2006.35.50 - Cadboro Bay to Willows Beach: There and Back Again

With our ducks all in a row, we head out.


Soon after launch, we are overflown by some geese. We expect that later we will be overflown by some snowbirds.


The plan is to put in at Cadboro Bay (A). From there we'll head out out along the south side of 10 Mile Point to Flower Island (B). Here we'll check the currents and see what's what. Eventually, we'll head south towards Willows Beach.


We start out with a large group: Alan, Louise, Bernie...
...Lenora, Paula and Dennis. And that's me taking the picture.


Ahead is Flower Island...

...where we stopped to check the lay of the land. Or the wave of the water, I guess.


We decided to head out to Jemmy Jones Island.

From Jemmy Jones Island (C), Bernie was hoping to continue straight out to the Chain Islands but the currents were fast and unpredictable today and many of us felt like we were getting in a little over our heads. And if you're getting in over your head in a kayak, that probably means that you're underwater. Never a good thing in a kayak.


So we regrouped....

...and headed back to shore to head south to Willows Beach.


Beautiful weather, not a cloud in the sky. Perfect bird-watching weather. I'm sure we'll see some.



We followed the shore around Cattle Point and put in at Willows Beach (D).


We didn't see any cows at Cattle Point, but we did see a couple of otters. They "otter" have named it Otter Point.


We put in on the beach. Dennis and Lenora returned to Cadboro Bay, and Alan had a brief stop on the beach, then he too returned to Cadboro Bay.


Mmmmm... food!


The beach is totally packed. Thousands of people. You'd think that there's gonna be some sort of airshow by the world-famous Snowbirds precision aerobatic team or something.


Bernie's figured out a perfect way to watch the Snowbirds.

No, wait. He's looking at this cool boat with "pedal-paddles."


Behind the tree on the right is Mary Tod Island. That's were we plan to put in and watch the show.


I've never seen Willows Beach this crowded... officials estimated that 30,000 people were on the shore. It's funny how police and officials always over-estimate crowds at conventional events like this, but usually under-estimate crowds at anti-war rallies and anti-globization marches. But I digress.


Here the Victoria Police chopper tries to get some boats out of the safety zone. Victoria has a police chopper? Who knew?

Here the Victoria Police Boat patrols the safety zone. Victoria has a police boat? Who knew?


We paddled out to Mary Tod Island (E). The red line turned out to be the Snowbirds' two solo pilots' flight path. They were flying right over our heads.


Here they come...








Back in the water for the paddle back to Cadboro Bay.


We're starting to understand all these nautical symbols. These one means "Warning: Red Triangles Ahead."


There were plenty of people enjoying a great day on the water, and in the sky. Another fun paddle is done.


My pictures are here.

2006.34.49 - Saanich Inlet Crossing

If we're in our kayaks, it must be Sunday! Our first cloudy day in a number of weeks greets us as we put in. We didn't have a specific plan, as we weren't sure about the weather. It had rained heavily overnight and the rain was still threatening. But there were some breaks in the clouds.


Bernie's paddle does not get off to a promising start as he got into his boat backwards.


We put in at the Brentwood Bay Ferry Terminal (point A). We decided to try our first crossing of Saanich Inlet to Bamberton, an old cement plant on the shore (north of point B). We had also talked about doing a day trip down Finlayson Arm one day, so we decided to head south down the Arm after we had crossed to see what this area was like.


And away we go! Bernie starts by playing in the ferry's wake.


He also wanted to make sure we were going the right way. (Note that he's still backwards in his kayak. Ha, just kidding! Gotcha!)


Louise sets the pace...

... and Paula keeps up.


Now we're out in the Saanich Inlet proper. Ahead of us is the cement plant. We knew that winds were going to be rising over the course of the day and we figured that we might be somewhat sheltered from them by the hills around the Inlet. That theory didn't work out though, as the winds came up and grew stronger during our crossing.


We stuck together and paddled on.


It took us about 30-35 minutes to get across the Inlet. We came in a little south of the cement works (point B).


We went south along the coast. The winds continued rising and it was a battle.


Louise doesn't seem to have noticed the seal to her right.


We saw a few other seal moms with their pups in this spot, but the water was rough and the pictures didn't turn out very well, alas. Below are a moms and her pup, one near the center and another on the left edge.


Mind you, the pictures of the eagles fared a little better. There's two in the tree ahead of Paula.



After taking the last picture of the eagle, he flew off. I had turned my kayak around to get the shot and was facing backwards to our direction of travel. I realized that I was surrounded by seals. They were popping up all over the place. I slowly started to paddle backwards and I discovered they were following me. I kept paddling backwards and they kept popping up quickly then ducking beneath the waves. There must have been at least a dozen of them. It was like "Whack-a-mole" except that they were seals and I didn't have a mallet. Eventually, they stopped following and I turned around and caught up to the group at point C, when we decided that the winds and the waves were getting a little much. We had to cross the Inlet at some point to return home...

...so we turned and began our crossing.


It looks rough, and, well, it was. But with the wind and the waves at our back now, the paddling was pretty easy. But we still has to careful that we kept in line with waves so that they wouldn't broadside us.


How windy is it? Check out the flag behind Louise.


We rounded point D back into Brentwood Bay, much less open than Saanich Inlet, and the waves and wind died right down. The rest of the paddle was calm and peaceful.


We went down into Tod Inlet...

...and put in at point E...

...for food! Paula and Bernie brought along some wrap fixings. It sure hit the spot.


After a little break, we continued down Tod Inlet...

...until we reached the end (point F).


As we came back, Bernie discovered a cave-like thing. Maybe it's a cave.


Finally, another great paddle comes to end.


My pictures are here.