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, newsletter@siska.ca . If you would like to start a regular column, please let us know!
Jane Jacek (SISKA president) and Tony Playfair (editor)
Convenient Links
PPPS: Siska’s Newsletter Archive - Mailchimp or Siska Newsletters Backup
PPPPS: Rocky Point Demolition Blasting Notices
Saturday, June 03rd, 2023 - 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM - Paddle Canada Basic Kayak Skills
Sunday, June 04th, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Relaxed Paddle - Oak Bay Marina to Intertidal Exploration Paddle
Saturday, June 10th, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Relaxed Paddle - Telegraph Cove to Margaret Bay (NEW MEMBERS PADDLE) Paddle
Sunday, June 11th, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Energizer Paddle - Oak Bay Marina to Discovery Island Paddle
Tuesday, June 13th, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Energizer Paddle - Oak Bay Marina to RAFT UP with Comox Paddlers to Discovery I Paddle
Tuesday, June 13th, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Relaxed Paddle - Oak Bay Marina to RAFT UP with Comox Paddlers to Cadboro Bay Paddle
Wednesday, June 14th, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Energizer Paddle - Spirit Bay to RAFT UP with Comox Paddlers to Whirl Bay Paddle
Wednesday, June 14th, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Relaxed Paddle - Spirit Bay to RAFT UP with Comox Paddlers - Becher Bay 360 Paddle
Thursday, June 15th, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Energizer Paddle - VCKC Clubhouse to RAFT UP with Comox Paddlers - Victoria Waterway Lo Paddle
Saturday, June 17th, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Relaxed Paddle - Albert Head to Crabbing Paddle Paddle
Thursday, June 22nd, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Light Paddle - Brentwood Bay Ferry Wharf to Todd Inlet Paddle
Saturday, June 24th, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Relaxed Paddle - Cooper Cove to Sooke Harbour NEW MEMBERS PADDLE Paddle
Sunday, June 25th, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM - Energizer Paddle - Island View Beach to Darcy Island
Sunday, July 02nd, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Relaxed Paddle - Brentwood Bay Ferry Wharf to Cole Bay (NEW MEMBERS) Paddle
Sunday, July 02nd, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Relaxed Paddle - Oak Bay Marina to Intertidal Exploration (proposed) Paddle
Sunday, July 09th, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Relaxed Paddle - Spirit Bay to Becher Bay Paddle
Tuesday, July 11th, 2023 - 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM - Comox Valley Paddlers Raft Up
Wednesday, July 12th, 2023 - 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM - Comox Valley Paddlers Raft Up
Thursday, July 13th, 2023 - 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM - Comox Valley Paddlers Raft Up
Saturday, July 22nd, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Energizer Paddle - Island View Beach to Darcy Island NEW MEMBERS Paddle
Saturday, July 22nd, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Energizer Paddle - Pedder Bay to Whirl Bay Paddle
Thursday, July 27th, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM - Light Paddle - Brentwood Bay Ferry Wharf to Todd Inlet Paddle
Saturday, July 29th, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM - Energizer Paddle - Swartz Bay/Barnacle Road Public Dock to Gulf Islands one-way return by ferry
Sunday, July 30th, 2023 - 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM - Energizer Paddle - Swartz Bay/Barnacle Road Public Dock to Gulf Islands one-way return by ferry
by Jane Jacek
Saturday September 16, 2023
Cadboro Bay/ Gyro Park 9am - 3pm (rain or shine)
9am-12pm
Gear Swap: Looking to buy or sell kayak gear and/or a kayak? This is the event for you!
Kayak Chat: visit with your peers, share your summer kayak stories, ask seasoned paddlers your kayak questions.
Coffee, tea and goodies will be supplied
12pm-1pm
Bring your own Lunch
1pm-3pm
Light Paddle Cadboro Bay Tour
by Fred Pishalski
No meetings until September! Enjoy the summer and see you on the water!
by Edmond Duggan
On Saturday the 17th of June SISKA will be holding a learn how to crabbing clinic at Albert head beach during BC’s free fishing weekend. This annual event has been very popular in past years and space is limited. Preference will be given to those who have never fished before, but returning veterans are welcome too. The day starts with a land-base lecture followed by trap deployment, and then a relaxed paddle in the Albert Head area while waiting for the “guests of honour” to show up. Following the harvest the catch will be prepared and cooked at the beach for a tasty onsite feast. Complementing the portion will be free corn and sharing of other participant brought side dishes.
Learning to harvest seafood is a tasty way of adding to any paddling trip. On a SISKA day paddle traps can be set so that at the end of the paddle you can go home to a delicious supper. On multi-day trips, it offers a fresh compliment or alternative to rehydrated “somethings”. Most likely one can end up with extra crabs to trade/share with others making you a valued friend to be invited on paddles.
With inflation driving up food prices, East-coast lobster and Russian caviar are now out of many people’s budget. Local grocery stores now sell prepared Dungeness crab is now at $75 per kilogram; catching a few crab alone covers the cost of all the supplies to do so, and the legal limit is four a day.
The free fishing weekend opens up both tidal and fresh water fishing in BC for everyone without the need to pay for a licence. If you can’t make the clinic, consider a personal trip to harvest seafood during the Father’s day weekend - either fish, bivalves or crabs.
There is no cost for the instructional portion of the clinic. Most crabbing gear for the clinic is provided for free, but a small investment ($15) in a crab float is now required as government regulations have recently changed. More detailed instructions and resources will be mailed to participants upon registration. This clinic is being lead by Vic Turkington with instruction by Edmond Duggan. Please register early as the clinic normally fills very fast.
Register here.
See more pictures from last year’s events online here.
Relaxed Paddle - Amherst to Intertidal Exploration, May 20 2023
by Lisa Goddard, SISKA new member
Eleven paddlers (in ten kayaks) launched from Amherst in Sidney at 10 am on a gorgeous May day. Conditions were perfect with very little wind and calm waters. Trip leader, Mark Collins, set a relaxed pace for this group of paddlers with varied levels of experience, while Gary marshalled boats, and Tamora acted as sweep. The group took a meandering route up through Roberts Bay and Tsehum Harbour, past Kolb Island and up into Canoe Bay. We enjoyed noodling through the many Marinas in this area, and checking out the boats. Marine traffic was heavy due to the sunny long weekend, so the group focused on keeping a vigilant lookout, and staying together. We enjoyed lunch below the high tide line on a stretch of beach just south of the Swartz Bay terminal.
The group returned along the coast, checking out the Pacifica Paddle location, and observing seals, cormorants, sea stars, and blue herons paddling in the shallows. Mark told us about the 1911 shipwreck of the SS Iroquois in Roberts Bay. The group arrived back at the Amherst kayak launch at 2 pm, having paddled approximately 7nm. Many thanks to the trip leaders who took the time to make sure that all members had a safe and enjoyable paddle!
Cabin Point May 28
by Anton Cepeliauskas
The week leading up to the paddle had been sunny and hot, with strong to gale force westerly winds blowing down Juan de Fuca Strait almost every day. We were hoping a slight lull would allow us to get out to Cabin Point and back, but alas, Mother Nature had other plans….
After a beach talk with a strong emphasis on our ‘Plan B’, our group of 10 intrepid paddlers launched from Whiffin Spit and headed across Sooke Inlet towards Company Point on the east Sooke shoreline. We could already see whitecaps in the outer strait, and the short 1 km paddle across the inlet made it abundantly clear that Cabin Point was off the menu today. While bobbing up and down in the increasingly larger swells, we made the easy decision to come about and head into the protected waters of Sooke Basin. With some careful paddling (and the odd brace) the group made it into the sheltered waters of the inner basin without incident. From there it was smooth sailing (literally – one lucky person hoisted his sail and enjoyed the downwind run) to the Sooke River. A few hundred meters upstream from the bridge we stopped for lunch in a lush field along the riverbank. After lunch we paddled up the river for another kilometer, then turned around and hugged the shoreline all the way back to Whiffin Spit.
Cabin Point is a popular and scenic paddle, but its exposed location means getting there is not always guaranteed. This trip was a good reminder that there are many hidden gems out there. When the westerly winds kick up, consider a paddle around Sooke Basin (don’t forget to check out the river!) – you might be pleasantly surprised by what you find.
by Lynn Baier
Not everyone is into the whole cooking and dehydrating production. Here are some choices, most made locally, that are by all accounts, very tasty.
Grizzly Country
by Lynn Baier
Because I love all the critters out there, with bears being right near the top of the list, I enjoyed this article, with its emphasis on keeping both bears and humans safe. We, for the most part, don’t have grizzlies on the island, but it is well worth the read.
https://mountainjournal.org/to-live-and-die-in-grizzly-country
Personal Rear-View Mirror
by Gary Jacek
If you paddle fast and have trouble cranking your body around to see your trip-mates at the rear, this is for you.
A small mirror affixed (Velcro?) to the back of your glove lets you look behind with ease.
MAKE EVERY PADDLE A CLEAN-UP PADDLE
by Debbie Leach
June 2-11 is Ocean Week Canada. Celebrate the ocean and collect the debris you see.
by Gary Jacek
Editor Note - I missed the photos for this article last month so I’m repeating it.
Got a leaky drysuit? Find that leak the easy way. You will need:
Drill a half inch hole in the lid of your large plastic bottle.
Also drill some holes in the bottom of the large plastic bottle. Otherwise you’ll only be filling the bottle, and not the suit.
Cut the inner tube nipple free of the inner tube, leaving enough rubber around the nipple to allow you to securely glue it to the OUTSIDE of the large plastic bottle lid while not overlapping the edges.
Center the nipple over the hole and glue the nipple TO THE OUTSIDE of the lid. (Not as shown in the photo) In this way you will avoid having to support the nipple while filling the suit.
Do what you can to clamp the glued pieces. Allow the glue to dry overnight.
Invert the suit so the inside faces the light of day. Close all zippers and watertight doors.
Insert the two small bottles into the wrist gaskets and the large bottle with lid attached into the neck gasket.
Lay the suit on your shower curtain.
Fill the suit with air. An air compressor really helps here as drysuits have far more volume than bike tires.
Spritz the suit with soapy water and use a marker to circle any place where bubbles form.
Dry the suit thoroughly and effect repairs.
by Lisa Lasagna
Exciting opportunity! Have you been looking for a chance to become more involved with the club? Are you a SISKA member with untapped skills in information technology?
Our SISKA website is the envy of many paddling clubs, near and far. It elegantly links members to information (courses, resources, club structure and more). The website was started by Mike Jackson and built upon by our current webmaster, Dave Ostapovich. In the interests of succession planning and risk management, we are looking for someone who will be mentored by Dave and assist him in the ongoing support, maintenance and development of the site. This individual will act as the main point of contact for support issues.
An ideal candidate will be familiar with:
If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Dave at web@siska.ca
World Oceans Week: San Josef, Beg Islands (Ucluelet), or a beach near you
For Sale:
Wilderness Systems Tempest 170 kayak for sale. I bought it brand new last year. I bought and installed after-market thigh hooks and foot pegs for it for the best boat control and user experience (the original parts are available if needed). Asking $1900.00. Minbiao at 778-922-0008 or mbbshi@yahoo.ca
Wanted To Buy:
There are some fine discounts available from our kayak skills course partners for SISKA members who sign up for their skills training programs. Have a look HERE
Our partners are:
