Louise and I wheeled our kayaks down the hill for a quick Sunday paddle up The Gorge this morning.
Our plan was to go into Portage Inlet and discover if the swans we saw nesting last month have had their eggs hatch yet, and discover if there were any little baby swans swimming around.
But first, only minutes after we put in, this heron posed for us.
A few minutes later, we saw our first signs that were baby birds around. You can see a the back of a baby goose as it has its head down in the lawn.
We passed another heron. No, he's not drunk -- he's hunting. Some birds with eyes on either side on their head turn their head to one side if they are intently watching something. In his case, he was intently watching his breakfast-to-be.
In Portage Inlet, we passed by the nesting swans. Mom was still hunkered down while dad kept watch, so not much change from when we last checked in with them a month ago. It's possible the chicks had hatched and were under mom, but clearly this was something that we were not going to try to find out.
But we were starting to wonder about the geese. Last year by this time we had seen tons of baby geese but with the exception of our sighting earlier in the paddle, we hadn't seen any at all this year. We've seen the occasional one doing yoga...
...but so far very babies. We were wondering if the late spring had had some effect on goose birth rates, but we soon realized we had nothing to worry about. We paddled into a small estuary...
...and found where the baby geese were.
It looked like lots of baby geese were around, and some baby ducks as well. Better still, we didn't spot any eagles, which sucked for me as an amateur photographer, but was good news for all the feathered families in the estuary.
Then we passed by another heron.
But was it really a different heron? Heck, for all I know it could have been the same heron following us the whole day!
Finally we discovered this seagull, who clearly wanted to be the captain of his own destiny. Either that or he was tired of flying.
Trip length: 9.15 km
YTD: 73.11
More pictures are here.
The Google Earth kmz is here.
A warm sunny day today -- a perfect day to head up to Ladysmith for the first day of the 2010 version of Vancouver Island Paddlefest, an annual celebration of paddling and spending money on gear.
Louise, Marlene and I drove up from Victoria, while Paula and Bernie planned to take the train up. Tracy was up island on other kayak-related business, so she drove down and spent some time at Paddlefest as well. Richard was busy elsewhere this weekend, so it gave us a good chance to talk about him behind his back.
Almost as soon as we arrived, however, the day turned surreal and amazing. As we stepped out of the car and began walking towards the beach, the couple in the next car stopped us. "Excuse me, are you John?" they asked. When I replied that I was, they said that they recognized my voice from the videos posted here on the blog! Holy smokes -- our first encounter with fans! And me without my stack of 8x10 autographed glossies! As it turns out they were from Medicine Hat but they used to live in Victoria (in fact, not far from where Louise and I live now) and they like to read the blog to keep up on kayaking activities in their old home town. (They also follow Richard's blog but they noted that he seems to disappear for weeks at a time. See? I told you we were talking Richard behind his back.)
We bid them adieu and began our initial reconnoiter of the beach. The first thing we saw were these amazing wooden kayaks....
...built by 8 Dragon kayaks on Gabriola Island. Gorgeous boats. My pictures do not do them justice.
Next we checked out Delta Kayak's new rotomolded twin-hulled sit-on-top, the Catfish.
By this time Paula, Bernie and Tracy had arrived. We told them about the couple from Medicine Hat as everyone gave the Catfish a good grope.
After that, it was time to hit the water and try boats!
Paula, as usual, was first in the water.
At first, Louise and I took out some Current Design boats, trying various permutations of the Solstice family, the GTS, the GT and the GT Titan. (I made a big list of about 20 boats I was hoping to try -- the Solstice was the only one on my list on the beach.)
They didn't make any really impression on us. Not to say they were bad boats -- they're clearly not, they're well made and kitted out -- but they just weren't the boats for us. Louise found that they seemed to hit her in a tender spot in her hips and that made them uncomfortable for her to sit in. I found them acceptable but uninspiring. But that's just us. Your mileage may vary.
Next, she tried a Current Design Storm, while Paula took out a new Advanced Elements model, the Airfushion.
Louise had wanted to try a Storm for a while now, as she has admired the look of them for many years, but again she found something in the way her hips connected with the boat to very uncomfortable.
Paula on the other hand found the Airfushion quick and sporty, for an inflatable anyway.
Then Louise tried a Valley Aquanaut.
She liked it, but it was probably too large a model for her to really get a feel on it. I'd wanted to try some Valley kayaks as well but there was a dearth of them on the beach. Next year, more Valley, please!
Then Paula took out an Old Town Vapor, or she jokingly referred to it, The Deathtrap.
See how dangerous it is? People were falling over just to get out of her way!
Why Paula calls this a "deathtrap" is that the kayak is just sea-worthy enough that she can visualize young or inexperienced paddlers having a lot of fun in this boat up to the point that they get into a lot of trouble in it. (She's the mother of twins. She knows all about this sort of thing.) On the plus side, there is a version of the Vapor that is made from 100% recycled post-industrial plastic.
After watching Mike Jackson and his friend do a rolling demonstration, we tried some Wilderness Systems kayaks.
I went out in a Tempest 180 Pro, while Louise was in a Zephyr 160 Pro. I gotta say these were the best boats we tried all day. We found them to be quick and nimble, and Louise didn't experience any hip issues, and thought it was the best fit of what we tried.
Having had enough paddling, Louise and I moved out of the water and out of the way of the rolling lesson...
...and changed back into our dry land clothes, where we caught up with Paula and Bernie who were having a late lunch with the couple from Medicine Hat! It seems that Paula and Bernie got recognized, too!
Soon our attention was drawn to a strange-looking craft in the parking lot....
...a Huki S1-R Surfiski with Gullwing outriggers. I immediately knew that I needed at least three of these. Why I would need them, I had no idea, except that they are awesome cool looking.
And finally the day drew to a close, and the last thing to do was to win a door prize, something we do every year here. No, really. I kid you not. Our luck with these things here is phenomenal. The last four years we've won hats, t-shirts, a dry bag, and a PFD.
And the streak continued as Louise won a free double kayak rental from Sealegs Kayaking in Ladysmith. So it looks like another trip up here is in the future sometime this summer!
Trip length: 2.5 km
YTD: 63.96
More pictures are here.
Following up on yesterday's announcement that all federal permits have been granted for the proposed mega-yacht marina for Victoria's Inner Harbour, today the Victoria Chamber of Commerce CEO Bruce Carter warned the city in a statement that if the city blocked the marina by changing the zoning regulations, the city could be on the hook for $23,000,000.
His statement reads in part, “Council could choose to reduce the zoning and effectively deny the property owner from exercising established property rights. But such decisions have financial consequences that do not appear to have been taken into account.”
The interesting note here of course is that the developer is not the property owner of the water lots that the marina would sit in -- the owner would be the province. You and me, in other words. This is why the developer needs a lease approval from the government. How is the city on the hook to the developer if he is not the property owner?
Does the City not have the right to say about any project that notwithstanding that it may meet current zoning, the project is not the right project for the specific area and turn it down? What's the point if having a city council if it actually has no power to make land-use decisions?
Or is the CoC saying that if any proposal for the use of public lands is rejected, the rejectee has the right to sue? Isn't the province/city supposed to be the steward of our lands? Just because something CAN be done doesn't mean it SHOULD be done...
But as usual the voices of the people continue to be lost amid the shrill siren call of dollar bills and the rubbing of greedy hands.
As the summer weather seems to have arrived so too have thoughts of visiting farmer's markets and attending food festivals. BC EAT Magazine arrived via email in a timely manner providing a long list of Food Festivals happening all over BC. Bookmark the page below 'cause EAT will be updating it regularly.
I was pleased to be able to attend the salmon rally in Centennial Square on Saturday May 8, and see the march to the legislature.
Alexandra Morton sent a note describing her journey to many correspondants -- here's an excerpt from it:
Once again it is up to us.
The Get Out Migration was a powerful and wildly successful effort. People in every town we passed through and on the road volunteered their time and expertise and the result is emergence of the people of the salmon, people who are strong, independent and understand the contribution of salmon in our lives, our future and our economy. The First Nation voice set the tone and eloquence - uniting, legendary and welcoming. People of all ages walked side-by-side to ensure a future where our children can thrive. We shut down one lane of highway 17 and the police kindly let us walk without traffic lights along Quadra and Government Streets. The Parliament lawns reportedly hold 20,000 people and looking out over the sea of people less than 1/3 of the lawn was visible.
And yet BC's two biggest newspapers mention there were only ---- "nearly 1000 people". This is so wrong in so many ways.
("Sea of people marches to fight fish farms," The Times Colonist, 9th May)
There is no mention of our First Nation families and friends and the number of people was five to ten times lower than reality. You can see video blogs of the Get Out Migration at salmonaresacred.org
alexadramorton.ca
Alexandra Morton
This morning, Transport Canada issued a Navigable Waters permit for the mega-yacht marina proposed for Victoria's Inner Harbour. A Federal environmental permit was previously issued last month.
“This is an important step in the approval process that will soon bring one of the most modern, environmentally-friendly and beautiful marina projects in the world to Victoria’s middle harbour,” said Lachlan MacLean, general manager of marina Operations for the WAM Development Group.
However, the plan has been opposed by thousands of local residents (including kayaking groups). As one reader posted on CBC's coverage of today's development, "A facility such as this encourages an unsustainable, unjustifiable gluttonous consumption of fossil fuel that serves no purpose other than propping up yacht owner's ego. It supports a lifestyle that is no longer relevant." I couldn't have said it better.
CFAX has posted some local reactions:
-- proposed mega-yacht marina builder Bob Evans: "Our original goal was to get the construction done this year...2010...but it won't be completed probably until the summer of 2011 now, (because of) the long time it took. But again, I want to re-emphasize I am so grateful to everyone that has helped us along the process"
-- local MP Keith Martin: "I find that remarkable because the marina as far as I've seen fails on a couple of accounts. From an environmental perspective but importantly from a safety perspective. Stick a marina in the inner harbour, where it's proposed and the wave pattern changes, and how busy our inner harbour is I fear that we're going to have an accident, that there's going to be a fatal collision between planes, boats."
The project still requires provincial and civic approval. And as reported by CFAX, BC Forests Minister Pat Bell is waiting for guidance from the city before deciding whether to issue approval for the project, claiming that he's been getting mixed messages from the city, despite the fact that the mayor has been fairly adament in his displeasure with the proposal.
This is far from over, and lawyers will get rich.
If Australia is Down Under, does that mean that North America is Up Over?
Anyway, according to the Fat Paddler, this is how they do Vertical Slide Entrances in Australia. It's a wonder there's any kayakers left alive down under!
Check out the Fat Paddler's blog -- always a great read! Thanks for the link, Sean!
Yesterday was the kind of day we live for.
We had spring in winter, then winter for the first part of spring. But now it looks like summer might finally be approaching as we had a paddling day under clear warm skies for the first time since I don't know when.
Before we began, Louise and Paula compared toe-nail colours. Louise was in teal and Paula in silver. My toe-nails were going commando.
Tracy joined us as well (she declined to mention what colour her toe-nails were), and the four of us put in at Cadboro Bay for a paddle out to Chatham and Discovery Islands. We were facing a mild flood tide that wasn't really going to amount to anything, a perfect day to explore this small off shore island group.
At Chatham, we noodled around and explored. We thought we saw Richard paddling ahead of us. He was supposed to join us for today's paddle, but by the time we were ready to launch there was no sign of him. (Were his toe-nails still wet? If that was the case, they must have dried eventually because he did make it out after us.)
Whoever it was, we never caught up to him.
We paddled between Chatham and Discovery, then decided to do what we call the Grand Tour and cross over to the Chain Islands.
Here, we saw a few seals. We gave them a wide clearance as it's seal birthing season.
From there we returned to Cadboro Bay for a happy landing...
...and a big cup of coffee.
Trip length: 12.73 km
YTD: 61.46
More pictures are here.
The Google Earth kmz is here.
It was one of those kind of mornings. The kind of morning when the various and sundry weather prognosticators reached little consensus. The Weather Network said winds were light in Juan de Fuca Strait, while Environment Canada was posting gale warnings. The one thing they all agreed on was that wind and rain was coming. The only question was when.
"When" appeared to be "now" as Louise and I considered whether to haul the kayaks over to Cadboro Bay and meet Paula for the launch. Across town from our destination, we were being pelted by rain and a stiff breeze. We decided that coffee was the order of the day, and, forgoing the kayaks, drove across town.
At Cadboro Bay, we discovered that the weather here was better but only marginally so.
Paula had her kayak ready to go and she was joined by two associate members of our little informal paddling group, Dennis and Tracy. Despite the fact that we've paddled with both of them separately numerous times, we could recall only one previous time that we'd kayaked with both of them together.
So Paula, Dennis and Tracy launched for a quick paddle out to Flower Island and back...
.... while Bernie and Louise decided that discretion was in order and headed to the coffee shop to escape the stiff breeze. (I know, I know. Bernie -- discretion? Who knew?)
I wandered over to nearby Mystic Pond and checked out the heron rookery.
The herons don't mind sharing the pond with ducks.
Then I started getting cold, so I went for coffee, too. Here's hoping there's better weather next weekend!
Or eventually. Sometimes it takes me a while to get things done (for various reasons). So, finally, my version of our September 30th, 2009 paddle in Cadboro Bay.
The giant mega-yacht marina propsed for Victoria's Inner Harbour passed its first hurdle yesterday as a Transport Canada spokesman announced that "Transport Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have concluded that with the proposed mitigation measures, the project is not likely to result in significant adverse environmental effects and that the impact on navigation can be mitigated."
According to the Victoria Times-Colonist "the proposal has run into opposition from a range of groups, including paddlers, environmentalists, owners of high-end condos and others. A 7,000-name petition against the development was sent to various levels of governments. Marina critics argue the development would compromise safety, views, the environmental and attractiveness of the city’s harbour." There were over 400,000 movements in the harbour in 2007 and some worry that adding large mega-yachts trying to enter the proposed 2.63-hectare marina will congest an already small and complicated harbour.
With the environmental report out of the way, the next decision on the Navigable Waters Protection Act approval and the Fisheries Act authorization will be made shortly.
After that, the next step in the unpopular development will be whether the province decides to grant the developer a license to use the provincial water lots (and the provincial government does have a habit of forcing unpopular items down peoples' throats. See the HST.) The devloper will then have to seek a development permit from the city for the marina's on-shore facilities, which may prove to be a struggle as Victoria's mayor has already publicly spoken against this proposal.
Meanwhile, some opponents, such as Victoria MP Denise Savoie, are already talking legal action against the development. The Times-Colonist also reports:
"We are going to be looking at all our options, including legal," said [anti-marina] coalition member Diane Carr.
Carr is not surprised by the decision coming from Transport Canada, the lead federal agency examining the proposal. "But of course one always hopes for a result in the public interest," she said.
The process used to determine whether the marina belongs in the harbour has been a major issue for opponents, who say it is not transparent, comprehensive and did not take public concerns into account. "A poor process yields a poor result," Carr said.
