had some good rides. The wind was quite strong, gusting up to 25 knots, so my trip back from Cadboro point was a slog. I could barely make 1 knot at times! I managed to make both of my revised goals for this year - 104 paddles (2x per week avg) and 1200 km (100 km per month), so I am definitely happy with the year's stats!

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13 km, YTD 1203 km

December 11th - Discovery (#103)

Dan and I went for a nice morning paddle around Discovery, OTW at 0930 and back by 1230 including a short break on Vantreight. Conditions were nice and I was using my Northern Light Aleut-inspired paddle which worked well. Which reminds me - I am now distributing paddles for Northern Light Paddlesports and have both Greenland and Aleut-inspired paddles in stock.

click to enlarge

16 km, YTD 1190 km

December 10th - The Gorge (#102)

Monica and I joined a SISKA relaxed paddle in the Gorge led by Gary. It was a cold morning but 11 of us set off up the Gorge towards Portage Inlet where we were met by sheets of ice! It was kind of fun paddling through the ice (neat sound!) but we decided it was not that safe for a group paddle and made our way back down through Tillicum Narrows to the Banfield Park area where we checked out a bunch of semi derelict boats that are moored there. After the group paddle, I went for a short paddle with Alex and introduced him to my Northern Lights Greenland paddle.

click to enlarge

11 km, YTD 1174 km.

December 3rd - Discovery Island (#101)

Dan, Dennis and I set out for a morning paddle around the islands. After checking out some boats and moorings in the bay, we made our way through the yacht club and then out to the islands. It was a beautiful sunny calm day with little current. We stopped for a snack near Commodore Point and then made our way back via the Chain Islets.

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17 km, YTD 1163 km