July 27th - Cadboro Bay (#62)

I went for a nice short evening paddle. Sunny and calm with good views of Mt. Baker but not Mt. Rainier. A few other paddlers out - mostly SUPers. made it to 500 km! :)

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6 km, YTD 503 km

July 21st - Flower Island (#61)

I went for an evening paddle around the bay on the surfski. It was a bit windy and I wanted to check if the seal pup was around. I chatted with my friends who had seen it on their beach, but it was gone this morning... who knows where. You can see that the SW wind slowed me down a lot crossing the bay from Flower ti "Island 7". I saw a few pigeon guillemots feeding in the bay.

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6 km, YTD 497 km

July 20th - Cadboro Bay (#60)

I went for a mid-afternoon paddle since it was so warm in the house. It was noticeably cooler out on the water. I could see Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker nicely and I also saw several great blue herons and a black oystercatcher. Stopped along the Ten Mile Point shoreline to chat with a few friends and encountered the cutest baby seal (still had its umbilical visible) - which may have lost it mother... :(

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8 km, YTD 491 km - should make 500 on the next paddle...

July 19th - Gordon river/Port Renfrew (#59)

I went for a morning paddle in the inflatable Scamper to check out the channel at low tide. There was less than six inches of water in the main channel, so no heading out at that time in the C-dory! Lots of bald eagles about as well as one turkey vulture. It was nice to be out in the quiet misty morning. I also paddled around the marina to check out all the other boats! My track is shown aout 20 ft to the east of where it should be on the image - I did not padle through docks!

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4 km, YTD 483 km

July 10th - Cadboro Bay SUP (#58)

I went out a second time today, this time for a lesson from Sam at Gyro Beach Board Shop on paddling a SUP. She gave me a bunch of good pointers and I was definitely paddling more efficiently and straighter by the end. SUPing is growing on me!

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5 km, YTD 470 km

July 10th - Cadboro Bay (#57)

I went for a nice morning paddle around the bay on the surfski. There was a bit of wind from the S but not too much - overcast sky. Tide was medium-high and not too much current. I saw several black oystercatchers calling and flying around between Cattle Point and Jemmy Jones.

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8km, YTD 474 km

July 5th - Cadboro Bay (#56)

I set up a SISKA meetup paddle and was joined by Anton for a very nice paddle around the bay. Lots of people on the water today. I saw a marbled murrelet in winter (black and white) plumage which was a bit surprising

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8 km, YTD 466 km

July 3rd - Discovery Island Wolf Mural (#55)

Dan and I set out from Killarney to paddle out and around the islands to see the new mural by Paul Archer of Takaya, the Discovery Island wolf that was relocated and then shot this past winter. News article here. It was nice and calm with currents that were not too strong and a gentle steady rain.
We made it to the foghorn building where the mural was painted last week and decided to get out and check it out. Photos below! It is a beautiful tribute to the memory of this magnificent animal - who I last saw at close range in December.
After that we kept on paddling our usual route and ran into Dave, John and Alex who had been camping in Rudlin Bay for a couple of nights. We had a good chat as we paddled together around the SW corner of the island and then went our separate ways. Dan and I ran into three young women who were staffing the  Straitwatch zodiac and taking a break near Jemmy Jones.
This is the first time I have taken many pictures on a paddle for a long time!

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15 km, YTD 458 km

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click to enlarge - close up of Takaya

click to enlarge - Dan and the mural

click to enlarge - approaching from the water

click to enlarge - another view from the kayak

click to enlarge - yours truly and the wolf

click to enlarge - another shot with the mural

click to enlarge - around the corner - seals and orca

June 29th - Cattle Point (#54)

I took advantage of nice afternoon conditions for a leisurely paddleboard over to Cattle Point by way of RVYC. It was nice to go slow and watch wildlife - including eagles at the nest and kelp crabs on kelp!You can see from the track that the wind and current were from the S & SE, though the wind was not that strong.

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5 km, YTD 443 km

June 27th - Gordon head (#53)

I paddled around Ten Mile Point to Telegraph Cove where I helped co-lead a SISKA paddle with Alan and Jim to Gordon Head. It was a bit windy in Cadboro Bay with a stiff westerly, but as soon as I went around Cadboro Point it was basically flat calm! Conditions were perfect for a relaxed paddle out to Gordon head and we had lunch in Margaret Bay. After leaving the group in Telegraph Cove I paddled back around to Cadboro Bay. It was a tad windy as you can see from my track (50-60 kph at Trial Island - the graph from the RVYC site is not available today, but it recorded 25 knots at 1 PM when I was coming round the point...
Saw several bald eagles, belted kingfishers,  great blue herons, black oystercatchers, glaucous-winged gulls and a few seals and a harbour porpoise.

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20 km, YTD 438 km

June 22nd - Cadboro Bay (#52)

I paddled over to RVYC to join Greg, peter, and Tony for a surf ski paddling session. I was using a Greenland paddle as I had lent my wing paddle to Tony, but it worked well. Amazingly clear views of Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier as well as some distant mirages. Good to get out!

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8 km, YTD 418 km

June 20th - Gonzales Bay (#51)

I paddled over to Turkey head by Oak bay Marina, just below the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, and helped lead a SISKA paddle from Oak bay to Gonzales Bay. The currents at the start were either ebbing or weak and we passed by some nice glacial features (roches moutonees and erratics). I think I managed to put in about twice as much distance as the group did! You can also see that my to and fro from Caddy bay was a tad faster than the relaxed club paddle! A lovely day out on the water.

Gonzales Bay is named after Gonzalo Lopez de Haro who was mate aboard the Princesa Real, the first European vessel to explore Juan de Fuca Strait in 1790. Gonzales bay used to be called Foul Bay (same as the road forming the boundary between Oak Bay and Victoria!) after the poor anchorage qualities of the bay, until  misguided local residents wanted the bay's name changed. Eventually, in 1934, the Geographic Board of Canada caved into the complaints and renamed the bay after Gonzalo Lopez de Haro.

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18 km, YTD 410 km

June 18th - Cadboro Bay (#50)

I took the surfski out for an afternoon  jaunt around the bay. Conditions were very nice with a slight Southerly breeze and not much current. I saw Tim out rowing and we had a chat by Staines islet. Visibility was good as I could see both Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier. I also had a good view of Oak Bay Marina and the Oak Bay Beach Hotel as I went from Cadboro to Cattle point. This was paddle #50 of the year! My original goal, assuming lots of ship-based trips was 50 paddles and 500 km, but I suspect I will be close to this by the end of June!

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8 km, YTD 392 km

June 13th - Telegraph cove (#49)

I helped to co-lead (with Vic and Sandy) a SISKA relaxed paddle from Cadboro bay to Telegraph Cove and back. We ended up running this as three separate groups of 6 or less to comply with COVID regulations. My group included Allison, Alison, David, Craig and Lynn. We had good conditions for the outbound journey and then a bit of wind for the return. We saw a mink as well as many Canada geese and a good number of black oystercatchers.

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13 km, YTD 383 km

June 10th - Discovery island (#48)

I went for another early morning paddle in ideal conditions. Leaving Killarney at 0700 to meet up with Dan and Paulo at Cadboro Point and then a circumnavigation of the Islands. The ebb had just started, but was not too strong. Paulo was also paddling a Tahe Greenland! The sea was glassy with no wind so one could see every current ripple and schools of bait at the surface. We also saw a group of six otters at Cadboro Point when we left.

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16 km, YTD 373 km