No local paddling for me for the next few weeks… I am heading off to Thailand and Burma this weekend for 2 weeks. I will be leading a trip to paddle and snorkel in the Andaman sea – Mergui Archipelago.
I am sure I shall post some pics on my return!
I joined the VCKC paddle led by Dennis today. 14 of us set out from the beach by the Brentwood Bay ferry and paddled around Tod Inlet and then around to McKenzie Bight. We had a nice lunch on the beach and paddled back in light rain. A nice day’s paddle in calm conditions. Nice to meet a few new paddlers.
15 KM, 8.1 NM, YTD 176 km
Heike, John, Tony, Dennis and I set out from McNeill Bay (we were joined by Paolo who set out from Smuggler’s cove!) and paddled along the Victoria and Esquimalt waterfronts to Fisgard Light by Esquimalt lagoon. Conditions were good. I had a little bit of wind and used the spirit sail until Clover point. I was paddling the sirocco again. The currents were supposed to be with us both ways, but did not significantly hinder or help us either way.
25km, 13.4 NM, YTD 161 km
Dennis, Paolo and I set off from Smuggler’s cove and met Mike and Craig off ten mile point where we played for a few minutes in the waves. We then made our way over to Strongtide Islet and then made our way down to Discovery. Had lunch on a North facing beach which was out of the wind. The wind was blowing at around 15–20 knots, gusting 25 or so for most of the trip. There were some very big waves off the SE end of Discovery which we managed to avoid. I managed to get the spiritsail up for a short while on the way back up past Chatham. There was a very strong current flowing through Baynes. Paolo and I played in the lower set for a while and then went to the set off 10 mile point to finish the day. Went for a sleeve of Beacon IPA at the smuggler’s cove to warm up and meet Tony and Gordin. An exhilarating day! I was paddling the Sirocco for a change – nice to paddle a very manoueverable boat. I was able to practice a few rolls and static braces.
14.5 km, 8 NM, YTD 136 km
A group of 18 of us left Amherst under Susan’s leadership with assistance from Dan, Neil and Roscoe. We kept up a good pace and managed to cover a comfortable 15 km. The conditions we were expecting were delayed (it is windy and rainy now as I write!) and we had nice calm conditions with no significant current or wind. A very nice paddle which finished with a short visit to the Waddling Dog!
8 NM, 15 km, YTD 121 km
Some photos from the day:
I just found this video on youtube – Darren M took it on Jan 2nd 2006!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnygH8AkMXY
I went up early to Amherst to try out the SOF kayak. It seemed to perform just fine and I was able to roll it with no problems the first time. After trying it out for a few minutes, I decided to give it a go for the day paddle. Bill, Craig, Doug, John, Heike, Paolo and I headed out to Portland. We were fighting a bit of wind and current on the way out, but was in our favour for the way back!
The SOF kayak worked fine. It tracked well and was easy to control, though it was a bit slower than the other boats.
11 NM, 20.3 km, YTD 106 km
Don, George and I left Amherst at around 9:30 and paddled our way out to Rum Island by way of Dock, Sheep, Brethour and Comet Islands. Weather was superb - felt like summer! Had a lunch on the south beach and made our way bay via Rubbly, Domville and Forrest Islands.
21 km, 11 NM, YTD 86 km
Bill, Doug, Gordin, Gary and I set out at 9:30 from Island View Beach to paddle out to visit the campers on d’Arcy. Craig paddled up from Agate beach to join us for the paddle out. Dennis and a group were camped on d’Arcy for the night which was a tad chilly since there was frost all about in the morning. The morning started off breezy with 5–10 knots of wind which gradually died. By the time we began the paddle back via little d’Arcy and James, the sea was calm and the sun was out – a beautiful afternoon. We all had a snack/lunch on the beach on the south side of James – some recent mud slides since our last visit. I saw a pair of Dall porpoises on the way back. There was a good ebb running between James and the peninsula…
18.3 km, 10 NM, YTD: 65 km
I joined a VCKC "Energizer" paddle today and we (all 27 of us) went to Becher Bay. The weather was great, though a bit windy at the start, and we made a very pleasant paddle over to Aylard farm. I had a quick go at sailing at the end and the Pacific Action sail worked well. We finished off by going to MyChosen Cafe to celebrate Duncan's "62nd" birthday!
http://www.islandnet.com/~mjackson/google/2007_01_20_becher.htm is an interactive Google maps link to our track.
Some shots from the day:
Mike and I went for a fairly early paddle out of Roberts Bay. The forecast was indicating that the wind would be out of the south and then build out of the west, so we decided to stay close to shore and follow it down to Bazan Bay - I hoped for a good tail wind back from Bazan... The sail rig worked well and Mike took some pics. However the wind was already turning to the west, making it harder to track.
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