Wednesday, February 21, 2024

February 21 - Port Renfrew (#6)

I went for a solo paddle in Port Renfrew on the San Juan river mouth looking for some small surf to play in with the Hammer. There was very little surf but I did find a small break at the end of the beach and got a few runs. I saw a nice selection of birds. It was nice to be out on the water in Renfrew!

click to enlarge
2 km, YTD 56 km


Sunday, February 18, 2024

February 18 - Discovery Island (#5)

I paddled out to Cadboro Point to meet up with Dan and Paulo for a morning paddle around the Islands. Conditions were a bit lumpy on the north side of Chatham but the rest of the paddle was pretty calm. Currents were not to strong nor was the wind. We saw some Steller's sea lions out by Seabird Point as well as a few harbour seals. The birding was good with all the usual suspects: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S162108547

click to enlarge
15 km, YTD 54 km


Monday, February 12, 2024

February 12 - Discovery Island (#4)

Dan and I went for a morning paddle out to the islands. There was a pretty good current running as well as a stiff northerly breeze.  We decided to go through the gap so as to avoid some current and wind, however, it was very hard work heading back! Lumpy water, strong headwind and a strong ebb running! You can see from my track that here were several parts of the trip where we were pretty slow... probably one of the most tiring paddles I have done in as long as I can remember! We saw some Steller sea lions and one California sea lion as well as a good number of birds. https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S161352956 

click to enlarge
16 km, YTD 39 km

Sunday, February 11, 2024

Feb 11 - Cadboro Bay Crabbing (#3)

I took the trident angler kayak out to check on the crab traps. Managed to find a keeper in each trap!

click to enlarge

3 km, YTD 23 km

Thursday, February 08, 2024

Feb 8 - Discovery (#2)

I paddled out to Cadboro Point to join Paulo and Dan for a morning paddle around the islands. Conditions were excellent with minimal currents or wind. The tide was high throughout which allowed us to pass through some channels that are not usually available! Nice to be back out on the water!

Birding was good (https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S160980385) seeing over 23 species as well as Steller and California sea lions and some harbour seals.

click to enlarge

15 km, YTD 20 km

Wednesday, February 07, 2024

Jan 12 - Snow Hill Island (#1)

While on board the National Geographic Explorer, I managed to get out for a couple of short paddles with guests. These were in the vicinity of the Snow Hill Emperor Penguin Colony. I also got out for a paddle on Jan 2nd but did not record the track.. It was probably a 2 km paddle

The two paddles chalked up 3 km to start the paddling year! The paddle tracks look as if they are on the glacier, but it seems as if either the ice has receded or the image is not properly georeferenced.

The paddle tracks - click to enlarge

I think the brown smudge is the colony in this image...

5 km, YTD 5 km.

Saturday, December 23, 2023

December 23 - Discovery Island (#30)

I paddled over to Staines Island to meet up with Fraser (past student!) for a paddle. We had a great paddle around the islands getting caught up and chatting about kayaking and birds! We saw a nice collection of birds https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S157040533. We also saw harbour seals and Steller sea lions - and heard California sea lions! Currents were benign and there was no lumpy water to speak of.

click to enlarge

15 km, YTD 339 km.

This will be my last paddle of the year as I am heading south soon. 30 paddles and 339 km is the second lowest in the 18 years of this blog! Too much time on expedition ships?

Year #Year# paddleskm totalkm per paddle
1200677127316.50
2200766109816.60
3200875108014.40
42009116138111.90
5201012412149.80
62011105121711.60
7201287100111.50
8201392106311.60
92014989119.30
10201512010258.50
11201612910768.30
122017867288.47
132018695487.94
142019574277.49
1520201019058.96
162021777079.18
172022333239.79
1820233032910.97
Totals15421630610.57

Monday, November 13, 2023

November 13 - Discovery Island (#29)

I paddled out to Maynard (Smuggler's) cove to meet Dan and Paulo for a paddle around the islands. Conditions were very nice with a favourable current for the outward and return trip! You can see our pace was fast for the outward journey around the east side. There was a little bit of lumpy water here and there. Birding was good with nice sightings of a dozen or so Ancient Murrelets (https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S154418982)! First for me this season! We also saw some Steller sea lions on the rock off Seabird point. I also met Tom and Maureen from the house by the beach on my way home.

click to enlarge

15 km, YTD 324 km

Friday, November 10, 2023

November 10 - Chatham Island (#28)

I paddled out to Cadboro Point to join Dan and Paulo for a paddle out to the islands. It was hard work getting out to the point with a stiff head wind and lumpy water. I said that I did not think I could do the whole circuit so we did a smaller circuit around the Chatham Islands. Once we were across Baynes we were in the lee and also over the course of the paddle, the wind speed dropped. As a result, the p[addle back was a lot easier. We also had a bit of current assist for the crossing back.

I did see a decent number of birds including lots of marbled murrelets. 17 species:  https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S154181170

click to enlarge

11 km, YTD 309 km

Saturday, November 04, 2023

November 4th - Oak Bay (#27)

I joined Michael, Ali and Jo for a coaching session with Gordon Brown. Lots of great tips and I was tired at the end of the day even though we only went 5k! As you can see from the track we were between the Oak Bay Beach Hotel and the Marina. Conditions were not bad and we had several nice rainbows!

click to enlarge

5 km, YTD 298 km

Thursday, October 19, 2023

October 19 - Discovery island (#26)

I paddled out to Cadboro Point to join Dan and Paulo for a paddle around the islands. As soon as I got to Cadboro Point, the fog came down, so the visibility crossing Baynes was so-so. You can see from the track we accidentally went 90 degrees to our intended path! Other than the fog, conditions were great - light winds and a small ebb current. The sea was mostly glassy and the fog gave things a magical atmosphere.

I saw a good number of birds - partial list here: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S152627287 

We saw one sea lion near Seabird Point and hundreds of harbour seals

click to enlarge
16 km, YTD 293 km


Sunday, October 01, 2023

October 1 - Loon Bay SUP (#25)

I went for a short afternoon SUP paddle to Loon Bay and back via the yacht club. I could see Rainier today as the air was much cleaner after the rains!

click to enlarge
2 km, YTD 277 km


Monday, September 18, 2023

September 18 - Cadboro Bay (#24)

I went for an afternoon paddle after getting a bunch of tasks finished. Kind of a reward. Lovely conditions. I tried the kayak mode on my watch as well as my regular GPS (Etrex HCx). Both gave similar results, though my watch went 30m further! 

Ten species of birds recorded: https://ebird.org/checklist/S150240848 

from the eTrex HCx

From my Garmin Fenix watch

6 km, YTD 275 km

Saturday, July 22, 2023

July 22 - Oak Bay (#23)

I went for a morning paddle over to Oak bay. I took a short break on a beach by OBB hotel and then made my way back. Lovely conditions!

click to enlarge

9 km, YTD 269 km

Friday, June 16, 2023

June 2nd, 3rd,9th and 12th - Haida Gwaii (#s 18-22)

I was up in Gwaii Haanas for a couple ofd trips and managed to get five short paddles in.

June 2nd and 3rd - De La Beche Inlet

I managed to take guests out for an afternoon and an early morning paddle in De La Beche Inlet. Such a lovely spot with plenty of seals following us!
click to enlarge - De La Beche
6 km

June 9 - Dolomite Point

I managed to get out before and after breakfast for paddles with guests before heading to Dolomite (Burnaby Narrows)
I had a great encounter with a young seal who followed me for almost the entire paddle - it even came up and played with my paddle!
click to enlarge - Dolomite point
6 km

June 12 -  Echo Harbour

We managed to get out for a short paddle before dinner in Echo Harbour. A lovely last paddle of the trip.
click to enlarge - Echo Hbr
2 km

All paddles


all tracks - click to enlarge

14 km, YTD 260 km