Orca Harassment?

On the west coast of  Canada we have laws that simply state that orca are not to be chased or harassed in any way. The video below was taken couple of hundred meters off the coast of Auckland's North Shore. What do you think? Would you consider the actions of the SUP to be harassment?

Here in Canada the Canada the Be Whale Wise - Marine Wildlife Guidelines for Boaters, Paddlers and Viewers regulations require a minimum separation distance of 100 meters by watercraft and this applies to human powered craft like kayaks and SUP's. Sure there may be times when the orca approach a watercraft but at no time is the operator to navigate closer than the regulations allow.

Image by Government of Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Funny .... New Zealand has similar rules and regulations noted by the  Department of Conservation. In fact their minimum closure distance is 150 meters for aircraft(?) but for boaters "common sense rules and regulations exist so as disturbance and danger are minimized."    So I ask you again .... Would you consider the actions of the SUP in the video to be harassment? 

Oil And Water. What Would Happen Here?

I have to admit that when it happened 25 years ago I was totally oblivious to devastation that the grounding of the Exxon Valdez had on the environment in Alaska. I was young(er), big business seemed to be the rulers of all things including irreplaceable habitats. Sure there were outspoken opponents to oil tankers but then again there had never been an oil spill like the Exxon Valdez before so close to home. It could happen again in our back yard. Can you imagine the irreparable damage if this was to happen on the BC Coast?

Check out the recent article by James Gerken of The Huffington Post for a stark reality of what we could expect if another tanker spill occurred.   

Image by John Gaps III/AP

Gearing Up With Ocean River Sports

You know that spring is just around the corner when Brian Henry's Ocean River Sports Gear Up Sale is on. For over 30 years this popular event has been a great opportunity for paddlers and outdoor enthusiasts to take advantage of discounted pricing on their equipment needs for the spring and summer.

One of our favorite places to visit while downtown. Great staff make it fun to just stop by and say Hi.

The rain as predicted started to fall just as I arrived to get in line with all of the other "keeners" looking to score a bargain. Did I need anything to add to our personal "Gearhead" inventory? Heck no, but ya just never know when one might need another kayak to add to the fleet at home. 

Normally the doors to the sale open up right at 10:00am but Brian, always thinking about the customer decided to open the doors early to get the shoppers out of the elements. When was the last time you experienced something like this? 

Like always, there was lots of regular staff in red t-shirts on hand to assist the shoppers as well as a number of volunteers helping out in non retail areas. There were some great deals on products from Kokatat, Icebreaker Merino, Werner Paddles, NRS, North Water and Astral to name a few.

Even ensuring that crossing a sometimes busy Store Street to the parking lot was looked after with a crossing guard. Every year the parking lot transforms into the showroom for kayaks, surf skis, stand up paddle-boards, canoes and any products that need larger display areas. 

Just about every human powered watercraft was on display just across the street.

This year some of the manufacturers represented were Stellar Kayaks, Kayak (Boréal Design) Distribution, Delta Kayaks, Sterling Kayaks, Necky Kayaks, Current Designs Hobie Kayaks and Starboard SUP's. Whether you are a seasoned paddler or just wanting to get into the pastime, there was a good assortment of fiberglass / Kevlar, thermoform and rotomold products to check out. 

Those who know me including Robyn who was out of town, probably want to know what I bought right? Well let me tell you this ...... I think it might be a first for me to have walked out of Ocean River Sports without buying anything. Oh yeah, I was tempted. Besides .... the sale continues tomorrow and Robyn might want to go back with me. ;-)

Beached .......

Yeah .... we've been quiet the past couple of months in terms of kayaking. Not only has the south coast been pounded by winter storms, we even got some snow this past weekend here in balmy Victoria, BC. Just as we were getting all geared up for a busy couple months of playtime and completing our Paddle Canada Level 2 certification our kayaks sorta got yanked from beneath our butts. At least for the next little while.

Some of you might have known that I was experiencing a condition called Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib) for the past several months. Gradually it has gotten worse and this week I was expedited into the the Victoria Atrial Fibrillation Clinic program to get it looked at and hopefully fixed. What is A-Fib you might ask? Well it simply is when the electrical impulses in the heart create a condition that cause the right side of the heart not to work in the same rhythm as the left side. In my case my left side has been beating about 2.5 x faster than my right side which over time weakens the heart muscle, increases the risk of stroke and just makes doing normal activities uncomfortable.

So what does this mean? Well in four weeks time I will go through a procedure called cardioversion where a defibrillator will be used to shock my heart back into rhythm. It's a common procedure in cases like mine and if successful I'll be back to feeling great about 6 weeks later. In the meantime I'm taking meds for rate control of my heart to try and give it a little rest. As my doctor said yesterday "It's like your heart has been running a marathon 24/7 for the last 7 months and it's tired". Ya .... me too!

Anyway ...  9 weeks and 6 days from now (May 6th ish) it should be all taken care of. Yes I'm counting the days down until I can get back to pushing the envelope a bit in my kayak. If I can convince Robyn in the meantime, we might just do a little shoreline super relaxed paddling and she can work on her towing skills with me. :-) Ya right!!

East Coast Exploration

For some reason, we have never paddled the southern east coast of Vancouver Island between 10 Mile Point and Island View Beach before. We don't know why but yesterday we found out that it really is a great place for a day paddle.

We met up with Gary Jacek at Telegraph Cove with the plan to be OTW by 10:00 in the amazing spring like conditions that we are getting spoiled with around Victoria.

Our neon color plastic kayaks were perfect for playing in some of the rock gardens

The water was stunningly clear in the sunshine.

Gary was our tour guide for the day and he pointed out some of the rock garden features, wildlife and a few small caves in the cliffs along the way. This area also has some of the biggest houses we have ever seen on the south coast.

Heading north towards Glencoe Cove

There were several families of river otters that we came across in the area as well. In fact this is the most otters that we have seen on a single paddle with each family consisting of at least 6 members.

A family of river otters take to the water when they spotted us.

Just north of Arbutus Cove we came across a couple of caves in the cliff face that Gary and I explored. I was surprised how rugged seascape was on this paddle.

And there were also some great beaches along the way to stop and have lunch. In our case we stopped in Margaret Bay and noticed a family looking for something in the driftwood, Sure enough they were Geocaching and in fact it was their first ever "find" and we were the first geocachers they had ever come across. They were really surprised that we arrived by kayak so that will be a great story for them to share. :-)

Lunch at Margaret Bay

There were lots of birds to be seen including bald eagles, blue herons, mergansers, buffleheads.

This immature bald eagle kept a close eye on us as we paddled by.

2014 Paddle #3 Telegraph Cove 

Distance: 6.15 nm (11.39 km)

YTD: 16.32 nm (30.23 km)

Foggy Decisions

Go ...... no go ..... go ..... no go ..... let's go!! That was pretty much our Sunday as our planned trip to Rum Island got cancelled due to the mild fog that had settled over the southern island. Instead we went for a walk for breakfast and as we were heading home the sun started to poke through the mist which got us thinking.

Let's go!!! So we loaded the kayaks and headed to Cadboro Bay thinking we could just follow the shoreline in the fog if need be. As we pulled into the parking lot the fog was gradually lifting around the Royal Victoria Yacht Club on the west side of the bay. On the east side we could barely make out Flower and Jemmy Jones Islands so our paddle plan towards the west was determined. 

Cattle Point in the distance with the landmark anchor capstan on private property.

Following the ebb out of the bay, we paddled through the RVYC and towards Cattle Point where we were greeted with brilliant blue skies and warm sunshine. It was like being in the eye of a storm as Willow's Beach and the Oak Bay Marina had their own weather system compared to everywhere else.

Looking towards the Chain Islands, Discovery would be on the left (in the fog) and Oak Bay on the right (in the sun)

Heading towards Mary Tod Island we passed a number of kayakers heading towards Cadboro Bay

Carried by the ebb and N.E. breeze at our backs we made our way around Mary Tod Island and headed back towards Cadboro Bay. Along the way we passed several kayakers that we din't know but they had the proper immersion gear and safety equipment for this time of year. That couldn't be said for a SUP (Stand Up Paddler) who was making his way from Cattle point towards the Oak Bay Marina. Picture this .... running shoes, blue jeans and a windbreaker at about our 2 nm marker on our track below. Oh I have to give the guy credit for having a dry bag of some sort on the deck ..... Sheeeesh!! If that guy fell in he was done!

Not long after passing Cattle Point were heard a repeated call from the Canadian Coast Guard on the VHF informing mariners of a single "Mayday" call about 20 minutes earlier. Unable to determine where the call was made from, the CCG repeated the message several times but nobody responded about hearing the distress call. With all the fog in the area it just reconfirms the need to carry a radio at all times and in our case our GPS too just in case the fog closed in on us.

We landed back at the beach just about 2 hours after we left and both of us were glad that we made the decision to head out on the water. Just one of the advantages of living in Victoria ..... the water is only about 15 minutes from home in all directions.

2014 Paddle #2

Distance: 4.64 nm (8.60 km)

YTD: 10.17 nm (18.84 km)

Coming Out Of Hibernation

WOW!!  It only took us 19 days into 2014 to finally get out onto the water for our first paddle of the year. Considering our volunteering schedule that past few weeks it felt like we were coming out of a hibernation of sorts ;-) as we participated in a SISKA Relaxed Paddle this weekend. 

Alan stops the group for one of his informative discussions

Launching from the Brentwood Bay, our group of 22 were lead by our Paddle Leader Alan Campbell who also played the role of tour guide along the way. Alan is known to be very articulate with his stories and for this paddle to McKenzie Bight he shared his knowledge of some of the history of the area. 

Being a relaxed paddle there really wasn't any rush to get to our lunch location at McKenzie Bight but most of the paddlers did notice the cool conditions that we had for the day especially when we stopped for one of Alan's stories. Over the past few months, Robyn and I have been used to building up heat in our bodies by paddling at a fairly good pace, but on this paddle we found ourselves resorting to our poggies on route to keep our hands warm. I even resorted to some winter gear after lunch. 

I don't care how it looks .... it is warm and that's all that counts!

We landed at McKenzie Bight and set up our lunch camp on a rocky knoll nearby with several of us using our Helinox folding chairs that are worth every penny. I think every time we have used them in a group someone tries ours and they are sold on them. 

After lunch Lorraine led some of the group through a yoga warm up on the beach before heading back towards Brentwood Bay. Some of us resorted to doing a little "energizer" paddle strokes just off the beach to build up the body heat. 

Gary Jacek bundled up in his recently acquired Wilderness. I wonder where he got the idea for a green kayak?? ;-)

Although just a wee bit late (for us), a good first paddle of 2014 but we have lots of other adventures on our kayak bucket list that we are looking forward to this year. 

2014 Paddle #1
Distance: 5.53 nm (10.24 km)
YTD: 5.53 nm (10.24 km)