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

June 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

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.

Looking for a paddling/camping trip this summer?

by Debbie Leach

Our new partners offer kayak trips with discounts for SISKA Members.

Check them out HERE

More Detail HERE

SISKA Local Shoreline Cleanups - June 8-10

by BJ Porter

THREE SISKA SHORELINE CLEANUPS DURING WORLD OCEANS WEEK

We have created three opportunities for SISKA members to participate in shoreline cleanups:

SISKA ONE at Albert Head Lagoon on Tuesday June 8th;

SISKA TWO at Fort Rodd Hill on Wednesday June 9th (World Oceans Day); and

SISKA THREE at Finnerty Park (Arbutus Cove) on Thursday June 10th.

All cleanups start (i.e. launch) at 10 a.m. with a scheduled (but very flexible) duration of 3 hours.

Litter will be removed from the shoreline and an (optional) tally kept of the trash found and/or collected. A tally helps track the major and minor sources of litter in our community.
I will take care of administering permissions etc. until June 5th but will be out of town on the dates in question, so if you are willing to take on a very informal leadership role on the day please let me know at director1@siska.ca.
Follow the link(s) below to register and let me know you’re coming for one or more of the cleanups.

Together we’ll protect wildlife and ourselves from the impacts of shoreline litter.

SISKA ONE - Tues, June 8 - launch from Esquimalt Lagoon South (washrooms end) @ 10 am to Albert Head Lagoon
http://shorelinecleanup.ca/cleanups/4rj7l

SISKA TWO - Wed, June 9 - launch from Esquimalt Lagoon North (bridge end) @ 10 am to Fort Rodd Hill
http://shorelinecleanup.ca/cleanups/y8lv9

SISKA THREE - Thursday, June 10 - launch from Gyro Park/Cadboro Bay @ 10 am to Arbutus Cove
http://shorelinecleanup.ca/cleanups/1dkqd

BJ Porter,

SISKA Director at Large

Invitation to SKABC's June 7th meeting

by Debbie Leach

Hello SISKA people, I hope this finds you all doing well.

I thought I’d reach out with an invitation to our June meeting. We have two presentations, one from John Kimantis on the need for site assessors for BCMT. They’ve identified over a hundred potential sites they’re wanting to add to the map, but first they need some eyes on the ground to report back on site quality/conditions. Something that you or your members may be interested in helping out with during summer paddles.

And our feature guest is Norm Hann who will share the story of his trip on the Salish Sea Marine Trail last year. Norm’s an engaging presenter and we hope to bring more attention and interest to the SSMT that stretches through the Gulf Islands from Victoria to Nanaimo to Vancouver.

Our meetings are open to all, so feel free to share with your members.

Link to the Zoom meeting can be found here.

Contact me with any questions.

Best regards,

Kevin Hall

604-841-7359

Southern Resident Killer Whales Management Measures 2021

by Alan Campbell

Click above map for a clearer version.

The Government of Canada has recently announced a suite of management measures for 2021 to help protect Southern Resident Killer Whales.
More information and the complete list of 2021 Southern Resident Killer Whale management measures and maps can be found HERE

Kayakers and other human-powered vessels are permitted to transit the Interim Sanctuary Zones along Saturna and Pender Islands as long as they stay within 20m of the shoreline.

Check out their short video series on YouTube:
Boating around Killer Whales in Coastal BC – Give them space
Boating around Killer Whales in Coastal BC – Interim Sanctuary Zones
Boating around Killer Whales in Coastal BC – Fishery Measures for Southern Resident Killer Whales

What’s in a Name?

by Vic Turkington

Brotchie Ledge

Brotchie Ledge lies south of Victoria Harbour near Odgen Point. The ledge was named after Capt. William Brotchie (1799-1859), who arrived on the Pacific coast in 1831 from Scotland.
The ledge lurks just below the sea surface even at low tide and is a hazard to shipping entering and leaving Victoria harbour.
In 1843, the Hudson's Bay Company installed a buoy on the reef and named it Buoy Rock. A beacon of tall poles was erected on Beacon Hill (hence called Beacon Hill Park) and another on the shoreline to provide a range to aid navigators.

Capt. Brotchie was master of several HBC ships including the Cadboro and Beaver. However in 1849, Brotchie was aboard the barque Albion when it ran onto the reef. The ledge was thereafter renamed Brotchie Ledge.
Governor James Douglas appointed him as harbourmaster in Vancouver in 1858. Capt. Brotchie was apparently an amusing individual, described by Dr. Helmcken in the Victoria Daily Colonist as “ a character, genial, heavy, fat with a twinkling humour”

In 1891, the US 331ft steamer San Pedro with a pilot aboard, struck Brotchie Ledge on a falling tide. The engine at full astern failed to budge the ship, two tugs also failed to move it. The ship was carrying 4,000 tons of coal from Comox to San Francisco. In an effort to refloat the ship some of the cargo was jettisoned but the ship remained stuck on the rocks presenting a menace to navigation and an eyesore to the local residents. Extensive and expensive efforts were made over the next six years to refloat the ship when finally dynamite was employed to dismantle and remove the wreck in 1897. After removal of the San Pedro, construction of the present marker was started. Various devices were used over time to illuminate the beacon, including a 30 day oil burning lamp. It is now marked by a large white cylindrical tower with a green top and a green flashing light (Fl G) The light is powered by two solar panels. Mariners today have radar and GPS in addition to the present prominent marker, to avoid Brotchie Ledge.

An amusing incident - The Daily Colonist reported in 1904 that a 500 pound steel elephant called Mite had been stolen from a Victoria business and hung on the beacon - jokers!. The newspaper later reported that “visiting yachtsmen were astonished at the sight of an elephant hanging on an important piece of government property” (Daily Colonist, July 3, 1904) !

The SAN PEDRO on BROTCHIE LEDGE (1891-97)

Sidney Island History

by Edgar Hulatt

Taken from article written August 23, 2017

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.

It is inconceivable to imagine that the brick factory above was once situated in the lagoon. Broken brick fragments, some with Sidney Island still stamped on them, from the factory can still be found in the mud at low water near the camp site.

Southern Resident Killer Whale Bulletin

by Alan Campbell

Click HERE to read the bulletin.

Tips from the trips

by Debbie Leach

Anchor your boat. Use your dromedary when you can’t attach to a rock.

Safety Tip

by Lynn Baier

The Buddy Check

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.

Kayaking Klips

by Debbie Leach

Paddling under a walkway - duck! Don't get your paddle stuck and risk a capsize. Thanks Alan!