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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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

 

by Fred Pishalski
 

Please come join us for our November 25, 2020 monthly meeting. This will be a Zoom meeting (see below) ..... Our speaker will be former SISKA President, Mike Jackson, who will share his experience helping to clean up parts of BC rugged West coast.
 

Michael Jackson has recently returned from a six-week expedition to the outer islands of the Great Bear Rainforest where he was assistant expedition leader for a fleet of nine small tour vessels which managed to clean up 127 tones of marine debris. You may have read an Introduction to this project in the Times Colonist. For his fellow SISKA members, Mike will talk about what makes the Great Bear Rainforest special and about the unique debris cleanup project.
 

Michael Jackson has been a Victoria resident since 1986 when he took up a position teaching science at St Michaels University School (recently retired). He is a founding director and past president of SISKA as well as an active paddle leader and instructor for the club. In his spare time over the years, he worked as a naturalist and expedition leader for several companies in Canada and the US ? from the Arctic to the Galapagos to the Antarctic. Mike wrote one of the leading natural history guidebooks to the Galapagos Islands (1986,1997), a destination he travels to frequently as a guide, most recently to the Islands in February. He was in the Antarctic for much of the past winter and the Arctic in the summer of 2019.

Mike has been leading trips on the BC and Southeast Alaska coasts for six years with Victoria company Maple Leaf Adventures. During that time, he has had the fortune to show guests the natural and cultural wonders of Haida Gwaii, Southeast Alaska and the Great Bear Rainforest.

by Alan Campbell
 

To encourage our members to take a First Aid course, or to recertify and keep their current certification valid, SISKA will provide a $50 subsidy to those completing a basic, advanced, or wilderness first aid course. Simply enroll with the course and organization of your choice and email chairperson@siska.ca to confirm when you have completed it successfully.
Numerous accredited trainers are available in the Victoria area including Alert First-Aid, Red Cross, St John’s Ambulance and several community recreation centres, through which a variety of courses are scheduled at different times.
In order to manage this new program, we have set aside $1,000 in our 2020 budget at this time, and will re-evaluate it once the first 20 members have claimed a subsidy.
So…don’t delay, sign up for a first aid course today!

Congrats to those who took the Paddle Canada Level 1 Course Sat Oct 24 and Sun Oct 25!
Val Chater, Kirstine Murdoch, Bob McKechnie, Lawrie Spooner and Christophe Peschard.
Kudos are also due to their instructors, Mike Jackson, Jennie Sutton and Brad Wipp, all of whom participated in SISKA’s first Zoom-based classroom session on Saturday morning.

by Alan Campbell
 

All Parks Canada land on Sidney Island will be closed for public safety reasons to facilitate hunting by First Nations.

by Gary Jacek
 

by Vic Turkington
 

by Rapid Media via Lynn Baier
 

Love it or lose it!

If you love your gear...attach it to your boat or your body. And remember your glasses ! We could tell you stories!

by Debbie Leach
 

Are your toes ever cold paddling, well solve it this way - HERE

by Lynn Baier
 

by Tim Frick
 

After a slightly muddy launch, two groups of six SISKA paddlers set off on a voyage from the protected waters of the marina to the rugged coastline of Juan de Fuca Strait. Our leader Dorothea correctly predicted light winds and an ebb for the first half of the outbound trip, as well as the possibility of a headwind once in the passage between Bentinck Island and the Rocky Point military installation.  Co-leader Scott declared the winds to be safe heading in to the Swirl Bay lunch break.  

The ebb resulted in an opportunity for an extended lunch break as Scott regaled us with paddling stories and Dorothea held an impromptu Greenland forward stroke session.  
For the return trip the winds were light enough to return outside Bentinck Island. Scott led a group out through Race Passage as a special treat in a light flood, while Dorothea’s paddlers headed across to William Head to examine the eastern coastline of Pedder Bay.

As happens with every SISKA paddle there were lots of interesting sights along the shoreline and in the water.  Of particular interest on this trip was a natural phenomenon rarely seen and one that is coveted by birders and nature lovers.  

As we approached Christopher Point on the way out, both groups of paddlers couldn’t help but notice hundreds and hundreds of Turkey Vultures circling and cruising higher and higher. After the usual carrion jokes it was determined that this rare sight was a ‘kettle’ of vultures.  The term ‘kettling’ is used to describe the preparation for and eventual riding of the correct thermal conditions that aid in migration.  The trip across the Strait doesn’t provide any rest stops so the thermal push south to the Olympic Peninsula and beyond is a necessary condition for a number of bird species.  Numerous kettles consisting of hundreds of vultures were observed throughout the paddle making the trip a memorable one indeed.

by Lynn Baier
 

The original plan was to do a car shuttle and a one way paddle from Maple Bay to Genoa Bay. I love that paddle and highly recommend it. Covid changed the game plan and it was decided that we would try something new altogether. The original 14 who signed up, showed up. There was some competition for parking spots at the public beach by the Rowing Club, made even more challenging again by the ‘no carpooling’ that goes along with health recommendations. We launched on time after introductions and an outline of the day’s paddle plan. It was really great to both do a new paddle, and to meet several people that I hadn’t paddled with before.

We traced the shoreline up to Grave Point, most of it being quite wild, then crossed as a group over to the Saltspring Island side of Stuart Channel. We carried on to Booth Bay, that has the narrowest of entrances. You really have to know it’s there to have a peek inside at the interesting little cove and community park. The ebbing tide prevented us from going in so we doubled back to a large drying clam bed of a beach where there was lots of room to social distance. I miscalculated that the sun would then be on the beach, but the compensation for at least one paddler was to collect about a kilo of clams, just begging to be dinner.

On the return trip we stuck more to the, equally as wild, Saltspring Island side until the crossing, which would take us to the north side of Maple Bay. A bit of a headwind against current stirred things up a bit to put a wee bit of challenge into an otherwise uneventful paddle. The group was back to the beach by 2:30. A few dedicated souls stayed out a few minutes longer to practice some wet work. After the kayaks were loaded back on cars, we strolled the 100 metres or so down the beach to the park for a nice debrief and social. Another great day on the water!

Relive track and photos HERE.

by Debbie Leach/BJ Porter
 

by Edmund Duggan
 

In this brief article we'll cover light, positioning and framing. Handling these three items well can vastly improve one's paddling images.

Paddling photography is done outdoors mainly, although sometimes pool sessions present opportunities. Either case the first consideration is the light, but for most cases being outdoors it is really weather dependant. On ideal days one is enjoying the sunshine, but sometimes clouds get in the way. Knowing how to deal with both will help improve the pictures one takes. When the sky is clear from clouds, the light is very harsh and directional, so positioning yourself so the light comes from behind you and onto the subject is best. This avoids backlight faces. Of note is that hats will usually put a shadow over the eyes of your subject, unless the sun is low, or they don't know how to wear a hat. Just beware.

The more overcast it is, the "softer" the light will become. Shadows are filled in, but the lighting can look too even and therefore flat/monotone. Use of flash on a foreground subject will make it pop out from the background. Expect that any reflective markings on paddling outerwear or deck lines will reflect light back that will show in the image.

In addition to positioning for light, one must position to take the subject. In sea kayaks if you are shooting forwards, you'll capture the backside of paddlers. This can be artistic, but looking at the backs of people's heads may not be very engaging or personal. It's great when adding a paddler in a wide landscape shoot, not so good when you're trying to highlight the person themselves. Side shots are great, but require good timing as when one holds a camera one can't paddle forward. Front shots are tricky, as out either need to be well out front and turn to capture your subject, then turn back to join the group which is time consuming & extra paddling.

Consider framing - what one captures in the image by setting position and zooming in/out. When beginning, one usually puts the subject dead centre of the frame. This quick and great for getting the proper expose and focus for a camera, but isn't very artistic, it makes the subject look very static (dear in headlights anyone?) Paddling is about movement and travel. Give space for the kayak to move into by offsetting the centre of the image. Getting the image with "target" framing can allows be changed in post-editing. (Next article.)

Framing shoots can be horizontal, called landscape, or vertical known as portraiture. The names suggest their ideal use. Sea kayaks are long skinny objects on a long horizontal surface in nature, so landscape framing is a natural fit. Framing also includes considering other kayakers. Ensure that there aren't any paddles/paddlers sticking out from behind your subject's head, nor is your bow in the frame, unless you intend it to be. Check you're background as well for disturbing objects, such as houses or other marine vessels. They can distract form the final image.

Some people talk about photographic rules. but sometimes breaking the rules adds to a picture's uniqueness. Rather I like to think of them as suggestions and will sometimes go against standard wisdom to get a new take for my images. I encourage you to practice with these items and enjoy!

by BJ Porter
 

by Anne Graves
 

What kayakers can learn from this -  HERE!

by Heather Jones
 

The Siska Library may be unavailable due to covid-19 but we have two items which can be borrowed -

1. Drysuit Gasket Kit: You just need to provide the gasket required and the Aquaseal.

2. A Greenland Paddle: If you would like to try out Greenland paddling, you can borrow this paddle.

Contact Heather

by Heather Jones
 

1. Pack an overcoat - Basically a jacket which you can wear over your life jacket to stay warm while packing your kayak, lunch time, when finished paddling.

2. Bring a hot drink

3. Bring a hot lunch - Soup, Stew or Chili

4. Pack a small thermos of hot water to pour into your gloves after lunch to warm them up or use pogies.

 by Alan Campbell