December 31st - the paddling year in review

Well, I didn't make it out on the 31st - it was a tad cold and windy, but I did have a great year of paddling.
I didn't make either my distance or paddle number goals, but I had a lot of fun travelling instead.
The year total of 86 paddles and 728 km was an average number of paddles but the lowest distance of the 12 years of my blog. The km per paddle for the past three years has been pretty constant at 8.5

Year #	Year	# paddles	km total	km per paddle
1	2006	77	1273	16.50
2	2007	66	1098	16.60
3	2008	75	1080	14.40
4	2009	116	1381	11.90
5	2010	124	1214	9.80
6	2011	105	1217	11.60
7	2012	87	1001	11.50
8	2013	92	1063	11.60
9	2014	98	911	9.30
10	2015	120	1025	8.50
11	2016	129	1076	8.30
12	2017	86	728	8.47
	Totals	1175	13067

Looking forward to another good year of paddling in 2018!

December 25th - Jemmy Jones (#86)

I went for a midday paddle around Cadboro Bay after a nice morning walk on the beach with the girls. Though the temperature was not warm 3C, there was no wind, so it seemed quite reasonable!
I met Jeff, another Greenland paddler out near Staines Islet and had a bit of a chat. By the time I got home, the snow was almost melted!

click to enlarge

ready to take the surf ski out - click to enlarge

6 km, YTD 728 km

(PS, it does not look as if I will make my 100 paddle, 1000 km goal this year! Too much time spent having fun doing other things!)

December 19th - Chatham Island (#85)

The day after my return heme from Ecuador, i went out for a morning paddle with Dan. It was pretty windy with a stiff northerly breeze and an ebbing current. You can see that we made good progress on the outward journey, but the return trip was a slog! Probably one of the hardest paddles I have done in a long time! The wind was pretty steady in the 20 knot range with gusts up to 30! Quite a few marbled murrelets around! You can see from the RVYC wind data that the wind was pretty strong while we were out (9 to 11:30)! Our return track was pretty slow - at times it seemed like we were barely making progress!

the route - click to enlarge

today's wind graph - click to enlarge

12 km, YTD 722 km

December 13th - Buccaneer Cove, Galapagos (#84)

I went for a kayak near Buccaneer Cove. It was quite choppy and windy but still fun! Good views of magnificent frigatebirds and Nazca Boobies.

the route

zoomed out to show James Bay

2km, YTD 710 km

December 12th - Tagus Cove, Galapagos (#83)

While on board the National Geographic Endeavour II, I managed to get out for a session on a paddle board in Tagus Cove. It was my first time SUPing in Galapagos and I enjoyed the perspective - I saw plenty of green sea turtles as well as a couple of flightlesss cormorants and Galapagos penguins!

zoomed out to see the crater

the track in Tagus Cove

2km, YTD 708 km

November 25th - Tortuga Bay, Galapagos (#82)

I hiked out to Tortuga Bay and rented one of the sit-on-top kayaks that they have there for $10. I had a fun time there seeing plenty of reef sharks, green sea turtles, mangroves, birds and more! Before the paddle I had the opportunity to go snorkeling as well. A magical spot to visit. I went there 13 time during my 3 weeks in Galapagos!

the route in the bay

The bay in relation to Puerto Ayora, showing the trail

3 km, YTD 706 km

November 1st - Discovery - Orca and Humpback (#81)

Dan, Paulo and I went for a morning paddle out to the islands. great conditions with wonderful wildlife today. Crossing Baynes Channel we spotted and watched a male orca for a few minutes and then as we rounded the top end of Chatham Island, we spotted a humpback which basically preceded us all the way down the east side of the islands. Nice to see two types of whales on one trip!
Lots of birds out as well including marbled murrelets and surf scoters.

click to enlarge

15 km, YTD 701 km

October 29th - Jemmy Jones (#80)

I went for a late morning row out to Jemmy Jones using the oarboard  SUP combo. The system worked pretty well and I think I have just a few adjustments to make to make it excellent. It is definitely a workout rowing the SUP! Again, another lovely clear day with nice views of Mt.Baker.
I also checked out my new slip at RVYC... I will be keeping Natural C-lection there once I have the bottom painted. Again, a little slower against the northerly wind...

click to enlarge

6 km, YTD 686 km

October 27 - Discovery Island (#79)

Dan and I went for a morning paddle around the Islands.  Conditions were nice with good views of Mt Baker as well as a good number of birds, sea lions and seals. No one else on the water! You can see that the northerly wind slowed us a bit on the way back... or we were tired!

click to enlarge

15 km, YTD 680 km

October 24th - Ten Mile Point (#78)

I went for a quick before dinner paddle as it was a beautiful calm evening. I could see both Mt Rainier and Mt Baker on my paddle due to the clear, clean air. I also saw a couple of groups of river otters - one around Ten Mile Point and the other by Cadboro Point..Average speed over the paddle was 8.2 kph (4.4 kt) - the surf ski is a fast boat!

click to enlarge

6 km, YTD 665 km

October 22nd - Cattle Point (#77)

I went for a quick morning paddle on the surfski to take advantage of a weather window. There was a bit of a S/SW breeze which slowed me down on the outward journey, but sped me up on the return. There was a large flock of American wigeon near the beach when I launched, but not much else on the water today. On my way back, I saw a nice rainbow across Cadboro Bay. It was complete at times and the secondary bow was visible on both sides!

click to enlarge

5 km, YTD 659 km

October 18th - Rapid lake (#76)

I went for an afternoon paddle in Rapid lake, Whitney, after  a great bike ride in the morning and wonderful hikes the day before. I was able to spend two full days exploring Algonquin Park near Hwy 60 - wonderful area! Lovely fall colours and no crowds! I think many of the birds have flown south, but I did see a great blue heron and a couple of common mergansers. I stopped for a rest on a gneiss rock in the sunshine!

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7 km, YTD 654 km

October 14th - Mill Lake (Parry sound ON) (#75)

Claire and I went for a nice paddle into Mill Lake from Harmony Outdoor Inn and Ontario Sea Kayak Centre run by James and Dympna. I was visiting Claire in Toronto and decided to take her out of town, we had nice conditions and good weather as we paddled a double.  Not too many people on the water at this time of year. We saw lots of Muskoka chairs on docks! Unfortunately I forgot my GPS, so the track is estimated... It was great fun to paddle with Claire in between her knitting! :)

click to enlarge

15 km, YTD 647 km

October 12 - Cadboro Bay (#74)

I went for a quick morning paddle out to collect the crab traps that I had left out. There was one nice keeper in one of the traps... :)
There was a pacific loon in the bay which was nice to see.

click to enlarge

3km, TYD 632 km

October 9th - Discovery Island (#73)

Dan and I went for a nice morning paddle out to the islands. Conditions were good with not too much current. We saw sea lions and seals and managed to pick up some crabs from my traps on the way back!

click to enlarge

15 km, YTD 629 km