Paddling Sports

[IndependentlyPoor]

Welcome, and please regale us with your stories. Photos too. An eager audience awaits.

 

[Sea Kayaker]

Many things to do today, so stories have to wait... but here's a teaser:

 

[Free To Canoe]

How appropriate that this would be my first post on this board.

I'm a 37 year old who has grown up on Canada's west coast and have been an avid sea kayaker since my early 20's. I cannot possibly list all of the things I've experienced over those many years... let me just say that close encounters with orcas, sea lions, eagles, an injured porpoise are among the highlights.

I own two sea kayaks - an 18' Nimbus Telkwa and an 18' Current Designs Solstice. With all the racks needed to transport the boats, the DW and I have been up and down Vancouver Island in search of nice launching spots (and good pubs).

Needless to say, I don't get to paddle as much as I want... basically I am saving and investing furiously so that I can retire in the next ten years and paddle whenever I bloody feel like it.

This is a great thread!
You live on or near Vancouver Island? Nice.
I have canoed in Big Bend NP before.
My best stories are from canoeing in the swamps of South Carolina.

Maybe DW and I will get in a leaf watching trip before the weather requires ice skates on our canoe.

Free to canoe

 

[Free To Canoe]

Canoeing in Big Bend got me remembering the San Marcos River Safari race. Wanted to try that when I was younger.

Anyone ever hear of it? Enter it?

History of the Texas Water Safari

Free to canoe

 

[audreyh1]

Hey - the San Marcos River is where I got my first exposure to kayaking Class 2/3 rapids. What a blast!

 

[Sea Kayaker]

This is a great thread!
You live on or near Vancouver Island? Nice.
I have canoed in Big Bend NP before.
My best stories are from canoeing in the swamps of South Carolina.

Maybe DW and I will get in a leaf watching trip before the weather requires ice skates on our canoe.

Free to canoe

I have some recreational property in the Southern Gulf Islands... just a stones throw (or short paddle) from Vancouver Island. A true kayakers paradise. This is where I will retire eventually... this map gives you an idea where the islands are - pretty much smack dab between B.C.'s two big cities of Vancouver and Victoria. South Pender is my island... looking south to the good ol' USA....

 

[haha]

Did I misunderstand, or did you say that you paddle the West Coast of Vancouver Island? In the Straits or Pacific? You must have a ferry to Vancouver Island?

I have been salmon fishing out there-used to live at Cape Flattery. Challenging waters!

Ha

 

[Sea Kayaker]

Did I misunderstand, or did you say that you paddle the West Coast of Vancouver Island? In the Straits or Pacific? You must have a ferry to Vancouver Island?

I have been salmon fishing out there-used to live at Cape Flattery. Challenging waters!

Ha

I've paddled a bit on Vancouver Islands west coast... but you have to be very careful. Summer only, and even then 6 foot swells are a possibility... I prefer the sheltered waters between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Perhaps not as exciting, but these beauties ALWAYS keep it interesting:



I took this picture from the shore... when I'm in the kayak and the orcas are in the area, handling a camera is a bit tricky. Usually, the DW and I try to give these magnificent animals a wide berth - thier size and speed is intimidating. But if they CHOOSE to approach your kayak there is nothing you can do about it. A few years back we were out for a relaxed cruise and we spotted an orca pod in the distance. Always an exciting event, we kept a close eye on their movements. They were approaching quite close as the minutes went by, and we decided to duck into a small cove and let them pass - they usually stay in the deeper waters where the fish are... well a large male decided to make a detour into this cove where the DW and I were innocently floating. We both knew there was no time to go anywhere... one minute the great dorsal fin was perhaps 50 yards away and the next thing it resurfaces perhaps 10 yards away, then it was gone. We both knew it was now somewhere underneath us. This fact was seconds later reinforced by the fact that the ocean level seemed to rise rose about a foot as the great creatures bulk displaced the water beneath our boats. Somewhere in my panicked mind I knew of no known cases of orca attacks on kayakers, but it was still momentarily terrifying. Then we saw the great fin come up again 20 yards moving away from us. I'll never forget this encounter again, needless to say. We continue to enjoy the periodic company of the orcas on our paddles, but thankfully at a comfortable distance.

 

[Free To Canoe]

I have some recreational property in the Southern Gulf Islands... just a stones throw (or short paddle) from Vancouver Island. A true kayakers paradise. This is where I will retire eventually... this map gives you an idea where the islands are - pretty much smack dab between B.C.'s two big cities of Vancouver and Victoria. South Pender is my island... looking south to the good ol' USA....

View attachment 7463

Nice location. Nice map presentation!

Free to canoe

 

[mh]

i've been to galiano island (right next door) a few times and it was wonderful
i'm a bit jealous ..

 

[yakers]

I've kayaked in the San Juans, of Vancouver Is and in Alaska. (name=yakers=kayakers) Loved it all. Do they still have a water trail of B&Bs between the gulf islands? Loved the idea, and if the seas get to rough just take your kayak on the ferry to the next island.

 

[Sea Kayaker]

I've kayaked in the San Juans, of Vancouver Is and in Alaska. (name=yakers=kayakers) Loved it all. Do they still have a water trail of B&Bs between the gulf islands? Loved the idea, and if the seas get to rough just take your kayak on the ferry to the next island.

Yeah, I've used the ferries to island hop - here's how I do it:




I think this was a trip to Vancouver Island in 2005 - we stayed for a weekend in a nice B & B in Sooke... weather was kinda iffy, but still a fun time.