2012.10.235 - Quadra Island

Summer.
We've heard of this mythical season, seen the occasional glimpse, the teasing hint of it, but it remains elusive. For instance, as Louise and I drove up the east coast of Vancouver Island for quick getaway last Tuesday to Quadra Island, we encountered cloud, rain and a little sunshine. Often all three at once.
Quadra Island is a short ferry ride from Campbell River. (And I do mean short, only about ten minutes. I've never taken a ferry ride this brief. It took longer to load the ferry than to make the crossing. But I digress.) On arrival in Campbell River...

...we could see band upon band of dark clouds passing by overhead, dumping their load of moisture as they passed. Soon the venerable Powell River Queen arrived and we departed, as a lone seal swam by the ferry to make sure all was ship-shape.

Arriving a few minutes later at Quathiaski Cove on Quadra Island, we headed east across the narrow lower portion of the island to the small village of Heriot Bay, where we did a bit of shopping at Works of H'Art, before heading to the southern tip at Cape Mudge, and our home for the next couple of days, The Tsa-Kwa-Luten Lodge.

Owned and operated by the We Wai Kai First Nation and situated on their ancestral land, the Lodge is located in a stunningly beautiful part on the world. We have a stunning view out over Discovery Passage, with the ocean at our feet, tall trees swaying, and snow-capped mountains in the distance. Well, I imagine we do -- it's still all socked in and raining and we can't see a darn thing.


The lobby of the Lodge is gorgeous and decorated with wonderful First Nations art.


And you've got to love a place that has deer wandering through the parking lot...


The next morning we returned to Heriot Bay and found the Quadra Island Kayaks shop, known locally as the Yak Shack, where we signed up for a six hour tour.

The rain from the day before had ended, and the clouds were slowly burning away with sunny skies expected in the afternoon.

We hoped down to the docks, met our guide Samara from New Zealand, and our fellow paddlers on our tour, George and Lindy from Toronto. With conditions looking to improve, we put away our paddling jackets and hoped for sun. We prepped our kayaks on the dock...

...while a nearby heron went about his business.


And we're off! Louise and I both ended up in Current Design Storms.

We launched in Drew Harbour and paddled to the point of nearby Rebecca Spit, a lovely slender finger of land sticking out into Sutil Channel. From there, a 2km crossing through calm conditions...

...brought us to the Breton Islands, where we found some seals lounging away the morning on a small islet.



From there, we crossed to No Name Island (so named because I can't find a name for it on any map). Although we'd seen a few earlier, here we started seeing a lot of eagles. There were at least a half dozen or so flying around, as well as a couple of turkey vultures. Most of them weren't too interested in posing, but this one sat down for a few moments.


Passing around No Name Island, we pulled into Moulds Bay for lunch. Samara brought out a yummy feast prepared back at the Yak Shack. It was so good that I was distracted and forgot to take a picture of it, but you can see a portion of it in this portrait of a satisfied customer.


Sadly, the sun was not winning its battle against the clouds, and by the time we were ready to shove off again, a breeze had come up and skies looked a little more threatening than when we left. The paddling jackets came out of hiding as we suited up.

We crossed the mouth of Open Bay and we were into some chop. The breeze came up a little more on the water, and Louise was a little leery, but she handled it perfectly, as did some of the others in the group who had very limited kayaking experience.


Another crossing, this time across Hyacinthe Bay, and we were out of the chop and cruising down the coast of Quadra again.


The eagle pointed the way home for us.


We had a great paddle with George and Lindy and Samara was a terrific guide. Everyone we met on Quadra Island seemed like friendly, down to earth, just plain good folk, and this certainly is true of the folks at Quadra Island Kayak. Definitely check them out if kayaking on Quadra Island is in your future.
Of course, after six hours on the water, food was in our future, so we drove the short distance to Rebecca Spit and wolfed down cheeseburgers at The Raving Raven. Yum!


We headed back to the Lodge, and finally the clouds parted, and the view finally appeared. No, it was not still raining and I was not holding up a brochure in front the camera. It really is this beautiful...

....and you never know what you're going to see out your window. Maybe something big...

...like the Silversea Silver Shadow, or something small...

...like a robin resting on your neighbour's balcony.

This morning, sadly our last here, we awoke to picture postcard perfection. Sunlight on the mountain snows...

...an eagle flying past our window...

...and a deer, just below our window.

Nature calls for them too, I guess.

Clearly, someone had a good time!


Trip Length: 13.29 km
YTD: 77.15 km
More pictures are here.

2012.09.234 - Canada Day Paddle

Yes, we're 145 years young today, and what better way is their to celebrate than our annual Canada Day paddle down The Gorge?
Louise and I were joined by Robyn and Mark (Gecko Paddler). Normally, they would park at our launching point at the Victoria Canoe and Kayak Club, but since Gorge Road is closed today for the annual Gorge Road Canada Day Picnic, they drove to our house and all four of us rolled our kayaks down the hill to the put-in at the Kayak Club.


Of course, four of us launching at the same time created a bit of a traffic jam on this partly cloudy day.

Mark tried out a new idea of using his feet as pontoons.


It's only fitting that we spotted some Canada Geese on Canada Day.


We headed down The Gorge, passing by the vendor tents set up along the Gorge walkway.


Scooting under the Craigflower Bridge...

...my companions stopped to pose for a moment.


Entering Portage Inlet, we were hoping to see the local swans and find out if they had any babies this year, but they weren't around. They weren't in their nest and we didn't spot them along the shoreline. We did see something vaguely swan-shaped across the Inlet, but it didn't seem to be moving so we weren't sure what it was. We'd get to that mysterious object eventually, and even though the swans weren't around, the herons more than made up for them.


We paddled past purple martin bird houses. Purple martins have specific nesting needs and human encroachment has almost wiped them out, but thanks to bird houses like these, the martins are coming back. However, whatever was camped in this martin nest, it was not a purple martin.


We finally discovered what we thought from a distance was a swan. Not a swan, but it was a large duck, so you can understand our confusion.


Mark ended up stuck on a rock. I told Mark not to feel so bad because I had ended up stuck on rocks twice already today. I just had the good fortune not to do when I was surrounded by people with cameras.


We paddled back to our put-in and Mark and I decided to check the current under Tillicum Bridge. As we coasted in the current towards the bridge, another heron was fishing.




After the paddle, the four of us sampled the sights and sounds of The Gorge Road Picnic, starting with the classic cars.


My first car was a 1971 Plymouth Duster. It did not look like this one.


We took in music, dancing, and, of course, mini-doughnuts...



...along with a few thousand neighbours.
Happy Canada Day, eh?

Trip Length: 9.85 km
YTD: 63.86 km
More pictures are here.

2012.08.233 - 2012 MEC Paddlefest Victoria

When Louise moved up from her Delta Fourteen to the Seventeen a couple of years ago, she did it with some trepidation. Although she didn’t mind the Seventeen, she much preferred the Sixteen; however the Sixteen was not yet in production and she had only paddled in the prototype. The Seventeen has a hard chine and Louise preferred the Sixteen’s rounder hull shape. However, there was no timeframe as to when the Sixteen would be available and in spite of her slight misgivings, she went with the Seventeen.
In hindsight, she should have waited. She’s never been entirely comfortable in that boat and therefore not entirely comfortable on the water. And after trying all sorts of tricks like padding out the boat, using weights to change the boat's balance, and self-hypnosis (okay, I made that one up), she’s decided it’s time for a different approach: buy a boat she likes better.
That task begins in earnest today, as we headed to the 2012 MEC Paddlefest Victoria to, among other things, test drive some boats.
Of course, much like last year's Paddlefest, the weather wasn't the best. We've been calling it June-uary, the coldest and wettest June in half a century in these parts. Why should the last day of the month be an exception? Heavy drizzle greeted the start of the day this morning, but even though the rain had stopped by the time Louise and I arrived at Willows Beach, we were greeted by something unexpected: fog.


The weather was cloudy and and wet at last year's Paddlefest, but one could argue the fog this year made it even worse. But fog does burn off, sometimes anyway. Would it burn off today?
We soon bumped into Mark and Robyn (of the great Gecko Paddler blog) and together we quickly checked out what was what on the beach before Louise and I changed into our paddling togs.


The first boat Louise tried was a Stellar S16. Brian Henry from Ocean River Sports discussed the boat with her.

These are insanely light boats, but seemed very sturdy and well made. Carrying it to the water it felt as light as a feather. A large 16 kilo feather made of kevlar and fibreglass. You know what I mean. Louise liked the boat, but it didn't make her want to take it home.

Next up, Louise tried a composite Necky Eliza.

Louise has had some experience in an Eliza, having paddled Paula's plastic one a few times, and using a plastic one on our recent paddle on Salt Spring Island. However, the composite model is narrower and slightly shorter and has a sharper rocker than the plastic version, and some paddlers have argued that the differences in the ride between the two are enough that the two models should have two different names. Louise feels the same way and actually likes the ride of the plastic version more.
In between demos, we spotted Mike Jackson heading out.


Then Louise got her chance to paddle the Delta Sixteen.

Clearly, there is no question that she loves this boat. Look at that grin. She was out there edging and leaning, things she was reluctant to try in the other boats she tried today. It's pretty obvious to us that this is the boat she should have bought, and it's the boat she should buy now.

While we discussed her options, Ocean River's Discovery Island Tour boat arrived on shore.

Yes, it's so cool that even stand-up paddle-boarders bow in tribute to it.
Actually, it's pretty cool set-up, and certainly a quick way to get kayaks out to a destination.


I took a Necky Looksha out for a little cruise.


By this time, Paula had joined us on the beach and she and Louise each took out a Sterling kayak.

These are beautiful and well-made boats. Both Louise and Paula had minor quibbles with the hip pads in the seats, but since these kayaks are all custom made for the buyer, those issues could be easily worked out upon purchase. We all thought these were great boats.

As we were leaving, we bumped into Mark and Robyn again, and found Mark trying out a P&H Delphin.

"I'm looking for a rock boat," he said. Why do I have a feeling they're going to be looking for garage space soon as well?



Trip Length: 1.83 km
YTD: 54.01 km
More pictures are here.

2012.07.232 - Solo Shot

Today I got a chance to do something that I haven't done very much of, and that's go for a solo paddle. Despite it being one of the nicest paddling days so far this year, Louise had booked the morning off to attend a Japanese Tea ceremony with Paula, leaving me to my own devices.
So the question became "where to to paddle?" Although fairly adequate at self-rescues, the only roll I can make with any reasonable amount of certainty is this one:

So a venture too far off-shore might be unwise, especially since as a result of last night's so-called "super-moon" the currents were running today in many of my favourite paddle places.
So I turned to the trusty old home port of The Gorge for a quick trip out to see if I could spot any baby geese or swans out yet.

Despite it looking deceptively calm, I was quickly reminded of the pull of the ebbing current as soon as I left shore as I was immediately pulled along (running right to left in the photo). Although it's many kilometres from the open ocean, it's still a salt-water tide affected inlet. The current was easily handled, but you can see from the GPS track at the bottom of this post that I was doing about 4 to 5 klicks an hour faster coming back with the current than I was heading out against it.

First I paid my respects to The Iron Man...

...then watched a heron enjoying some early morning fishing.



A little further up, a solitary swan was also enjoying an early paddle.


The water was crystal clear in some spots along The Gorge, a far cry from what it was like 50 years ago. Various groups and clubs have worked tirelessly through the years to return The Gorge to its past splendour and they've done a remarkable job, although every now and then you see that they haven't removed all the crap from these waters.

Two traffic pylons that are 150 metres from shore. Someone deliberately dumped them out here.

And the northern bank is not immune to indiscriminate acts of dumbassery, either. As a teenager I can remember walking along this shore and discovering that some yahoo had dumped all the solid cement garbage cans that were along the path in to the water.

And many decades later, they still remain, popping up for air at low tide.

Was I successful in my quest to see swan and/or geese babies? No. The local swans were still nesting by the looks of it...

...but one has to imagine that there will be swanlings hatching soon.
As for the geese...

...they were hanging out with a gold mermaid and a plastic heron. And I've got no idea what to make of that.

Trip Length: 7.54 km
YTD: 52.18 km
More pictures are here.