Sunday, July 28, 2013

July 28th - Discovery Island (#54)

I helped Vic lead a SISKA energizer paddle around Chatham and Discovery Islands with 21 others. Conditions were good, though there was a fair bit of fog around to begin with. It wasn't too thick, so we did not have any trouble navigating. The fog burned off during our lunch break, and we made it a figure of eight around the islands. I think I may have seen more kayaks on Discovery than at any other time since the ORS Discovery Shuttle was out there with 15 or so people as well as our group of 23. In addition,we saw a couple of smaller groups! This was my 15th paddle out to the islands this year...
click to enlarge
18 km, YTD 694 km

Thursday, July 25, 2013

July 25th - Cadboro Bay (#53)

I took Simon and Jane (who are over here visiting from Scotland and are staying across the street) for a paddle around the bay. Simone paddled my Tahe T, Jane my Delphin and I paddled my F1. The weather was superb - calm and sunny and we had a lovely paddle out to Cadboro Point and then back across the bay to the yacht club via Jemmy Jones. We saw a few paddlers out there including Paula who was also out for a cruise around the bay! A great way to spend a summer morning!
click to enlarge
7km, YTD 676 km

Sunday, July 21, 2013

July 20th - Butchart Fireworks (#52)

I joined the SISKA evening paddle led by Gary to watch the Butchart Gardens Fireworks display. We launched around 8:45 and paddled our way leisurely over to Tod Inlet and then found a nice spot to watch the display from. The fireworks started promptly at 9:45 and were spectacular! The fireworks used were varied and abundant! The echoes in the inlet were also pretty neat! I also ran into another local C-Dory owner - "Upgrade".
Google imagery - click to enlarge
 I have included to screenshots of the gpsvisualizer track plots. The one above is using Google imagery and the one below is using Yahoo imagery. I think I prefer the Yahoo one...
Yahoo imagery - click to enlarge
6 km, YTD 669 km

Saturday, July 20, 2013

July 20th - Discovery (#51)

Dan, Paulo and I went for a morning paddle out around Chatham and Discovery. There was a strong ebb building which helped carry us back from Discovery and a good wind that slowed our progress down the east and south sides of Discovery. It was great to be back out in my usual stomping grounds! The tide was pretty low.
15 km, YTD 663 km

Friday, July 19, 2013

July 18 - South of Lima (#50)

Jenny and I went for a guided trip with Alvaro Ali of Peru Sea Kayaking. Alvaro has real sea kayaks which were a nice change from the boats I had paddled on the previous two trips. We drove from our B&B in Barranco, Lima south to a summer holiday community of Santa Maria were we launched the kayaks. We paddled south along some spectacular cliffs to a neat little islet with a magnificent surge channel. Might have been fun in a plastic single! Afer that we made our way back to a small protected bay for lunch and a rest.
There was a fairly good southerly swell and probably 5-10 knots of wind throughout that made the sea conditions a bit more interesting. Again you can see from the track image how desolate the desert is adjacent to the rich ocean. Alvaro organised a good tour and had good equipment which was a nice change! The same evening we started our long trek back to Canada!
click to enlarge
11 km, YTD 648 km

July 16 - Paracas (#49)

After visiting the amazing Ballestas Islands and the spectacular Paracas National Reserve, we had a free morning, so I rented a sit on top Hobie kayak from the nearby Hilton resort. The kayak was an absolute tub, but at least I was out on the water amongst pelicans, boobies, terns, cormorants and skimmers! There were small fish jumping all over, testifying to the richness of the local waters. I paddled from the resort to the point by the town, pausing for a brief visit with Jenny who was taking it easy that morning in our hotel. I would love to paddle this area more extensively in a real sea kayak... You can see from the track image how dry the surrounding desert is - not a plant to be seen! You can also see from the track how slow the Hobie SOT tub was to paddle!
click to enlarge
6 km, YTD 637 km

July 10 - Lake Titicaca (#48)

Jenny and I paddled out in a double from Puno to the Uros floating Islands in Lake Titicaca. It was pretty cool to be paddling at 3850 m (over 12500 ft!) and gorgeous conditions. We paddled out through the reeds, seeing lots of water birds (and a fair bit of garbage!) and reached the Uros floating Islands village (clearly visible in the track). This community is made up of about 40 islands made from floating totora reeds. It was pretty neat to see, though a bit touristy. After this we joined a regular group to go out to Amantani and Taquile Islands for an overnight.
click to enlarge
5 km, YTD 631 km