Virtual Postcard from the Biosphere

I just walked from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of St-Lawrence... at the Biosphère
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A`virtual postcard` from the Biosphere, Parc Jean Drapeau, Quebec, from the middle of the exhibit on the St Laurence waterway. Seemed appropriate to me.

Today's Lesson

Today's Lesson is to always look out more than one window when determining what the weather is.
When we looked out one window, the trees in the distance did not seem to be moving at all. But when we looked out another window with trees nearby, we could see that the trees were blowing in the wind. The very strong wind. The storm-force we've-got-an-Environment-Canada-wind-warning gusts up to 60km along Juan de Fuca Strait kind of winds.
So no paddling today!

And here's a couple of guys who should've stayed home, too.

Early Morning Rain

It was just Louise and myself yesterday, as the rest of The Usual Gang have previous commitments. It looked like a pretty iffy day, cloudy and threatening rain, but we decided to give it a go.


We puttered around the Willows Beach area. We paddled around Mary Tod Island and the other small islands in the area.


We explored a kelp bed. Mmmm...kelp.


A seagull was enjoying a crab for brunch.


We drifted by some seals.




We followed this eagle for a while. He was not very popular as seagulls and other birds kept dive-bombing and harassing him. We thought that he must have been enjoying some bird eggs for breakfast.


We followed him to a second rock, where he was still being pestered by other birds. We wondered what the seals were making of all the fuss.
How's this for a lensful of nature? Seagulls, seals and an eagle... all in one shot.


He didn't seem the least bothered by us. So I moved in a little closer.
And there I was -- six metres from a bald eagle. My film camera with my big zoom lens ran out of film, and both my digital cameras ran out of batteries. *sigh*


My pictures are here.

Kayaking, social photo sites and geotagging

Courtesy of Slashdot, I came across this article on Snapshots that do more than bore friends, about the addition of metadata, particularly map-locations, to photographs. Seems to me these services offer a great way to scope out the features (put-ins, pull-outs, sights, hazards) of new paddling places. Panoramino is a photo-site that concentrates on landscape.

Red Tide in The Morning...

Since there's never enough pictures of me, I pointed my camera at me today. What a great action shot, eh?


I was joined by Louise, Tracy and Paula for a little paddle from Brentwood Bay into Saanich Inlet.


We were also joined by an algae bloom.


We thought it was red tide, but it turns out that it wasn't. Just a regular algae bloom. But it sure stank. As Louise said, it was like paddling through vomit.


But we paddled on, and in many places the water was clear and blue....


...while other places had a distinct pink tone to them.


We headed down the Inlet and put ashore for a stretch at McKenzie Bight.
A stretch, a drink and a nibble and soon it's time to head back!




My pictures are here.

How Can You Tell It's a Long Weekend?? Because It's Raining!!

It's raining. Might as well as go for a paddle!


We put in on The Gorge, with a plan to go into Portage Inlet and then into Colquitz Creek. We're going to see how far up the creek we can go. It's Louise, Paula, Alison and myself today. Bernie begged off -- something about the reaping. It's raining lightly, but doesn't let up.
Off we go under the Craigflower Bridge.


The birds were out. Herons...


...geese...


...and ducks, but I didn't get a good picture of any.
Into Colquitz Creek we go.


It quickly narrows down.


Soon we hardly had a place to turn around. We ended up getting up behind Tillicum Mall, but could get no farther. Stephanie has said that she has gone farther, but she was armed with a macheté.


We did our bit to help keep Colquitz Creek clean.


We continued on...



...but finally, it got too difficult to move on. Louise got caught in the brambles. Alison and Paula with their slightly smaller boats were able to go on a little further, but we'd reached the end of the road and it was time to turn back.


So we went back down the Creek and back into Portage Inlet...


...where this fellow was waiting for us.




And finally this heron bid us adieu as we approached shore.


"Okay, John, you just keep taking pictures of birds if you want...."


"...but the rain is getting harder. We're outta here!"


My pictures are here.

The Long Recovery Week 25

A couple of weeks ago, my physio-therapist washed his hands of me and my course of prescribed therapy ended. This doesn't mean I'm done - I'll be stretching and working shoulder for the rest of my life.
But I'm glad to see my therapy end. As much help and encouragement that Jim was, I'm glad that I don't have to see him anymore. I'm sure he understands. :)
Today was another giant step in my recovery -- I rode to work for the first time since the accident. I didn't push it. I stayed in the middle gears and had a nice slow ride.
It went great. My arm and shoulder survived and were fine. No pain, no soreness.
I can't explain how wonderful it felt to be on my wheels again.
The only disappointment was during my ride home. All day long I thought about what I would do when I encountered the small piece of trail between Burnside Road and Tillicum Road where I came off all those weeks ago. Would I ride it? Or would I just avoid it and alter my route?
I didn't decide until I was riding home. I decided that I was feeling okay and I would ride that bit of trail. I would go slow, I might even stop for a moment of contemplation. I would ride that trail.
But as I approached, the trail was roped off. The municipality was in the middle of beautifying the area, and the trail was closed for the duration of the work. As I got closer, I realized that they had changed the path completely. The little trail that I fell on isn't even there anymore.

The piece of ground where I left my mark is gone now, but the marks it left on me will stay with me. The scar on my shoulder and the metal in my arm will be a constant reminder to me of how close I came.
And how lucky I am.

Vancouver Island Paddlefest 2007

It's May, it's a Saturday, so it must be time for Paddlefest!
Off we go to Ladysmith: Alison, Paula, Bernie, Louise and myself. A day of kayak demos, courses and exhibits awaited.


Kayaks as far as the eye can see....


Bernie got distracted not by a kayak, but by a small tent that attaches to a roof rack. That looks pretty cool! Mind you, it cost about two grand, but it still looks cool!


Since Louise and I both own Delta kayaks, we started there. Behold a deluge of Deltas, including the brand-new tandem in white at the back.


Here's me in a Delta 18 Expedition. This was the best boat I tried all day.


What can I say? I just love these Deltas! They're a thermoformed plastic kayak and they are fun, and stable.


This model is 18'8" long. It's freakin' huge! It goes like stink and super straight. Louise tried it and thought it was just too big for her.


Here's the front end -- that's a lot of boat.


Here's what the beach looked like from the water.


Bernie tried out this Current Design boat...


...while I joined him in a Current Design Solstice Titan LV.


This is a fiberglass boat, and I found it a bit tippy. Mind you, I've tried Alison's Current Design and found it a bit tippy at first, too, before I got used to it. This kayak had a HUGE cockpit. Even I felt small in there! And this is the low-volume version!


Louise joined us on the water in an Eliza.


Eliza is marketed as a "woman's kayak." Louise just loved it! She's trying a rotomolded plastic version, but they also had a fiberglass version to try, too.


Paula loved the Eliza, too! Alison tried it and didn't like it as much, but she thought it wasn't too bad.


Alison tried this Current Design boat which looks like a longer version of her own boat.


We also tried a number of Lightspeed kayaks. Here Louise tries a Photon.


Paula is paddling an Intrigue, a strange but fun little kayak.


Louise is going out in a Phoenix, which is a longer version of the Photon. I tried it too, and liked it, but not as much as the Delta. It has some sort of fancy state of the art rudder/skeg combo but neither Louise or I could get it deployed. It's not a bad boat and has some interesting features.


Here's Bernie trying a sit-on-top. That's something I wanted to try but didn't get around to.


And here's Bernie (in a rotomolded Necky) in his rolling class.

He got the rolling upside down part very well. The rolling up part still needs work.

Paula took the same course (also in a rotomolded Necky).

She didn't manage a roll, either.

Then there was this guy, named Dubside. He put on quite a show. Using his Greenland paddle, he demonstrated various rolling techniques.

He just sat in the water and rolled. And rolled. And rolled and rolled and rolled. Then he rolled some more. And some more. Then he threw away his paddle and rolled again. And again. And again and again and again. Then, you'll never guess what he did. That's right! He rolled some more!

Wow, he was amazing.

Louise ended the day by winning a door prize. No, it wasn't a door, it was a pretty nifty dry bag, worth about $70 from MEC.


We had fun fun fun in the sun sun sun!


My pictures are here.