2008.20.113 - Coal Island Again

Today, Louise and I returned for a another paddle around Coal Island, this time bringing Paula who missed our first paddle there.


Do you think that I have enough gear on my deck?


We decided to follow the same route that we took last time, and explore some of the islands before crossing to Coal.


We didn't see a lot in the way of wildlife today, although I did mange to annoy this heron....



...and Paula kept watch on a seal. Or was it the other way around?


The winds were coming up and the tides were ebbing, and we discovered that the currents between the islands were running a little too much for our liking. There were a few whorls and eddies, some standing waves, and even a few small standing breakers. We decided to change our route and stick to the first channel near the mainland and cross the more open water of Swartz Bay to go to Coal Island.


This left us a little more exposed to ferry traffic, but we knew when to expect them and I figured we would pass one as we passed Coal Island. As we approached Coal, we could see one coming the other way. We ducked into the lee of the island to wait for it to pass.


Paula was further out than I was and she let a out a big "Whoop!" as it passed us.


In fact, she paddled out very close to it.


Well, no, not really. The foreshortening of the zoom lens makes it look as if she was closer than she was.


The winds were not subsiding, and as we went around the point of Coal Island and began to head back, we were into some chop. And then I heard the Coast Guard on my radio announcing that a gale warning had just been posted, just at the half-way point of out paddle. This paddle might turn very interesting indeed!


We continued around Coal -- what else could we do? In the end, we did fine. We avoided the nastiest looking currents, and easily handled most of the chop. Only on the last crossing of the paddle when the winds came up again and the waves were a little choppier and coming across us sideways were some of our stomachs starting to feel it. No one felt nauseous or anything, but some of us agreed that a long paddle in such waves could have been a real adventure, especially once the puking started.
But today's paddle had no such issues, and was great fun!



More pictures are here.

2008.19.112 - Double Trouble

While Richard was out paddling around Portland Island, Louise and I were playing host to her nephew Matt and his girlfriend Kaitlyn up here visiting from Salt Lake City. We rented a pair of doubles and took them around the Inner Harbour and the Gorge. They had never kayaked before, and any chance for us to send someone over to the dark side....

We rented these from Ocean River. We had the Delta TwentyT in white on the left, and the Eddyline Whisper in yellow on the right.

Louise headed out with Matt in the Delta. Already you can see that Matt has mastered the fine art of paddling tandem -- let the person in front do all the work.


Kaitlyn and I headed out in the Whisper. It's 18' long, so it's shorter than the Delta and we kept banging our paddles together, but it had a nice roomy cockpit which made getting in and out of it pretty easy. Kaitlyn picked up the paddling technique very quickly. The only drawback was that I took a lot of pictures of the back of Kaitlyn's head.


It was a busy and beautiful day on the water. There were some rowing races on The Gorge, and the Harbour Ferries were doing brisk business as well.


But not all the wildlife was chased away by the boats.


We passed the power rowers and went up The Gorge past the Selkirk Trestle...


...and up to Tillicum Bridge. In fact, the tide conditions were right for us to be able to scoot under it before heading back to the harbour.


On the way back, a pair of herons flew past us. I managed to get a shot of one of them. He looks like he's walking on the tips of his wings, but he's flying. Really! I swear!


There are some winos who sometimes pass the time in the bushes along here. This guy must be their mascot.


We continued into the harbour, past the seaplanes and towards The Legislature. You can see that Louise decided it was her turn to rest and she has changed places with Matt. That's a trick they don't teach you in kayaking courses!


Speaking of seaplanes, we had to make sure that they didn't come in on top of us.


We continued toward Fisherman's Wharf and the houseboats...


...finally ending with a look out at the great big sea.




Trip length: 11.5 km
John's pictures are here.

2008.18.111 - Return to 15 Minute Island...and Beyond

This Sunday we decided to return to Brentwood Bay and paddle into Saanich Inlet, but instead of our usual southerly route past Tod Inlet and towards Squally Reach, we decided to head north towards what we call 15 Minute Island.


It was Alison, Louise, Richard and myself today. Alison arrived a few minutes early and went for a little solo jaunt towards Tod Inlet before the rest of us arrived. As we all headed out later, we tried to pay her a dollar if she would paddle under this sailboat.
She declined.


We paddled past this seagull on a buoy. We were making a lot of comments about how fat the seagull must be to make the buoy tip like that. Then the seagull took off, and we realized that the buoy was actually stuck in that position.


This was Richard's first trip to 15 Minute Island. It's actually part of a nearby First Nations reserve and called Senanus Island, but we call it 15 Minute Island because on a previous paddle south from Coles Bay, Bernie suggested that we paddle to it.
"It looks only 15 minutes away," he kept saying. The problem was that after every 15 minutes of paddling, it still looked 15 minutes away.
The first time we decided to make it a paddle destination, it took us a lot longer than 15 minutes to get to it. Today, it took about 15 minutes. Either we are improving at this kayaking thing, or we had a helluva current pushing us today.


Richard is trying out his latest gadget. It gives him the windspeed and tracks the barometric pressure. It's funny how now I suddenly covet something that I had no idea existed before today.


As we went around the far side of the island, we saw some oystercatchers. Presumably they were catching oysters.



We passed the lighthouse on the northern point of the island and crossed back to the shore, continuing north. We watched a seaplane practise some "touch 'n' gos," and the occasional seal popped up and followed us for a moment or two. We were passed by a large pleasure boat and we all turned to charge the wake. It was a little higher than we expected and we each caught some air. That was fun!


We passed Coles Bay and went as far as the entrance to Patricia Bay. The jets were coming in over Saanich Inlet today, as evidenced by this WestJet 737 on final approach.


We turned around and headed back. Richard is the fastest of the group, and Alison and I decided to see if we could draft off him. I'm not sure how well this worked with three kayaks, but I've tried with two, and when I'm the second kayak it sure feels to me like it's less work paddling.


However, Louise set her sights on some divers. We heard her laughing maniacally. "Finally, we get to run over something! Who's the fricking speedbump now?"


As we approached Brentwood Bay, we watched eagles flying along the shore. Finally one settled into a tree.



And the paddle comes to an end.



Trip length: 15.7 km.
John's pictures are here.

2008.17.110- A Tale of Mystery and Imagination

Louise and I enjoyed a great paddle today. We put in at Albert Head, and saw a bunch of baby seals on a rock, a playful otter that swam by us for a visit, a pair of swans nesting, and a seagull take dead aim for Louise's boat (and miss it by that much, Chief). And this was just the first five minutes.
As we rounded Albert Head, we saw a dead seal up on a rock. (I thought he was dead, Louise thought that it might have farted.)
We saw an eagle snatch up some brunch, possibly a seagull chick or egg by the way the seagulls were chasing it. As we approached Witty's, we saw tons more seals, and they weren't shy about swimming up to our kayaks.
On the way back, we saw another eagle sitting on a rock. It wasn't going to move and we paddled close by him. We also saw the dead seal again who was valiantly succeeding in his struggle to remain dead.
Then as we loaded our boats for the drive home we saw a red-breasted tit-warbler sapsucker... or something like that. I don't know, it looked a crow but with red shoulder patches. (I got arrested once for tit-warbling, but that's another story.)
No doubt you are asking yourself, "That's all well and good, John, but where are your usually fantastic pictures of these wonderful scenes?"
And a good question it is.
And the answer is that somehow John forgot all three of his cameras at home.

















My pictures are not here.

2008.16.109 - Swanlings, Gooselings and Cats - Oh My!

A beautiful Sunday morning dawned. Finally, some sunny spring weather arrived to chase away the winter blues, even if only briefly as the rain is due back tomorrow.
The only drawback was that the winds were forecast to pick up over the morning. It was only Louise and myself today and we had originally planned to go back to the Coal Island area near Sidney, but since it was just us and the wind was due to come up, we opted for Plan B: a trip into Portage Inlet.


We put in and and paddled under the Admirals Road Bridge.



There were lots of geese about today, and many of them spent their time honking.


We paddled around the point into the far arm of the Inlet. We were hoping that we'd be able to paddle up the two creeks that empty into the Inlet, but the was tide was very low and we discovered that we would ground before we entered the creeks.


But before we tested that theory, I looked behind Louise and across the Inlet. Two swans were at the far shoreline. This was a good sign, as the three swans that had called this area home (and we saw on this previous paddle and this one) were electrocuted last year when they landed on some power lines over the Admirals Road Bridge. But another family of swans has apparently taken up residence. I pointed them out to Louise and we slowly crossed towards them. Then I noticed that there was something small with them....


.... six little baby swan chicks! We drifted slowly until our boats quietly beached and watched the family. Those swanlings sure are cute!



They didn't seem to mind us being there at all. They just played in the water, oblivious to our presence.


Finally we tore ourselves away and continued down the Inlet. We finally grounded in the area where we've seen those strange egg sacks the last two autumns, but we didn't see any today. We did discover some shells that appear to be walking -- you can see the trails they are leaving behind them. The area was covered with them.


As we returned, we saw that the swans had hit the water for a swim.


The swans were being watched by this eagle. He eventually made a half-heartened attempt to score a little lunch, but the swans saw him diving and they honked and flapped their wings, and the eagle returned to his tree for watch for easier pickings.


He began watching with interest this family of geese swimming up. With only one gosling in tow, we wondered if the eagle had already introduced himself to this family.


In the end, everyone reached where they were going safely. Interestingly, after the eagle made his attempt on the swans, they regrouped and changed course right for us. We figured that the swans thought that we seemed friendly, and being much bigger than the eagle might dissaude him from another attack.


And finally as we headed back, I totally blew this cat's mind. I spotted him on the rock wall, and turned towards him to get a picture. His eyes widened -- there's a person out there! And...he can see me!


The poor cat didn't know what to do! I imagined the little feline wheels turning in its head! I've been spotted! What should I do? There's only one thing left! I better make myself small!



Trip length: 6.4 km.
John's pictures are here.