Introduction
Dear <<First Name>>,
Please welcome our new newsletter editor, Tony Playfair. Tony has kindly stepped up to take on this role, for which he deserves our thanks! You can contact the editors at the following email address: newsletter@siska.ca.
Thanks to those members who contributed photos and materials to this issue. 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!
Michael Jackson (SISKA president) and Tony Playfair (editor)
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 |
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Upcoming SISKA Events
Tuesday, November 27th, 2018 - 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM -
VHF Refresher Course by Edgar Hulatt
Wednesday, November 28th, 2018 - 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM -
Monthly Meeting :Its Colombia not Columbia: It is Not the Country You Think It Is!
Saturday, December 01st, 2018 - 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM -
Cadboro Bay to President's Paddle around Cadboro Bay Paddle
Saturday, December 01st, 2018 - 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM -
SISKA Annual Christmas Party
Sunday, December 09th, 2018 - 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM -
Esquimalt Lagoon to Millstream Falls Paddle
Saturday, December 15th, 2018 - 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM -
Oak Bay Marina - Parking Lot to Trial Island/Gonzales Paddle
Saturday, January 05th, 2019 - 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM -
Esquimalt Lagoon to Millstream Falls Paddle
Tuesday, January 08th, 2019 - 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM -
Injury Prevention in Sea Kayaking - Keeping You On The Water by Jennie Sutton
Wednesday, January 09th, 2019 - 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM -
VHF Refresher Course by Edgar Hulatt
Sunday, January 13th, 2019 - 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM -
Cadboro Bay to Glencoe Cove Paddle
Saturday, January 19th, 2019 - 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM -
Getting the Most From Your GPS by Karen Stefanyk
Sunday, January 20th, 2019 - 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM -
Albert Head to Witty's Lagoon Paddle
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2019 - 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM -
Monthly Meeting: Circumnavigating Van Isd with Bob/Eliz Purdon
Saturday, January 26th, 2019 - 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM -
Getting the Most From Your GPS by Karen Stefanyk
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Community Events of Interest
If you are aware of an event that should be included in the next Newsletter, please email Alan Campbell at alanglencampbell@shaw.ca.
Sunday, December 02nd, 2018 - 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM - Free Solo - IMAX
Sunday, December 02nd, 2018 - 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM - Sea Glass Jewellery Workshop - MMBC
Sunday, December 02nd, 2018 - 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM - Nautical Book Sculpting Workshop - MMBC
Wednesday, December 05th, 2018 - 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM - Victoria in the Steps of the Transformers - UVic
Thursday, December 06th, 2018 - 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM - What's Up in the Woods - Wilderness Committee
Friday, December 07th, 2018 - 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM - Free Solo - UVic Cinecenta
Wednesday, December 12th, 2018 - 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM - Keeping the Peace - VNHS
Friday, December 21st, 2018 - 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM - Solstice Stroll - CRD
Sunday, January 06th, 2019 - 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM - Winter Birds of Island View Beach - CRD
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What’s in a Name?
from Vic Turkington
BECHER BAY
Becher Bay is definitely a favourite with SISKA members. Every year we have paddles around its islet strewn coast line. The bay was named after Rear Admiral Alexander Becher (1796-1876), an RN hydrographer who wrote numerous books on navigation and marine history and made improvements to the sextant by inventing an artifical horizon.
Two islands lie in the bay: Wolf Island on the west side and Frazer Island in the middle. The east coast of Becher bay is particularly scenic, including the Parker Islets and provides challenging rock gardening opportunities. The Parker Islets are named after John Parker from Kent England; an employee of the Huson Bay Co.and local farmer in the 1800s. He was also the great great great grandfather of our own Gail Miller – (how about that!).
The Cheanuh First Nation is developing the marina area by creating a village and upscale housing project at Spirit Bay. Attractive chalets adorn the nearby rock cliffs; prices range from $384,000 - $939,000. A boat launch at the marina allows kayakers an easy access to this delightful bay.
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Tips from the trips
by Debbie Leach
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Bring a blankie. Good for warming a cool paddler especially now that winter is approaching.
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Safety tip - practice!
from Lynn Baier
I’m guessing that a lot of us take our sea kayaking courses, and then tuck what we have learned on the back burner. Make a habit of practicing a few braces and maneuvers right when you get on the water. That way when you need to call on your skills, it will be instinctual and muscle memory will save you from having to practice a wet exit. Thanks to Gary Allen for this valuable reminder on a recent paddle..
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SISKA is looking for new Paddle Leaders.
from Gary Jacek
We will be holding a briefing for potential paddle leaders who hold a Paddle Canada Level 2 Sea Kayaker certification and Marine Radio certificate.
Come join us at 7pm on Wednesday, February 13 to learn the ropes and find out how easy it is to navigate the web site, print your manifest and documents and lead your paddle group. Contact Gary Jacek at Gary.Jacek@shaw.ca to sign up.
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Camp Cookery
South African Bobotie
from Elizabeth Purdon via Lynn Baier
(Enjoyed by Bobby and the SeaStars on their circumnavigation of Vancouver Island.)
1/2 cup pearl barley
2 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
454 g extra learn ground beef
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup apricot jam (or any jam that you have in the fridge. ELizabeth used strawberry)
2 tablespoons curry powder (or to taste)
1/2 cup raisins
10 dried apricots, chopped
2 tablespoons mango chutney (if you have it. If not, use a bit more jam)
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup slivered blanched almonds
Cook barley in water for one hour or until cooked.
Heat oil in heavy saucepan. Add onion and saute until soft.
Add beef, barley, lemon juice, jam, curry powder, raisins, apricots and chutney; cook gently for a few minutes to brown the meat. Remove from heat and transfer mixture to 7x11 inch shallow baking dish or a casserole dish.
Beat together eggs and milk and season with salt and pepper.
Pour over beef mixture.
Sprinkle with almonds and insert bay leaves into meat mixture.
Bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until topping is golden brown and almonds are toasted.
Serve over yellow rice coloured with turmeric or saffron.
Makes 6 servings.
The recipe can be doubled. Eat half for dinner and dry the rest.
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BBQ Salmon on the beach
by Rob Rosborough
I was asked by some SISKA members if I could post a picture of how I like to BBQ salmon over a fire. After weaving a chunk of salmon with cedar kindling I hang it over a fire using hay wire.
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SISKA Trip Advisor Directory
by Vic Turkington
Have you ever thought you would like to plan a kayak\camping trip along the coast of Vancouver Island but didn't quite know how to go about it? You were maybe not sure what the kayak area is like - how challenging\safe is it; are there good launch sites; where are the campsites - how good are they; can you rent kayaks; how to get there; where can you leave your vehicle; what are the highlights ... and a pile of other questions?
Well now, no problem: SISKA has a list of experienced members who have kindly volunteered to help you! These members are glad to share their experiences, offer advice and guidance and help you plan an unforgettable kayak adventure. Just contact them and get experienced insight for your proposed trip. Here is a link to the list.
The document is also available by copying/clicking this link: (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTUO5l3JGB5bWAI-BUWfLhjhlV7CVAicG8_HLJ9hlz1ZCGBOf1wcvbhPJG_j8wntkGwsrhwo-FjuCHk/pubhtml)
There is a vast wealth of experience within SISKA, both on coastal Vancouver Island and far beyond.
Extensive information on Vancouver Island is also available on the BC Marine Trails website "bcmarinetrails.org" , in John Kimantis's series on Coastal Vancouver Island and other books in the SISKA library.
Happy planning and tripping.....
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EZ intertidal Guides
by Mike Jackson
At the intertidal life talk I gave on November 19th, there was considerable interest expressed in obtaining EZ ID guide cards: https://soundwaterstewards.org/ezidweb/ID_cards/
I am planning to put together a bulk order of the intertidal invertebrate and seaweed sheets for club members. These sheets are excellent and handy sheets for kayakers since they are laminated and quite tough.
Seaweeds (3 sheets):
https://soundwaterstewards.org/ezidweb/ezid_cards/seaweeds/
Invertebrates (4 sheets):
https://soundwaterstewards.org/ezidweb/ezid_cards/invertebrates/
The invertebrates sheets are usually $18 USD per set plus shipping and the seaweed ones are $16.
In bulk, I can get them for the club at $12 and $8 respectively (plus exchange, duty and shipping), which is quite a saving. In the past, they have come in at under $40 CDN for the two sets.
If you are interested in getting either or both sets, please email mjackson@islandnet.com by December 4th indicating which one(s) you want. I will order them, and once we have received them (and paid shipping, exchange and duty), I will let everyone know how much to pay and how to pick up.
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Trip Reports
Albert Head to Witty's Lagoon
On Sunday November 25, 2019, twelve enthusiastic SISK-aliens met at the Albert Head Lagoon launch site to paddle to Witty’s Lagoon. While some paddlers played at rock-gardening enroute, others stayed a little further out and enjoyed beautiful paddling. Sufficient tide height allowed us to paddle to the end of Witty’s Lagoon where we found Sitting Lady Falls in full flow. Some paddlers braved the spray and currents to ”dip their bows” into the base of the falls. At lunch on the Witty’s sandbar picnic area, we enjoyed (personally caught and) smoked sockeye salmon – Thank You Rob Rosborough! After strawberries and chocolate cake, a rendition of “When I’m Sixty Four” topped off the Tony Playfair birthday celebration. Returning, we rounded the outside of the Haystock Islands, and negotiated 1-meter swell and wind waves while paddling back to the shoreline which we followed back to the start. At the Albert Head launch site, we found high enough water to avoid landing on the surf-beach by paddling right into the lagoon to land near the vehicles. Post-paddle lies were shared at Serious Coffee in Colwood. This route is being offered again on January 20, 2019. Maybe we will see you there? A short aerial video clip of our GPS track, with photos, can be viewed at the following link: https://www.relive.cc/view/1985248964
Below photo courtesy of Debbie Chan - Tony and John testing the falls.
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Meeting/Event Reports
by Fred Pishalski
BC Marine Trails AGM
On Saturday November 24th BC Marine Trail held its 2018 AGM in Nanaimo. SISKA rep to BCMT Fred Pishalski with club members Norm Marcy, Edgar Hulatt along with Ocean River’s Brian Henry travel up-island together to attended the event. The business meeting focused on BCMT’s accomplishments of this past year including the work on developing new trails, beach clean ups, new safety mandate, new strategy document, on-line map enhancements and finished with a strong financial statement. Plans for next year including getting more paddlers to complete Site Condition Reports.
https://www.bcmarinetrails.org/pdf/Site_Report_forms/site_condition_printable.pdf
After lunch Rebecca Grim one of the two Paddling North women https://paddlingnorth.com/the-team/ showed us their new short documentary followed by a slide presentation of their paddling trip from Saltspring Island to Glacier Bay Alaska. Leonie Mahlke who is the other paddling partner joined us via Skype from Germany, where she lives, for an interesting question and answer period. It was an incredible journey of exploration for these two adventurous young women.
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Best of the Banff Mtn Film Festival
On November 25th at the Alpine Club of Canada’s Best of the Banff Mtn Film Festival, held at the University of Victoria, the South Island Sea Kayaking Assoc and BC Marine Trails shared an information table. The event was a sell out and we were able to talk to lots of people both before the films started and during the intermission. In the photo are Gail Miller and Alan Campbell.
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SISKA's New Members!
We are going to try and introduce some new members each month. If you are a new member and would like to be "introduced" via the newsletter, please send a brief bio to newsletter@siska.ca.
Marika Stephenson
I’m a Victoria native, recently moved back after over 30 years on the mainland. First kayak bug was over 20 years ago and finally purchased my own kayak in 2012 (a beautiful 1996 Current Designs Kevlar Solstice HV). My only formal training is Level 1 Paddle Canada with David Dreves and a private lesson after a rotator cuff injury.
The last few years I’ve done some paddling with PIKA and SKABC but mostly with a small group of eccentric friends. Recent extended trips are Broken Group and Desolation Sound. Upcoming trips are either Broughton or Murtle Lake in Sept 2019, Sea of Cortez in April and Broken Group with SISKA in June. During the summer I try to paddle every weekend, usually overnight to places such as Sechelt Inlet, Portland Island, Prevost, Howe Sound, Roberts Beach on Nelson Island, Sandy Island, Cabbage Island, Harrison Lake, Indian Arm and Pitt Lake to name a few.
My new home is located right next to the public launch site on Shoreline Drive at Portage Inlet. Obviously as a kayaker I support public access to all waterways and am happy to discuss the use of the dock on my property until the public launch is completed, most likely prearranged while I am home (for liability issues). I will also be encouraging all of my neighbours to take a friendly approach to kayakers.
Editor Note - Marika greeted many of us recently at her house right at the pullout/put in for the Victoria Waterways Loop.
Pauline Barnes
Pauline grew up in Victoria, rowing and sailing in Shoal Bay. She doesn't have a kayak yet but would like to get more exercise seeing all the wonders in local waters. Have kayaked four times in the Broken Islands.
Jill Walshaw
My name is Jill Walshaw and I’ve lived in Victoria for 10 years. After paddling rental kayaks my whole adult life, I’ve finally bought my own boat - it was on the post-divorce bucket-list. ;) She’s a beautiful Seaward Luna, and she corners like a sports car! Since getting my boat, I’ve been poking around off Clover Point near where I live and in Sooke Harbour, but I’m keen to get paddling with more knowledgeable people to find the best spots and to learn where the danger zones are. Over the years I’ve made little forays in the Gulf Islands and visits to Desolation Sound, and scared myself near Tofino and paddling out to see a puffin nesting-ground on a sea stack in Newfoundland. My best paddling adventure to date was a five-day camping trip down the Saguenay Fjord in Eastern Quebec. I’m in it more for the exercise and the freedom of self-propelled sport, but I love catching sight of brightly coloured sea stars and sea anemones, and I daydream of spotting orcas from the water. I’m really looking forward to meeting everyone at SISKA!
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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.
Stohlquist "Shift" Drysuit - Size Small. Brand new, never used. Latex gaskets all around. Neck gasket can be removed and tucked inside front of suit on good weather days or pulled out quickly for rolling or heavy seas.
See description here. Email tonyplay@padlr.net for more info.
Secure Kayak Storage spots - the Victoria Youth Paddling Club (VYPC.CA) has a couple of secure storage spots available for rent at their facility just North of the Ocean River dock. Prices are $450/Yr or $225/6 Mo and the funds help sustain the club.
Eliza Necky Kayak - She’s been a great boat for a few years but the fit is wrong for me. Eliza Necky is made for a small to medium-sized woman (not me!)
Some information points:
• Constructed of fiberglass
• 15 ft, 3 inches long and 21 inches wide
• weight – 21.3 kg /47 lbs
• original US price $2,599 (CDN -$3,440, plus tax!)
• I bought her five years ago from Ocean River and have only used her in the warm months, lightly.
• Steady and stable boat that manoeuvres really well.
• Boat is outside for inspection.
• Make me an offer!
• 250-896-3029
• detsten@gmail.com
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(Eliza’s the boat facing to the right)
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NECKY MANITOU 14
Very good condition.
Green in colour.
52lbs polyethylene shell.
Very stable and comfortable boat.
Feet and thigh braces.
Easily retractable SKEG.
Dry storage bow and stern with NEW neoprene hatch seals. $990 OBO
Contact
Lesley 250-634-2349
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