I paddled out to Cadboro Point to join Paulo and Dan for a paddle around the islands. There was little current for the way over and a bit more on the way back, but conditions were generally nice , so no lumpy water! I saw a couple of folks on Griffin Island who were doing plant surveys for the ecological reserve and checked in with them. We also recovered some crab floats off Jemmy Jones.
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16 km, YTD 163 km
I paddled out to Cadboro Point to meet Dan and Paulo for a trip around the islands. When we started, it was a bit windy and there was some SE swell in Baynes which made for some lumpy water while crossing. Once across the channel conditions calmed down and we had a nice paddle around the islands. I ran into some of the "Wednesday group" on Cadboro bay beach, but they were leaving quite a bit later than us. By the time we were heading back both wind and current had lessened, making for a pleasant, easy crossing!
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I paddled out to Smuggler's Cove to meet Dan and Paulo for a paddle around the islands. Crossing over there was current and wind at our backs, so we made good speed in spite of the lumpy water. On the way back, I split off near Heritage Point, but you can see how the headwind and current slowed my progress.
Birding was good and I saw at least 16 species: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S132716003
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I led a SISKA paddle with Daniel Donnecke and 10 other members from Oak Bay Marina to the Chatham Islands. we had great birding with 35 species seen! I paddled from home (Cadboro Bay) to Oak Bay to meet the group and back afterwards so added just over 8 km to the paddle. Some highlights were a rock sandpiper, several long-tailed duck and a greater yellowlegs!
Daniel's checklists:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S132546408
https://ebird.org/checklist/S132547349
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| the track - click to enlarge |
21 km, YTD 116 km
I paddled out to Cadboro Point where I met Dan and Paulo to a paddle around the islands. It was good to get out in my home "paddling grounds". There was a bit of a headwind and some lumpy water to begin with as well as a strong ebb current. The winds and sea conditions improved over the paddle and it was nice to see the usual seabirds and a group of sea lions by seabird point! The current was still strong on the return and though I went due west, I was pointing north-west!
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16 km, YTD 95 km
I rented a SOT kayak from Taupo Kayaking Adventures in Acacia Bay on Lake Taupo to paddle to the Maori carving. I had great conditions and a fun paddle. I also managed to get Monica to paddle and see the carving (she hiked out to the point and then we switched places in the kayak for a bit!).
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| the track - click to enlarge |
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| the carving - click to enlarge |
11 km, YTD 79 km
John Kirk-Anderson of KASK very kindly offered to take me out for an afternoon paddle around Quail Island (Thanks for the connection, Gary!). We met up at his boat shed and john was able to loan me a kayak and gear. We had great conditions and a nice paddle. We spent some time with the wrecks (Darra), some nice geology and birds - including my first Spoonbills of the trip! We also visited some of the historic buildings on shore.
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| the track. I had an issue with my GPS for the first part! |
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| me in the wreck of the Darra |
8 km, YTD 68 km
I paddled out to Cadboro Point to join Dan and Paulo for a paddle around the islands. conditions were very nice - no current to speak of and no lumpy water! I could see the silhouette of Mt Rainier in the distance as I set out as well as a 22 degree ice halo around the sun. There were so many logs in the bay as a result of the high tides this past week and also a lot of plastic (especially stryrofoam) floating as well. This had all been re-mobilized as a result of the high tides. I wish we could find some solutions to this issue...
Birding was good: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S126502712
Managed to get four nice paddles in this past week! :)
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Dan and I went for a morning paddle around the islands (my first of the year!). Though there was not much wind the water was fairly lumpy until we came back around Commodore Point on Discovery and headed back for Cadboro bay. It was nice to see some marbled and ancient murrelets as well as long-tailed ducks. The bird list: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S126391164 . We also were treated to half a dozen Steller's sea lions at Seabird Point.
The waters around Seabird Point were the lumpiest I have paddled in for quite some time. Some combination of swell and current made for steep and confused waves. I was definitely tired at the end of the paddle!
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15 km, YTD 44 km
Dorothea and I led a club clinic to practice sea kayaking in currents. The five participants all made great progress over the morning. At the end I took a short detour to play in the lumpy water at Cadboro Point Light. Also on the way back we saw Paulo, Dan and Ellen paddling back from going around Discovery and stopped for a quick chat. A nice morning on the water!
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I paddled around to Telegraph Cove to join 12 others on a SISKA paddle led by Jo. It was nice to get out on a SISKA paddle again and it was a great first paddle of the year. A highlight of the paddle was seeing a feeding grey whale of Glencoe Cove. Surfaced several times around us.
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21 km, YTD 21 km!
I went for an afternoon paddle around the bay since I wanted to get a last paddle in before I head south again. Conditions were excellent. The tide was high, the sun was shining, currents minimal and little wind. A good number of birds seen https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S122963444 I chatted with a recreational crabber who indicated that the crabbing was not great with the commercial crabbers around... I also ran into a paddler who was paddling a SUP with a double-bladed paddle! :)
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Dan and I went for a Saturday morning paddle around the Islands. Though the wind was forecast to be only 10 knots, it seemed a bit more and especially crossing Baynes the sea was lumpy! Probably as "active" as I have seen it in a while! Birding was good with lots of oystercatchers. We had a young seal come and play with our kayaks as we were coming back into Cadboro Bay by Staines Island.
I also got to chat with Kellie and Eric as we passed by their house.
https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S122688908
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15 km, YTD 315 km
George and I went for a nice morning paddle around the bays. It looked a little lumpy out in Baynes so we decided to stick to the two bays. Conditions remained good for us through and it was great to catch up on news. We saw great blue heron, black oystercatcher, double-crested cormorant, pelagic cormorant, pigeon guillemot, rhinoceros auklet, common murre and some gulls! (https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S122481781)
You can see how the current helped us heading from Cadboro Point to Oak Bay Marina! I suspect our paddling pace was the same throughout!
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12 km, YTD 300 km
I led a group of 6 paddlers (Debbie, John, Shannon, George, Anne and Barbara) on a SISKA energizer paddle around Discovery Island. For most of the paddle, conditions were quite benign (sunny, no adverse current and little wind) but we did encounter some strong wind and lumpy water on the north side of Chatham Island on our way back. We ran into John and David who were also paddling in the islands today. You can see from the track that we had a big help from the current as we headed south in Baynes Channel. We stopped for lunch in Rudlin Bay
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18 km, YTD 288 km
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