God's Pocket - 7 Days plus 1 (Part 1)

Travel Day - July 10, 2015

Our first time in the Port Hardy. A lot quieter than I thought it would be

After travelling all day from Victoria to Port Hardy (500km) our group consisting of Gary and Jane Jacek, Stan and Paula Ball along with Robyn and I met up at the North Shore Inn located in Port Hardy in time for our 6pm dinner reservations at the Quarterdeck Pub. 

The special for the night was prime rib so we made it easy for the waitress by ordering a half dozen for our last supper in civilization while we watched eagles fly around the marina in numbers like we see seagulls at home. We discussed some last minute planning details before adjourning to our hotel which reminded me of a nearly defunct ski hill establishment from the 1950’s.

One would have thought that for $135 the rooms would at least have the right amount of coaxial cables so the TV would work or have air conditioning. We resolved both issues simply by not watching TV (reading) and opening the barely operable sliding door to the sloped deck. What the heck ... the parking of our vehicles was free for the time we were going to be away so maybe it was a good deal? The next morning we wouldn't have to be concerned with such amenities as we would be heading to God’s Pocket Marine Park.

Day 1 – July 11, 2015

We woke up to overcast skies with only a hint of rain as our little band of travellers headed to Captain Hardy’s for a full breakfast before attending to the task of packing our kayaks. Our goal was to be on the water before 11:00am to take advantage of high tide for loading and the turn to ebb that would carry us towards our destination. 

How the heck is all this stuff going to fit in the kayaks?? Well it did with room to spare.

Packing went as expected and once again we were amazed that we managed to squeeze everything in the kayaks (including the watermelon) with room to spare. You just gotta love the Delta Kayak 15.5's Expeditions for this reason. The forecast was for light SE winds with possible showers and visibility of around 10 miles. Perfect conditions to head to our planned first stop on Balaclava Island and set up camp but we had to get there first. Gary took on the role of paddle leader for this portion of the trip as this was his (along with Stan and Paula's) third time here. Robyn, Jane and I were simply along for the ride at this point and I was content just to absorb our environment.

Crossing from Duval to Duncan Island in easy paddling conditions ...... this time ;-)

Launching ahead of schedule we made our way along the west shoreline of Port Hardy Bay to Duval Island to reassess the conditions before committing to the crossing of Goletas Channel to Duncan Island 3 nm in the distance. The relatively calm conditions made me wonder what the participants of the Race to Alaska experienced over a month ago battling 30-40 knots NW wind as they tried to traverse this narrow passage. Our crossing was nothing more than an opportunity to soak in the rugged beauty of the northern end of Vancouver Island until we reached Duncan Island where we caught sight of a fairly large fish farm that was not only looking out of place but generating enough noise to disturb the tranquil quietness that we were paddling in.

The first time we have seen a salmon farm. It just seemed out of place in such beautiful settings. 

Our destination was now less than 3 nm away as we paddled past Blyth Island and Noble Islets in light showers sighting several harbour porpoise along the way. Arriving at Nolan Point on Balaclava Island we noticed that the primary campsite on the point was already occupied so we landed in one of the sheltered coves to scope out our camping opportunities.

Camp Nolan, site #2

Gary spoke with the group already on site (from Vancouver) and found out that they would be leaving in a couple of days so we selected the alternate campsite just across the dry creek bed which had an established kitchen and seating area. It had everything we needed including big cedars to pitch our tents under, a common area (the kitchen) and we even had our own private little beach with a pretty nice view.

Shelter... bring on the rain and it did!

After setting up our tent and getting out of our dry suits, Robyn and I went to work on tarpology for the kitchen and dining room. You can never have enough rope or carabiners when it comes to camp craft and when you add a couple of collapsible poles and a few greenland paddles the whole thing comes together nicely. While hustling around we heard the telltale blowing sound of a whale and sure enough we got our first glimpse of a humpback whale just beyond Jerome Island.

From L to R: Myself and Robyn, Jane and Gary, Stan and Paula

Robyn and I cooked up a batch of scallops and bacon for appetizers followed by pork chops with mushroom sauce and salad for the main entre. We tend to like cooking fresh for the first couple of days but after the success of Robyn's dehydrated meals on this trip we are going to rethink that for the future.

Our beach front view. Photo by Gary Jacek

It's all about balance in life

I spent part of the evening showing rocks how to defy gravity. It's become a bit of a passion lately as it challenges myself to be patient while pushing the envelope a bit on getting multiple rocks to balance on each other with the least amount of contact.

Robyn suggested that I create a new Facebook page dedicated to my art and you can see more of my creations here. Gecko Paddler's Mosaic

Tomorrow would be our first day trip in the area and we were excited as to what we would experience. We sort of had a bucket list which included humpback whales (fairly close-up), orca and of course sea otters.

The last thing I remembered before closing my iPad book was how light it stays this far north of home. Even at 10:30pm there wasn't a need to use a flashlight around camp.

2015 Paddle #24 - Port Hardy to Balaclava Island
Distance: 9.97 nm (18.46 km)
YTD: 199.37 nm (‪369.23 km)

In The Right Place at the Right Time - Tillicum Narrows

On Saturday it was our pleasure to take Salt Spring Island paddler Lisa Stafford on a little tour of the Victoria Inner Harbor which included playing in the Tillicum Narrows. Lisa is in town for a couple of days while her son Lukas is being mentored by James Manke on how to build a skin on frame Greenland rolling kayak. Nice!!

The Tillicum Narrows at -10 knots. About a 4 foot difference in water height today under the bridge

We launched out of Songhees Road near the Delta Victoria Hotel and headed north to Tillicum Narrows where it was ebbing 10.2 knots. Although we could have just worn our wetsuits we optioned to put on our drysuits closer to our destination and then spend an hour or so playing in the rapids. Having been here a couple of weekends ago when it was running at about 7 knots, the feature was quite a bit different today.

Robyn with all her suds in the washing machine. LOL

Lisa's turn playing in Jamie Sharpe's Reflection. 

Lots of suds today

It was a boiling foaming madness with a rock exposed at the bottom of the trough in the center of the feature and a very fast section of rapids running along the north wall. Paddling out of the foamy back eddy on the south side we  played in the turbulence experiencing some unplanned capsizes and some that resulted just from pushing the envelope a bit too far while we tried some interesting ferrying without bracing. Yeah .... that didn't work so well for both Lisa and I. LOL



 

Too much fun ... let's rescue someone now!

It was good times at the rapids supporting one another just in case we might need a hand. BTW ... thanks Lisa for chasing me down  ;-)

Sometimes when you think all is good something happens that brings you back to reality and makes you think "what the heck"!!!! Well we got to experience that today as we noticed a paddler heading towards the narrows from the upstream side. Now we have seen this before and in those cases the paddler turns around and heads back before reaching the waterfall.

This time however this paddler kept coming and we all noticed that he didn't have a PFD or helmet on. Pardon my language but it was one of those WTF moments as he dropped over the waterfall into the trough and although it looked like he was going to make it he capsized right next to the rock right in the middle and then all we saw was his kayak hull and no sight of him.


By that time we were already moving towards him and I thought for a moment that this could possibly be an extraction or hand-of-God scenario as he was somehow trapped in the feature. Thankfully his head popped up out of the water as he managed to wet exit from the kayak. Lisa and I reached him as he was floating towards the back eddy on the north side. Having giving up on the PFD he decided he was going to swim to shore with his kayak and so we escorted him and his kayak into shallow water until he was able to stand up and haul his butt and kayak out of the water.

"Let me see .... if I wear this it might save my life next time I do something that stupid" LOL

It all happened so fast but it seemed like time stood still as the whole scenario played itself out. The first thing I asked him was where was his PFD which he reached down and picked up. At this point he decided that maybe it was a good time to wear it and even though it only took 3 attempts to get it on he finally did. He was pretty apologetic for what happened and noted that "maybe he used up one of his 9 lives today" and thanked us for assisting him. Robyn tracked down his other gear floating nearby and had a little wisdom discussion with him before he set off towards the inner harbor.

One of the new Sterlings Kayaks Progession's in stock

That was enough excitement for the day for us so we paddled down to the Ocean River Sports dock and got out of drysuits before heading into the store to check out the new Sterlings Kayaks Progression. We think Lisa just might have her eye on the lime green one that is begging for her to test paddle. LOL

Robyn and Lisa checking out the menu

We finished the afternoon off with lunch at Barb's Fish & Chips located at Fisherman's Wharf before heading back across the harbour to the put in location. OK, that was a pretty good tour of our wonderful waterway that makes up the inner harbour of Victoria. Rescuing a kayaker ...... priceless. Tip please!!!!

2015 Paddle #23 - Tillicum Narrows Rescue
Distance: 5.5 nm (10.18 km)
YTD: 189.40 nm (‪350.77 km)

Portland Island - The Unofficial Westcoast Paddler Camp Out

It was a good thing that we decided not to head to Portland Island on Thursday evening as mid summer wind storm hit south coast that night.  Instead we decided to get up early on Friday morning and paddle over to Portland Island for our first cup of coffee. The wind had subsided overnight and the glorious sunshine was once again bringing warmth and calm conditions for to us. Since we were getting an early start to the day we took a chance and drove to the Swartz Bay government dock in hopes of finding a parking spot. To our surprise there were several empty spots available which meant that our paddle to Portland Island would be shortened by about half an hour.

Ready to launch at the Swartz Bay government dock early Friday morning. Time to paddle to Portland Island for coffee!

Launching just after 9:00am we were able to take advantage of the turn to flood that would carry us all the way to Arbutus Point on the north end of Portland Island. Leaving from Swartz Bay really cuts the transit time down as we landed just after 10:30am after a leisurely paddle with little wind.

Passing Shell Beach which had no signs of campers.

Approaching Arbutus Point it looked like our campground was completely empty until we landed and started to explore the upland where we found Philip Torrens who was just finishing breakfast. Philip arrived the evening before under sail and told us that the wind wasn't that bad at this location on Haro Straight. It turns out that the highest winds missed the tip of the Saanich Peninsula and we could have attempted the paddle the evening before.

Robyn and Philip enjoying the sunshine and getting caught up with what has happened over the past year.

After setting up camp and having breakfast we spent the rest of the day just relaxing in the sun chatting with Philip as other kayakers arrived. The thing about this annual camp out is that you never know who is coming so it becomes a bit of a waiting game to see who might show up. Sheila and Neil landed at around 3:00pm followed by Yves and Patti of Go Kayak along with Michel closer to dinner time.

Sheila and Neil arrive

Followed by Yves, Patti and Michel

The Friday evening sun worshipers

We gathered on the beach after dinner and watched the sun set through the clouds over Salt Spring Island like a fiery volcano. Sunsets at Arbutus Point are always spectacular which makes it one of our favorite places to camp.

Friday evening sunset over Salt Spring Island

Looking like a album cover of an 80"s band in the Saturday morning sunshine

Shell Beach... empty mid day Saturday

Saturday morning we woke early to clear skies with brisk north winds. Yves and Patti joined us for a hike around the island while the others decided to relax back in camp. At Shell Beach we spotted a kayak heading towards the north end of the island so it looked like our little band of campers would be getting bigger later in the day. Arriving back at camp we spent the rest of the day soaking up the sun on the little shell beach as Rod arrived with word that Joanne and Doug were not far behind. Doug is a relatively new kayak camper (like first time) and it was fun to watch him unload his gear for a single overnight. It brought fond memories back to when Robyn and I arrived at the 2012 WCP camp out for our first time. Back then we brought everything including the kitchen sink and on this trip, so did Doug. LOL



Soon it was time to start preparing for the pot luck dinner and it has been our custom to provide a big plate of scallops and bacon. As usual there was tons of food to go around. Normally the camp out happens in April and we all huddle under Dan Millsip's big top tent to keep warm :-) but being June we had dinner on the beach instead.

We also had a birthday to celebrate as Sheila turned 24 :-) so we all sang happy birthday to her and then had individual bite size chocolate cupcakes that Rod brought. Haaaaaapppy Birthday Sheila!

Joanne brought Sheila a birthday gift which every paddler should have. John Kimantas' "The BC Coast Explorer" Volume 2 which covers the south coast of Vancouver Island, from Bamfield to Comox Harbour including the West Coast Trail, the Juan de Fuca Trail, Greater Victoria, Saanich Peninsula, the Gulf Islands, Bellenas-Winchelsea Archipelago, Denman and Hornby Islands and finally Comox Harbour.

Philip preaches to the wild coast campers! LOL

Once again Philip provided the entertainment for the evening showing off his Exped DreamWalker summer version sleeping bag. This isn't your ordinary sleeping bag as it can be morphed into a short jacket, vest or whatever you want it to be.

For those who have never heard the story before, he then told the tail of being almost eaten alive by a polar bear while trying to paddle through the northwest passage a number of years ago. Trapped inside his tent with another paddler, a polar bear picked him up by his foot only to be scared off when his companion fired off a blast from their shotgun through the tent. There are not too many people alive who can say that their foot was in a polar bear's mouth and who managed to live to tell about it. Philip has been there and done that!

Joanne had to depart after dinner so we watched her paddle off into the setting sun.

Another magical setting sun ends the day.

They were there, but only a couple of well behaved ones.

After the sun set behind Salt Spring Island the group dispersed to their tents after a wonderful day. The weekend was ending and once again our group would be disbanding until next year.

Sunday morning we woke to the best day yet with only a very slight breeze coming from the north. Our plan was to be on the water around 10:00am so that we could catch the last of the ebb back towards Swartz Bay. After saying our goodbyes for another year, we joined Sheila and Neil for the paddle along the eastern shoreline to our put in location. It was another great West Coast Paddler camp out and we can't wait for the 2016 gathering. I think June is waaaaay better than April. Just sayin ;-)

Almost back at the put in, Sheila and Neil pass by the ferries at Swartz Bay.

2015 Paddle #21 - Westcoast Paddler Camp Out
Distance: 7.64 nm (14.15 km)
YTD: 183.90 nm (‪340.58 km)

D'Arcy Island Get-a-way

Robyn had a great suggestion to help me through trying to write blog updates which have become a bit of a chore lately. She said "Why don't you just dictate it to your iPad or iPhone and then cut and paste the transcript when you get home?" Holy cow .... what a great idea so I tried it this past weekend updating each day while the events of the day were fresh in my mind.

On Friday we decided to head to D'Arcy Island for a single overnight since we really didn't have any plans to start the weekend. Launching out of Amherst Beach in Sidney at 2:15pm we crossed over to Sidney Island to follow the coastline down to D'Arcy. Checking the tides and currents we knew that we would be paddling against the incoming 2.91 knot flood and against a slight breeze but it wasn't anything that we couldn't handle. D,Arcy Island is one of our favorite southern Gulf Islands camping locations as most of the time we've been there hardly anyone else has.  Arriving just after 5:30pm we were shocked to find that there wasn't anyone else and we had our choice of the campsites.  We chose site #2 which is our favorite for the afternoon sun. The island was all ours for the evening! After setting up camp we settled in for some "happy hour" appies followed by a great dinner of pork chops and salad with trail mix cookies for dessert.

It doesn't get any better than this in the southern Gulf Islands. D'Arcy Island all to oursevlves for the moment.

Saturday morning we woke up to a beautiful sunny morning with a slight breeze coming from the southeast. Nothing starts the camping day off better than a hot cup of coffee so Robyn fired up our new Jetboil for the first time and it did a great job making our morning brew in about 3 1/2 minutes. Before breakfast we went for a walk to the point overlooking the bay of the campsite. From our vantage point we could see most of the southern end of the island which Robyn managed to capture on a panoramic setting.

Discovery Island in the distance ...... we are blessed to have the west coast as our playground.

Back at camp we had a great breakfast of bacon and poached eggs on cheese scones and then made our way up onto the grassy knoll to spend the rest of the day in the sun before heading home. A couple of times we seriously thought about staying another night but we had commitments that we needed to take care of on Sunday so our plan was to be on the water at 3:00pm.

I know that camping really shouldn't include social media or internet access but we posted a few Facebook teasers where we were and watched our Marine Traffic app to track the freighters making their way to and from Vancouver. Robyn then pointed out that the Cornelia Marie from Deadliest Catch was leaving Seattle and heading our way and soon would be passing between us and San Juan Island. Sure enough, just before we had to start packing, there she was steaming her way north towards Alaska for I think the King Salmon season.

We came around the corner from the campsite and there were more of the SMU students who just arrived. Time to go!

Just before we starting to pack up to leave I noticed a double kayak, and another, and another, and another, and another coming between D'Arcy and Little D'Arcy Islands. Our peaceful existence was about to change as a group of 40+ students from St. Michael's University in Victoria were descending on the campsite. Perfect timing ... they were coming and we were leaving!

On the water just after 3:00pm we caught the first of the flood current as we entered the pass between the two D'Arcy Islands. We decided to utilize flood current to paddle home but our route would be just a little different than the way we came. We crossed over to James Island with the goal of doing a little crab fishing and as we approached the sand bluffs on the south end we noticed a couple of whale sightseeing boats further north about a quarter-mile away. Could there be some sort of marine life viewing activity up there?

Suddenly we both heard the tell tale sign of a whale blowing and sure enough, straight ahead at less than 150 feet we saw two tall thin dorsal fins rise out of the water heading across our bows. It was one of those OH MY GOD moments as we frantically got our cameras ready and started filming and snapping pictures. It wasn't long before the whale boats also saw them and quickly started moving in our direction only to be disappointed as the Orca made a final blow and descended under the surface not to be seen again. For a few brief moments Robyn and I had the Orca all to ourselves and it was a very special time to share together.

After our Orca encounter we continued our way along James Island riding the rapidly increasing current as it took us past the James Island dock and through a mass of crab floats. Something caught my attention on the surface so I paddled towards it and came upon a female Dungeness crab that was on the surface swimming upside down. It was the darndest thing I have ever seen and I suspected that she was recently released from a crab trap but had air trapped inside her body that wouldn't allow her to sink. Double checking to make sure that it was a female and of legal size I scooped her up with my paddle blade and put her on my kayak deck to rest a bit. It didn't take long for her to scramble back into water and head back down to the bottom. 

So .... it was obvious there were crab here so we went to work baiting (salmon scraps) our new folding crab snare that we got at Capital Iron for $15. After only 10 minutes on the bottom I gave it a quick tug to close the trap like a purse and hauled it up. YIKES .... really? Crabs? Yes a couple of legal Red Rock males that we decided to keep for dinner on Sunday night. We are both ecstatic how the crab trap worked and would have loved to spend a couple of hours in search of larger Dungeness crabs but we needed to be heading on our way back to Sidney.

We arrived back at our put in point at Amherst Beach just after 5:30pm after a wonderful and exciting paddle home. We were only away for 24 hours but it was worth every minute.

2015 Paddle #20 - D'Arcy Island Get-a-way
Distance: 15.55 nm (28.79 km)
YTD: 176.26 nm (‪326.43 km)

Developing Our Skills with Paddle Canada (Part 1)

Flashback to our first time in a kayak - September 2011. Notice the upside down paddle ... we need skills huh? :-) LOL

Neither Robyn or I could have imagined when we started kayaking where our skills development would be after 3 years. Like most paddlers in our area we started out by taking a Paddle Canada Introduction to Sea Kayaking course to learn a little bit how to use our equipment and how to get out of the kayak if we ended upside down.

Since then, our garage has been constantly evolving with kayak gear upgrades and we have spent a lot of time "in" the water as we upgraded our skills certifications through Paddle Canada. This past year especially our focus has been to  reach our personal goals which we were both able to do in April.

Sea Kayak Instructor Level 1 - April 16th-19th

Working with Robyn (and others) through her skills development over the past year, I realized that becoming an instructor was one of my goals that I wanted to accomplish so I signed up for an Instructor Level 1 course with Blue Dog Kayaking (Dave Nichols) / Horizons Adventures (Rick Wise) at the Mill Bay Marina.

Rick Wise in the blue kayak with Dave Nichols in the yellow and black kayak. A couple of great instructors!

I have taken courses with Dave in the past and have really enjoyed his teaching style and he recently established Blue Dog Kayaking at the marina. Rick came all the way from Ontario to put on this course and be a mentor for Dave who also is working towards his Paddle Canada Level 1 Instructor Trainer certification.

What a great classroom setting at the Mill Bay Bistro

My fellow group of students consisted of Jay Raichura who owns Pender Island Kayak Adventures, Jesse Pictou who is a guide at Tofino Sea Kayaking Company, Rick Powley and Rob Wyness both fellow Nanaimo Paddlers and Ryan Aldred who will be working at Blue Dog Kayaking this summer.

The morning sessions consisted of lectures that were presented by our instructors as well as lectures that we students had prepared before the course and a few that we had to talk about on the fly so to speak. After lunch we headed onto the water to demonstrate our paddling skills which included Level 2 or better paddle strokes and both self and assisted rescues. It was during the afternoon sessions that we started to refine our teaching styles using the acronym I.D.E.A.S. which stands for Introduction of the skill being taught, Demonstration of how the skill should be done, Explanation of how the skill is done, Activity by the students and Summary of the skill that was just taught and performed by the student.

Before the course began we all chose paddle stroke lesson plans that we had to develop as well as lectures. I decided that I wanted to teach the forward paddle stroke and my lecture would be about trip planning. At the start of the course we also were given other paddle stroke or rescues lessons as well as lectures to prepare for homework in the evenings. Our day wasn't completed until we adjourned to Dave's place for dinner and also reviewed our paddle strokes which were videoed during day. I think we were all humbled to see some of the errors that needed to be "tweaked" during the assessment portion of the course.

It was interesting to observe what each of us brought to the course in terms of the hard and soft skills. From my perspective there was quite a diversity but the thing that I really noticed was how Jesse and Jay were very relaxed in communicating their lessons or lectures. I suspected that it was because of their "guiding" background. While the rest of us said too many words, too fast (LOL), Jesse and Jay seemed in their element "working" the audience.

Our students are welcomed to their one day simulated Level 1 course.

For the last day of the course Dave arranged to have actual students join us so that we could teach an abbreviated one day Level 1 course to them. Some of the students (such as Robyn and Kevin and Cindy Searle) have a few years of kayaking experience but there were a few who arrived who had never even been in a kayak before. Sharply at 9:00am, the instructor candidate group put the course plan (which we developed the evening before) into action starting with introductions followed by the course outlineand a couple of short lectures on weather and seamanship. We then made our way down to the beach to discuss the equipment features of the kayaks, paddles and safety gear before heading onto the water.

Getting to know the gear on the beach.

Paddle stroke lessons underway with Rick Powley leading the group

The morning on-water session was dedicated to teaching paddle strokes before we moved onto getting our students wet after lunch. For the afternoon session our students were taught wet exits as well as a number of assisted and self rescues. The instructor candidates then had the opportunity to work on the just-in-case rescues such as 'Hand of God' with the students.

Helping student Cindy Searle complete an assisted rescue

Dave's wife Ali joined us for the afternoon session and I had the opportunity to work with her one-on -one and introduced her to some of the paddle strokes that we taught in the morning session. It wasn't long before she was completing 360 turns using a combination of forward and reverse sweeps. We even completed a couple of assisted rescues together to finish off the day. I think this was one of my highlights of the course, to be able to work with Ali and have her accomplish so much in such a short time.

Our group of instructors, instructor candidates and students then finished the day off with dinner at the Mill Bay Bistro before heading home. Rick and Dave met with the rest of the class on Monday morning while I had to be back at work due to customer delivery commitments that I was required for.

The end of a great course. Dinner at the Mill Bay Bistro

After a fantastic 4 days of instruction by Dave and Rick (thanks guys!) and working with the other instructor hopefuls it was a great sense of relief to find out that I and the rest of our class were rewarded with our Paddle Canada Sea Kayak Instructor Level 1 certifications.

The newest Paddle Canada Sea Kayak Level 1 Instructors
Left to Right - Ryan Aldred, Rob Wyness, Mark Byrne, Jay Raichura, Rick Powley and Jesse Pictou

No rest for the weary ..... Robyn's Paddle Canada Sea Kayak Level 3 course began 3 days later and I got to tag along ;-)

Catching Up

Since our last post back in March, both Robyn and I have been burning the candle at both ends so to speak trying to balance our work and play schedules. Simply put ... life kinda got very hectic through the month of April as we prepared for our Paddle Canada assessments at the end of the month. 

Something had to give during that time and unfortunately I couldn't find the time to write about a few of the training paddles that we managed to squeeze in before our personal challenges took place. The thought of not writing about our paddles weighed heavily on me as the posts have been our personal journal to date. Now that we have completed our assessments, it's time to get back to writing about our adventures. 

To catch up on our activities over the past month I have decided to post the track of each paddle with a brief description. My Paddle Canada Sea Kayaking Level 1 Instructor and Robyn's Paddle Canada Sea Kayaking Level 3 assessments will be a full post that should be completed by this coming weekend.

Gordon Head
On March 28th we joined Gary and Jane Jacek on a paddle from Telegraph Bay along the Gordon Head shoreline exploring some of the rock gardens and exposed sea caves. We had a nice lunch on the beach before heading back to the put in as Robyn worked on her forward paddle strokes, edging and rolling.

2015 Paddle #11 - Gordon Head
Distance: 5.89 nm (10.90 km)
YTD: 90.83 nm (‪159.43 km)


Pedder Bay

We spent the Easter weekend at Pedder Bay RV Resort and paddled with Kevin and Cindy Searle. Kevin would also be taking his PC Level 3 at the same time as Robyn so it was a good opportunity for both of them to work on refining a number of skills. Cindy also completed a few self rescues for the first time and spent a fair amount of time underwater (planned) completing rolls and reentry rolls. Boy that girl can hold her breath long underwater!! 

2015 Paddle #12 - Pedder Bay
Distance: 2.58 nm (4.77 km)
YTD: 93.41 nm (‪164.20 km)


Gabriola & Dodd Narrows

On April 12th we joined Dave Nichols (Blue Dog Kayaking), Susie Marsh, Reale Emond and Kevin Searle for a paddle to Gabriola Pass to play in the currents. It was a great opportunity for Robyn and Kevin to practice their skills (and rolls) in the currents for Paddle Canada Level 3 conditions. Both of them did an amazing job and on the way back our group decided to make a run through Dodd Narrows on the ebb flow. A long day on the water but the current work was well worth it.

2015 Paddle #13 - Gabriola & Dodd Narrows Passes
Distance: 12.42 nm (23.00 km)
YTD: 105.83 nm (‪171.53 km)


Whiffen Spit to Cabin Point

While I was attending my PC Instructor assessment, Robyn joined the Nanaimo Paddlers on April 18th for a day trip from Whiffen Spit to Cabin Point. As she told me, it was an interesting day especially around Cabin Point in the tide race when a couple of assisted rescues were performed and towing was required. What better timing with her PC Level 3 course coming up the following weekend! :-)

2015 Paddle #14 - Cabin Point
Distance: 9.92 nm (18.37 km)
YTD: 115.75 nm (‪189.90 km)