2012.17.242 - Esquimalt Shores

It might very well be summer's last gasp, but you wouldn't know it from the sunny weather this week. Today's daytime high temperature was a smidge off the record, but we'll get another crack at it tomorrow. Then we'll cool off to more normal temperature readings over the weekend. That figures.
Louise and I are also enjoying our last gasp of vacation time and today we headed out from Albert Head, one of our favourite launch points. Usually we head southwest along the coast towards to Witty's Lagoon, but today we decided to head northeast towards Esquimalt Harbour.


But before we headed that way, we watched an otter family playing in the water.

The otters finally noticed us and swam away. It was only then that we realized that one of the otters was actually a small baby seal. It nervously checked out Louise's boat before sliding beneath the surface and swimming away.

A couple of seals watched us from shore.


We discovered what the otters were fishing for. No, not the jellyfish, although that was pretty cool, but the little fish. The little cove was swarming with them. No wonder the otters were out!


The otters climbed the rocks headed into the brush. We think there were five of them in all.


From there, we began our paddle towards Esquimalt in earnest. Mind you, we had to paddle past a few seals first.



The shoreline is mostly a long pebbly beach. Eventually the shoreline behind the beach gives way to Esquimalt Lagoon, and across the lagoon is world-famous Hatley Castle, which you may recognize as Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in the X-Men films.


At the Fort Rodd Hill lighthouse, we were planning to turn into Esquimalt Harbour....

...but as I looked across the entrance, I realized that we have never paddled along the Esquimalt shore on the other side. So instead, we crossed the harbour mouth...

...and puttered around some of the small islands on the other side. The water was crystal clear and we watched a seal swim around under our boats.

We get to check another couple of kilometers of the world's slowest circumnavigation of Vancouver Island.

As we headed back....

...the currents turned right on time. The gentle flood that pushed us out became a gentle ebb that guided us home with some gentle swells that we had fun riding, which was a welcome distraction from the man who was sitting on a log in a secluded area of the beach working on his tan. His "all over" tan.

We pulled in back at Albert Head and looked back and saw Mount Baker rising over the city. Wow.


Trip Length: 13.65
YTD: 139.75 km
More pictures are here.

2010.26.195 - Not Quite What We Planned

Although the sun is still shining and the days are still warm, the occasional cool autumn breeze has made its way to these shores. We weren't so sure about the wind forecast for our paddle, but as we put in it was clear that the winds were not going to be much of a factor. Scattered clouds rolled in front of the warm sun as Alison, Louise and I headed out to the point of Albert Head.


Here, we found seals. Lots of seals.



Frankly, the point was crawling with them. We considered using "The Shortcut," a small channel that cuts the end off of Albert Head and shaves a couple of minutes off the trip around the point, but as I poked my nose in to determine if the tide was high enough for it to be navigable, I disturbed about a dozen seals who quickly lurched off the rocks and into water. We decided that we'd clearly overstayed our welcome here in seal country and decided not to go around the point. Further, we discovered that Alison had never paddled in the opposite direction from Albert Head to Esquimalt Lagoon, so we decided to alter our plan and paddle the other way.


After a nice paddle along the shore, we tried to enter the lagoon itself, but the entrance was too shallow and the current too quick. Although facing forward, Alison is actually going backwards in this picture.


We spent a few minutes drifting around the lagoon entrance where I snapped a couple of pictures (well, 40 actually) of this heron fishing in the surf before we headed back.




Trip Length: 13.30 km
YTD: 207.63 km
More pictures are here.

2009.11.142 - Secrets Revealed

On this second day of the long Victoria Day weekend, Louise, Paula and I made our way to our put in at Esquimalt Lagoon. From there, we were going to paddle into Esquimalt Harbour. Louise and I were in our Deltas, while Paula was going commando in her Advanced Elements Expedition. Actually, we don't know for sure that Paula was going commando -- the subject of underwear (or lack thereof) never came up.


What did come up were a lot of two-foot swells as we made our way around the point and into the harbour. It was a gloriously sunny day with little wind, but an ebbing tide, and the swells made for a fun start to the paddle.


As we made our way into the harbour, the swells flattened out. (Please ignore the super-secret navy stuff in the background. We didn't see it and neither do you.)


Unfortunately, the swells caused some upset stomachs, so we pulled in a small cove for a few minutes in the hopes that the settled water would settle stomachs.



We didn't see much in the way of wildlife today. We once saw a large deer swimming here, but today only a pair of seals were in the water.


We noodled around the rocks for a little while...

...then headed back and hit the swells again. This time, they were a little flatter and not as enthusiastic. (Again, please ignore all the secret stuff in the background.)


We paddled past the Fisgard Lighthouse at Fort Rodd Hill.



After having a little more fun in the swells, we put in, and hauled our gear back to the van. But as I opened the back door, a surprise awaited me -- a PFD was still in the van. My jaw dropped, and I said to Louise, "Who's PFD is that?"
"It's mine," she answered. "I was about to put it on when we were getting ready, but Paula needed some help for a moment and I forgot about it. I didn't even realize that I had forgotten it until we were heading back. Something felt wrong the whole trip, and it was just a few minutes ago that I finally realized what it was."
I was surprised that I hadn't noticed. We briefed Paula as she came up, and then she said, "Let me tell you a secret. You know the time we were here and saw the swimming deer? Check the pictures. I forgot my PFD that day, too."
Maybe this will get us a little more serious about checklists. Louise is always mentioning that she's forgotten something, although never anything vital until today.

Thankfully, all's well that ends well.

My pictures are here.
Trip length: 6.49 km
YTD: 74.00 km

2008.23.116 - Harbour Patrol

Today, Louise, Paula and I headed out to Esquimalt Lagoon to paddle under a glorious sunny summer sky. Our plan was to paddle around the Fort Rodd Hill lighthouse and into Esquimalt Harbour. There was an offshore breeze that was kicking up a little chop and a flood tide was running, so the Harbour water wasn't as calm as one might expect, but nothing we couldn't handle. Paula was in her inflatable Firefly....


...while Louise headed out to sea in her Delta.


We rounded the lighthouse and into the harbour.


We played in the rocks a bit...


...but Louise was trying to find a beach that she used to walk to. She found it right beside the site of the old Victoria Plywood mill. My dad worked here for 25 years, but now it's a subdivision and shopping mall. This is all that's left -- the steel rails where they brought in logs out of the log boom.


Rental space is at such a premium in Victoria that people are now living in floating barrels.


We puttered around the harbour and then headed back out towards the ocean. This navy boat drew alongside us to remind us that we should stay 100m away from naval facilities on the shoreline.


He came up between us and the shore, and as he pulled away he kicked up a wake. We had to turn towards shore to ride it out. (Please ignore the secret military facilities on the shore in this photo. You did not see them. Neither did we. We were never there.)


As we headed back, the Olympic Mountains made a great backdrop for the lighthouse.


We entered into the Lagoon....


...which turned out to be Heron heaven! I took about 50 pictures of them.





Here's a situation they don't teach you in kayak courses.... how to avoid a dog.



Trip Length: 8.4 km
More photos are here.