Sunday dawned a little cloudier and cooler than we had hoped, but the sun was poking through a light cloud cover. A slow flood and a slight north breeze suggested that we should have some nice conditions of the water. The breeze was forecast to pick up around noon as a squall passed through so we should have had a couple of hours of calm if cool conditions.
Louise and I met up early with Paula for a paddle at Cadboro Bay, joined by Mark and Robyn from Gecko Paddler. They're new to kayaking, but the bug has bit them hard. They purchased their kayaks last fall, and jumped right into paddling with both feet.
Our plan was to paddle out of Cadboro Bay, island hop to Flower and Jemmy Jones, then cross to Chatham Island....
...but on the way Mark spotted an otter relaxing on the shore.
We avoided the sail boats...
...but as we headed across, the 12 o'clock squall roared in about two hours early, so we decided to turn back. We saw the eagle that usually sits in the tree on the island joined by another eagle. Some sort of eagle ruckus ensued. Louise was the closest and had the best view. She was pretty sure that they had been mating. Here they are enjoying the afterglow.
So instead of crossing, we continued up to Cadboro Point. While quite calm along the shore, we could see that the exposed northern shore around the point was getting the full blast of the wind. So we just paddled around the rocks at the end of the point, and Mark had his first taste of paddling in waves.
I think he liked it - he said he should get himself a surfing boat!
We headed back...
...and naturally the wind died off and the sun came out as soon as we hit the beach, but at least we were now able to enjoy our-post paddle coffee with Robyn and Mark at an outside table.
Trip Length: 7.29 km
YTD: 10.57 km
More pictures are here.
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