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Where did you paddle this weekend?

Mark_Schilling said:
Well, as is usually the case, the winds have died down considerably and the forecast now calls for 10-15kt SouthEasterlies this afternoon and evening. That's more like it! Looks like we may not have such a bad weekend afterall.

If anyone wants me, I'll be on Rum Island! 8)

Hey Mark,

Your paddling escapades are inspiring and remind me of this Simon Morris piece aptly named ‘Interface’.
Okay, the whale is a bit of a stretch, but I think you get the point. :)

Cheers!

Kayaker-Interface.jpg
 
From what I understand, it’s one of three copies of Morris’ work. This one was featured at the Marine Adventure Gallery in Victoria, which has since closed its doors. It blew me away when I first saw it.

Though you’re right Dan, one could buy a whole fleet of boats with that much coin. 8O
 
Mark, what are you using to work with your GPS track logs? I use Oziexplorer with my Garmin and am pretty happy with it.


Mark_Schilling said:
Well, this post might be a little off topic as it's not a weekend :wink: but I'll post anyways.

I headed out on the same trip as I tried 2 weekends ago; from Cordova Bay, out past Zero Rock to Kelp Reef, then around D'Arcy Island and back. I had set waypoints in my GPS for navigational beacons and notable rocks, so I had something to aim for and fine-tune my ranging skills at the same time (to ensure that I was not being delivered off-course by the effects of wind and current).

Here's a track log of the paddle:

darcylog.jpg


The total distance was 24.856km. I headed out at 1:02pm and the total trip took 3:37. Not including a 14 minute rest stop to have a quick bite to eat, my average paddling speed was 7.314 km/h (about 3.94 knots).
 
Mike, we use OziExplorer. As Dave states, it rules -- it's a very cool piece of software. I have track logs of every trip that I've taken in my kayaks (so far this year, I've paddled 1050 kms).

I use a Garmin Legend, Mark, Steve, and Darren use Magellan GPS units.

*****
 
I too find Ozi to be outstanding. I've been using it with my teaching since pre 2000.
1050 km is not bad for the year! I am going to start logging my trips as I am sure it will all add up!
I "upgraded" my etrex to an etrex legend and love it. It is particularly cool to have the bluechart charts in it.
 
Yes, I used Ozi with a set of marine charts in that post. For paddling I've been using a Magellan SporTrak Map, but I've had a lot of issues with it. It turns out not to be as waterproof as it should be - it died again this weekend after paddling from Swartz Bay to Prevost Island, so I had to do the return trip without it. Made for good practising of my ranging skills though. Although the display was illegible, I kept it turned on for the off chance it might still be recording a track log - and it worked. My track for the return trip is quite straight, so I guess my ranging skills are quite good even in a few considerable currents.

I've used a few other GPS's in the past - I started out with a Garmin eTrex Vista, which is a good reliable little unit. I prefer the electrical contacts on the Magellan units - they're less prone to corrosion issues - hence using the SporTrak Map on the water. I also have a Garmin GPSMap 76S, which is an excellent unit, but the contacts are prone to damage from salt water. So, I'm not sure what I'm going to use now... the Magellan has given me one too many problems.
 
I was on Harrison River and Harrison Bay on Staurday. The fishing wasn't great..however..there were 100's of bald eagles lining the southern shoreline. Next weekend is the annual eagle count.


Gary Haupt
 
Huh - what day is that and how does it work? Wondering whether it would be worth coming out for if the weather was good. I'm off Friday and Saturday but not Sunday.
 
Thanks for the information you guys and gals (Jill!), about the Eagle Festival. I think three of us may come out on Friday and Sat and see the eagles....maybe we can miss some of the crowds on Friday and then would be good to see the eagle release on Sat. I guess we can just put in at Kilby Park? Now, that river and lake are dammed, right? Nothing we need to know safety wise? Should be just like any other lake, no?
 
Kasey, I've never paddled near Kilby before but you're right in the Harrison River and the Fraser River so currents might be a consideration. I suspect a good assessment of the area would be prudent before paddling off.

Having said that, I paddle frequently in the Fraser River (although downriver from where you will be) and have never had a problem.

*****
 
Kasey, you can put in at Kilby there is a launch fee for power boats but you can launch on the beach for free. Harrison river is not dammed, it has a bit of a current, at Kilby you can see it flowing. Across from Kilby is Harrison Bay. In the winter sometimes the bay drys right up. Right now it looks like a lake but its not that deep. Harrison river flows into the Fraser so I would recomend not going past the train bridge as it gets nasty.
The Harrison river flows out of Harrison lake, the river is about 18 km long. From Kilby you can paddle part way up river, sometimes you can find a back eddy that will make it easier, theres some gravel bars where you can get out.
The wind sometimes picks up making for dangerous conditions at the bridge, standing waves and nasty winds. I hope you don"t mind dead fish theres lots of them . Jill
 
By the way, any of you folks are welcome to join us too - supposed to be sun and cloud.....only thing is, unlike real :roll: kayakers, we're going to stay at Harrison Hotsprings :oops: ! Might as well soak those old bones while we're in the area!
 
Thanks Dan and Jill - yeah, we're not into anything exciting like standing waves! We'll not go further south really than Kilby then, and if it's not what we want we'll just go on Harrison Lake. Sounds wonderful though, especially the eau de dead salmon! :)
 
:oops: Oops, just to let you know, it fell through. I may just come out to see myself and of course will put a boat on top, just in case I get one of those uncontrollable urges.... :wink:
 
Finally getting around to posting a few photos...

Divorceboat and I did a couple of weekend trips over the last month; we paddled over to Rum Island on the last weekend of October. Rum is often a great place to see freighters and cruise ships go by at night, and you'll often see the resident J pod of orcas swim by during the day. No such luck this weekend, but we had a great time and saw some interesting things:

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The following weekend, 1/2 of Divorceboat (the larger 1/2) and I paddled over to Portland Island. Although it's a short paddle (about 5km to the island, or 8km to the north camp site) from Swartz Bay, there is one section in there that is wide open to Boundary Pass. The wind was from the SE and was getting funnelled through against the current, creating waves that were about 5 feet and quite steep. We stayed close as we made our way across, although frequently the swells were large enough that we were out of sight of each other.

We made it over, and enjoyed the stormy weather and some great food. The weather finally broke and we were treated to views of the first snowfall on the upper elevations of Saltspring Island.

A few photos:

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