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)

BCMTN Site Assessments - Discovery Islands Group

The weekend of March 7th & 8th Robyn and I joined other members of the BC Marine Trails Network Board of Directors on a site assessment expedition into the Discovery Islands Group located northeast of Campbell River. 

My three girls for the campout ..... lucky me! :-)

Leaving Victoria at 5:45am on Saturday morning we drove to the Quadra Island ferry terminal in Campbell River where we met up with Paul Grey, Reale Emond and Gene Gapsis to catch the 10:15am departure. Paul is the BCMTN Project Manager for the Discovery Islands Group and he had previously identified a number of sites that he wanted our group to take a closer look at.






Reale and Gene are the Stewardship Managers for the BCMTNA and they have been refining the Site Condition and Site Assessment Reports that the organization will be using in the future. It was also a hands-on training session on how to conduct site assessments which Robyn and I were looking forward to learning.

Moulds Bay with Breton Islands in the distance.

Our put-in location was at Moulds Bay just north of Heriot Bay which put us in close proximity to a number of the sites that Paul wanted to check on Quadra Island, Bold Island and a couple other small rocky islets.











The kayaking gods couldn't have given us a better weather forecast to deal with as there was no wind, no clouds, lots of sun and warm temperatures. This weekend would be our first overnight campout of the year and with clear skies and a full moon we wondered if there would be freezing temperatures overnight. Not to worry as we simply loaded everything we needed (like mexican blankets) into our Delta 15.5 Expeditions. We were only going for one night but we could have stayed out there for a couple of weeks with all the gear we took. LOL

Low tide meant that we packed up on the rocky beach about 100 meters from the cars. 

Paul was our expedition leader for the day and couldn't stay with the group overnight so we checked out 3 locations before he had to leave. The first site was in a small bay called Shellaligan that was covered in oysters at low tide and had several areas that could be developed into campsites if need be.

Possible beach camping in a couple of places

Paul and Gene documenting and taking pictures of the site.

Our next spot to check out was Bold Island, a small island that didn't look like much from the water and even looked like a tough place to land on the rocky beach at low tide. At first we thought maybe it would suit as a rest stop location but on further exploration we spotted an area that would make a great little campsite for 2 or 3 tents. I think Robyn and I have officially put "dibs" on this spot to do the site work should the BCMTN be granted this location.

At low tide it's a rocky approach but doable.

The good thing about doing the assessments at low tide is that we got to visualize what the different landings might be like as the tide changes or in weather conditions.

Heading towards the uplands to check out what amenities might be available.

The view was awesome too!

Our next site to check out was a very small islet called Dunsterville Mini Islet which from a distance looked like a perfect place to set up camp however on closer inspection we soon found out that landing a kayak at high or low tide would be very challenging. Unfortunately this little islet will not make the list of sites that will be submitted for review.

As it was now getting late in the day we escorted Paul back to Moulds Bay as he was unable to finish the weekend with us. Reale, Gene, Robyn and I then headed to Breton Islands to set up camp for the evening. Breton Islands campsite is located on crown land and although it looks like it is heavily used, we were the only ones here today.

Heading to our overnight stop at the Breton Islands

Since the weather forecast was for no rain we set up our tents in between the logs on the beach and watched the sun slowly sink over Vancouver Island.

Our first overnight for  2015. It doesn't get any better than this!

Before we got to the task of making dinner, Robyn and I took the opportunity to go find a geocache that is on the NE side of the island. The cache in question had only been found a few times since being placed there several years ago and it wasn't long before we located it. The view from the cache site looking northeast deep into the Discovery Islands Group was stunning. Tomorrow we would head that direction and do more site assessments but first it was time to head back to camp and make dinner.

The sun setting on the Discovery Islands Group 

When we landed at the campsite we noticed that a small fire just above the high water line was still smoldering from recent guests so we burned off the partially burned wood as darkness surrounded us. Being the beginning of March we were prepared for a possible cold night but just as the marine forecast predicted it was almost like a midsummer night in paradise. The full moon started to show itself above the tree line of the island as we headed to bed and set our alarms for 6:00am. The next day was going to be a long one and we needed to be on the water at first light to put in the miles.

OMG!!! The 6am alarm clock woke us up and it was still dark as we crawled out of tents and started the process of loading up the kayaks. With daylight savings clicking in overnight it actually was 5am but we had work to do. Breakfast and coffee was made using our headlamps as very slowly it started to get light. Just after 7am we were on the water and heading towards Read Island to check out some sites that Paul had asked us to assess.

The sun starts to rise above the marine layer that settled in overnight.

There are advantages to getting up early and being on the water. Paddling as the sun rises does something to the soul and it takes all your troubles and worries away as the new day approaches. Back to work :-)  Reaching Read Island we explored the beautiful rugged coastline checking every small bay or cove for potential sites.

We came across a small pebble beach located deep inside a cove which is called Read Point East and after landing we explored the upland for possible places that tents could be set up. This end of Read Island is a Provincial Park but at some time in history there must have been a homestead here as we found the remnants of an old garden. This would make a great campsite location as there is room for several tents in a couple of areas.

A good landing area

A garden from the past ...

Our next site was one that Paul wanted us to check on and it was a possible location that we were considering as using as our base camp the night before. Located in a very long cove the site is designated Lake Bay as a small creek flows from Rosen Lake in the park on Read Island. Entering the cove the view deep inside is wonderful with steep rocky walls all way to the landing area of small rocks. Once on land we soon realized that beyond the piled up driftwood there was a pretty substantial marshland hidden from view and almost nowhere to put up a tent. Maybe it was a good thing that we didn't paddle here the evening before as finding a location to put our tents would have been a challenge.

Deep inside the walls of the bay we landed on the beach of Lake Bay.

Lots of driftwood debris would make setting up camp difficult. 

While we were completing the site assessment at Lake Bay, another paddler entered the cove and came ashore. It was Al Dunham who lives in Campbell River and had been in contact with Reale the evening before while at our Breton Islands campsite. Al had gotten up early, took the ferry from Campbell River, launched from Rebbeca Spit Marine Park near Heriot Bay and tracked us down here.

Our next couple of sites to check out were 4nm north of Lake Bay and so the five of us headed off towards Hill Island which was about the half way point. The sun slowly started to burn through the marine layer revealing another amazing day with hardly a breath of wind. Early March on the west coast and it felt more like early summer.

Heading towards Hill Island and beyond for our next assessment sites

Reale, Al and Robyn gliding along on the glass like surface of the water.

Whale Passage dead ahead and the Penn Islands to the right.

While Gene, Reale and Al started to check out a site at Whale Passage, Robyn and I headed over to Frederic Point to check out a potential site there. We found a location to land in between a field of large boulders and made our way up to the high water line. Looking back from where we came we could see the snow cap tips of the Vancouver Island Ranges in the distance.

Everywhere we looked the views were spectacular.

The beauty of venturing deeper into Discovery Islands is that the sites that we started to assess were in many cases totally untouched. Such was the case at Frederic Point as we saw no evidence of previous camping at this location. With care, a couple of tent sites could be established at this location in the future.

Possible tent site with some clean up required.

Completing the assessment on the beach 

One of the purposes of this trip was to check out potential BC Marine Trails sites in the Discovery Islands Group but it was also an opportunity to use the recently developed laminated Site Assessment Report.

We simply used the provided grease pencil to complete the report and took a few photographs (Robyn's idea) of it to save the data. I then wiped clean the laminated report for use at another site later in the day.













After completing the Frederic Point assessment, Robyn and I joined the others at the Whale Passage site just a few hundred meters east. The Whale Passage site has been used in the past as a paddle in campsite and it offers fabulous views and a clearing beneath the trees just above the landing area for tents. This would be our lunch stop before pressing on to a couple more sites before heading back towards Moulds Bay.

Whale Passage camp site.

A couple of minutes after I took this picture the kayaks were high and dry. Big water movement in the Discovery Islands.

Al, Reale and Gene relaxing in the sun on the bluff at Whale Passage.

Rounding the point at Whale Bay the view up towards Bute Inlet was stunning. The area has a feeling of being so remote and would be a wonderful place to do a multi day trip in the future. Another bucket list destination.

I really wanted to turn left and disappear for several days deeper into the Discovery Islands Group.

The next site we visited was called Penn Islands Central. At first glance it looked like landing might be difficult due to a massive oyster bed in the small bay that was exposed during the receding tide.

Oysters anyone?

But like most of the sites that we visited, high water will allow landing on a beach consisting of small rocks and bedrock.

A possible old oyster lease. In the distance you can just make out a fish farm.

On one side of the small bay we explored the mossy bluffs and identified a number of places that would be suitable for a few tents.

Checking out the topography of the site for tent locations.  

Robyn took this one of me completing my Site Assessment Report. 

On the other side of the bay our exploration efforts located the remnants of what looks like a make shift camp established to harvest the oysters. It obviously hasn't been used for quite some time but could be easily be cleaned up to become a good site.

The remains of an old camp. A little work in this area would make it an ideal inland location for tents.

Our last site was at Penn Islands Southwest and once again, medium sized boulders at low tide to land on. From the water it doesn't look like much but once on the beach the possibilities reveal themselves for camping above the high water line and even up high on the bluffs nearby.

From the water it looks a little rough but ......

From high above, the site creates opportunities.

Robyn on the bluff surveying the landscape.

In order for Robyn and I to make it back to Victoria before midnight we needed to be heading towards Moulds Bay by no later than 2:00pm. With the paddle back to the put in, unloading of the kayaks, drive to the Quadra Island ferry (which we missed the 6pm), we finally made it home just before 11pm. The whole way back in the car we talked about how magical the experience to paddle the area was and the planning process has begun on doing an extended multi day trip into the Discovery Islands Group in 2016.

2015 Paddle #10 - BCMTN Discovery Islands

Distance: 24.64 nm (45.63 km)

YTD: 84.94 nm (‪148.53 km)