Introduction
Dear <<First Name>>,
As we ease into fall and winter, we tend to have fewer SISKA paddles. Particularly during those months, we need contributions from members who have enjoyed a SISKA event or paddle. Please consider putting fingers to keyboard for a short (100-150 words) summary article; for more information, contact one of us. And if you would like to start a regular column, please let us know!
You can find SISKA on Facebook at this link. SISKA also has a Meetup site for "impromptu" and other paddles organized by club members. (To join this, you have to be a club member.) For more details, go to https://www.meetup.com/SISKA-Meetup/.
Michael Jackson (SISKA president) and Ben van Drimmelen (editor) |
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Upcoming Events
November 4, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm, Spirit Bay to Cabin Point Paddle (ENERGIZER)
November 13, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Marine Communications and Traffic Services Tour
November 21, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Tour
November 22, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Monthly Meeting
November 23, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Planning a Day Trip with Jennie Sutton and Edgar Hulatt
November 26, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm, Patrica Bay to Coles Bay Paddle (RELAXED)
December 2, 11:45 am - 3:30 pm, SISKA Christmas Party lunch
December 3, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm, Esquimalt Lagoon to Esquimalt Harbour/Millstream Falls Paddle (RELAXED)
December 17, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm, Albert Head to Wittys Lagoon Paddle (ENERGIZER)
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SISKA's Christmas Party
Hopefully, you received the email about the club's Christmas party on December 2nd at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. At the time of writing, over 80 of the 100 available spots have been taken!
If you need to register, please check out the document at this link. (no need to log into Dropbox to view). If the ticket link does not work, then most likely all the spots have been taken. If you want to be on the wait list please contact Jane Jacek.
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Paddle leader Gary tries to hide in the foliage!
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October relaxed Paddle in Brentwood Bay
October 28 dawned clear and cool for our SISKA relaxed paddle from Brentwood Bay to MacKenzie Bight. We launched just after the ferry departed its slip for Mill Bay. John Wells and Debbie Chan led the group at a noodling pace, following the shoreline, taking in the fall colours, with the odd seal and great blue heron guiding the way. We took our lunch on a sun-warmed rocky prominence, with views of seals "frolicking" on the water below.
On our return leg the wind increased to about 1 knot, teasing the odd ripple from the water. The group arrived at the mouth of Todd Inlet well energized, so we took a side tour of the fall foliage in this protected waterway. Kingfishers periodically scolded us as we passed through their territory. Near the old cement factory, a squadron of buffleheads buzzed us in their haste to return to their wintering grounds. Moving along, we came upon a very relaxed river otter - not at all alarmed by our large and colourful flotilla. One final stop at the little shoreline lighthouse and then home, with Debbie Leach as our sweep. A perfect fall day enjoyed by 14 happy paddlers.
To see two dozen more shots from the paddle check out Debbie Chan's Album
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The group enjoying fall foliage in Todd Inlet
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The trip track (made by John Wells)
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Trip Tips
- Debbie Leach
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Laun-Dry Bag. Pop a detergent pod in with your dirty duds, add water, seal and shake, shake, shake!
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What’s in a Name?
- Vic Turkington
SIDNEY ISLAND
Sidney Island was named in 1859 after Fredrick William Sidney, a surveyor aboard the HMS Plumper. The southern section of the island is privately owned but in 1981 the northern sector became the Sidney Spit Marine Park and later became part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. It is also part of the BC Marine trails network and is an easy 2 nm paddle from Sidney at slack tide..
The park area comprises about 400 acres and encloses a broad sheltered lagoon (entry prohibited), with a long sand spit, housing a white/red top navigation beacon at its tip (chart symbol: Fl(3)R). The Sidney Spit sandbar is a great place for beachcombing and picnics; although it is largely submerged at high tide. Its tidal flats and salt marshes teem with birds, especially during the spring and fall migrations. Kayakers can cruise along the spit shore and observe dunlin, sandpipers, plovers, killdeer, ducks and other kinds of shore birds, at close quarters - a bird watcher's delight.
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The Sidney Tile and Brick Company utilized the island's fine clay in a brick manufacturing works between 1906 and 1915. Broken red bricks still litter parts of the shoreline and underbrush. Fallow deer, black tailed deer, bald eagles, turkey vultures and a rich variety of songbirds, ducks, geese and other waterfowl, call it home.
The park also contains a camp site with 27 grassy sites, tent pads, picnic tables, pit toilets, gear carts and a picnic shelter. Hiking trails allow easy exploration of the park; a ferry service operates from Sidney during the summer. Overall, the Sidney Spit Marine Park is a delightful paddling destination, either as a day trip or a kayak/camping experience.
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October Monthly Meeting - Alaska Revisited
- by Alan Campbell
In the summer of 2014 SISKA’s “Paddling Fanatics”, Alan Campbell, David Maxwell and Rob Zacharias, kayaked from Victoria to Alaska, passing some amazing places where they longed to linger and explore, so…this past summer, along with fellow Fanatic Henry Grayman, they returned to SE Alaska, this time taking their kayaks and gear by Alaska Ferry, to paddle for a week in Glacier Bay, and then from Juneau to Petersburg.
Paddling close to several calving tidewater glaciers in Glacier Bay, watching grazing grizzly bears there and on Admiralty Island, and humpback whales bubble-feeding non-stop off Cape Fanshaw highlighted 3 weeks of paddling through north coast nature at its best. Of course, there were also plenty of bugs, quite a bit of rain, camp days forced by high winds (kudos to home-based forecaster Lisa!), monster tides, and the many practical challenges of living outdoors for weeks at a time. Happily, reservable Alaska Forest Service cabins (“a little bit of heaven”!) twice provided welcome warm shelter and respite for our hardy adventurers.
Lots of laughs were shared with the packed audience as these old friends, who have kayak-camped together for many years, kidded each other mercilessly at times. We were reminded that David, the sole wetsuit-only paddler, needs daily drying, Rob, an efficient late-riser, loves the workout of 20+nm paddles, Alan, an inefficient early-riser, carries so much gear he needs hours to pack, and Henry can sometimes barely see on the water through his thick fogged lenses!
We were encouraged and some were inspired to visit or revisit these amazing places in SE Alaska, with or without kayaks and camping!
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A group of humpback whales spouting off Cape Fanshaw
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Discovery Island Wolf Update
- by Mike Jackson
The park has remained open to day visitors but not for camping this summer and there seems to be little movement on the camping front.
If you are interested in reading more about the wolf, local photographer and long-time watcher of the wolf, Cheryl Alexander was recently interviewed for Project Coyote and you can find the article here.
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Camp Cookery
Spicy Pork in Peanut Sauce (Dehydrated) for 4
- Lynn Baier
Another delicious submission from Debbie Leach......
At Home:
Crumble 500 g of ground pork into a frypan and cook until well browned. Rinse off fat and pat dry. Dehydrate on shop towels in your dehydrator.
In a large pot, heat 1½ tbsp. sesame oil and add 2 tbsp. of minced fresh ginger and 2 minced medium cloves of garlic, stirring for 30 seconds. Stir in 3 tbsp. of soy sauce, 2 tbs. of rice vinegar, 1 tbsp. of sambal oelek or other Asian chili paste and 1 tbsp. of sugar and cook until bubbling. Add 1/2 cup of crunchy peanut butter and 2/3 cup chicken broth, stirring well. Simmer for 2 minutes, then spread the mixture ¼ inch thick on dehydrator trays to dry. Combine the pork and sauce in a zipper top bag.
At Camp:
Combine the pork and sauce mixture in a pot. Add boiling water to cover, stir well and cover and keep warm. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add 340 g. of rotini and cook according to package directions until al dente. Thin the sauce with pasta water, if necessary. Finally, cut a medium lime into 4 wedges to squeeze over each serving.
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Kayakable Birding
This month, a couple more of those often-cryptic shorebirds.
The Surfbird likes rocky shorelines; it is rarely found away from the splash and spray of incoming waves. Surfbirds are stocky plain grey shorebirds with short yellow legs, but the identifying feature is a striking tail pattern when it flies; a white tail with a broad black edge band.
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The Surfbird
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Sanderlings are the cuties of the shorebirds - small flocks run rapidly up and down sandy beaches like little clockwork toys, picking at tiny prey in the wet sand behind each retreating wave. Sanderlings are actually easy to identify this time of year; their grey winter plumage is very pale, lighter than other shorebirds.
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Sanderlings
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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.
- FOR SALE
No new items this month....
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SISKA's Kayak Skills Course Partners
SISKA has been in touch with several local outfits that offer sea kayaking skills courses and all of the ones below have offered us some kind of deal. Please read on for specifics from...
- Blue Dog Kayaking
- Go Kayak
- Ocean River Sports
- Pacifica Paddlesports
- Sea Kayak Instruction & Learning Systems
Blue Dog Kayaking
When booking a course or expedition on line, SISKA members just apply the Discount Coupon Code SISKA15 at check out, valid until 31st December 2018. It can be applied to ALL our activities available online at both of our locations, Mill Bay and Port Sidney. If members would rather book via email and pay by e-transfer, we take a 50% refundable deposit with the balance due 30 days before the event takes place. We offer a Rock-Solid refund policy so SISKA members can book with confidence
http://bluedogkayaking.com/refund-policy/
Here are some early season offerings with links:
Early Bird Deer Group Expedition L2/3 skills available - 14th to 18th April
http://bluedogkayaking.com/paddle_canada/skills/level-2/
Level 4 Skills Clayoquot Sound - 28th April to 3rd May
http://bluedogkayaking.com/paddle_canada/skills/level-4/
L2/3 6 Day expedition to the Broken Group - May 8th to 13th
http://bluedogkayaking.com/multi-day-expeditions/barkley-sound/
http://bluedogkayaking.com/paddle_canada/skills/level-3/
Adventures for Women:
Broken Group Adventure with L2/3 skills optional 17 - 21 May
http://bluedogkayaking.com/adventures-for-women/
L2/3 6 day expedition to Clayoquot including Flores Island - May 23 - 28
http://bluedogkayaking.com/multi-day-expeditions/clayoquot-sound/
NOT TO BE MISSED
Our 8 day expedition to South Brooks and the Bunsbys 3rd to 10th July
http://bluedogkayaking.com/multi-day-expeditions/bunsby/
Go Kayak
If any of Go Kayak's advertised courses are booked at more than 75% of their max, which usually ranges from 4-6 people, and a single SISKA member comes in, Go Kayak will be able to offer a discount of 15% as well as if the course is booked as a group (package deal). The discount is available for a single SISKA member if the minimum requirement to run that course is met. If it is under the minimum requirement, it becomes a “custom or private course” and no discount is applied. It is at Go Kayak’s discretion to run or not run a course with low registration.
You can find "Go Kayak Courses and Paddling Program" at http://gokayak.ca/courses.html and for What's Happening! at Go Kayak, members can also click on the "Go Kayak Newsletter" home page at http://gokayak.ca/newsletter/index.html
Ocean River Sports
We are pleased to extend a 10% discount for any Ocean River courses or local tours.
https://oceanriver.com/course-length/kayak-courses/
https://oceanriver.com/tours-and-groups/
Pacifica Paddlesports, Pacifica Paddle Sports Lessons
The winter months are an excellent time to practice your skills and go paddling rain or shine. At Pacifica, we aim to keep paddlers learning all year round by offering a variety of lessons.
Our L3 focuses on bracing and edging for kayakers who want to feel more stable in moving water and become better connected with their boat, so maneuvering becomes effortless. We also hold monthly wet-exit and rescue courses at the UVIC pool, Sunday afternoons 12:30-3. These will be November 5, December 10, January 7, February 4, March 4. Check out our website https://www.pacificapaddle.com/kayak-lessons for other upcoming lessons throughout the winter and spring.
As a member of SISKA, you will receive 10% off our group lessons. Custom and private lessons are also available, at a 5% discount. We will also be posting information about upcoming lessons and other events on our Facebook page: Pacifica Paddle Sports
Sea Kayak Instruction and Learning Systems
We provide a 15% discount when a group of 3 SISKA paddlers book for a specific course (All must be for the same course.) Check out our 2018 course offerings at our website: https://skils.ca/sea-kayaking-recreational-programs/
- Paddle Canada Programs
- Surfing in Sea Kayaks
- Currents
- Rock Gardening
- Instructional Tour
- Advanced Expeditions
- Sea Kayak Clinics
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