2009 WCP Spring Campout - photos, stories, and comments

[Mike_Jackson]

I was there on Friday night (paddled over from Sidney) and then paddled home to Victoria today. About 6 hours of paddling for 41 km. There were already a good number at Beaumont Friday night. I was sorry I could not stay longer.
http://mhjpaddling.blogspot.com

 

[inpayne]

To ensure that I could arrive home early enough on Sunday, I ended up driving to and leaving from Tullista last Friday.... Left there at ~12:24 and arrived at Beaumont at ~15:05. I chose the new Whiskey 16 to play around with it loaded for touring -- not too shabby but certainly a bit slower than other first-pick touring boats. Too damned perfect weather! A light opposing breeze when I left and sunny weather that warranted only a shorty top above a farmer-john. This morning the return leg was identical in conditions to last year with low-mid-teens, calm seas, and light/variable winds.... Said good bye at 09:24 and returned to Tullista at 11:38 after a five minute wait a few hundreds meters NE of the dock to let the Anacortes ferry to leave... No response from them, so I then proceeded -- at that distance -- to cut behind their stern to put-in at the park. Typical of that ferry to leave late so I was unlikely a care for them.

A perfectly calm paddle yesterday around South Pender with the four from Kelowna (Kathy, Candie, JP, & Kelly) plus Greg, Johanne and RichardH.

...now errands and yardwork.

Thanks again to Dan for organising and providing the Holly Pavilion to the Weather Gods. Nice to see familiar faces and finally put new ones to forum posts!

 

[andreas]

nothing to complain about that get together As always SUPERB!!!!! You guys are the the nicest bunch of people I ever shared a campground with :lol:

@Mick, Mark and Dan: Thanks a lot again for your generous gift (s)!! The backpack is wicked but I'm still trying to figure out how to get into these cordura pants :lol:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV5vGUDiINU

 

[andreas]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4rrZdETD_Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWOshSaCIWM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8mHPnFtcks

 

[Mike_Jackson]

Nice job with the videos! I am sorry I missed Saturday, though my paddle back was good. It was good seeing everyone on Friday night (and some on Saturday morning!).

 

[Astoriadave]

Uff da! The awards video was a great one ... I really felt like I was there .. although it looks as if Father Christmas (my role) is being taken over by Dan ... nice beard, Dan! Good to put faces with names, for the folks I have not met yet.

Next year ...

 

[mikec]

missed another one...boo-urns to work taking over your life sometimes

Maddie, watch out with that (un)new towline, I can already see Dan's alterior motives at work planning for 2010!

 

[SheilaP]

Amazing weekend! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
Thank you to all who put it together and to all of those who came out for the event. I had a great time meeting many people who I only knew through website pages. :mrgreen:

I spent a lot of time with the Kelowna crew and it was inspiring to re-experience the ocean with new and excited people. Been a while since I just relaxed in my kayak.

The gear bag is great! It fit all my wet & grimy gear, including my dry suit! I was able to toss it all into the back yard to deal with the next day. :shock:

Can't wait until next year.

 

[kayakwriter]

Lovely to see everyone again this weekend. And lovely weather.

Because I was solo for the first sea-trails of Frankensail, I'm posting the vid, taken on Saturday as I went 'round South Pender here. It's alive! It goes upwind!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izd2Q0aH ... annel_page

 

[KayDubbya]

What a great way to spend your first time on the ocean! Thanks to all for your hospitality. I have new and added respect for all of you that paddle in the ocean. Now could some one please direct me to a thread about removing salt from your gear...

 

[andreas]

What a great way to spend your first time on the ocean! Thanks to all for your hospitality. I have new and added respect for all of you that paddle in the ocean. Now could some one please direct me to a thread about removing salt from your gear...

Was nice meeting you!
As for the gear: just take that stuff in the shower with you and hang it up in the sun after
We "salty's" have to do that every single time after we went out :evil:

 

[SheilaP]

Now could some one please direct me to a thread about removing salt from your gear...

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I just use a big rubbermaid in the back yard and fill it with the hose. I dip everything through then hang on a wooden rack to dry. It is important to unravel tow bags and the like to make sure they are completely rinsed. (Not that you do that everytime living here! )

 

[Doug_Lloyd]

nothing to complain about that get together As always SUPERB!!!!! You guys are the the nicest bunch of people I ever shared a campground with :lol:

@Mick, Mark and Dan: Thanks a lot again for your generous gift (s)!! The backpack is wicked but I'm still trying to figure out how to get into these cordura pants :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV5vGUDiINU

Thanks for the clip - I had to work last minute so it was nice to see some of the weekend, if only a few minutes.

Doug L

 

[RichardH]

Amazing time out there! I was so blissed out on Sunday, I could barely muster up the energy to leave the beach. A beautiful sunny weekend with good friends. I couldn't wipe the grin off my face until this morning. I'll post a better report in my blog later this week, but for now, here's some photos:

Wimped out and launched from Pender Island. I was tricked into taking the ferry though. All the noise in Sidney was gone in swartz bay. I should have paddled.

Heck of a nice view though.

The morning arrived and we circumnavigated the south island.

Low Tide Sea Life.

Perfect paddling conditions

A flock of birds I've never seen before. They didn't even care we were paddling through in their frenzy for fish

Stunning stone cliffs off the south point

Cphilip and his sail rig

Delicious eats for the potluck.

Some fun prizes for the site contributors

And a perfect farewell the next morning. Sunny, Highs in the 'teens with light south winds.

All photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chaffneue/ ... 374910058/

-Rich

 

[kayakwriter]

A flock of birds I've never seen before. They didn't even care we were paddling through in their frenzy for fish -Rich

Bonaparte's Gulls, I believe.

 

[rjoutnorth]

I decided last minute to attend and paddled from Long Harbour (Salt Spring) Saturday afternoon. It felt good to put some miles on. It was great to see everyone and the potluck was yummy. Thanks Kelly for the crab cakes, Maddie and Elsa for the brownies, Phil for the stir fry, etc....
I had to get back so I left early Sunday.
I think it is fantastic that we can get together based on a common interest such as kayaking. The posted photos and videos are choice.

 

[rider]

Awesome get together. My favorite Gulf Islands trip to date. Great to finally hang out with the people you chat with.Another big thanks to Dan, Mick and others who organized it. Here's a couple pics, and a photo of what's left of Robertson II, aka the Saturna Wreck.

 

[Mark_Schilling]

Thanks for the photos so far! It was great to see some of the old crowd again, and meet some new faces as well. It's really quite neat to see such an interesting and diverse crowd of paddlers come together to enjoy a weekend of good paddling, good eats and good conversation together, all from our little web site. Thanks to everyone who showed up for making it another successful WCP Camp-out!

It's rather sad to see what's become of the Robertson (Rider's last photo, above). We paddled over to play around in Boat Passage on Saturday but didn't paddle over to see the Robertson close-up. I was amazed to see, from a distance, how seemingly little there was left of such a grand old ship (here's an old photo of WestCoastWill's from a previous thread) after less than two short years:

On behalf of the 6 of us that keep this site going, thanks again to all who came out and made the weekend such a success, as well as all of you who weren't able to join us this time around but contribute to the site regardless. I hope to get a bit more time on the next camp-out to meet more of you and chat a bit more (guess I spent too much time in my boat instead!).

 

[Kasey]

What an incredible weekend...I don't know why, but going on WCP campouts seems to make time stand still. It felt like we enjoyed two weeks out there!

We had to modify our rack system in order to get on the ferry underheight but I have to say that BC Ferries was, as always, more than accommodating. Candikayak and I...raring to go!

We recognized Kayakwriter in the ferry restaurant and he joined us out on the deck in the sunshine. He was wheeling on and paddling/sailing from the marina in Otter Bay.

I might need this in camp? Launched at Medicine Beach for the daunting crossing to Beaumont as two of our party had never paddled the ocean before!

The South Pender Circumnavigation party on Saturday...Johan, Candikayak, Inpayne, RichardH, Kaydubbya and Kayakingsherrif. GregN missing - I think he is up in the bushes...

Lunch stop at Camp Bay on the southeast end.

GregN

Candikayak on her way again after lunch

It's a rough life, isn't it? Kaydubbya enjoying the beach back at camp.

Rider

RichardH

Probably the most photographed of the weekend was Kayakwriter....

and again

Rider, Lomcevak and RichardH admiring his setup

Incoming....SheilaP and Foilan returning from a paddle to Port Browning

Foilan and SheilaP

SheilaP

The smaller beach...

Potluck on Saturday evening...

A buzz of activity....

Amidst the quiet

The view from the sweetspot on the Knoll - looking out of Bedwell Harbor towards the San Juan Islands in the states

The big beach full of kayaks

Sunday saw us paddling back out for lunch at a beach just west of Tilly Point...then across to Wallace Point. Incredible views...saw a specimen of the largest chiton in the world - the Gum Boot Chiton! Foilan kissed it! Watched porpoises on the way across the mouth of the bay. Conditions just like a bathtub!

The Tilly Point expedition - Jo, SheilaP, Kaydubbya, Foilan and Kayakingsherrif

Sunday everybody left except the group from Kelowna and Lomcevak and we all hiked up Mount Norman before dinner. Fantastic views again. Thanks Candi for dragging us all up there! Candikayak and the view towards the San Juans

Looking across South Pender to Salt Spring from Mount Norman

Foilan contemplating Moresby and Portland Islands

We had a very peaceful Sunday evening with just the six of us. I have no photos to show - me cooking steak on my Neufeld stove down on the small beach, mushrooms and braised asparagus on my Trangia...with several seals actively splashing and feeding on tiny fish right in the bay just 20 feet from me....as the sun went down. As Candikayak commented, it was like it was out of National Geographic! We (didn't..might have had) a little fire below the tide line and enjoyed the bioluminescence in the water before having the best sleep of the weekend. Breakfast and yoga at The Spot on the Knoll in the morning...


Wildlife...don't miss the crab too....on the way back to Medicine Beach and home.

Lomcevak travelled with us to the mainland and we had a lot of good laughs...hope your shoulder heals quickly Brad! Thanks for the great company!

Thank you so much to all the people who came to the camp and made it what it was to me. Whether it was chatting in the sun (or the dark...or in between) on the beach, paddling together, soaking up knowledge and tips from you. Comraderie. Respect. En-joyment of life.

Thank you to the Westcoastpaddler guys for hosting it and thank you so much for the videos....tonight I will sit down and relax and watch them once I'm done washing all my gear!

My bathroom looks like a paddle shop, my living room is draped with hammock and accessories, my face and hands are sunburned to prove that I was really there.

Most of all - thank you to GregN for impressing on me that it really is up to me. We all make choices in our lives and make it what it is.

For Sale: Two bedroom condo in Kelowna.

 

[greg0rn]

Kasey, great photos. You truly have artistic eye!

I too, have a few photos to share.

Inpayne arrives in class, as usual. His enthusiasm is contageous.

Andreas snatches him right away, discussing (no doubt) far away paddling locations for his future expeditions.

Shortly after Mark and associates arrive in style:

They immiediately dissapperar in their quarters, not to be seen again for long time.

Mike from SISKA showed up momentarily one evening and went right away into cooking on the beach.

His were the most compact sleeping quarters that weekend, that is for sure. In the morning he was gone.

Cooking seemed to be the main past time that weekend with trangia stoves dominating. One could easily get an impression that it was some kind of culinary campout.

Cooking cooking everywhere:

And more cooking. Kayakwriter forgot his pastry rolling pin this time, so we had to put up with his simple stir fry.

Not everyone was in the mood for cooking. These guys knew what to do with all that food!

My camera instructor from Kelowna. A bottle of good wine from Okanagan next time, please (and more good photo hints).

Here Sushiy in her japanese head piece for a change. Normally, she would wear dry suit, on the water, and off. Apparently, she is experimenting with minimalistic kayak camping style, where dry suit replaces tent, sleeping bag, merino woollies and a few other things.

Where is all that famous Okanagan wine? My glasses are dry!

WCP latest arrival Johan, with his cool look. We later paddled together to Portland and I can ensure you that he is a good travelling companion.

Some beach blah blah blah.

Departure time. Andreas is well prepared for the open water crossing.

Here Sushiy and her companion Chester are leaving Portland early in the morning to catch Anacortes ferry. I'm sure that they had a very nice trip with both wind and tides working for them. The previous night we were feasting with them on sea weeds sushiy dinner. At least five different types were served, each with its own texture and taste.

Thanks to the WCP guys for organizing another splendid get together, and to all participants for accepting presence of an old fart - me.