Today was a rare mid-week paddle as Louise, Paula and I met at Cadboro Bay Beach to kayak out to Chatham Island.
Although somewhat overcast and rainfall warnings out for various spots along the coast, we had totally calm conditions. A higher than normal tide had come in and was going to be hanging around for most of the day.
And oddly, even though it was cloudy and hazy, the conditions allowed us the rare treat of seeing all three mainland mountain ranges (The Cascades, The Olympics, and the Coast Range), and two volcanoes. Mount Baker was plainly visible as it often is...
...but towards the south-east we could barely make out the cone of Mount Rainier about 200 km away.
We paddled out along Ten Mile Point...
...and out towards Jemmy Jones Island...
...where this eagle watched over our journey.
As we crossed from Jemmy Jones to Chatham, a couple of Navy ships crossed our path, first the HMCS Cougar...
...followed a few minutes later by the HMCS Moose.
These are Orca-class patrol vessels generally used for training and support surveillance. (Destroy these pictures right away, just in case Homeland Security comes knocking.)
At Chatham, we cruised down a channel and quickly discovered where all the seals were hiding.
Even if there isn't much current out in the open water like today, there's always some between the islands that make up the Chatham/Discovery group. We just pulled out our paddles and glided by the seals resting on the small rock outcroppings.
After puttering around Chatham...
...we crossed to the Chain Islands....
...where we found more seals...
...then reluctantly headed back to shore.
Trip Length: 12.45 km
YTD: 220.08 km
More pictures are here.
Here's a little coincidence for you: you've titled your excursion "Switching to Glide" presumably after the Kings' song of the same name; I'm the keyboard-player of the band, and I grew up at the corner of Telegraph Bay Rd. and Arbutus Rd., not four blocks from your starting point. Happy kayaking! - Sonny Keyes
ReplyDeleteHi Sonny, thanks for the comment! Small world, isn't it? Yes, that song was running through my head as we glided along on the currents. Always loved that song, and the album. I think I still have the EP with the band's Christmas song on vinyl in the basement somewhere. And I will endlessly defend my belief that "Amazon Beach" is one of the great records of all time!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
John