October 23rd - Cadboro Bay (#102)

I went for a quick afternoon paddle around the bay. Conditions were nice and there was no one around! I used the GP with the surf ski and was able to keep up a good pace.

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4 km, YTD 853 km

October 22nd - Discovery (#101)

Dan and I went for a morning paddle out to the Islands. Conditions were pretty good with no more than 10 kts of wind and not too much current. Since the tide was high, we were able to explore and pass through places that we normally can't go, so that was fun! I ran into Ian, the Songhees patroller, and chatted with him about the park closure. We heard the wolf howling when we were on the west side of Discovery and spent some time looking for him, but did not see him. Lots of gulls and harlequin ducks around. Dan and I were "out of practice", so we did not maintain quite our usual pace but did fit in a slightly longer than usual paddle.

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16 km, YTD 849 km

October 19th - Jemmy Jones (#100)

I was able to sneak out for a quick afternoon paddle around the bay. It was rainy but not too windy/wavy. I saw sea lions, seals, an eagle chase some ducks that were trying to land in the Killarney pond, as well as a grebe, gulls, and harlequin ducks. Today was the first time that I had really noticed the fall colours as I was making my way back into the bay. I saw several SUPers as well.

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5 km, YTD 833 km

October 11th - Cadboro Bay (#99)

I went for a short afternoon paddle in the Aquaglide inflatable to try it out and get a quick breath of fresh air! It handles well, though it is a tad slow (see the track!), but it will make a good fishing platform.

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2 km, YTD 828 km

October 8th - Jemmy Jones (#98)

I went for a short afternoon paddle to take advantage of no rain in the afternoon! Conditions were nice, but there was hardly anybody on the bay. Even paddling the surfski with a GP, it goes pretty fast! The wind was from the NNW at about 15-20 kph, which slowed me down a bit on the trip back from Jemmy Jones.

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6 km, YTD 826 km

October 1st - SKGABC Guides' Exchange - Pender Island (#97)

I went to Pender Island for the weekend to participate in the SKGABC Guides exchange. It was a great opportunity to meet guiding colleagues and also hear a presentation by Jim Stafford on coastal archaeology and also a wonderful evening talk on humpbacks by Jackie Hildering, the Marine Detective. I did not get much paddling in as I was instructing some shore based sessions, but had a good time! Having an exchange in a campground by a pub was a brilliant idea! :)

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5 km, YTD 820 km

September 27th - Feathercraft (#95)

I went to Vancouver to try out a very lightweight Feathercraft Kayak, the Kurrent. Weighing in at 10 kg it will be very easy to take on a plane trip, not to mention carry to the beach. I found it comfortable and responsive and similar in many ways to the Wisper, which I have paddled for 10 years(I also went to get a repair done on my Wisper). You may not be surprised to know that a red Kurrent is on order. I also tried rowing their Baylee 2 and 3 rafts which could make a great tender for Natural C-lection...

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1 km, YTD 815 km

September 25th - Cadboro Bay (#95)

I went for a short afternoon paddle around the bay in the surfski. It was sunny with a 5 knot north wind making for a rippled sea surface. It was clear enough that I could see Mt. Rainier, 215 km away on the other side of Seattle as well as Mt Baker. There were a few other paddlers out.

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5 lm, YTD 814 km

September 24th - Discovery Island (#94)

Dan, Paulo, Rob and I went for a morning paddle around the islands. Conditions were very calm and there was a slight flood running. In spit of that we were able to average 7.0 kph for the paddle.
We stopped for a break on the beach at Rudlin bay and had a look at the Park closure signs. Though we kept an eye out for the wolf, we did not see him.

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15 km, YTD 809 km

September 24th - Discovery Island (#94)

Dan, Paulo, Rob and I went for a morning paddle around the islands. Conditions were very calm and there was a slight flood running. In spit of that we were able to average 7.0 kph for the paddle.
We stopped for a break on the beach at Rudlin bay and had a look at the Park closure signs. Though we kept an eye out for the wolf, we did not see him.

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15 km, YTD 809 km

September 23rd - cadboro Bay (#93)

I took the surfski out for a quick morning spin around the bay. The two SALTS boats were at anchor which made a pretty sight. They usually anchor in cadboro Bay on Thursday nights, as they finish their trips in Victoria Harbour on Friday afternoon. The wind picked up as I was paddling and I even got a few rides on the way in!

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5 km, YTD 794 km

September 19th - Cadboro Bay (#92)

Bill and I went for an afternoon paddle around the bay. There was a bit of a SW wind that helped us cross the bay quickly, but otherwise conditions were nice. We were both in skin-on-frame boats, though Bill's is a more traditional design.

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6 km, YTD 789 km

September 18th - Discovery Island (#91)

Paulo and I went for a Sunday morning run around Chatham and Discovery Islands. We did not see the wolf or any campers. Today is the last day that the park is open (until next spring?) since it is being closed due to the thoughtless actions of a group with a dog last weekend. Conditions were excellent. The strong ebb current did not cause us too much trouble! We saw lots of birds as well as river otters, sea lions and harbour seals.
At this rate I am well on schedule to complete my 1000 km and 100 paddle goal...

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15 km, YTD 783

September 15 - Flower Island (#90)

I went for a tour of the bay on the Starboard SUP. Very nice sunny conditions and clear water. There are 6 beached boats on the shore at this point. The one at the end of Killarney which came ashore right after they removed the other two on the Saanich side is still there as are 5 on the Oak Bay side...

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4 km, YTD 768 km

September 13th - Discovery Island (#89)

Paulo and I went out for a morning paddle around the islands. Great conditions. We heard the Growler jets taking off from Whidbey Islands about half a dozen times.

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15 km, YTD 764 km