No kidding it was an airshow demonstration that we will never forget as it's not often that you get front row seats right under the show center flight line.
Part of Robyn's planning for this vacation was to take in the Snowbirds demonstration by kayak and paddling to the floating Dinghy Dock Pub for dinner which is located just off Protection Island. With the Nanaimo Harbour closure in effect after 5:00 pm, we needed to make sure we were across to Protection Island with lots of time to spare. Launching out of the Living Forest Campground at 3:00 pm it allowed us a nice relaxed paddle to the pub. Even almost 3 hours prior to the show time the Harbour Patrol and RCMP were busy setting up the center-line markers that the Snowbirds would use to orientate themselves much like a runway would be for them.
The great thing about the Dinghy Dock Pub other than the great food is that they cater to kayaks and have a special dock that we can use. This way we can stay well away from some of the larger sailboats, yachts that frequent the bar too.
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| Our rides stowed away on the dock as we headed into the pub for dinner |
Arriving at the pub just after 4:00 pm it wasn't very busy and we got choice seating outside along the front patio rail. As it got closer to show time the pub gradually filled up as harbour ferries brought boat load after boat load over to watch the show.
Right on schedule the Snowbirds arrived at show center and for the next 1/2 hour it was amazing to watch them from such a close proximity to the center line.
The show ended at around 6:30 pm and we headed to the kayaks to get ready for the paddle back to the campground. We were surprised to see that we were the only ones at the pub who came by kayak and had the whole dock to ourselves. The paddle through the log booms was real lazy like arriving back at the beach near 8:00 pm. After watching such an amazing demonstration I think we had big ear to ear smiles all the way back.
Just as a note, below is our track from yesterday which is created using GPS Visualizer and selecting a Google Hybrid map. When the Google image was taken the log booms were in a different location so we didn't actually paddle over them like the track might suggest.
2013 Paddle #49 Snowbirds
Distance: 5.86 nm ( 10.85 km)
YTD: 268.43 nm (497.12 km)
Kayaking over the log booms must be an extra special sea kayaking course! lol!
ReplyDeleteIt's called portaging Marie LOL
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