May 9&10 - Saltspring island (#30 &31)

I went to Saltspring island for the weekend to participate in the SKGABC guides exchange. I went for a nice evening paddle on Friday with the group to Chocolate beach. On Saturday I participated in a rescues session in Cusheon Lake with Rick and was able to practice exits and entries from both the F1 and the Tahe Greenland LC. Both were easier to rescue and reenter than I thought! In the afternoon James, Lisa and I led a rolling session also in Cusheon Lake. It was great meeting new guiding colleagues as well as several old friends and also exploring the Ganges area. We had a great presentation about travelling from the Coast to the Tar Sands called Northern Grease. It was an excellent movie that I plan to show my students.

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9 km combined, YTD 308 km

May 4th - SISKA spring BBQ (#29)

I helped Gary set up a navigation course in the bay for the SISKA spring BBQ activities. Set one up on my mooring buoy! Later I went out and was one of the "sfaety boats" (with Reale) on the course. In spite of the poor weather, the BBQ was fun and well-attended.
After the event was over, I took the SUP out for a quick spin over to the yacht club.

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7 km, YTD 300 km

May 1st - Staines Islet (28)

After dinner I looked down the road and saw a flat clam sunny bay beckon, so I decided to go for a paddle on my SUP board. It was a beautiful evening and the Pacific Grace was anchored in the middle of the bay.

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3 km, YTD 292 km

April 27th - Caddy Bay Quickie

I decided just after 4 PM to go for a quick afternoon paddle before dinner. 15 minutes later I was on the water in the F1! There was a good breeze (15 kt?) blowing from the SW that gave me some surfing from Cattle Point to Flower. 50 minutes later I was back at the beach.

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6 km, YTD 289 km

April 26th - Discovery (#26)

Dan, Paulo, George and I set out at 8 AM for a morning paddle around Discovery (I had to be back for an 11 AM commitment!). Conditions were good, sunny, not much wind, and current ebbing on the way out and then flooding on the return! The wind started to pick up as we came back into the bay.

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14 km, YTD 283

April 19th - Cadboro Point (#25)

Sean and I went on our paddleboards out to Cadboro Point. I was using the oarboard which performed very well in the calm conditions. This is my third time out and it is feeling good! I have almost figured out the best way to wheel it down to the beach! Due to its width, it is a bit more complicated than a kayak...

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6 km, YTD 269 km

April 17th - Cadboro Bay (#24)

Jenny is back in town for the weekend and we got out for a leisurely afternoon paddle together. We paddled two Tahes, which looked pretty nice together. Nice conditions and good to spend time together.

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5 km, YTD 263 km

April 13th - Cadboro Bay (#23)

Gary and I went for an afternoon paddle to check out the course for an upcoming SISKA event. I'll have to upload the route next month since the route is "secret"! :)
A beautiful sunny calm afternoon with lots of folks on the beach and on the water.

The route! click to enlarge

5 km, YTD 258 km

April 12th - Discovery Island (#22)

I went out to Discovery with Melissa and James to show them my "backyard". It was an absolutely gorgeous day with lots of sailors and power boaters out as well as a few paddlers. The currents were mostly in our favour or not very strongly against us. Some paddlers we met in Rudlin bay had sen the wolf earlier in the morning on one of the Chatham islands. It was great to get out with Melissa and James as I have not paddled with them since we were at SSTIKS together in 2011! Melissa is over in Victoria for a few months working on the Gracepoint series. It was also great to see my "backyard" through fresh eyes. By the time we were done it was clear enough to see Mt Rainier over 200 km away!

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16 km, YTD 253 km (looks like I finally made it to a quarter of my annual goal!)

April 9th - Discovery Island (#21)

Danand I went for an afternoon paddle around the islands. Sunny and calm with little current! We stopped off at several beaches looking for oil spill cards, but did not find any! I paddled the LC instead of the T for a change...

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16 km, YTD 237 km

April 5th - Discovery (#20)

Dennis and I went for a middle of the day paddle around Discovery. There was a good ebb running (see the high speed tracks n Baynes Channel!), but little wind, so we had a fairly easy paddle. We stopped off to pick up some garbage of a Chatham beach and then a crab float near seabird point on Discovery. We took a break in Rudlin Bay where we saw SKILS running an instructor course. Good to see JF, Liam, Costain and Michael!

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16 km, YTD 221 km

April 4th - Oarboarding in the bay (#19)

I decided to take the oarboard out again for a quick spin in the bay. My rowing technique is not great, but I was able to re-purpose my Tony's bike trailer to wheel the SUP board and rowing rig down to the beach. I am impressed with how fast the rowing rig gets the SUP going.

2 km, YTD 205 km

April 3rd - Discovery Island and a drift card (#18)

Dan and I went for an afternoon paddle around our favourite islands. There was a nice current running and some good waves at Cadboro and Seabird points. We had an SE headwind most of the way to Rudlin Bay, but it calmed down for the ride home, so we had no tail wind!
As we were paddling past the Discovery Island boathouse, I glimpsed a floating yellow card which turned out to be a drift card (BA 95)from the Salish sea Spill Map project

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the drift card we found

15 km, YTD 203 km

March 9 - Cadboro Bay (#17)

I picked up a Whitehall rowing Oarboard to go with my SUP and decided to give it a spin this afternoon. Though not sea kayaking, I have decided to include SUP mileage in my blog this year... So here goes! I assembled the system  and then strapped it on to my ATX board. It was a very solid fit. My neighbour Dan helped me walk it down to the beach as it is a bit more awkward than the board alone. To my pleasant surprise, I remembered how to scull and was making my way across the bay in short order. I don't think I was keeping the pace I would in one of my Tahe's, but it was getting close at times. I think with some improvement in skill on my part, I can see that this will be a very fun full body workout in the bay. The SUP board is nice and stable in the sculling configuration and much faster than when being paddled. This is going to be fun!

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4 km, YTD 188 km

March 8th - Discovery and Oak Bay (#16)

Dan, Paulo and I went for a morning paddle around Discovery and back over to Oak Bay via the Chain Islets. Lots of birds including at least 10 eagles on Discovery/Chatham, two groups of pintails. The wind and the rain started as we were heading back. I stopped in the mooring area of caddy bay to pick up some sea lettuce for a school lab next week! I also got my 100 weight fleece comfort paddling hoodie with pocket from Paulo, and it was perfect for the paddle under my Tuilik!

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17 km, YTD 184 km