April 24 and 25 - Dubside (#s31-33)

Over the weekend we(SISKA)  ran 3 on water rolling and Greenland paddling clinics with Dubside. The first one was an introduction to Greenland paddling and the other two were intermediate and advanced rolling. The rolling was done in Loon bay for its wind protection and convenience. We also ran a beginner rolling clinic in the Crystal pool on Sunday evening. A very productive weekend thanks to Dubsides expertise and teaching.

I improved all of my existing rolls and got closer to a storm roll and forward rolling stick roll. I figured out the swan roll (two rolling sticks) as well as a “brick roll” (a hand roll holding a rock).



10 km, 5 NM, YTD 433 km

April 17 and 18 - Pender (#s 29 and 30)

Dan and I set out from Amherst in Sidney to paddle over to the Westcoast Paddler (http://www.westcoastpaddler.com/) campout on Pender Island. The 18 km paddle over to Bedwell Harbour was blessed by good conditions, a favourable current and several porpoise and auklet sightings.

We had a nice evening visiting with the WCP campout group and then set out at 0830 on Sunday to paddle 38 km back to Victoria. We could not have asked for more favourable conditions! Light winds and an ebb current for the whole trip! You can see that our speed was boosted for virtually the whole trip with a big boost right after D’Arcy Islands. We ran across several porpoises, many rhinoceros auklet pairs, crossed into US waters, avoided freighters and ferries, and passed a few halibut fishermen on the flats south of D’Arcy.

 56 km combined, 30 NM, YTD 423 km

April 17th - Marina rally (#28)

Monica and I set out from the Gorge Rowing centre to participate in the rally against the Mega Marina Proposal. There was a good turnout and the size of the area proposed is huge. In spite of there being well over a hundred boats, they did not begin to fill up the area!

On the track you can see the size of the marina area as I paddled the circumference.



6 km, 3 NM, YTD 367 km

April 13th - Rolling (#27)

Dan and I went out for a couple of hours rolling practice in Cadboro Bay. We began in Loon Bay and had an excellent session. We then paddled over to the Cadboro Point area and practiced a bit more. Dan helped me invent a new (to me) roll…



5 km, 2.5 NM, YTD 361 km

April 11th - Telegraph (#26)

Gordin and I set out from Caddy Bay  for an afternoon paddle. Conditions were very nice, light northerly breeze, sunshine and not much current. We paddled the shoreline out to Cadboro and Ten mile points and then around to Telegraph Cove. The trip back had a bit of current in our favour and we were treated to X-rated otter action! There were lots of Harlequin ducks, Buffleheads, Great blue herons, Turnstones and more to be seen.

 10 km, 5 NM, YTD 356 km

April 10th - Discovery (#25)

Mark, Dan and I went for a nice afternoon paddle around Chatham and Discovery Islands. Nice and sunny, but a cool north wind… with the wind at our backs, we were definitely faster on the outward trip.

 15 km, 8 NM, YTD 346 km

April 5th - Little Group (#24)

Dan, Mike and I set out from Aherst to paddle around the Sidney area. We originally had plans to go to Rum, but winds and currents were not favourable so we worked our way up wind for a while and then surfed our way down wind to the Little Group and had lunch on Shell Island. After lunch we went to Johns passage to look for some current action, but there was not much. Had a nice day!

 13 km, 7 NM, YTD 331 km

April 3rd - Discovery (#23)

Dan, Paulo and I set out from Caddy Bay to go for a paddle around Discovery – my first in four weeks! It was a bit windy early on and there was a fun overfall off Vantreight Island. We played in it for a while and then carried on around Chatham and Discovery Islands. I was out of paddling shape, so the 16 km trip was a bit tiring! After yesterday’s wind storm it had settled down a lot.

 16 km, 9 NM, YTD 318 km

March 6th - Race Rocks (#22)

Dan, Heike, Paulo and I set out from Weir’s beach to paddle out to Race Rocks and into Becher Bay. Conditions were spectacular – I think I may have picked up a sunburn in spite of sunscreen! Summer in early March! We had a great boost from the ebb current on our way to Race rocks and played around in the tidal race channels for a while. We saw seals, eagles, oystercatchers, sea lions and dolphins! Lots of fishing boats out, especially around Church Rock. We stopped off for lunch in a small cove on the edge of Becher Bay and then made our way back along the shore to try to avoid the current.I changed the speed scale on the track map as we had speeds of up to 14 kph with the current!

 23 km, 12.5 NM, YTD 302 km

I don’t expect to get much paddling in until April as I am off to Ecuador on the 13th…

February 28th - rolling an caddy bay (#21)

Gordin and I went out to Loon bay to practice some rolling and test out some video gear. My her mount worked well but the batteries died again almost as soon as I started.  We had fun rolling and then went out over to Flower Island to enjoy the beautiful evening with mergansers, geese, seals and otters!

 4 km, 2NM, YTD 279 km

Feb 27th - Discovery and Tsunamis(#20)

I paddled the Tahe out to Cattle point to join Mike, Dan, Heike and Paulo on a paddle around “the islands”. Conditions were good. We had a flood to help us to the top end of Chatham and then we fought a bit of wind and current along the east side of the islands. The waves and wind were fun in the Tahe! We stopped in a bay on the west side of Discovery for lunch and I managed to record the Tsunami advisory message using my iphone voice recorder - wanted to save it to use with my geology and m,arine science classes! I peeled off at Jemmy Jones to head back to caddy bay – did a few rolls at the end before heading in. The tsunami wave was not noticeable when it eventually came in.

I have linked to the recording I made of the VHF Tsunami advisory broadcast: http://michaelhjackson.ca/pblog/tsunamimemo2.mp3

 17 km, 9 NM, YTD 275 km

February 21st - Chain Islets and Trident Angler test (18,19)

Dennis and I went for a morning paddle out from Cadboro Bay beach. I was in the F1 and we went out to Cadboro Point. The current was running nicely so we decided to catch a free ride to the chain islets. Our speed on this leg was mostly between 12 and 13 kph. (6 to 7 kt) (see the gray area on the track!). Conditions were wonderful – sunny and calm. there was a light north wind which made things a little cooler than summer but not by much! [14 km]

After we got back, I decided to take an Ocean Kayak Trident Angler kayak out for a test drive (I am looking for a fishing kayak). This is a neat little sit-on-top and paddles quite reasonably. Though nowhere near as fast as a regular sea kayak, I was able to maintain 6 kph fairly easily. I tried it with and without the rudder (which worked well) and also tried moving around the kayak. I also tried sitting with my legs over the side which also was fine. This kayak has a “rod pod” which is a centre hatch into which one can stuff all kinds of goodies into a relatively water tight area. I took it out into some light chop in Baynes and it remained a dry ride. I think it may be a keeper! [6 km] (http://www.oceankayak.com/kayaks/angler_editions/prowler_trident_13_angler.html)



20 km, 11 NM, YTD 258 km

February 15th - Chatham Islands (#17)

Pete, Gordon (visiting from Australia) and I set out for an afternoon paddle to show Gordon a bit of local paddling. We went over to Chatham only to find the sluice was quiet. However, by the time we were heading back across Baynes, the current and wind had picked up enough to make it interesting – I even got one short surf ride. It was a very nice 2 hour paddle.

12 km, 6 NM, YTD 238 km.

Feb 14th - Cordova Bay (#16)

I joined David and Ken for a VSKN paddle out of Telegraph Cove to Cordova Bay - conditions were nice and flat with a bit of drizzle to start and then sunshine – did not seem like a winter’s day! We went up as far as Mt Doug creek and then back tyo Margaret’s bay for lunch. The sun stayed out for the rest of the paddle and we were blessed with calm conditions. I decided to head around 10 mile point and paddle back to the “home beach”. I took a detour via the RVYC to pick up a sea rescue crew bag.

18 km, 10 NM, YTD 226 km.

2010-02-14_cordovabay

Feb 13th - Spectacle falls with Freya (#15)

I organzied a paddle for Freya with a few ORS and SISKA folks (Brian, 3 Gary’s, Sheila, Dorothea, Joanne and Maddie) to Spectacle falls. We decided on Saanich inlet as the wind forecast as for 25+ knot winds. As it turned out, the winds off 10 mile point were consitently between 25 and 30 knots theough much of the paddling day (http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=IBRITISH32). In Saanich inlet, however, we experienced light winds and light rain throughout. Several of us got a chance to try out Freya’s spare wind paddle. Sacrilege though it may sound, I was very impressed with the effortless way the Epic wing paddle pushed me through the water. It was a grwat pleasure and honour for all of us to spend a few hours paddling with Freya and we thank her for joining us.

   15 km, 8 NM, YTD 208 km.

Trip album on picasaweb