Breakfast, Anyone?

Sunday's paddle was an example of great minds thinking alike. And yes, even though the minds in question were Bernie's and mine, it still all worked out okay in the end.
Bernie suggested a paddle at Thetis Lake and further suggested that we arrive an hour earlier than our usual meeting time of 9:00 am. His thought was that if we met at 8:00 am, we should get good parking spots and avoid all the early morning Sunday dog walkers.
I countered that we could meet at 8:00 am, but we didn't have to launch right away... we could have breakfast on the shore.
And thus was born The Breakfast Paddle.


Bernie make fire.... and food.


After a yummy breakfast of poached eggs, lamb sausage, and wraps, we napped for an hour. Well, no, not really. But we did get into a discussion of water bottles and we soon discovered that between the five of us, we had nine bottles. Clearly, we're a bunch of heavy drinkers. Nine water bottles? For Thetis Lake?? Louise and I only had one each, so between Paula, Bernie and Alison, they averaged two and a third bottles each. I know it pays to be prepared but this is ridiculous!


On the other hand, we are a bunch of gearheads.


And away we go.


Not much in the way of wildlife today...


...but it sure is pretty.


A nice day to just float and see where you end up.


Mind you, you have to give The Killer Goose plenty of room.


And then the rain came!


Time to head back -- quickly!


My pictures are here.

Cadboro Bay - The Eagles Have Landed

Another easy paddle was the order of the day, mainly because my recovering shoulder and arm are still not ready for a long paddle, and because The Usual Gang of Paddling Idiots was accompanied by a rookie paddler, Jenny.
Bernie gave her a quick on-shore lesson in his technique and expertise, but despite this, she was still keen to try.


So away we went for a short cruise around the home port, Cadboro Bay. It was Louise, Alison, Paula, Jenny and myself today, as Bernie begged off.
We tried to give Jenny all of our worldy kayaking knowledge. Here Paula demonstrates how to cause a traffic jam and almost fall in at the same time.


Louise has her I'm-not-doing-anything-when-John-is-pointing-the-camera-at-me-so-he-can't-make-up-a-goofy-caption-for-the-blog look down pat.


And away we go!


We watched a pair of eagles fly around for a while, until they landed.
The older one (the one with the white head) was eating a fish or something, while the other one (the younger, brownish speckled one) watched. But they got bored with us and flew away. They were big, though. The brown one circled over us later, down fairly low, and it seemed to have a huge wingspan.


We went as far as Flower Island. It was cloudy when we started, but the sun burned through and it turned into a pretty nice day. We had a slowly turning tide that gently pulled us out after we launched, then gently pushed us back as we returned.


Alison and Jenny are discussing why it is that only the cool paddlers have red boats.


A paddle wouldn't be a paddle without a heron.


As we headed back, the young eagle returned and parked itself in a tree.

It didn't seem to be paying me any attention. Which is fine. I can get more pictures that way.


After saying goodbye and thank-you to the eagle, this heron decided it wanted to pose for a while.



And pose he did.



You couldn't have a much better day on the water than today!

My pictures are here.

The Long Recovery Week 20 - Elk Lake

Despite my prediction in the last installment that it might be at least a month before I'd be back on the water or on my bike, a few days ago my physio-therapist gave me permission to kayak and ride again. So not being a person to let moss grow under my feet, mainly because then they smell icky and turn green, it was time to return to action with a short paddle at Elk Lake.
The Usual Gang showed up: Alison, Paula, Louise, Bernie, and myself. Even the elusive Dennis appeared.


My left arm is still weak, so getting in and out was a bit of a challenge. I tried a couple of times on land and it was doable. So I got into my kayak and Paula pushed me off.


And now, 161 days after my last paddle, I can only paraphrase Bill Murray from the film What About Bob?: I'm paddling! I'm paddling!


Louise soon hit the water, while Dennis decided to wave goodbye and go home. No, just kidding. It was good to have the gang out on the water again.


Bernie headed out.


Dennis decided that I was taking too many pictures of Bernie, so he made sure that Bernie's face was hidden in this picture.


It was busy out on the lake today... the rowing club was having a big celebration this weekend and was using much of the lake, but that was okay. We were just doing a small, short paddle today, because I didn't want to overdo it on my first paddle.


So we paddled gently and watched the races.


My shoulder survived reasonably well. It was sore and stiff, but not overly so. The hardest part was tying down the kayaks onto the van. Holding my arms up while tying off the straps took a lot of effort. But I did it! Or rather, we did it, as everyone was very keen to help. Afterward, The Gang presented me with a Challenge Trophy, for overcoming a challenge!


Ah, bliss!


My pictures are here.

Dear Kayak Yak - Transporting Your Kayak

Dear Kayak Yak,
I've seen lots of kayaks on vehicles, but with the rainy July we've had, I've been wondering if there is a way of transporting kayaks that prevents the seats from getting wet if it rains. I know you can get neoprene cockpit covers that are similar to hatch covers, but new kayaking gear can get pretty expensive. (I already had to sell my dog and one kidney to afford a new paddle!) Is there a cheaper alternative?
Yours,
Wet in Whistler

Dear Wet
Yes, new gear is very expensive, but recently Alison came up with a cheap transporting idea to save herself from a wet seat on a rainy day.

Dear Kayak Yak Yak
Normally, I only carry one kayak on my roof rack, but recently I also carried an additional kayak belonging to a friend. It was a tight fit and the two kayaks were rubbing together. Is there any way to help prevent the kayaks from being damaged further if I have to carry another kayak again?
Sincerely,
Hosed in Hope

Dear Hosed,
Socks.
Yes, socks. You may not believe it, but socks could be the most important thing you carry in your kayak. First, they keep your feet warm. They can also be used in a first aid situation as a towel or bandage. You can use them to check wind speed and direction. Finally, they can even be used as food during an emergency (mind you, they do require a lot of cooking).
But to answer your question, socks are also very important when loading your kayaks and can prevent them from rubbing together if you follow these simple directions.
First, you steal a sock from Bernie. Then, once you've loaded one kayak, you attach the sock as you can see in the photo below.


Thus when you load the second kayak, the sock prevents the two kayaks from rubbing together!

And there you have it! Two kayaks on a small car! One sock made all the difference!

Dear Kayak Yak Yak,
There's been a lot of lightning storms around this year. Is it safe to go kayaking during a thunderstorm?
Yours,
Vexed in Vanderhoof

Dear Vexed,
Lightning can be very dangerous and NOAA recommends that "if you are boating or swimming, get to land and find shelter immediately!"
Our own Bernie tried kayaking during a recent lightning storm. Fortunately the lightning did not strike him until he was on shore, otherwise a great paddle could have been ruined!

The Long Recovery Week 18

Time munches on.
Now over four months after my bike accident, my once-broken arm and shoulder still have a road to travel before they could be said to be recovered.
That said, a lot of progress has been made over the last few weeks.
First, I have graduated to what is referred to in physio lingo as "resisted exercise." You and I call it pulling giant rubber bands. This is significant because my range of motion, while still not yet in the normal range (and may never fully be), is certainly in the range of motion for getting by. The problem is that I have no strength in the arm. In fact I have more range than strength. If I left up my left arm in front on me, I might get 130-135 degrees of rotation. But if I use my right arm to push my left arm up further, I'll get 175-180 degrees of rotation.
So now we're into strength building and re-activating the muscles that haven't had to work in months. Hence the rubber bands. I have eight exercises to do with the bands, plus one exercise with a free weight, a whopping three-pounder!
Other good news: I don't need to do stretches with a cane anymore. I'm flexible enough now that I can do some new stretches that do the job better and don't require the cane. And I'm now down to once-a-week visit to the physio dude.
So now the question is when do I get back on my bike and into my kayak? That remains to be seen. The Victoria Day weekend marks about six months since my accident, which was sort of the time frame mentioned by my surgeon, so that is a target that is on my mind. Sometimes I feel that Canada Day is a more realistic time frame, but we'll have to wait and see. The point is that I WILL be back on my bike and on the water this summer.
Woo hoo!

Bernie in 20 Years

Bernie today:


Bernie in 20 years:

The Long Recovery Week 15

It's hard to believe that 15 weeks ago, almost four months, I was just coming out of surgery on my shoulder. Range of motion is still an issue, and as yet I'm still not doing any real strength training, but that should start any time now.
Today my doctor said that everything was as it should be. He ordered up another set of xrays, but he figures this will be the last set because the bone and the titanium look good. Now it's just a question of how well the soft tissue comes back.
Here's one of today's x-rays. This is from the side -- a profile shot, if you like.
Man, that's a lot of titanium.

February 27th, Discovery Island

A beautiful sunny day in the early days of spring. How do I know that it's spring?



This is a hint; First i had to cut my father-in-law's grass on Feb. 26th. Then I shot this tree in bloom on February 27th on Discovery. There was also a dandelion in full bloom. Spring is clearly here, even if the rain doesn't want to agree.



This twisted old bugger has survived another winter of gales on Discovery. Interesting how life on small islands tends to show the greatest range of adaptation because of the extreme conditions. (Yes Mr. Darwin, you said it first).

The trip over was uneventful. The only real difference is that I headed over from closer to Cadboro Point and ended up a couple of hundred metres off the north end of the islands. The inlet marked by the star is really quite extensive, and is at least a part-time home to some of the otters that feed in these waters.



I spent a large part of the day on Discovery, waiting for the tide to turn. I really didn't want to be paddling flat out and going backwards. The currents in Baynes and Plumper were at full blast for most of the afternoon, but dropped off towards evening, finally hitting slack at around 6:00pm.

The extended stay let me wander about the island, exploring the park side to my heart's content. (Discovery is park on the east side and First Nations territory on the west).

The trail through the park goes from Sea Bird Point on the northern side to Commodore Point to the south (and no, no Lionel Ritchie sightings). Sea Bird Point is not accessible by foot, as the lighthouse and boarded-up lighthousekeeper's house are fenced off. But the heights are accessible, making for great views.



With the number of rocks and other features off the point, it's clear why a light is needed. But it must have made for long winters to be the keeper of the light.



This is the "Orange Tiara" off the point, shot from the heights. You can see the rocks off the point between the camera and the ship. There was a steady 4 knots or so current running about these rocks when I shot the picture. Definitely not something to be fighting against if you're a kayaker.



Ships pass the island constantly. You almost never ear anything from them, even when they pass within two or three kilometres of you. Yet without a ship in sight (and I used my binoculars to check) there was suddenly this low booming/industrial sound coming over the water. I never did figure out what it was.



There was, of course, the obligatory eagle flyby. Actually there were thhree or four eagles, but I only got a shot at one.

Rudlin Bay is quite big for the size of the island, and the late winter/early spring water is clear and inviting. I kept wanting to just dive in--but I did show at least a modicum of good sense and declined hypothermia.



On the north end of the island is an abandoned boathouse and dock.





Checking my chart later, I realized that this was probably on the First Nations side of the island. My apologies to all concerned.



There is so much driftwood piled on the beaches. This log is on Commodore Point. It makes for a great highway when beachcombing/exploring.

All in all, just another day in paradise.

powered by performancing firefox