Introduction
Dear <<First Name>>,
Thanks again to the members who contributed photos and short (100-150 words) summary articles; for more information, contact one of us. And if you would like to start a regular column, please let us know!
SISKA is on Facebook at this link. SISKA also has a Meetup site for impromptu and other paddles organized by club members but you have to be a club member to join this. For more details, go to https://www.meetup.com/SISKA-Meetup/.
You can find archived newsletter articles in the SISKA newsletter archive page. These can be also be found via the members area of the website.
Michael Jackson (SISKA president) and Ben van Drimmelen (editor) |
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Upcoming Events
August 05, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm Brentwood Bay Ferry Wharf to Butchart Gardens Fireworks night paddle (RELAXED)
August 11-13, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm, Amherst to Portland Island 2 night campout Paddle (ENERGIZER)
August 26, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm Fleming Beach to Fisgard Lighthouse Paddle (RELAXED)
September 02, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm Brentwood Bay Ferry Wharf to Butchart Gardens Fireworks back-up paddle (RELAXED)
September 09, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm Spirit Bay to Whirl Bay Paddle (ENERGIZER)
September 15, 6:00 pm until September 17, 1:00 pm Grand Opening Salish Sea Marine Trail (at Newcastle Island)
September 28, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm Spirit Bay to Becher Bay Paddle (ENERGIZER)
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What’s in a Name?
- Vic Turkington
Trial Island
Trial Island is that very scenic island just off McNeill Bay with its attractive lighthouse and red roofed buildings.
While a delightful local sight, dangerous currents swirl through Enterprise Channel (to 3 knots) on an ebb tide and especially around its southern shore (to 6 knots). Over the years, several ships have been wrecked with loss of many lives. Kayaking in the area requires extreme caution and knowledge of the currents. According to the BC Geographical Names Office, the name probably relates to the difficulty, or "trial" of rounding the island and entering the Juan de Fuca Strait, under sail.
A lighthouse was installed in 1906 to improve navigation and later replaced by a concrete tower in 1970 (chart symbol Fl G). The old lens and lantern housing now sit in Bastion Square.
Trial Island was made an ecological reserve in 1990 and is home to seals, otters, birds and many endangered plant species - landing is restricted.
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- Photo courtesy of Oak Bay Chronicle
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TIPS FOR TRIPS
- Debbie Leach
CARRY ON KAYAKING
Lengths of webbing and pieces of old garden hose (plus a foursome) make long carries a breeze.
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July 1, 2017 Canada Day Relaxed Paddle
- Dave Chater
On Canada’s 150th birthday, 8 intrepid SISKA paddlers, each with some form of Canada regalia on their paddle gear, heads or boat, launched at Cattle Point (Oak Bay) for a relaxed paddle around Cadboro Bay and on to Cadboro Point.
Our original plan was to paddle along the Beach Drive/Dallas Road waterfront from McNeil Bay to Finlayson Point. Alas - gale force wind warnings forced us to stay in Cadboro Bay. Nevertheless, we started off with beautiful sunshine, glorious views of snow-capped Mount Baker and light winds.
We began with a stirring rendition of “O Canada” led by Lisa Lasagna, thereby really impressing several paddle boarders in the bay. As we approached Flower Island and Cadboro Point, the wind and waves began to increase, so we modified our lunch plans, abandoning Ten Mile Point and re-routing to Gyro Park in Cadboro Bay. By this time, the winds even in the relatively protected bay were approaching 20 knots, which made some of our landings on the beach quite “interesting”.
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Canada Day Piano at Cattle Point
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As winds continued to 20 knots with some higher gusts, we decided to take a short paddle over to the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, take our boats out at their boat ramp and then walk the 10 minutes back to our launch point to get our cars. Wouldn’t you know it, by the time we picked up our cars, the winds had died down and the seas were calm. Still, much better safe than sorry!
After loading our boats at the yacht club, we retired to the sun deck at Oak Bay Marina for coffee and sweets. A safe, “interesting” and enjoyable paddle to celebrate Canada Day.
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The patriotic paddlers
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Paddle for Health - September 9th
This September our team of paddlers will be participating in Paddle for Health, supporting Vancouver Island children and their families living with the challenges of childhood cancer through the Victoria-based Islands Kids Cancer Association!
Our team will share the day with experienced guides and a safety crew and over 100 other like-minded paddlers spending the day making a difference. We start the day at Willows Beach and paddle past Cattle Point into Cadboro Bay to Gyro Beach where we'll stop for a leg stretch and snack before paddling back to Willow Beach for a BBQ lunch.
This will be a great day with great company supporting a greater cause. The money our team raises through Paddle for Health will benefit the hundreds of kids on Vancouver Island living with cancer. You can help our team reach our goal and help the kids by pledging donations to our efforts.Thanks to the generosity of event sponsors, event costs are covered and with our partner, Coast to Coast Against Cancer, we can ensure 100% of your donations benefit local children living with cancer.
You can be part of the difference for kids with cancer. Please make a secure donation online or with PayPal. You can support or join the SISKA "team" here. |
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Camp Cookery
Mu Shu Pork
- Lynn Baier
I adapted this recipe from my friend Kathy to make it dehydrate-able. Here is recipe for ten paddlers:
Slow-cook four pounds of lean pork in a generous amount of hoisin sauce, shred it and marinate in ½ cup of of soy sauce, 4 tbsp of Chinese cooking wine and 1 tsp of sesame oil. Then heat a wok with 4 tbsp of oil and brown 1 large shredded onion, 2 tsp of minced ginger and 2 tsp of minced garlic. Put in the pork and sauté until meat changes colour. Add 8-10 sliced mushrooms, and shred carrots, 2 whole cabbages and stir fry. Finally, make a sauce of 1 cup of water 1 tsp salt, 4 tsp sugar, 8 tbsp soy sauce, 4 tsp of Chinese cooking wine, a few drops of sesame oil and 4 tbsp of tapioca powder. Add the sauce to the meat/vegetable mix and bring to the boil.
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You can dehydrate all the ingredients, but you still have to cook and shred the pork of course.
To reconstitute, mix them all together, cover them with water and boil them up. Let them sit in a cozy for about an hour, checking that there is enough water in the pot. Serve over instant Chinese egg noodles, rice, or in a rice wrap. If you can bring along lettuce to wrap it in, that makes it extra nice.
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BC Marine Trails Salish Sea Trail opening
Following up on last month's article, the Salish Sea Marine Trail opening event is being held at Newcastle Island, Nanaimo, on the weekend of September 15th/16th. You can find out more and also register for camping at this link.
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Kayak & Yoga Paddle - A First for SISKA
- Deborah Etsten
Beth Haysom led our inaugural yoga paddle from Brentwood Bay to Bamberton Park and back. The ten mile paddle was enhanced by almost an hour of yoga led by Beth’s daughter, Amy, a certified yoga instructor from Salt Spring Island. (Amy has the wisdom of an old soul plus the enthusiasm and coolness of a millennial.)
But first, a delightful shore explore. The abundant purple and leather sea stars and anemones were pointed out by Jennie Sutton and augmented by the seals, eagles and river otters along the shore.
We arrived at Bamberton Park and were primed by karmic energy bars (courtesy of Beth and Amy) and an excellent chai drink. Then we moved into our scenic yoga session on the grassy slopes overlooking the beach and ocean. Amy focused us on our breath and bodies, making us aware of both our inner and outer landscapes. (The only potential distraction was Roger Botting’s wildly colourful yoga attire.)
Thus loosened and energized, we relaxed over lunch and paddled back to Brentwood Bay, wrapping up with coffee at the Brentwood Bay Village Empourium. No debate - this should be a yearly event.
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Paddling warriors warming up
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Kudos to Dave O, our webmaster
by Gary Jacek
Kudos to SISKA member Dave Ostapovich for going beyond the call of duty by lending a hand during the revamp of www.westcoastpaddler.com. WestCoastPaddler is a tremendous resource used by many SISKA members, with searchable forums for just about anything afloat. If you haven't seen the reboot, check it out. Way to go Dave!
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Kayakable Birding
Gulls are difficult to identify, especially because their plumage changes for up to four years. We covered the easy gulls back in September. In this issue, let's step it up a bit by covering a couple of trickier (but not impossible) local gulls. Both species have black wingtips, but there are still detectable differences. They take a few years to change from a brownish juvenile plumage, so focus on the grey and white adults for identification.
The Mew Gull disappears for the summer to breed in the northern boreal forest, but is back now. It is one of our smallest white-headed gulls.The adults have a dark iris, unlike some other gulls, plus yellow legs. The bills of many gulls show a red spot on the bill during the summer, but the Mew Gull's is all yellow.
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Mew Gull - Smallish, yellow legs and yellow bill
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The California Gull is almost half again as big as the Mew Gull (although still quite a bit smaller than the Glaucous-winged Gull that we covered previously). Like the Mew Gull, the eye is dark, not yellow. And that spot on the bill is two-toned on this gull - both red and black.
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California Gull - Dark eye, greenish-yellow legs, and that black spot beside the red
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Ah, yes, that caption contest from last month.
(By the way, you can still submit an entry)
Entries will be judged at the September executive meeting.
The winner will be announced at the September SISKA meeting.
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To Buy or Sell
If you have any buy/sell items that you would like to post in the Newsletter, please send a short description and your contact info to newsletter@siska.ca.
- Looking for a used Wilderness Zephyr. Barry Copeland 250 516-1849
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