Sea Lion Belly Flop

My only question is how did the sea lion climb the tower in the first place?
Check out the video embedded below:

Ocean Films

Are paddlers interested in films about living on the ocean? Well, yeah. Vancouver-based paddlers should be aware of the latest news from Georgia Strait Alliance, about the upcoming Vancouver Festival of Ocean Films. It takes place on September 13, at 4pm at Vancity Theatre.
Three great films will be screened, including one about the life of a surfer and environmental activist, another about saving wild salmon runs, and Thule Tuvalu about the effects of climate change in communities as different as Greenland and a South Pacific island. Click here to see the previews and get your tickets.

Scouting East Sooke

Made time this afternoon (Sunday) to head out for paddling. We intended to go to Kemp Lake so Bernie could do some fishing, but had to head the other direction to put some gas in the rattly van. When the pumps had no power at the nearest station, we headed off to another station, and since that one was half-wayu to Roche Cove, we ended up going there.
Roche Cove is a nice little inlet off Sooke Basin, and we've been there only one time. That day I was paddling with John and Louise, and we did not linger! Recently I rode a little local bus to see East Sooke, and there was the bridge at the mouth of Roche Cove. That's when I got the idea it would be nice to paddle inside the cove and avoid the currents at the mouth entirely. But where to launch in this shoreline park?
Bernie stopped the van in a parking lot big enough for 8 or 9 cars, and we investigated the park. Nice sign, bench, bike rack, and pit toilets suitable for changing clothes! I'd had a good look at a CRD pamphlet, and there's the same image online at the link above. On the map, it looked like along the Galloping Goose trail about 300 yards would be a level area between the trail and shore. The pamphlet spoke of a sandy beach, and said "Picnic at the protected cove after an easy walk from the parking area."
Bernie insisted we walk along the trail to the beach first, and then come back for the boats.
We had quite a nice level walk along the trail. It would be a good place to bring someone who wanted to look at cliffs and bluffs but couldn't climb them. The only problem was that we didn't come to a beach in 300 metres, or 600 metres, or even a kilometre as I'd expected based on the map. There were steep drops to water at those points, not level ground. Oops. There was a footpath down to the end of the cove, with a sheltered shore that showed rocks, not sand.
While it would be possible to portage small boats a kilometre along the trail and then carefully down the footpath, we decided to press on instead of paddling today. Bernie headed us towards Anderson Cove.
That's part of East Sooke Park. From the bus, I'd seen two places for pulling a small car off the road and walking a few steps down a slope to the sheltered water of the cove. Bernie found a small parking lot for 6 or so cars up a short but steep lane from the road -- hard to see from a vehicle as you go past. Here was another sign and pit toilets again. If we were going to launch here, we'd prefer to have rollers for the boats.

So we headed for home. No actual paddling today, but we scouted two places. Now Bernie will know where I'm going when I hop on a bus to Anderson Cove. Now we know that Roche Cove isn't well-suited for paddling, but it's not impossible, and we had a nice walk along the trail. Not bad.

New Rope!

Just bought some new gear. Well, something to make new gear. Well, I bought some rope.
That might not be exciting for any real hardbody adventure kayakers, but hey! I get kayak excitement where I can. Sometimes that means making gear. And the materials don't have to come from high end stores selling kayaks and canoes, even though Ocean River is a great store. Often I find useful material at hardware stores.
The rope I bought was too interesting to leave behind. It had a reflective thread woven in with the bright yellow strands, which caught my attention. And a note on the label says "floats" so that made me think of ways I could use floating rope.

Got this rope at Home Depot!

I've checked the hardware store's website for info on this rope. Apparently the 80lbs capacity which is noted on the rope's label isn't the only limiting feature. It also stretches over time, and when compared with other synthetic ropes it's poor at holding knots or resisting abrasion. That means it is NOT good for rock-climbing and probably not a substitute for a proper tow line system from North Water. I wonder if the affordable throw bags I bought a couple of years ago have better rope... certainly that rope is softer and more flexible.
I'm going to try using this new rope for deck line. And my new inflatable Lagoon needs a tender, or a line that stays attached to the bow handle. Oh, the ideas that are milling in my brain!

Tubing

Patron Saint of Canadian travel by water

Just reading Stephen Hume's fascinating book Simon Fraser: In Search of Modern British Columbia. Among the interesting details that make this book so fascinating are facts about the fur trade in North America. When Fraser set out from Montreal and Lachine on his journey west, the end of the first day's easy paddle was a tiny community called Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. This place is at the narrows of the Saint Lawrence river where canoes turn west to travel up the Ottawa river. There was a small, windowless stone church dedicated to Saint Anne, described by Hume as the patroness of the Canadians in all their travels by water.
Nice to know we paddlers have a patron saint.
Paddlers looking for a good read will enjoy a little armchair paddling with Hume's book in hand! He describes in detail the birchbark canoes of First Nations and voyageurs, and their river routes. The history of travel by water in Canada is described with as much immediacy as Hume's own times on the rivers and lakes.

Catfishing

Okay, the small boat in use in this video has a motor but I still think catfishing is of interest to paddlers.

Check out this video posted on YouTube if the embedded version below doesn't show for you.

Is It Possible to Canoe Over a Car?

Why, yes. Yes, it is. Especially if you tie your canoe to a second car. Alcohol is recommended before trying this, and you should never actually try it. Just stick to the alcohol.
Check out the video embedded below:

Your Squee! For the Day

Rosie the kitten was just three weeks old when she was found abandoned and sick earlier this year. Her rescuers were not sure she would survive unless they found a surrogate mother, and they found an unlikely one in Lilo the husky dog. It was all the more unexpected because Lilo had never had puppies of her own but Rosie clearly brought out Lilo's mothering instinct. Rosie eventually was adopted by the whole pack of huskies, becoming a bit of an Internet thing a couple of months ago.
Rosie's latest adventure with her new pack is to enjoy kayaking and paddleboarding. That cat gets on the water more than I do.

A photo posted by Hello! We Are Lilo&Infinity!😄 (@lilothehusky) on Aug 15, 2015 at 1:40pm PDT

And of course, there's a video:

Google Kayak Maps

Unless Google Translate is playing a joke on me, this article is describing the Google camera being used on a kayak. The kayaker paddled 1500 kms around the coast of Malaysia, all the while with the Google Maps camera strapped on its back. Check out the results on Google Maps.

Clover Point Wastewater Discharge

Paddlers wanting to launch near Clover Point should take notice! Word has come from the Capital Regional District about an untreated sewage spill at Clover Point on Saturday, August 29.
Here's a quote from the CRD notice on their website pages:

For Immediate Release
August 29, 2015
Clover Point Wastewater Discharge Notice
Victoria, BC
Signs have been posted as a precautionary measure due to a wastewater discharge at
Clover Point on the afternoon of Saturday, August 29, 2015.
Approximately 900 m3 of unscreened wastewater was discharged through the Clover Point pumpstation short outfall as a result of a mechanical equipment failure. The failure has since been corrected and the pumpstation is operating as it should.
In consultation with Island Health, water sampling at locations along the beaches near Clover Point will take place this weekend and public health advisory signs have been posted at all beach access points in the Ross Bay
and Clover Point areas. Lab results from the weekend samples should be available early
next week and if enterococci levels are below the 70CFU/100mL recreational limit the signage will be
removed.
For media inquiries please contact:
Ted Robbins, General Manager,
CRD Integrated Water Service
Office 250.360.3061

Big ol' fish and good ol' boys

The winds yesterday were done today. Time for another short paddle on Poirier Lake, a pleasant little lake. There were intermittent flashes of sunshine breaking through the clouds, but a patter of rain started just as Bernie carried the red Pamlico down to the brand-new boat dock. It was a nice warm rain shower, off and on for the next hour, as I paddled in lazy circuits round the little lake.
Bernie walked to the brand-new fishing dock and set up his rod and reel. Before long he waved me over to the dock. "My line is caught on that sunken log again," he said. "First cast!" It wasn't hard to free the hook so he could cast again.
Twice I saw a fish break the surface, several minutes apart, and not a little tiny fish. Once the water was disturbed near enough that I could see the white shape of a fish that looked about two feet long. It was probably smaller, but it sure seemed like a big ol' fish.
Drifted and paddled some more, listening to white guy funky rock on a radio outside a house at one end of the lake. A very retro station. Then back to shore and home to the little house.

Orcas and Kayaks

New Zealand kayaker Nathen Pettigrew has a story to tell after a pod of six orcas swam up to him and checked out his boat.
Check out his video below:

Seriously equipped

What a day! after weeks of sunshine, it's raining in squalls. The wind blows in gusts... first nothing, then a breeze, and suddenly the trees are thrashing and then still. With the weather forecast saying "be careful out there" I did NOT go out paddling today. Instead I checked that my kayaking gear is packed just fine under the deck. Now the rain is pounding down in sheets.
Wonder how a family I saw the other day is doing on their camping trip. Their RV was waiting at a traffic light as Bernie and I walked past and saw the family's big smiles and their arms resting on the open windows. On the roof of their RV was tied a big ol' red canoe, the type that I think nearly everyone has paddled for their first time in a boat. Behind the RV was their boat trailer with a powerboat much like a nice Bayliner. And a Zodiac inflatable was tied upside-down on top of the powerboat, with a smaller motor of its own.
"When you're taking THREE boats on your trip," said Bernie, "you are SERIOUSLY equipped."

Vintage Spanish Kayaking

Here's a vintage clip of a kayak race in Spain's Sella River on August 26, 1957.
I like the standing (sitting?) start on the beach. The race was apparently won by a pair from Belgium. Check out the clip embedded below:

Hutchison Cove

Had a good time on the water on Saturday. Bernie and I launched at Cooper's Cove and headed into Hutchison Cove. Both coves are part of Sooke Basin, where we've paddled before several times!

We ate a ripe blackberry each as we walked from the van to shore with our boats. No lingering to harvest blackberries! Today was just a short day. If I'd thought about driving to water, I'd have taken my 13-foot Expedition inflatable kayak, but the little 8'6" Lagoon is still so new that I'm practically carrying it to the grocery store and everywhere. I was in the Lagoon and Bernie in the red Pamlico when we set off. By the time I hit the water -- a bare six minutes after leaving the van, I might add, which is a terrific inflation/set-up time for any folding kayak!-- Bernie was drifting back from the middle of the cove with a smug smile.

"I've already caught a crab," he said. "And a fish. Well, the fish struck at the blackberry seed I spit out of my teeth. And I've seen a turkey vulture soaring overhead. My day is complete." Congratulations were in order, even when he admitted that the crab had been thumb-sized, floating, and already released, and the fish was a tiny fingerling.

Most of the sea life we noted after that was a series of jellyfish. Moon jellies were floating all around. We paddled past the bluffs and into the mouth of Hutchison Cove, where we drifted for a while and contemplated an immensely large house visible on the shore. Here's a SPOT signal showing our location on our way back.

We followed along the Goodridge Peninsula on the outside of Cooper Cove and then on the inside, contemplating the geology and the wear-and-tear on this little peninsula. It formed after the end of the last Ice Age, and most of the sediments we can see above the waterline piled up in the last 10,000 years. There are clamshells and black earth here, which apparently means the ashes and shells from First Nations middens. It would have been a nice place for clams and ducks. A hundred years ago it was a site for construction of concrete tunnel sections to convey water from Sooke Lake reservoir to Victoria, so the site saw some pretty rough use. Now it's recovering and looks like a park. Part of the Cove is a sanctuary for migrating birds.

A seal or two popped up behind our boats and watched us before dipping down again. We weren't on the water long, but it always feels like the right place to be.

Duke Kahanamoku's Birthday!

Hey paddlers! Particularly surfers and stand-up-paddleboarders! Today is the 125th anniversary of Duke Kahanamou's birthday. Check out today's Google doodle.
If you don't know who this legendary surfer and Olympian was, here's a website summing up many interesting things about his life, and the Wikipedia page. Or you could start at this link and have some happy reading. Among his many achievements, he made use of a longboard for lifesaving.

Kayak Robot

Artist Lynne Taylor Fahnestalk made this model robot, which is one of a series she is making. She says:

Here's a commission I did a couple of months ago titled "Kayak Bot." He's made from a cocktail shaker, some cheese slicers, an old film can and other bits. He was quite a challenge but it was fun to stretch a bit out of my comfort zone.

Check out her Facebook page for more robot models!

A Whale Of A Tail

Kayakers in Alaska answering the call of the wild experienced the spalsh of the wild as a humpback whale came in close and dove under one of their kayaks. They got splashed, and also a video that we can all enjoy. Check it out below: