SISKA's August 2021 Newsletter. Upcoming events, reports and articles

August 2021 SISKA Newsletter

Introduction

Dear Tony,

Thanks to those members who contributed photos and materials. After enjoying a SISKA event or paddle, please consider sending a short (100-150 words) summary article; for more information, contact one of us. If you would like to start a regular column, please let us know!

Alan Campbell (SISKA president) and Tony Playfair (editor)

Siska now has it's own Youtube channel HERE

PS: You can find SISKA on Facebook at this link.

PPS: SISKA has a Meetup site for "impromptu" and other paddles organized by club members. For more details, go to https://www.meetup.com/SISKA-Meetup/. To join this, you have to be a club member.

PPPS: You can find the SISKA newsletter archive here: http://goo.gl/VUkafR

Upcoming SISKA Events
Community Events of Interest
SISKA and Covid-19 Precautions - BC Restart Plan, Step 3 (as of July 1, 2021)
Upcoming Courses
Tips from the trips
Camp Cookery
Safety Tip
Kayaking Klips
Show Your VHF Radio A Little Love
Trip Reports
Looking For Gear?
To Buy or Sell
SISKA’s Kayak Skills Course Partners

Upcoming SISKA Events

For more details, go to the SISKA website

Community Events of Interest

These events are not formally supported by SISKA, but considered to be of interest to a significant number of our members.

Any member may request an event to be included in this section by sending a note to chairperson@siska.ca.

SISKA and Covid-19 Precautions - BC Restart Plan, Step 3 (as of July 1, 2021)

by Alan Campbell

Yahoo!! As part of Step 3 of the BC Restart Plan, Covid-19 restrictions have been significantly eased!
As of July 27, 2021, over 80% of eligible people in BC have been vaccinated once, and over 60% have been vaccinated twice. It is evident that the great majority of new cases in BC are among those who have either not yet been vaccinated at all or have had just one dose so far. We strongly encourage all SISKA members to become fully vaccinated as soon as possible to protect yourselves, fellow paddlers, friends, families, and communities. BC Public Health now recommends, but does not require, masks for indoor spaces, and recognizes that some, even if fully vaccinated for more than 2-3 weeks, may wish to continue to mask indoors and outdoors when 2m distance cannot be maintained. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/covid-19/info/restart
Small group limits imposed on SISKA-led paddles during earlier phases of the pandemic have now been removed and paddle numbers are again left as usual to the discretion of the responsible club leaders.
To reflect the new provincial direction our Covid-19 paddling guidelines have been amended as below:

SISKA’s COVID-19 Guidelines for Paddling at Step 3 of the BC Restart Plan
As active sea kayakers we maintain our health and fitness partly through regular paddling. The following guidelines have been amended to follow the direction of our public health authorities at Step 3.

group numbers will be set by the paddle leader
Face masks may be used by individual paddlers if/as desired

At the discretion of individual paddlers, rides, carrying of kayaks and gear, entering, and exiting kayaks, food and/or beverages may be shared. The use of hand sanitizer for contagion control and maintenance of 2m distance from others may continue for those not fully vaccinated and/or those who wish to do so.

NOTE: Participants should still only attend paddles if they can answer NO to each of these questions:
In the past 14 days, have you:
1. experienced any symptoms related to COVID-19?
2. travelled outside Canada?
3. had contact with anyone travelling outside Canada, or with anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19, or who has experienced symptoms related to COVID-19?

Upcoming Courses

by Jo Nicolson

Paddle Canada Level 2 Skills – For SISKA Members

Coaches Jo Nicolson and Michael Egilson are offering PC Level 2 on the Labour Day long weekend: September 3 – 6, 2021. This course includes one night of camping.

Building on the skills developed in Level 1, Level 2 refines existing skills and adds new ones allowing the paddler to handle more challenging sea conditions with comfort and confidence.

If interested or for more information, email Jo at jnicolson13@shaw.ca or Michael at Michael.egilson@shaw.ca

Tips from the trips

by Debbie Leach

TENT POLE FAIL? Bring along pole repair sleeves (or spare tent pegs for splits), zap straps and replacement cord. Duct tape and locking pliers also help. Google how to repair poles and replace cord before you go.

Camp Cookery

by Lynn Baier

Here’s a recipe for Pad Thai that I stumbled upon. I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks excellent and easy.

PAD THAI

Sauce:
1/4 cup tamarind paste
1/4 cup fish sauce
3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
3 Tbsp brown sugar

Mix together and dry to a leather

Pad Thai:

1 cup rice noodles
A handful of dehydrated shredded cabbage and carrots
1/3 of sauce above
1/4 cup tofu
1 Tbsp peanut butter

Pour boiling water over all. Soak for about 10 minutes (this is my guess). Add:

1 tsp each true lime, garlic and cilantro

Safety Tip

by Lynn Baier

On a recent camp trip one of our group wound up in a potential life threatening situation when they couldn’t get their spray skirt released after an unfortunate capsize. They thought that they had stretched out the new skirt sufficiently, but it was stubborn. A rescue by a close-by paddler averted a disaster. Please make sure that your skirt will release by practicing removing it in a controlled situation. Make sure your pull strap has something firm to grasp for the pull. Also, some skirts have attachment loops for securing a map. These can also be fitted with an additional strap for a backup pull option. Stay safe out there!

Paddling Out Of Tofino - Summer 2021 Recommeded Routes

by Debbie Leach

The Ahousaht are selling voluntary permits at the Hostel in Tofino or at Paddle West Kayaking. They have designated some routes in the Vargas Island area as shown in the map below. Please stay within these routes. As stated on the map, Ahousaht Guardians will be checking all areas.

Kayaking Klips

by Willi Fast

Ferrying is an effective and safe way to cross currents in your sea kayak. In this Video Clip, Patrick David (Paddle Canada Level 2 Sea Kayaking Instructor) demonstrates how to perform an effective ferry. Things to note include:

- angle of approach when exiting the back eddy and entering the current

- speed and momentum when crossing the eddy line and entering the current

- edging Sea kayak to “show bum to current”

- maintaining angle to current while ferrying across the channel

- switching edge again when crossing eddy line on other side of the channel

- low brace to maintain support when in the back eddy

Practicing ferrying will make you a better and safer sea kayaker. Learning ferrying skills is one of the advantages of attending one of the many Currents Courses offered from time to time by SISKA Instructors.

Submitted by:

Willi Fast

Paddle Canada Level 2 Instructor

Show Your VHF Radio A Little Love

by Gary Jacek

You’ve had your waterproof VHF handheld radio for a few years. Where once it was shiny and clean, now it is dusty, salt encrusted and the display scuffed from being jammed into your gear bag too many times.

Where once your radio was a steadfast, reliable paddling companion, now you wonder if your electronic wonder will come through when you need to make that urgent call.

As we age, we all become a little hard of hearing. The same thing can happen to your VHF radio.

Time to ask yourself, how do you treat your little companion?

If you rinse your radio in fresh water after every paddle, you are on the right track. Don’t forget to remove the screw-on antenna so the critical antenna connectors can be rinsed as well. With the antenna removed, take a look inside the connector. You will (hopefully) see a little metal pin. This is what carries your radio signal into the antenna and out to the world. A bit of trapped salt water in there will corrode that pin and your radio will become useless until the antenna is replaced. So be sure to take the antenna off and rinse this area with fresh water after every paddle.

Don’t trust those supposedly watertight radio baggies. Water eventually finds a way in, so your radio may have been stewing in there for quite some time. Take your radio out and give it a good freshwater rinse. And rinse the inside of that baggie. Then dry them thoroughly overnight before reassembling them. Make this a habit.

So you’ve done all that and your radio still seems a bit hard of hearing. (And hard of transmitting too!)

Time to take a closer look at your antenna.

Most VHF handheld radios are supplied with a “rubber ducky” antenna with an SMA connector.

These antennas are basically a metal coil, encased in flexible rubber or plastic. The metal coil is designed to resonate on frequencies in the VHF Marine radio band, and present a 50 ohm impedance to your VHF radio.

If you gently bend the antenna, you should see that it curves over equally along its length, except near the SMA connector.

If you can see a kink, that could indicate a problem. (The antenna show on the left has such a kink, the antenna on the right is a new replacement).

Start at the top end of the antenna and pinch it together gently with finger and thumb. You should be able to feel the solid metal coil beneath the rubber, the full length down the antenna until you reach the SMA connector. If you find a spot where you only feel the soft rubber, your antenna is broken—most likely from rough treatment when you shoved it into your gear bag.

Have you noticed that reception on your VHF handheld radio has become a little spotty?

Do you have trouble listening to the weather forecast when you need to know what the winds will do tomorrow?

Do your paddling companions tell you that your transmissions are not coming through?

If you answered yes and you have a suspect antenna, it may be time for a new one.

Transmitting while using a broken antenna may result in something called high SWR. (Standing Wave Ratio)

Instead of calling out to the world, your signal reaches that broken bit of antenna and then reflects back into your radio.

Do that often enough and the reflected signal will damage or destroy the “final” transistors inside the radio. An expensive lesson.

So you need a new antenna. You can certainly obtain a replacement from your radio manufacturer. It could take some time to order and receive your new antenna. It could be quite expensive too.

But keep in mind that any antenna which is tuned to the Marine VHF frequency band, has a 50 ohm impedance and which has the correct connector (usually SMA) will work.

For my Standard/Horizon VHF handheld, I ordered two of this item, keeping one as a spare.

Amazon Link HERE

Take good care of your VHF radio so it will be there when you need it.

Editor Note - I ordered these a couple of weeks ago and they seem to be working just fine. 2 for $11 is a steal compared to over $30 for the SH original. They are stiff antennas, not floppy like SH are. Less chance of breakage. Thanks for the tips Gary!

Trip Reports

Strokes of Luck: enviable conditions around Cape Scott

by BJ Porter

The Team: Gary Weeks, Dave Chater, Mike Teachman, BJ Porter

To summarize, we have just returned from a kayak/camping expedition from July 6th to 16th of July, from Port Hardy to Coal Harbour, Vancouver Island. The excursion was a number of days shorter than expected because of 1) not being beached at all by weather, 2) conversely the tendency to ‘make hay while the sun shines’ because of future weather worries and some dissatisfaction with available forecasts, 3) the feeling on the part of some that by rounding Cape Scott they had “gotten what they wanted from the trip” and 4) the second last paddle day being longer than expected because of a search for a suitable campsite (so that three days could be collapsed into two)......Continue Reading Full Report HERE

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A Kayaking Trip Suggestion: San Josef River to Cape Scott – But, Beware the River Mouth!

by Alan Campbell

For North Coast Trail hikers, and those of us with west coast paddling skills and experience Cape Scott is a favourite stop: Experiment Bight on the north, Guise Bay on the south, Scott Passage connecting them on the water and a trail through the dunes and old Danish settlement grazing lands linking them on land. This is an amazing place, well worth visiting more than once. For paddlers, there is a shorter route from Port Hardy that avoids the alternate (and very worthwhile!) journey north up Goletas Channel to Cape Sutil and then west to Cape Scott.
From Port Hardy take the Forest Service Road (FSR) to Holberg, and then follow the signs for San Josef Bay until you reach the San Josef Heritage Campground, just before the Cape Scott trailhead. You can drive through the campground to the San Josef River, load, launch, and paddle out the short distance to San Josef Bay. Longtime local Doug Desjarlais runs this private RV/tent campground and for $5/day will let paddlers park their vehicles.
From here you can paddle out the river to San Josef Bay, out the Bay to the ocean and then north to Guise Bay at Cape Scott. The total distance is only about 14nm. But San Josef Bay is a wonderful destination itself, attracting many campers and hikers, and remarkable for its wide sandy inner beaches, towering sea stacks and tidal islets rich in marine life. Kayakers tend to camp on the western end of the inner beaches, or on one of the beaches further west nearer the open ocean. From the launch point on the river to Hanna Point, a long gravel beach with lots of camping and a low surf all-tide landing near the west end, is only about 5nm so even allowing for the 2-hour drive from Port Hardy it is very feasible to reach a camp in San Josef Bay this way. There is also a good kayak camping beach on the south side with a good stream-fed waterfall nearby. You can also explore Sea Otter Cove and the Helen Islets near te mouth of the Bay.
Aim to be on the San Josef River as close as possible to a high tide (or at least 6’ at Cape Scott) so as not to ground out on sand/gravel bars. At the mouth of the river, where it empties into San Josef Bay, things can get gnarly if the ocean swell is more than ~2m, there are strong westerly winds and if the tide level is too low to keep the river mouth from being too surfy at the main sandbar entrance. In ideal conditions there is a non-surf channel for paddling on the south side of the river mouth. If surf is breaking across the river mouth, consider landing (on the sandy riverbank if you’re just coming out, or further along the main beach if you’re headed upriver) and then either side-surfing or leading your kayak around the bar. The beach involves landing or launching in the surf, but that is straightforward once away from the shallow river bar and the riptides it can create. Having made this trip twice this summer with different paddling groups, I can report that it is wisest to be careful, particularly re-entering the river when sizeable surf extends across the mouth. A capsize on my first trip schooled me to beware, so I surfed into the main beach on my second trip and entered the river safely through the “soup zone” along the shore.
Kayaking along the coast between San Josef and Guise Bays you will enjoy classic west coast paddling with plenty of ocean swell and rocky headlands. If you have time and the sea conditions are favourable check out Lowrie Bay (where Doug Desjarlais built a small cabin), Hansens Lagoon named for the Danish settlement and land at either end of Guise Bay to avoid most of the surf. The east end, closer to the North Coast Trail, has a bear cache and outhouse, but also usually more campers. There are lots of hiking options at Cape Scott: the Lighthouse, Experiment, Nels and Nissen Bights are all nearby. Enjoy!

Looking For Gear?

by Anne Graves

I dropped into Comox Valley Kayaks this week and they have lots of stock. Drysuits, some wetsuits, pfds, paddle jackets etc etc and lots of new boats. If you know what you want, stuff is a phone call away.

Phone: 1-888-545-5595

To Buy or Sell

For Sale

Seaward Ascente X3 Kayak

Dimensions LENGTH BEAM DEPTH COCKPIT BOW DAY STERN TOTAL STORAGE WEIGHT 18'5" 22.5" 14" 31"L x 16"W x 12.25"D Vol: 75 ltrs Hatch Opening 14"L x 8.5"W Vol: 36 ltrs Hatch Opening 7.5" Vol: 76 ltrs Hatch Opening 16"L x 10.5"W 187 ltrs 55 LBS.

Contact Roberto and see full description HERE on usedvictoria

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For Sale

Current Designs Karla, lightly used, in excellent condition. This is the latest in Current Designs new Danish style of kayaks. It is a sporty, responsive boat for an intermediate or advanced paddler. Length 15 ft 3 ins, detailed specs can be found on the Current Designs website. Price $3,200. Text or phone Edgar at 250 882-2594.

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.

SISKA’s Kayak Skills Course Partners

There are some fine discounts available from our kayak skills course partners for SISKA members who sign up for their skills training programs; have a look at https://siska.ca/docs_public/SISKAsKayakSkillsCoursePartners2020.pdf

Our partners are: