Siska May 2020 Newsletter

Introduction

Dear <<First Name>>,

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 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

Editor Note - I have started a backup of Siska Newsletters at https://www.siskanewsletters.com. This site has no cost associated with it. Even though mailchimp is currently free for Siska and keeps an archive of the newsletters, just in case they change their policy in the future I have this backup and it can be used to view all newsletters any time. All 4 years of newsletters are not there yet. New newsletters will be posted there on the 1st of every month. So you have 2 options for viewing, the current email or this new site.

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.

Friday, May 15th - Dec 31, 2020 - 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM - Orcas: Our Shared Future - RBCM

Many thanks to Barbara McDougall

by Alan Campbell

Many thanks to Barbara McDougall for Organizing SISKA’s Off-Water Courses, 2016-2020!

SISKA has always had plenty of skilled kayakers, generous with their time and expertise and willing to share their knowledge with fellow members. But, until Barbara McDougall became lead Coordinator for Off-Water Courses in 2016, the potential for turning that reservoir of talent into a whole series of off-water club courses had not been fully realized. She has taken Off-Water Courses to a whole new level. She has accomplished this with a team including Edgar Hulatt from the outset, and Barry Copeland as of last Fall, who will continue this work, but she often provided the spark.
Barbara’s enthusiasm, organizational and interpersonal skills, have been a potent force for the past four years, during which many members have benefitted from learning important kayak and expedition skills. Some of those who were approached by Barbara to lead courses may have been a bit surprised to realize that, by the time she finished asking, they were more than ready to do whatever she suggested! Her ability to correctly identify the knowledge base that some members could share, combined with an engaging personal approach that was both earnest and sharply focused, was simply overwhelming! Barbara’s organizational skills and attention to detail subsequently made certain that presenters and course participants had everything they needed to ensure a successful learning experience. It is unfortunate that this Spring’s courses were interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and could not be completed, but the program will continue when public health authorities permit.

DUE TO THE PANDEMIC, ALL CLUB EVENTS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

As we are all now aware, the number of people affected by the Covid-19 virus continues to rise dramatically in our communities and in most parts of the world.

In this context, we have cancelled all sponsored events until further notice:

Off-Water workshops, Spring Training 2020 workshops, On-Water courses, club paddles and other club-sponsored events and activities are now cancelled.
Full refunds will be processed for payments made to SISKA.

It is still true that kayaking and other healthy outdoor activities are personally valuable but must not pose a risk to others or the wider community.
Public health authorities recommend that those participating in such activities do so only in small groups, always respecting the need for contagion control and social/physical distancing.

We are discussing how SISKA can support you as sea kayakers in this challenging time, and we will keep you informed through emails, our Newsletter and our website online.

Meanwhile, let’s all practise good personal hygiene to avoid infection and contagion, “keep our distance” from others, and do what we can to help those more vulnerable and less fortunate in our midst.

Stay healthy and safe!

A set of suggested guidelines for sea kayaking during the pandemic is evolving amongst informal groups that paddle regularly.]
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14RBeEkpSEeqXer9cLIKsnPurqkgH5UUx/view?usp=sharing

Camp Cookery

by Lynn Baier

Sometimes we’re away when someone has a birthday, and it’s always nice to celebrate with a cake. I did a little experimenting and came up with this:
Grease a round cake pan that fits snuggly on the top of your pot. Fill the pot about half way and put on to boil. Cover the bottom of the cake pan with rehydrated blueberries (or apples, or pre-baked crumble, or dried apricots, or whatever you like). Take half a cake mix- I used a box of no name from Superstore. Add an egg, 2tbsp. vegetable oil, and a cup of water. Mix them all up and pour over the blueberries. Place the pan over the boiling water and cover. It will take a good half hour to set. Let cool, invert, and voilà.

May 2020 SISKA Newsletter

Introduction

Table of Contents

Upcoming SISKA Events

Community Events of Interest

Many thanks to Barbara McDougall

Covid-19

DUE TO THE PANDEMIC, ALL CLUB EVENTS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Tips from the trips

Camp Cookery