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)
PS: You can find SISKA on Facebook at this link.
PPS: Siska has it's own Youtube Channel HERE
PPPS: You can find the SISKA newsletter archive here: http://goo.gl/VUkafR |
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Upcoming SISKA Events
Thursday, February 03rd, 2022 - 4:00 PM to 4:00 PM - VHF Radio for Kayakers
Friday, February 04th, 2022 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Energizer Paddle - Swartz Bay/Barnacle Road Public Dock to Moresby Island Loop Paddle
Saturday, February 05th, 2022 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Energizer Paddle - Swartz Bay/Barnacle Road Public Dock to Moresby Island Loop Paddle
Sunday, February 06th, 2022 - 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM - Pool Session
Sunday, February 06th, 2022 - 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM - Pool Session + Rolling Lesson with Jo!
Saturday, February 12th, 2022 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Energizer Paddle - Amherst to Portland Island/Shell Beach Paddle
Sunday, February 13th, 2022 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Relaxed Paddle - Oak Bay Marina to Ten Mile Point Paddle
Saturday, February 19th, 2022 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Energizer Paddle - Telegraph Cove to Discovery Island Paddle
Sunday, February 20th, 2022 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Energizer Paddle - Spirit Bay to Cabin Point Paddle
Saturday, February 26th, 2022 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Energizer Paddle - Brentwood Bay Ferry Wharf to Mackenzie Bight via Bamberton and Spectacle Falls Paddle
Sunday, February 27th, 2022 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Relaxed Paddle - Amherst to Tsehum Harbour Paddle
Saturday, March 12th, 2022 - 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM - Strokes and Maneuvers Refinement
Saturday, March 12th, 2022 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Amherst to Portland Island Paddle
Saturday, March 12th, 2022 - 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM - Turning Strokes
Sunday, March 13th, 2022 - 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM - Strokes and Maneuvers Refinement
Sunday, March 13th, 2022 - 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM - Relaxed Paddle - Telegraph Cove to Margaret Bay Paddle
Sunday, March 13th, 2022 - 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM - Turning Strokes
Thursday, March 17th, 2022 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Light Paddle - Brentwood Bay Ferry Wharf to Todd Inlet Paddle
Saturday, March 19th, 2022 - 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM - Rescues Session
Saturday, March 19th, 2022 - 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM - Introduction to Currents
Sunday, March 20th, 2022 - 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM - Towing
Sunday, March 20th, 2022 - 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM - Introduction to Currents
Sunday, March 20th, 2022 - 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM - Forward Stroke Polishing
Saturday, March 26th, 2022 - 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM - Edging and Strokes Tune-Up
Saturday, March 26th, 2022 - 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM - Edging and Bracing
Saturday, March 26th, 2022 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Energizer Paddle - Whiffin Spit to Cabin Point Paddle
Saturday, March 26th, 2022 - 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM - Beginner Currents
Sunday, March 27th, 2022 - 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM - Edging and Bracing
Sunday, March 27th, 2022 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Brentwood Bay Ferry Wharf to Mackenzie Bight(NEW MEMBERS PADDLE) Paddle
Sunday, March 27th, 2022 - 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM - Self and Assisted Re-Entries
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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.
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February 2022 Siska General Meeting Agenda
by Fred Pishalski
Please come join SISKA’s February 23, 2022 monthly club meeting at 7pm by Zoom.
Our presenter will be Liam Ragan from BC Marine Trails.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86173290826?pwd=aEJDN1VXSXNYV1FOOERKbUVWbU5uQT09
Meeting ID: 861 7329 0826 Passcode: 090722
Liam Ragan is an avid birdwatcher who will be explaining why the Salish Sea is so critical to seabirds and the importance of various species to local First Nations. He will also explain how our seabirds are faring with a focus on how ocean kayakers can minimize disturbance and support their conservation.
Liam has volunteered to lead a paddle in the spring (more info on this at a later date) which will showcase some of our local coastal birds plus demonstrate appropriate birdwatching protocols.
Liam is a lifelong nature enthusiast and a Canadian settler living on the traditional territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples in Victoria, B.C. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from McGill University where he studied Anthropology and Environment, with a focus on community-based conservation. Throughout his career he has had the tremendous fortune to work with and learn from a number of Indigenous communities including the St’át’imc of Tsal’alh, B.C. and Kanien’kehá:ka of Kahnawá:ke, Québec. Liam is proud to have worked with BC Marine Trails since 2019 as its First Nations Liaison in helping to guide respectful relations between the marine paddling community and the numerous First Nations in whose territories we paddle. He is a critical member of BCMT’s First Nations Working Group. Liam also studies ornithology and currently doubles as the Provincial Coordinator for Important Bird Areas in B.C. Special thanks to the Trans Canada Trail team for providing the funding to make this possible.
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Let’s Keep on Paddling and Stay Healthy in 2022!
by Alan Campbell
The overwhelming majority of eligible provincial residents have now been double-vaccinated, and booster shots are well underway to help maintain immune resistance to the highly transmissible Omicron variant now dominant in BC.
SISKA strongly supports the continuing advice from Public Health authorities for everyone to receive available Covid vaccination doses as soon as they are offered to you. In addition, maintaining a safe social distance, wearing an effective mask, and practising good hand hygiene, particularly in indoor public spaces, reduces the likelihood of infection.
Since new Covid cases have outstripped our ability to use the contact tracing strategy previously followed, Dr. Bonnie Henry recommends that we all carefully monitor our personal health, and self-isolate as soon as potential Covid symptoms arise. She pointed to consistent research findings that, if infected, those who are vaccinated are much less likely to become seriously ill and require hospitalization than those who are unvaccinated.
The rules for self-isolation and self-monitoring vary depending on one’s circumstances:
http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/self-isolation#scenario1
SISKA members must have confirmed their vaccination status to attend in-person events such as paddling trips and workshops. We very much appreciate the willingness of the great majority of our members who have done so and thereby helped make club events safer for everyone.
However, since the virus is now so prevalent in our communities, it is reasonable to assume that exposure to it can occur in any group setting, including SISKA’s outdoor activities, even though the likelihood of transmission outdoors is low.
If you have attended a SISKA event and subsequently develop potential Covid symptoms, you should self-isolate and advise the event leader as soon as possible so that others who were at the same event can be made aware. Your privacy will be respected, but notification of potential exposure will be communicated to the group for their attention.
We know that sea kayaking is one of the safest ways we can stay fit and well in these challenging times, so let’s keep on paddling and stay healthy in 2022!
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VHF Radio Clinic for Kayakers
by Edgar Hulatt
A second zoom clinic VHF for Kayakers is being scheduled for Thursday 3rd February at 7.00 pm. Unfortunately we are not able to access the Wait List from the first clinic so anyone who put their name on the Wait List in December will have to register from scratch.
For more details about this Off Water Clinic or to register click here
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Spring Training 2022 Registration Update - Jan 30
by Alan Campbell
Read latest news HERE
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From your (would be) "Librarian"
by Heather Jones
You may not be able to borrow books and DVD's from our Library but I do have two "Gasket replacement kits".. which can be borrowed! So many paddlers get anxious about replacing their own neck and wrist gaskets so I have provided "Youtube help"!!
You just need to purchase a tube of aquaseal!
Cheers!... Heather
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Many Thanks To Jennie Sutton for Coordinating SISKA’s Instructors!
by Alan Campbell
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Jennie Sutton, one of our club Instructors, who has been SISKA’s Instructor Liaison Coordinator since 2020, has decided to make more space in her life for other activities and is retiring from this role as soon as a replacement is available (see recruitment ad in this Newsletter!).
During her tenure in this capacity, Jennie worked hard to connect our club instructors and promote their continuing involvement in on-water clinics for SISKA members. She collaborated with Webmaster Dave Ostapovich to create an instructor tab/function on the website to make it easier to connect and organize training events, and with On-Water Coordinator Ellen Wood to make them available to paddlers.
Among her many interests, Jennie is a keen naturalist, well-known for observing inter-tidal life, sea birds and mammals while paddling, sometimes taking amazing underwater photos from her kayak! A former Physiotherapist, she loves helping paddlers and others regain mobility to stay fit and active, and with both her own hips now replaced she definitely “walks the talk”!
Thanks for your many contributions to SISKA, Jennie – we wish you well in pursuing your several other interests, as well as paddling even more in future!
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