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)

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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

 

Sidney Island, known to aboriginal people as Sallas Island, was one of the earliest places settled on Canada’s Pacific Coast. It was on the route from Fort Victoria to the Fraser River gold rush in 1858. The following year the Hudson Bay Company began offering land for sale, and to make it appear more civilized, changed its name to Sidney Island. For some years following the turn of the century, a brickworks operated in the area now within the marine park, utilizing the island’s fine clay.

Some of the huge old growth Douglas Fir timber was logged during the two World Wars, and in its place vigorous stands of second growth have flourished.

In 1910, a group of Victoria businessmen purchased Sidney Island as a hunting preserve, though vegetable farming and sheep raising continued for some decades. In 1981, after the marine park was created, the remainder of the island was purchased by Sallas Forest Limited Partnership. Today, following official approval of a development plan to integrate low-density residential development with forest management and protection of areas of special environmental significance, the top one third of the Island, which includes Sidney Spit and the Lagoon, is National Park Reserve while the remainder is private.

 

We are each other’s most valuable safety measure. Give your paddling buddies the quick once over before getting on the water. More than one of us have left the beach with a drysuit zipper not quite closed, or a hatch cover not quite tight, or a spray skirt not quite in place. It will always be appreciated if you let that person know.

Breakfast Pistachio Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

• ½ cup instant rice
• ¼ cup Dried Cranberries
• ¼ cup dry milk
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar, packed
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

In a small bag:

• ¼ cup pistachios, chopped fine

Note on bag:

• Add ¾ cup water

At home:
Bag the rice, cranberries, milk, sugar and cinnamon in a quart freezer bag (for FBC) or a sandwich bag (for mug method/one pot method). Bag the nuts separately in a small snack bag.

In camp:

FBC method:
Bring the water to a boil, add to the freezer bag. Stir well, seal tightly and let sit in a cozy for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir well, add in the nuts.

Insulated mug method:

Bring water to boil, add dry ingredients and water to an insulated mug. Stir well, cover tightly and let sit for 10 minutes. Stir well, add in nuts.

One pot method:
Bring the water to a boil, add in the dry ingredients. Cover tightly, take off the stove (in cool temperatures use a pot cozy) and let sit for 10 minutes. Stir well, add in nuts.

Notes:

Instant brown rice can be used, give it a full 15 minutes sitting time. Brown rice works best using the one pot method.
¼ cup shelled pistachios are about 50 of the nuts. Use a lightly salted and roasted for best taste. Reserve a couple of whole ones to decorate the pudding.

The recipe can be adapted for vegan/plant-based diets by using powdered soy or rice milk or my favorite, Creamed Coconut, that has been finely grated .

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