Sunday, March 09, 2008

Cadboro Bay to Willows Beach

Another cloudy Sunday. We decided to head from Cadboro Bay to Willows Beach. We were just about to head out when we came up with a great idea, "Let's paddle the kayaks instead!" Bernie was certainly keen to try this new approach. "Now you tell me!" he said.




So we headed out: Bernie, Louise, Paula and myself.
Louise and I toured around the beach while Paula and Bernie launched....







...that's where I found this guy in a tree.




Bernie and Paula joined us and we headed down Cadboro Bay towards Flower Island.
Playing Catch Up

It was a cloudy day, but there were some sunshine seeping through the clouds. There were a lot of sailboats around, and a lot of them were training, so we had to keep our eyes on them.
Sailboats and Mount Baker

We also kept our eye on Mount Baker...just in case it decided to erupt.
Mount Baker

Out of Cadboro Bay, we headed south towards Willows Beach.
Onward, ho!

We found this eagle perched up on a rock.
Eagle Having Breakfast
This is the same eagle we saw in the area three weeks ago. Here he's enjoying a crab for breakfast but he's being bothered by crows who are hoping that he'll drop some crab crumbs for them. At one point he had three crows bothering him. Eventually he got annoyed enough with them that he took off, but we'll see more of him later.

This seagull was also enjoying crab for breakfast.
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Bernie headed back early as he was having equipment problems, and Louise, Paula and I puttered around Willows Beach for a bit, then headed back. We were paddling against an ebbing tide now, and the wind was coming up a little more than forecast.




Then we spotted our crab-eating eagle on another rock.












Soon we were back at the beach...
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...and off to Starbucks to warm up!
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map

Trip Length - 8.2 km
Average Speed - 3.2 kmh

4 comments:

  1. Wow.. Caddy bay's been a popular place recently! It's cool seeing that eagle again - same eye patches and everything. Looks like you got a new toy seeing the maps :)! Good work - that visualizer program is something else, hey? Hope to make a Sunday paddle with you guys again soon!

    I'm back from Hawaii now, and I had a blast paddling too! I can't wait to get back in my Nimbus after paddling a Sit on Top with a 40 pound shovel for a paddle. Only bad news is, I drowned my camera somehow.

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  2. Yeah, love the GPS Visualizer -- that's waaaaay cool!
    Caddy Bay has been popular since Paula and Bernie's truck died, but we're gonna try for Albert Head/Witty's Lagoon on Sunday...after we all declare bankruptcy at the Ocean River sale on Saturday, of course!
    Sorry to hear about your camera. My strap broke as we headed out on Sunday so I was taking pictures without a net. But I was able to hold it further out from me and get some different angles of the boats. I may try that more often!
    I was looking at your Hawaii pics last night... very nice.
    "Forty pound shovel for a paddle." :)
    How was the sit-on-top? I've always wanted to try one for the sake of comparison, but never have.

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  3. John, you can get a chance to try one at PaddleFest--that's where I tried one last year.
    I appreciate the line about me having "equipment problems". Well, I guess my body breaking down can be considered "equipment problems".

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  4. Paula said your discomfort was being caused by your seat back band not fitting properly/not adjusted correctly. That sounds like an equipment issue to me! :)
    I remember you out in the sit-on-top and thinking, "I gotta try that!" And I never did. This year for sure.

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