Mike Jackson's Paddling Journal

Mike and I went for a fairly early paddle out of Roberts Bay. The forecast was indicating that the wind would be out of the south and then build out of the west, so we decided to stay close to shore and follow it down to Bazan Bay - I hoped for a good tail wind back from Bazan... The sail rig worked well and Mike took some pics. However the wind was already turning to the west, making it harder to track.

11.2 km, 6 NM, YTD 36 km 

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 4:42 PM 0 comments links to this post

Pete and I snuck out for a couple of hours from McNeill Bay. My main goal was to try out the new Pacific Action sail that arrived on Friday and I installed this morning. It worked great in that it was easy to deploy and to furl. It also moved me along at a good clip - a fast paddling pace at least. It also seems to work quite well off directly downwind. I will need to tinker with the location of a couple of things and practice sail trimming a bit more, but it looks like it will be fun! I was sailing in all the purple/blue sections of the tack below and also in the second run north east from Trial Island. The wind was probably about 10 knots most of the time and gusting occasionally to 15 knots.

8.8 km, 4.8 NM, YTD 25 km.

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 3:59 PM 0 comments links to this post

Mike and I  decided to start the year off with a good paddle and set out from Robert's bay at 0930. We had calm dry conditions for launching and the wind gradually built while we made our way to Ker. By the time we got to Forrest, it was blowing nicely from the SE, so we paddled to the south end of Forrest and then let the wind take us to Coal Island. Great ride. I had my small (0.75 sq m) Sprit Sail up and was making great progress without paddling (max speed 15 kph or just over 8 knots!). Mike paddled and got some great rides on the surf. We rounded coal and entered calm quiet waters where we stopped for lunch. Mike found  a bottle with a message in it and is e-mailing the writers... The wind was blowing strongly when we were making our way from Curteis Point to Roberts Bay, making it quite hard work, but conditions were pleasantly exhilarating. We made it back to the beach by about 1330.

Kelp Reef recorded fairly steady SSE winds between 23 and 28 knots for the period from 0900 to 1300.

17.8 km, 8.2 NM, YTD 18 km!

  
 North of Coal                                          Now you see him...                                Now you don't!

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 5:17 PM 0 comments links to this post

Dennis, John and I went for a paddle in Saanich inlet, thinking that the weather forecast was a bit iffy. As it turned out, we had calm conditions and just a sprinkle of rain throughout our paddle. Visited Spectacle creek and Goldstream boathouse. Had a fairly protected lunch break in Misery Bay. The tide was remarkably high this morning - no launching beach! Probably the last paddle of the year and it was a good one - I managed to make the 1000 km even without the summer west coast trip!

28 km, 15 NM, YTD 1273 km  

Spectacle falls

high tide at Repulse rock                         Goldstream Marina                 Google map of route

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 6:15 PM 1 comments links to this post

Seasonn and I took the Passat to the gorge and paddle from the Craigflower beach to the Bay Street Bridge. The wind was building from the southeast and was making it hard going. Once we turned around, I put up the large Spiritsail and we moved along quite nicely with the wind and the current at our back!

4.5 NM, 8 km, YTD 1245 km

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 11:18 PM 0 comments links to this post

Did not go sea kayaking today, but managed to spend an hour playing in the surf at Jordan River. We were out staying at Point No Point for a couple of days. It was a nice flat sea with a decent swell. I am out of practice since I had trouble catching several nice waves. I did manage to get a few nice rides though.

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 5:06 PM 0 comments links to this post

Did not manage to get out this weekend as I had a bunch of jobs to do around home. However, I was able to get to the pool to do a couple of hours of rolling and bracing practice. I brought my Gulfstream and my Feathercraft. I wanted to practice chest sculling with a view to graduating to a reverse sweep or storm roll, but did not make great progress. I did get some successful chest scull recoveries, but not consistently. I was using the Feathercraft with a modified back (#3) rib so that the back deck was low and this was great for layback type rolls - I almost had a hand roll with it. It also worked great for doing a static brace and recovery. Interestingly, I found the Gulfstream easier to chest scull with but harder to do a static brace with. I obviously need some more practice, so I will be heading back to the pool in the New Year! Mark and Craig were also at the pool.

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 9:24 AM 0 comments links to this post

George and I went for a "lazy" Sunday afternoon paddle in the Gorge. We left the beach near Craigflower and went as far as Ogden Point. The weather was calmer than expected and there was hardly any rain.

not a "live" map

8.3 NM, 15.4 km, YTD 1237 km

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 10:50 AM 0 comments links to this post

George, Dennis and I went out for 9 AM OTW from Cadboro Bay and had a nice winter's day paddle out to the Islands. The tide was high, so we were able to get into the inlet and visit "cactus island". Conditions were fine, windy at times, but nothing that made paddling hard. Chatham and Discovery Islands are a such a wonderful spot. Dennis found a couple of crab trap floats and I found a hula hoop!

George and Mt Baker

The view from the cockpit - darned water drops!

17.2 km, 9.3 NM, YTD 1222 km.

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 3:56 PM 0 comments links to this post

Craig, Mike and I set off from Cadboro Bay to play in the bay for a few hours. It was rainy and windy with the forecast “Winds westerly 25 to gales 35 knots easing to westerly 20 to 25 this afternoon” – the storm warning had been downgraded.

It was hard work paddling into the wind to make our way to Gonzalez point, but fun. I landed at the golf course to check the wind with my anemometer – got a reading of 25 knots.

  Craig and Mike off Gonzalez point.

  7 nm, 13 km, YTD 1205 km.

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 5:15 PM 0 comments links to this post

Dennis, Heike and I set off from the Brentwood bay beach on a rather damp morning. It rained pretty steadily until just before we got back. Dennis had to go back after a mile, so Heike and I paddled back with him before starting again. We made it to Sawluctus island and back and conditions were fine, though wet and a bit cold. We did not tarry long at lunch in Misery bay as it was not warm enough. The east side of the inlet was dripping wet with small scades coming off it everywhere. We also enjoyed checking out the Robertson II. The tide was very high all day, so there was very ltle around in of beaches.

 15.7 nm, 29 km, YTD: 1192

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 4:40 PM 1 comments links to this post

I headed out early (9AM) frim Island View beach to head out to D’Arcy. Conditions were nice and I made it to the campsite in an hour. Dennis, Tony, Heike and Paolo were camped there and were loading their boats. Craig had left earlier. Heike, Dennis, Tony and I set off back to IVB via James Island. Shortly after we left it got cold and the wind picked up – must have been nearly 20 knots as it slowed me down to about 2 knots! Kelp reef was up to 24 knots.

17 km, 9 nm, YTD: 1163

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 3:43 PM 0 comments links to this post

Pete, George and I went for a Sunday afternoon paddle to D’Arcy Island from Island view Beach. beautiful sunny calm day!

17.5 km, 9.5 nm, YTD: 1146 km

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 9:24 AM 0 comments links to this post

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 11:29 PM 0 comments links to this post

Dennis, Paolo, George, John, Heike and I went for a relatively early (9AM OTW) paddle over to Rum Island. It was wet and a bit windy as we set off and the current was ebbing southward as we went by Sidney Spit and Forrest Island. We stopped for a nice “Brunch” on the south side of Rum. By the time we had finished, the weather had improved and the sun was peeking out.

12 nm, 20 km, YTD 1129km.

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 5:26 PM 0 comments links to this post

 I ran a PaddleCanada(CRCA) flatwater course today for the VCKC. We were in the Gorge and operated out of the club house. All 4 partcipants paddled well and passed (Jen, Will, heather and Emily).

3 km, YTD 1109

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 4:30 PM 0 comments links to this post

Charlie and I took a group of SMUS students out to Beaver lake to work on their CRCA flatwater and level 1 course. The water was warm which made practicing wet exits and rescues quite bearable!

6 km YTD 1106 km

Labels: paddling reports

# posted by Mike J @ 7:33 AM 0 comments links to this post