Bucket List

As promised last week, this weekend our paddle plans involved pool training on Saturday night and then a SISKA Energizer paddle on Sunday morning. All completed in less than 18 hours it made for a good test of our conditioning and a couple of kayaking bucket list items were crossed off along the way.

Over the past couple of months Robyn and I have been working on our rolling skills and we have migrated into the Crystal Pool as the winter weather starts to take hold. Although I have figured out how to roll and can do them 9 out of 10 times, I still have a lot of refining to do to bring more fluidity into them. Robyn has been my on the water critique and her desire to roll has also increased dramatically. This was really evident on Saturday after I completed one of my better ones and she turned to me and said "I want to do that!"  :-)

For this training session I decided to mount the GoPro on Robyn's kayak so that we could later review her technique and steepen the learning curve a bit. Using the training methods that we learned from Yves of Go Kayak, I took on the roll (pun) of instructor stood beside her in the pool as we gradually added elements to her training. At the beginning of this session we picked up where we left off from our last pool session with Robyn's head just under the surface. On my signal (bang on bottom of the kayak) she performed the required knee drop, sweep of her paddle, hip snap all in perfect timing (almost) while keeping her head low (sometimes) resulting in her torso rolling onto the back deck of the kayak and completing the roll. Easy Peasy !!

Gradually throughout the next couple of hours I lowered Robyn further into the water to the point that she was completely upside down in the water and she completed the process again. Here she learned that being "explosive" with her paddle stroke and hip snap were keys to the success she was experiencing. Easy Peasy!!

The next step was for Robyn to fully set up for the roll on her own, roll her kayak the opposite direction of me lowering her upside down. Just another element added to the process and like most first attempts she made it 3/4 out of the water only to experience burying her paddle, wrong timing of the hip snap and of course the dreaded head trying to come out of the water too soon. Easy Peasy!!   :-)

We spent the next few minutes talking about the elements that she experienced and when I asked her what went wrong she pointed out what I mentioned above. Brilliant !! At least she knew what the issues were and that is half of the training, the rest is just execution.

Setting up for her second attempt I stood by to make sure her paddle blade angle was correct and just like in the Batman TV sitcom ...... KAPOW, SWOOSH, SPLOOSH ....... Robyn was upright sitting in her kayak like a true superhero. Making sure that the roll was just wasn't a lucky one, Robyn quickly set up and completed her second roll unassisted all recorded on the GoPro. Easy Peasy!!!  

Having recently gone through the first roll experience myself, I know how Robyn must have felt after the pool session. There is something about completing your first roll that is almost like remembering your first bike ride without training wheels. The best part .... you just want to do more rolling and Robyn was no different. In fact on Monday morning I got a text from her asking when the next pool session was as she wants to roll more!!  LOL  My response ..... "take it to the ocean now".  A kayaking "Bucket List" item crossed off.


Getting home late on Saturday and attempting to dry out some of our gear, the Sunday morning alarm came way too soon as it was time to head back out to participate in the SISKA Energizer Paddle from Whiffen Spit to Otter Point. At least the the weather gods were looking over the group with the sun trying peak through the clouds and only a respectable 5-10 knot wind present.

Preparing our rides at Whiffen Spit in Sooke

This paddle was an inter-club event of sorts as some of the Nanaimo Paddlers joined the group and it was great to have them along. A total of 27 paddlers took to the water and started the transit towards the west and with the goal of reaching Otter Point. I have only been to Otter Point before while on our fishing boat and I knew that this paddle could and did live up to the "Energizer" name.

With the wind picking up slightly there was a stiff breeze in our faces as the group worked it's way along the shoreline past the sand bluffs and towards the old log sort. Keeping close to the shoreline also allowed us to get out of the direct influence of the wind until we rounded Otter Point. It also allowed us to play in some of the rock gardens and take advantage of the swells coming off Juan De Fuca Straight.






Rounding Otter Point we spotted a nice long beach with a fairly steep landing zone. With the wind blown swells it made landing fun and of course timing just had to be right to avoid being dumped. The group did a great job of making into onto the beach without any in the water experiences and then it was lunch time!

I love these large group photos

As expected, the paddle back to Whiffen Spit was wind and swell aided and I'm pretty sure everyone was pleased with that after a good work out before lunch. Secretly, I also think a bunch of us were hoping for a little more surf action to play through the rock gardens but other than the occasional roller coming ashore there wasn't too many great opportunities to ride the waves.

Making our way back past the sand bluffs several of the group took the opportunity to perform self rescues of different varieties. Remember my comment to Robyn about taking her rolling to the ocean? Well, lead by example I say and so it was my turn to cross off a kayak "Bucket List" item and complete my first ocean roll. More importantly .... to experience the dreaded "Head Freeze" for the first time. So like Rami- BamBam would say "Git Er' Done" and so I did.

Yup .... cold ocean water running into your ear canals is pretty disorientating and the shock of "Head Freeze" was nasty. How nasty? During my second roll attempt I was so confused under water due to the cold that I totally blew the roll. Yeah ..... No you don't get to see that video!   LOL

Where Has All The Summer Gone

Silence on our part over the past two weeks doesn't mean that we have put the kayaks away for the winter and we are entering hibernation for the next five months. Contrary to the fact, we spent last weekend indoors at the Crystal Pool working on rolling techniques in preparation for our up coming winter kayak season.

Getting it done in the pool

Kayaking in winter you say??? Well, those of you who have been following our adventure know that we started this passion just over a year ago and there wasn't much that stopped us from being on the water even in our wet suits and bundled up to build time on the water.

This weekend we are back at the Pedder Bay RV Resort but what a change in the weather from a couple weeks ago when it was 18C. The much needed rains came to the west coast this past week and with it the beginning of winter arrived with the first wind storm. A lot of things have changed in terms of equipment since last year and today we experienced winter kayaking in our Kokatat dry suits which not only kept us dry but more importantly allowed us to keep nice and toasty on our first winter like paddle.

The weather forecast simply wasn't the greatest but with the possibility of thunder storms, predicted westerly winds of 20 knots on the Juan De Fuca Straight and a 4+ knot ebb running at Race Rocks we headed out into Pedder Bay to do a little exploring. Pedder Bay has become one of our favourite places to paddle as it offers so many different conditions depending on where you go and what the weather is doing. One of our goals for the day was to make it to Bentinck Island and see what the conditions were like for a possible transit into Becher Bay.

As we left the marina the Katabatic like winds were starting to pick up really good but we were bundled up for a brisk day on the water. Robyn was sporting her new "yak hat" that she picked up at the Fulford Harbour ferry terminal on Saltspring Island this past August. We both knew it would come in handy and today she was "stylin". 

Paddling out of the bay we were greeted by the glorious warm sunshine with a view of the snow dusted peaks of the Olympic Mountains across the straight. But that wouldn't last for long as we made our way past the DND jetty and towards Bentinck Island where we became exposed to the westerlies and an approaching front. Entering Enetdyk Pass it was clearly evident that we wouldn't be making it to Becher Bay with the breakers rolling into the west end of the pass.

A little GoPro Hero 2 video in the Pass. Check out the color under water.

Race Rocks Lighthouse just beyond Bentinck Island

Like we have done many times, we reassessed the conditions and decided to head back into Pedder Bay and made the crossing over to William Head.  Half way across the  northerly winds coming out of the bay collided with the westerly winds creating a pretty good wind rip of waves and spray. A good energizer work out for sure.

Reaching William Head we slogged our way back into the bay until the the landscape shielded us from the crazy winds. Being on the water is always special but today when we reached the boat launch it felt so good to take off our dry suits and be perfectly warm and dry. Winter paddling??? Love it!!!

Next weekend we are back in the pool on Saturday night with the folks from Ocean River Sports to work on more rolling techniques. On Sunday we will be participating in the SISKA Energizer Paddle outside the Sooke Basin and maybe play in the waves a bit. Who knows .... maybe I'll even attempt a "head freeze" ocean roll too!  :-)

Pedder Bay With Pedder The Seal

Another glorious weekend on the west coast and who would have thought we could hit 20C temperatures in October??? Enjoying this extended summer we spent the weekend with Dave & Kelly Reaville at the Pedder Bay RV Resort and Marina. This is one of our favourite camping locations as it just 30 minutes from home if you don't stop at Costco and spend $300!!  LOL 

Saturday morning Dave & Kelly rented kayaks and we headed out into Pedder Bay to do a little sightseeing and put out our crab trap in hopes of a little seafood to go with our steaks over the weekend.

I also decided to try a bit of fishing on this paddle and soon found out how cumbersome the fishing rod can be if you  don't have a dedicate rod holder. I found that the best place to put the rod end was between my back and PFD but even so it was a bit of a struggle to reach it. As much as I would like to fish from my kayak, I'm not in favour of drilling holes to mount a rod holder. Looks like I need to a bit more research on this topic.

We have tried our Jolly Good kayak crab trap before without any success so we took it with us and dropped it near all the other crab traps out towards the DND jetty. This time we had frozen salmon heads for bait and I was optimistic that this weekend might show some results. In the picture my deckhand (Robyn) ..... wait a second, me the deckhand prepares the pot while the captain (Robyn) watches. LOL

Once the trap drop was completed we did a little exploring of rock gardens and the girls disappeared into a small cove.  After about 10 minutes I went to find out what they were up to and discovered that a little seal was playing with them. Robyn also had been trying her hand at crabbing and netted a legal Red Rock crab which we threw back since it was too small for any feast.

As I glided into the little bay I turned on the GoPro Hero 2 that I had mounted on my helmet and boy was I ever so glad that I made that decision today.

We have seen many seals on our kayaking adventures but never one that was so curious about us. This little seal which we nicknamed "Pedder", checked out each of our kayaks and was really interested with our rudders and paddles in particular. A number of times he swam right up to our cockpit and we were glad that he didn't decide to try and jump up onto the decks. This was such a great experience but we decided it was time to to leave "Pedder" and head back on our exploration of the rock gardens.





Later in the afternoon while the Reaville's were preparing Thanksgiving dinner Robyn and I went out to check our crab trap. Promising results as there were a couple small Red Rock crab in the trap so we decided to relocate the trap and then check to see if Pedder was still around in the cove. Sure enough he was there and Robyn took probably our favourite picture of him. It was such a special encounter but once again time to leave the little seal to his natural environment.

Sunday morning we all headed out on a shoreline tour of Pedder Bay and I set up my GoPro Hero 2 with the Dive Housing. This paddle would be it's first real test to see how much of a difference the Dive Housing would be under water in an ocean environment. Playing in the rock gardens I lowered the GoPro into the water on my custom PVC wand and let the GoPro do the rest. Checking my videos later I was amazed at the quality that the Dive Housing produced over the standard housing. Maybe one day it might capture an Orca on video. Now that would be cool!

It was time to check the crab trap to see what an overnight soak had produced. Kelly was my support team as I hauled the trap up from the depths. I think to everyone's surprise, there was actually crabs in the trap!! A couple of small Red Rock and a single under size female Dungeness crabs were in the trap!!! Oh well, maybe next time.

We decided to see if Pedder might still be around and maybe get some under water video of him. As we entered the little cove that he was in yesterday,  we found no signs of him.



Another great weekend on the water and we are really happy that Dave & Kelly could share the experience with us. They even suggested that maybe.... just maybe they should think about getting some small yaks for themselves. Nice!!!

Victoria Inner Harbour .... The Long Way

After our Saturday paddle  of the Esquimalt Harbour we kinda thought it would be nice to take a day off on Sunday and just take it easy for once. It's been so long since we haven't been in the kayak on a Sunday and this Sunday wouldn't be any different. I woke early to the sun rising over Mt. Doug with brilliant blue skies and not a cloud to be seen anywhere. 

Robyn was soon up and it didn't take long for us to make the decision to head back out to the Esquimalt Lagoon for a paddle to the Victoria Inner Harbour. Checking in on Facebook I posted our intentions and it wasn't long before Roy Scully decided to meet us for our 10:30 OTW departure. While waiting for Roy another kayaker arrived at the beach and he asked if we were waiting for Roy? After exchanging introductions, paddler Christian Gaujous would be joining our group for the trip.

CH-124 Sea King heads towards the Halifax Class frigate in the distance.

As Roy and Christian were preparing their kayaks, Robyn and I waited on the water and we watched a Canadian Forces CH-124 Sea King helicopter performing low high angle turns over the water about a mile from us. It then headed towards the Halifax Class frigate that left CFB Esquimalt just as we arrived at the beach. After circling the ship a few times it proceeded to land on the stern of the ship. The neat thing for me about seeing the Sea King conducting this exercise is that I see them take off from the 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron at the Pat Bay Victoria airport while at work and wonder where they are headed. Now I know.

Is this really the last day of September??? Looks more like the middle of summer.

Roy paddling towards the Ogden Point Breakwater

Following the shoreline, Roy and Christian played in the rock gardens as we made our way past Saxe and MacCauley Points and towards Ogden Point. Ogden Point is home to the Victoria cruise ship terminal but there were no ships in port today so we paddled along the breakwater and headed for the small beach just at the east end which would be our lunch stop. While I stayed behind and kept an eye on our kayaks, Robyn, Roy and Christian went to the Ogden Point Cafe to get some lunch that we ate in the glorious sunshine.

Robyn leading the way along the breakwater after our lunch stop 

Once lunch was done with we headed back along the breakwater and into the Victoria Inner Harbour. Seeing the harbour while on foot is pretty neat but seeing it from a kayak is special.

There are so many places you can get to while on the water by kayak and Roy showed us a few of his favourites. The Victoria Clipper seemed to be one of the things that caught his attention so he got a real close up look at them. ;-). In fact there were two Clippers moored stern to stern which created an interesting tunnel feature. I won't say any more.  LOL

We paddled around the harbour and checked out float plane docks. Every time I visit a float plane harbour I have to spend some time watching them take of and land. After all ..... I make parts for some of the De Havilland float planes being flown around the west coast.  :-)

After leaving the harbour we headed on a direct route back to the put in location and stopped to play in some of the small surf waves. Unlike yesterday, the surf was pretty non existent but Roy did try his hand at surfing a small wave backwards. The video below will tell that tale. Another great day on the water to end the weekend and we wonder why we feel so tired on Monday mornings!  LOL  

Esquimalt Harbour

It's been over a year of paddling and for some reason (maybe we were too busy LOL) we seemed to have missed kayaking out of the Esquimalt Lagoon. So this past weekend we figured we would saturate ourselves with a couple of trips launching from the great little sandy beach that is a) easy to access and b) doesn't cost a dime to park at. It doesn't get any better unless you are kayaking with great friends as we did both days.

Arial view of CFB Esquimalt and the harbour.

The Saturday paddle was planned during the middle of last week with Sheila and Neil joining us on a tour of the Esquimalt harbour which is home to the Royal Canadian Navy Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC). We had the opportunity to visit CFB Esquimalt only once before when the U.S. carrier Ronald Reagan (CVN 76)  came to port for a visit.   Otherwise we have only caught glimpses of it from higher vantage points around the city. So this paddle we would be viewing the base from the water.

Leaving the put in location we headed towards the Esquimalt Harbour but got side tracked by playing in the small surf waves just before Fisgard Lighthouse. It wasn't long before we were soaked but what the heck ... we are kayakers and kayakers get wet sometimes on purpose! After our play time we headed into the harbour and were greeted by a couple of Dall's porpoise hunting in the harbour. 

Keeping our distance from the active navy docks we made our way to Cole Island which has quite a naval history dating back to the mid 1800's establish by the British. Once an ammunitions facility and now a heritage site, there is an effort under way to make the site a marine park to preserve the historical significance of the military presence on the west coast.

Sheila and Neil playing in the archways of the ammunitions buildings

We took the opportunity to land (literally) and check out the island and I have to admit it was pretty cool! It also gave us the opportunity to get the Geocache that is hidden on the island. We also met up again with a couple who were out on the their first paddle in their new Venture "Flex" kayaks and they stopped to explore Cole Island as well.

After our Cole Island exploration we paddled up the river under bridge near the 6 Mile Pub in hopes of reaching the waterfall. However the water level was too low but we did have some fun paddling in the shallows. Here Neil does the walk of shame after running aground in a narrow leg of the river. LOL

Heading back down stream we entered the harbour and made our way over to Richard's Island for our lunch stop. It also gave Robyn the opportunity to find the Geocache on this island as well. Robyn and I had a little opposite circumnavigation race around the island after lunch which you can see on our track at the 9km mark.

The idea was to see who could make it back to the starting point first. I will brag and say that I won but Robyn held her own and I only beat her by about 15 yards. I knew she would love that Werner paddle!!

We had dinner plans for later in the day so we had to be off the water around 3:30 so we paddled back past the lighthouse and played in the wave surge in the rock gardens. Oh yeah .... I tried my skill at towing the other three paddlers while they hung onto my kayak. Yeah ...... I don't want to do that too often. LOL

Nearing the put in location we again saw small breaking waves near the point so Sheila and I headed over to them to try our luck at surfing the small sets. Although tough to see the waves starting to form, every so often a set would show themselves a little further out and we tried to ride them.

This was my first real experience of surfing waves breaking on a beach and I must admit that I am pretty well hooked and want to do it again and in bigger conditions. It wasn't long before Robyn and Neil were right in the surf zone riding the edges of the waves as they came in. Another great paddling extended summer day on the west coast.

Duke Point Petroglyph's

Earlier this spring while staying at the Living Forest RV Campground (one of our favourites) we planned to return in the fall with Dave and Kelly Reaville by checking the tides of the Nanaimo River estuary for optimum water / paddling conditions. Selecting this weekend, the tides were perfect with most of the estuary covered by water all day allowing us to leave the river at the put in location without worrying about getting back later in the day.

To start the weekend we spent Saturday hiking / Geocaching around Newcastle Island and then went for lunch at the Dinghy Dock Pub.  The last time we were at the Dinghy Dock we arrived by kayak but this time we took the little walk-on Nanaimo Harbour Ferry. Hiking around Newcastle was the perfect way to check out the facilities of the Provincial Marine Park that we no doubt will use during a future kayak / camping trip.

Hip "Fit Kit" installed

Sunday morning we woke up to a slightly foggy morning with low clouds which the sun was working hard to break through. Over the past 36 hours there has been a noticeable change in the daily temperatures and right on target since Fall officially arrived at 07:49 in the morning. Our plan for the day was for Dave and Kelly to rent kayaks from the campground and then we would venture out across the estuary and follow the shoreline over to Duke Point. It would also be a good opportunity for us to try the Delta Fit Kits that I installed in our kayaks last week as well as our new GoPro Hero 2 Dive Housing.

Dave & Kelly's Necky's at the Living Forest Campground beach on the Nanaimo River

The campground has a fleet of Necky Rapid's which were perfect for Dave & Kelly. They have been on secluded day trips before with us and we enjoy taking them out with us to experience our kayak adventures. The conditions were absolutely perfect with no wind allowing the group to easily see the shallow bottom of the estuary. A few curious seals played around us as we made our way over to Duke Point but they never ventured close enough to see them under water. Robyn took the lead as she had the GPS with Geocaches loaded in hopes that we would be able to find some close to the shoreline. Sure enough the first one we came across was pretty neat.

Duke Point Petroglyph .... two headed wolf or dogs??

Although we are pretty sure this is not an ancient petroglyph, it was great to see from the water and only a few steps away from the high water line. This was also our first Geocache stop as it was hidden close by.

Continuing our paddle to the north we explored some of the rock gardens which Dave seemed to like to play in. Our next goal was to visit an Earthcache that was located further along the shoreline. Unlike a Geocache, an Earthcache doesn't have a hidden object but rather it brings you to a geological formation and teaches how it was formed. In this case the Earthcache was a honeycomb formation in the sandstone and to complete the challenge we needed to get information off the little bench just above on the trail.

I scrambled out of my kayak to get the information and took a picture of the Earthcache and our paddlers just below.

One thing that we didn't know about the west side of Duke Point was the amazing sandstone galleries that can only be seen from the water. We have hiked the trail along the shoreline but unless you are on the water you miss some pretty cool formations.

Having seen these types of formations before it was great to share a bit of what we do when kayaking with Dave and Kelly. This was a perfect example of why we kayak and how such and experience like this just increases our passion for being on the water.

Lunch stop

We stopped for lunch in a little cove which also had a Geocache and Dave & Kelly made their first kayak up to find. Geocaches are great to find while out for a walk or hike but they are special when you arrive by kayak.










Heading back to the campground along the shoreline the north winds started to pick up a bit. Both Dave and Kelly did great in their little kayaks and there was a hint by Dave that maybe ..... just maybe they should get a couple little kayaks. Living so close to the Brentwood Bay ferry dock we think it would be a great idea!!

The RV's from the Nanaimo River

The tide was just starting to ebb as we entered the the Nanaimo River and paddled our way back to the campground. It was now my turn to try and complete a roll in my Delta Expedition 15.5 for the first time so we found a spot on the river bank that was shallow enough to try and get 'er done. I have recently completed rolls in kayaks owned by our kayak instructors but had yet to pull one off in my Delta. So under the watchful eyes of the group I said to myself " I hope I don't screw this up" as how embarrassing would it be for Kayak Man to "head fail". LOL  I also decided to use a paddle float (thanks Sheila) for orientating my paddle power face correctly while inverted.

The rest is history .... 7 out of 7 rolls completed successfully with each one feeling a little bit better than the previous one. The best part was capturing it on video with my bow mounted GoPro Hero 2 as well as Kelly and Robyn getting other perspectives of the same rolls.

      

GoPro Hero 2 video

Kelly's video of roll #1

Another great day on the water shared with some good friends. With the ever increasing shorter days and cooler temperatures its time to start thinking about Fall kayaking opportunities. A year ago we just wanted to get out in calm conditions and start this amazing adventure. Now we are looking at the play zones for this Fall. Anyone want to come out and play with us??  ;-)

Thetis Lake Slow And Roll

During our Rum Island excursion the previous day with Sheila and Neil we talked about heading to Thetis Lake on Sunday to spend the afternoon exploring the network of little lakes. It would also give us the opportunity to play a bit and the end of the paddle. ;-)  Although Robyn and I have participated in a couple of rolling sessions recently at the lake we have never spent the day just meandering through all the nooks and crannies.

So we met up with "the kids" just after lunch and headed out for an extremely Sunday lazy day paddle which was quite a change for us. Typically we stick to the ocean adjusting our paddling agenda depending on what Mother Nature has in store for the day. Being on a lake for a paddle (our first was almost a year ago) the absence of currents and wind blown waves was quite refreshing as it allowed us just to take in the warm sun and unwind a bit. 

We searched the blown down trees and stumps and found a few turtles, herons and even a river otter who didn't seem to mind us as he crunched on something (maybe a frog) for lunch. For the most part it was just a Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah type of day.  :-)

Heading back to our put in location at the main beach it was time to play a little bit with our rolling techniques. Sheila made it look so easy as she effortlessly did them from her strong side, off side and re-entry rolls as well. She even tried everyone else's kayak along the way to reinforce that our Delta's would roll too. 

After a couple attempts in my Delta the seat back had a minor (fail) so I jumped into Sheila's Atlantis and went to work while Robyn worked with Sheila on some bracing skills. It was a pretty good afternoon of practice and I managed to complete several rolls (with paddle float assistance) and also had a number of "head" fails as well. For the non kayak readers out there, the "head" fail is when you let your head move past the centre of gravity before the rest of your body has come out of the water. The result is that you end up back in the water really quick and when you reach the surface again your hear "HEAD" from the peanut gallery.  LOL

Robyn did manage to capture one of my successful rolls on video as well as many of my "head" fails. Above is one of the good ones while I was in Sheila's Atlantis. Sheila also completes a re-entry roll in my Delta. It was good to leave the water on a positive note and in future I just gotta keep my head down and get 'er done!!