Dan and I decide to head out for a quick paddleboard trip this afternoon and had great conditions (no wind and no lumpy water) for our trip to Cadboro Point and back. We had nice conditions for birding and picked up 12 species. Dan was paddling his new SUP, a RED Voyager 13'2". It is a nice board!
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6km, YTD 264 km
I paddled out to Cadboro Point to meet Dan and Paulo for a paddle around the islands. Conditions were great with nice views of Mt Baker and Mt Rainer. I saw plenty of the usual birds but did not list them today. I have not seen murrelets (ancient or marbled) recently... We had some fun playing in the current between Vantreight and Chatham.
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Michael and I paddled from Cadboro Bay on a birding mission to find rock sandpipers. Along the way we saw lots of good birds and were rewarded with our goal at the south end of the Chain group. Bird list (23spp) here: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S83481221. Nice conditions and birding made for a great paddle. I also used my Nikon P950 in the kayak and was very pleased with the results. I also got a shot of cormorants that very clearly showed several Brandt's cormorants.
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| rock sandpipers -click to enlarge |
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| Brandt's and double-crested cormorants - click to enlarge |
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I led a group of 4 paddlers for a SISKA light paddle around Cadboro bay.
Very nice conditions with plenty of birds!
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I led a SISKA currents clinic in the channel at Cadboro Point with Michael E and four keen participants. The current was barely ebbing when we arrived at 9ish, but was running nicely when we stopped around noon. Off the point there were some "haystacks" and very lumpy water. The channel was calm and gave us plenty of opportunity to practice our eddy to eddy S turns and ferrying across the channel. It was nice to see everyone develop their skill and confidence. We also managed to avoid the early morning wind as well as the wind that picked up after we left!
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10 km, YTD 217 km
Dan and I paddled out of Killarney to meet Paulo at Cadboro Point for a paddle around the islands. The winds were pretty calm throughout but there was a strong ebb as evidenced by the track speeds crossing Baynes and on the SE side of Discovery. Paddling back across Baynes was hard work but we made it without falling below Jemmy Jones! Good birding today with a lot of surf scoters and more red-breasted mergansers than I normally see/notice: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S82590200 There were a good number of Steller's sea lions on the two rocks off Seabird Point. On our way back, Dan and I checked my crab trap. Unfortunately there was just one legal red rock crab which I threw back.
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I decided to try the SUP as a "crabbing platform" and used a kayak paddle while seated. I came home with one nice crab which will do us both for dinner. There were not as many birds visible on my route today - only 3 species: buffleheads, Canada geese and g-w gulls. https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S82541263
The SUP board with a kayak paddle worked pretty well and I may have been going faster sitting with a kayak paddle than standing with a SUP paddle! The board was definitely stable enough to bring a trap out of the water as well as rebaiting etc. You can see where I drifted while bring the trap up and emptying it as the orange section. The ten knot SE wind was pushing me slowly back into the bay.
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3 km, YTD 191 km
I led two SISKA workshops on towing today. We learned about the gear involved and practiced various techniques. We had good conditions for both clinics, though by the end of the day, the water had become a bit lumpy with the increasing wind. At the end of the afternoon, a few of us paddled out to check my crab trap which had two nice keepers in it. Another nice day on the water!
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6km YTD 188 km
Dan and I went for a late morning paddleboard out to Cattle Point. It was a bit windier than we expected/wanted which made the paddling a bit challenging as the water was lumpy in places and we are not as steady on the boards as in our kayaks! Our speed on the way out against the headwind was slower than the return as can be seen in the track. However, we never got up to our usual kayak cruising speed! As we did not go far from the shore, I did not see that many bird species (11): https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S81955989
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5 km, YTD 182 km
I went for a birding paddle around the bay on the surf ski, stopping to look at and try to photograph some of the birds I saw (see below). I saw 21 species https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S81846543 including the starlings on the road walking home! You can see many of the spots I stopped to look/photograph by the slow spots on the track.
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| common goldeneye - click to enlarge |
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| a pair of marbled murrelets - click to enlarge |
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| male and female hooded mergansers - click enlarge |
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7 km, YTD 177 km
I paddled out to Cadboro Point where I met up with Dan and Paulo to paddle around the islands. Conditions were great, with a following current, until we rounded the corner at seabird Point (There were about 20 Steller sea lions on the two rocks). From Seabird Point to Commodore Point we were fighting a stiff headwind and lumpy water. Once around Commodore Point, the wind was on our side and the going was easier though we had current against us. You can see a big difference in my speed over ground between the outward trip and the return. Since the tide was at a middling level, there seemed to be many more shorebirds around including a small sandpiper I coould not ID. Today was a good birding day with 29 species recorded! https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S81768543
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| my track - click to enlarge |
I went for an afternoon paddle because I could! :) There was ~8 inches of snow in the street walking down to the beach but the bay was reasonably calm. I managed a good birding session with 14 species (https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S81273597) in spite of the visibility. No one else on the water today and the RVUC boats were under snow (see below)
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| a view of the bay - click to enlarge |
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| another view of the bay - click to enlarge |
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| Dighies @ RVYC - click to enlarge |
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| my track - click to enlarge |
I led a group of SISKA paddlers (Sean, Julie, Darlene, Steven and Leanne) out to play in the currents at Cadboro Point. We had fun learning how to do eddy to eddy S-turns and get a feel for moving water. Unfortunately we had to leave earlier than intended due to rising winds. We had a bit of lumpy water and wind in our face for the paddle back to Flower Island. It was cool to see both ancient and marbled murrelets close to Flower Island. We also had nice views of harbour seals and river otters. The bird checklist is here: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S80627050
A cool coincidence. Jennifer P happened to be flying by the point in a friend's plane and took this shot - you can see the kayaks from two of our group below the "glass house":
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| Steven and Sean by the glass house - click to enlarge |
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There is a link to view a zoomable version temporarily available here: https://www.gpsvisualizer.com/display/20210207180305-01099-map.html
7 km, YTD 149 km.
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Dan and I went for an afternoon SUP around the bay. It was a bit windy from the SE to begin with which made paddling out hard. We crossed the bay, which was a bit lumpy, kneeling and then took a big rest at Flower Island. While we were resting the wind died down. A bit harder to see birds today but I still saw the usual suspects: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S80486902
Paddling a SUP definitely uses a different set of muscles!
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5 km, YTD 128 km
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