May 13th - Cadboro Bay (#30)

Jennie and I led the first day of a Paddle Canada level 1 course for three participants (Jarek, Sybil and Glenn). Conditions were nice but we did not cover much ground as we were practicing strokes and rescues. All the students did well. I forgot to turn the GPS on for the first few minutes!

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2 km, YTD 284 km

May 8th - Discovery Island (#29)

Dan and I went for an early afternoon paddle around the islands. As you can see the currents were mostly in our favour - at least not slowing us down too much on the way out and giving a good boost on the way back. That combined with little wind made for a very pleasant paddle.

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15 km, YTD 282 km

May 7th - Trial Island (#28)

I joined 5 other SISKA instructors (Mark, Mike, Michael, Jennie and Dorothea) for a morning of sharing. We paddled around Trial Island, stopping to discuss teaching techniques and to demonstrate some tips. I think we all learned from each other! On top of that, it was a glorious day to be on the water!

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6 km, YTD 267 km

May 4th - Oak Bay Birding (#27)

I paddled over to Turkey head to join a SISKA birding paddle group (Beth, Ben, Norm and me) led by Jennie with Daniel D as resource person. Daniel is a very skilled and enthusiastic birder and was able to help me better identify  several groups I was having trouble with (cormorants and sandpipers).Conditions were very favourable and we saw many species and kinds of birds from buffleheads to Bald eagles! As a bonus we also saw the wolf! After getting to the NW corner of the islands I made my own way back in to the bay while the others headed for Oak Bay. Our small group size contributed to good viewing!

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20 km, YTD 261 km

May 3rd - Discovery Island (#26)

Dan, Dennis and I went for an afternoon paddle around the islands. As we crossed Baynes channel, we saw a group of paddlers on the north side of the Chatham group and managed to catch up with one of them - the "Wednesday group" on their way back to Oak Bay. Weather conditions were wonderful - flat calm and there was a bit of ebb current throughout, though it had slackened for our return. We saw a nice group of nine Steller sea lions at Seabird Point. We decided to make our way across the bay to Cattle point for a change as the currents did not seem to strong.

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16 km, YTD 241 km

April 29th - Oak Bay (#25)

I paddled over to Willows beach to co-lead a SISKA inter-tidal exploration paddle with Dave G and Debbie L. The winds were stronger than I would like for viewing underwater and it was a bit chilly, but we still had a successful trip! The winds had almost died by the time we had finished and the rain held off!
There is so much to see when the tide is at 1ft or lower!

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11 km, YTD 225 km

April 28 - Staines Island (#24)

I went for an afternoon row to test out the new Oarboard SUP with the Oarboard rowing rig. I have some adjustments to make, but overall it worked very well. This SUP has been the nicest to paddle and to row that I have tried! You can see quite different speeds against and with the wind!
(PS, I think I am a bit behind on my paddling km this year!)

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3 km, YTD 214 km

April 22 - Pixie Lake (#23)

I went to the Port Renfrew area to camp with the camper and do some fishing. While I was there I managed to do a little paddling with my new Oarboard inflatable SUP as a SUP as well as my inflatable Aquaglide kayak. Both worked well for paddling around the lake. It wasn't a very big lake so not much of a test! :) Fun all the same!

2 km, YTD 211 km

April 16 - Discovery Island (#22)

Dan, Paulo and I went for a morning paddle around the islands. It was a bit windy which definitely slowed us down on the way back north! The water was quite nice and rough for going around the top end of Chatham, but nice and calm in Rudlin Bay. I had planned to do a plankton trawl for a colleague who needs some for his class, so I did that in the bay. You can see how the plankton net slowed me down from 6/7 kph down to around 2 kph - hard work. After our break at the beach, I did another short trawl with a much smaller net - way less drag. The stiff north wind and ebbing current caused us to work hard on the way back - bit of a slog!
I noticed many gees on the islets - looks like they are starting to nest. I also saw several seals and sea lions. The pelagic cormorants have their white "leggings", so it looks like they are thinking about breeding too! Still a few buffleheads around as well as Harlequin. A good number of black oystercatchers and turnstones as well.

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16 km, YTD 209 km

April 12 - Discovery Island (#21)

Dan and I went for an afternoon paddle around the Islands. Conditions were good and we had a nice bit of help from the current on the way back. We stopped for a snack on the beach at Rudlin Bay ( the park is still closed! 😞) I am beginning to notice "summer" birds like the Rhinoceros Auklet around and fewer of the winter birds, though I still saw a good number of Harlequin and Buffleheads.

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15 km, YTD 193 km

April 2nd - Cadboro Bay (#20)

I went for a solo morning paddle around the bay on the surf ski. Conditions were very nice as I was able to beat the afternoon winds. Plenty of birds around, including hooded and common mergansers, double-crested and pelagic cormorants, surf scoters and buffleheads. I think that many of the winter visiting migrants will be leaving us soon and the summer residents will reappear. The great blue herons have started nesting across the street!

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8 km, YTD 178 km

March 31st - Sooke to Jordan River (#19)

I joined a SISKA meetup paddle from Sooke (just east of Otter Point) to Jordan River. This was organized by Gary and I was paddling with Jeff, Reale, David and John. Conditions were excellent with little wind and an ebb current helping us in the morning. We paddled past Otter Point, Muir and Kirby creeks, Sheringham Point, French Beach, Point No Point and Sandcut Creek and I was able to finish the day with a short surf into the beach at Jordan River. Along the way we found a few rock gardens to play in. All in all a great paddle!

our route - click to enlarge)

25 km, YTD 170 km

March 17-19, Lake Powell (#s 15-18)

Monica and went down to Lake Powell with Natural C-lection to explore the lake and its canyons. It was an amazing trip (I will be writing this up on the Natural C-lection blog soon!). I managed to get out for a few paddles/rows .

March 17th - AM - Fifty Mile Canyon (4 km)

We beached the C-dory for the night on a sandbar that blocked the canyon and I went for a paddle upstream of the sandbar the next morning. The Java paddled well, but I realized that the varying air temperatures (8-28 degrees C) make it a challenge to keep an inflatable at the right pressure! It was neat being the only boat in the area.

50 mile Canyon (click to enlarge)

March 17th - PM - The Rincon (2 km)

I took the Feathercraft Baylee2 raft that we are using as the tender for a reconnoitering row from our campsite to the floating toilet/outhouse. Lake Powell has a collection of eight floating outhouses/portable toilet dumpstations scattered around the lake. These make it very convenient for kayakers and small boaters. The Baylee2 is a great little tender for our C-dory and rows quite nicely.

The Rincon (click to enlarge)

March 19th - AM - Slickrock canyon (2 km)

I went for an early morning row around the canyon inlet, heading out to the mouth and passing by a beached houseboat on the way back.

Slickrock Canyon (click to enlarge)

March 19th - PM - Annies Canyon (6 km)

I took the Feathercraft Java for a nice paddle around Annie's canyon while Monica cruised along in the C-dory taking some pictures. This was a spectacular spot to paddle (as would have been many sites on the lake!) and I had a blast. Monica took some great pictures and put them in an album.

Annie's Canyon (click to enlarge)

all the paddles plotted on one image (click to enlarge)

Total paddle distance 14 km, YTD 145 km ( I probably paddled and rowed a bit more than this, but did not record!)

March 4th - Cadboro Bay test paddle (#14)

Monica and I did a short and quick test paddle of the inflatable Feathercraft Java that I am planning to take with us on our upcoming trip to Lake Powell. It paddle nicely with both of us in it as well as singly. The skeg definitely makes a difference! Looking forward to using it in Lake Powell!

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1 km, YTD 131 km

March 2nd - Discovery Island (#13)

Dan, Paulo and I went for a morning paddle out to the islands. Conditions were good, though there was a strong ebb which made for some fun waves in Baynes and around Seabird point. You can also see how fast we were going on the outward journey. There were a few sea lions around, including a big male Steller sea lion on the rocks south of Rudlin Bay. We saw the park ranger patrolling - probably checking on the wolf, who was nowhere to be seen.

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15 km, YTD 130 km.