2009.19.150 - 2009 MEC Victoria Paddlefest

Today, MEC hosted their third annual Paddlefest Victoria at Gyro Park on Cadboro Bay. Paddlers came from far and wide to take on-water instruction, attend dry-land seminars, or just paddle some boats.


The sun shone brightly, but the breeze was blowing as well, possibly making some of the newbies taking lessons a little wary of small but choppy waves it was kicking up.


The first thing that caught our attention were these beautiful hand-crafted paddles by Select Paddles in Duncan, BC. They make Greenland-style paddles, as well as canoe paddles. They look almost too gorgeous to use.


We hung out at the Delta Kayaks tent for a while...

..before checking out the rest of the beach. There were kayaks of all shape and description...




...but we were here to paddle boats. So naturally Bernie had to be different and he headed out in a boat that you don't paddle: the Hobie. He liked it a lot, but not perhaps as much as his neighbour Curtis who took it out at least three times and seemed to be headed for the horizon on more than one occasion.


I tried the Nimbus Telkwa and liked this boat a lot. It tracked well, and turned fairly easily for a boat of its size. At 18'3", it's just slightly shorter than my Delta Eighteen5. Our friend Richard paddles a Telkwa HV and likes it, although he sometimes complains that it drives like a tank. I had no problems turning this one -- let's face it, it ain't gonna be nimble, but I found it easy to maneuver.


Paula tried the Hobie, but didn't do as well as Bernie. She found that she couldn't get the sail unfurled, and found it unwieldy to turn.


Next I took out the Boréal Design Epsilon C300. You know how when you get into some kayaks and they immediately say to you, "This isn't going to work"? This was the total opposite. This kayak said "Welcome. Get comfy and let's have some fun." I've never tried a Boréal before, and I was impressed. It was fun, and handled today's small chop effortlessly. Bernie took it out after me and he also enjoyed it.


Bernie also tried a paddle board for the first time. He started by paddling for a bit on his knees, then he stood up and paddled. He did not fall in. He sort of half-climbed off, half-jumped off once, but he did not fall in. He really wanted me to make that clear.


Paula tried a Valley Avocet LV and see just loved it. She had a hoot! Not that she was looking, but she may have found her next kayak. Negotiations with her spousal unit are underway. We'll keep you advised.


See you next year!


My pictures are here.

2009.18.149 - Rain Delay

Louise, Paula and I didn't have a lot of time today so we planned for only a quick kayak paddle around Cadboro Bay. But when we got there, we found out that someone had stolen the ocean.


But nature was doing its best to refill it as a sudden downpour swamped us. We took shelter in the back of the van as the heavy raindrops pinged off the roof.


It was over fairly quickly and we continued to unload, but my eyes caught the kayak rack on the truck next to us. It's a home-made design, built from old roller blades and door hinges amongst other stuff.


We headed out, but the showers continued intermittently as made our along the south side of Ten Mile Point.


I paid my respects to the Buddha, and as I went around the next point I surprised a mother otter and her babies.

The mother was clearly worried as she grabbed the babies in her mouth and carried them up the rock. The babies seemed curious about me and they kept coming down the rock towards the water, while she kept grabbing them and yanking them back, almost tossing them up the rock. I apologized for disturbing their morning and quickly paddled away.


Further up the point, we passed some geese...

...saw an eagle...

...and a heron.


Apart from the rain, we had great conditions as we kayaked to Jemmy Jones Island off the end of point. The water was flat, and there was no breeze to speak of, even though forecasts had called for one. However, the clouds were still threatening, and teased us by allowing occasional blue patches to burst through even though dark rain clouds remained above us....

...until we finally put in. Then the sun came out. Of course.




Trip length: 5.39 km
YTD: 140.14
The Google Earth kmz is here.
My pictures are here.

2009.17.148 - Summer Breeze

I arrived at the Cadboro Bay parking lot to see a lot of kayaks slowly being unloaded. And even though it was warm and sunny, it was unexpectedly breezy. The wind was forecast to come up in the afternoon, but it had obviously come in earlier than expected. Paula and Tracy arrived, also caught a little surprised by the breeze.


Louise and Bernie didn't join us today; Louise has caught a summer cold, and Bernie was sleeping off a three day hike on the Juan de Fuca Trail.

We launched and headed out. We'd been hoping for a quick crossing out to Chatham Island, but the closer we got to open water, the less that option seemed likely. The wind and waves were picking up, and so there's not a lot of pictures today, too much paddling instead!


We took shelter for a moment in the channel between Ten Mile Point and Flower Island. There were breakers in the channel. Okay, so the breakers were only a foot high, but you just don't get breakers in that channel! We decided to continue along the shore but then Paula's inner ear went wonky, so we thought we'd better head back to the beach. As we approached our take-out, Paula's ear improved, and we saw the southern shore of the bay was actually quite calm and protected from the wind, so instead of putting in, we continued around the bay towards the marina where we found a couple of herons looking for breakfast.



We continued through the rocks...

...where we found this gentleman taking his new Capella 163 for its inaugural paddle.


Eventually we headed in, passing some others who would appreciate the breeze a little more than us.




Trip length: 8.18 km
YTD: 134.75
My pictures are here.

2009.16.147 - A Quickie on Telegraph Bay

It's another beautiful day in paradise here on The We(s)t Coast, and there's no better way to spend part of the weekend than kayaking on the calm waters of Telegraph Bay. Louise, Paula and I planned for an early morning launch and we were pleasantly surprised when Tracy made another unexpected appearance to kayak with us.
We weren't the only ones out early this morning. Three families of geese were also on the beach. I haven't seen as many goslings before as I have this year. We're practically being overrun with them. Well, no, not really. But last year I think I saw one gosling while this year I've given up counting. Maybe I'm just going to all the good spots this year.

The geese launched at the same time we did.


I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked today as I was distracted by a wonky GPS that had suddenly decided that there were no satellites in the sky for it to lock on to. According to it, some sort of giant space disaster involving a massive EM pulse which knocked out all the world's satellites must have occurred. But I think I would have read something in the papers about a giant space disaster.
Anyway, we headed up the coast...

..towards the cave.

Tracy had never seen the cave before.


As we headed back, this gull watched us warily.


We passed the geese one last time, then the paddle was over. Now the weekend is over, and it's back to reality. Sigh.


Trip length: 8.68 km
YTD: 126.57
My pictures are here.

2009.15.146 - Full Moon Fever

Finally our mini-heatwave has broken. The last three days have seen record-setting daily highs here on the We(s)t Coast, with yesterday topping out at 30.9C. We didn't reach the all-time high of 33C that we hit about a year ago, but it was still bloody hot for these parts.
Temps will cool to a more seasonal 20C over the weekend and we might even get some rain in a few days. But tonight was still pleasant and balmy and Richard suggested an evening kayak in The Gorge, and we jumped at the idea.


The conditions were perfect. With nary a ripple on the water, Louise, Richard and I put in.


Paula arrived a bit late in commando mode, so while she pumped up her Advanced Elements Expedition, the rest of us checked out the rapids under the Tillicum Bridge.


The tide had just turned so there were no rapids this time. But the current under the bridge was picking up, and Richard played in it for a few minutes.


We turned around to head back to pick up Paula and saw that we were heading into a glorious sunset.


Louise and Richard met Paula at the shore, but I followed a mama duck and her babies. They crossed my path in the golden glow of the last rays of the setting sun.


At the risk of repeating myself, the sunset was gorgeous....


...and as the sun went down in west...

...the full moon rose in the east.


Soon, darkness replaced the blue sky...

...but even in the dark, nature couldn't hide from us! We found a heron that was fishing for a late night snack....

...and a pair swans and their chicks.


Eventually, we headed back, and this great paddle came to an end.




Trip length: 9.93 km
YTD: 117.89 km
More pictures are here.
The Google Earth kmz is here.