October issue final - Sea Kayak Association of BC

The Paddle
October 2011
SKABC’s Newsletter
SKABC
To promote fellowship, safety, the exchange of
information and skills; to encourage concern and respect for
the environment, and above all to enjoy sea kayaking.
D e e r G r o u p Tr i p R e p o r t
Next meeting:
- submitted by Alice Pletcher
October 4th
7:00pm to 9:00pm
Now sit right down and I’ll tell a tale, a tale of a Deer Group trip ...
In mid-July we left Horseshoe Bay in the dismal weather of our ‘bummer summer’.
Our party of five included Debbie and Dennis Kovacs, Sharon Jones, Clark
den Hertog and me. Our travel day was very civilized – we boarded the 10:05am
ferry (such a nice start time) from Horseshoe Bay (along with hundreds of scouts returning from their jamboree). In Port Alberni, we grabbed a bite to eat and watched
a downpour as the skies opened up – we kept our fingers crossed the weather
would improve. We got on the Bamfield highway to start our 60 km trek on the
washboard, gravel, muddy road. We pulled
into Poett Nook Marina later in the afternoon.
Annual General
Meeting and
Elections
Location:
Vancouver Museum
Main floor meeting room
1100 Chestnut Street
We spent our first night in the bunkhouse at
Poett Nook – such a civilized first day of a trip
– travel and then a night’s rest on a mattress.
Inside this issue:
Next morning we started on our seven
days in the Deer Group. We left Poett
Nook, travelled down to Nanat Point,
crossed over Trevor Channel to Tzartus
Island, travelled through Robbers Passage and onto the outside of Tzartus Island. On this side we spied an arch and many sea caves (we would come back
Annual General Meeting
2
SKABC Volunteer Appreciation Dinner
3
Nominations for SKABC
Awards
3
Scenario: What Would
You Do?
4
Annual General Meeting and Elections
Deer Group Trip Report
(cont’d)
4
Trippin’ Out
7
Mark your calendar for the upcoming AGM and Elections – Tuesday, October 4th.
Doors open at 6:30 pm. Meeting begins at 7:00 pm. Food and beverages will be
served. Please see detailed article on page 2.
(cont’d on page 4)
October 2011
Page 2
Executive & Officers
President:
Leslie Hansen
president2@skabc.org
Vice-President:
Bob Maher
vp2@skabc.org
Treasurer:
Harald Riffel
treasurer2@skabc.org
Assistant: Randy Bondar
Secretary:
Eda Kadar
secretary2@skabc.org
Membership:
Kallie Cunningham
membership1@skabc.org
Annual General Meeting — October 4th
October’s upcoming Annual General Meeting is your opportunity to join the Executive.
It is an excellent way to meet more people in the club and gain a better sense of
what goes on behind the scenes. It is always beneficial to welcome new faces and
new ideas into the executive to keep our club growing and vibrant. Our constitution
provides for a minimum six‑person elected executive, being the positions of president, vice‑president, treasurer, secretary, membership and programs.
All positions are technically open for election. The following positions will need to be
filled as they are vacant as the incumbent is stepping aside:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Training:
Christine Joffres
training2@skabc.org
Assistant: Maureen Benzon
Trips:
Debbie Kovacs
trips2@skabc.org
Safety:
Leslie Hansen
safety2@skabc.org
Parks & Conservation:
Nick Heath
conservation1@skabc.org
Programs:
Karin Hartner
programs2@skabc.org
Social Co-ordinator
Vacant
social2@skabc.org
Library:
Ray Saadien
library3@skabc.org
Webmaster:
Susan Jensen
webmanager2@skabc.org
Public Relations:
Mark Starkey
pr1@skabc.org
Communications:
Simone Avram
communications1@skabc.org
Newsletter:
Alice Pletcher
newsletter1@skabc.org
Vice-President
Secretary
Membership Co-ordinator
Newsletter Editor
Training Co-ordinator
Trips Co-ordinator
Safety Officer
Librarian
Parks & Conservation
Social Co-ordinator (committee head)
Take a look at the variety of positions in the left panel on this page and feel free to
contact the relevant member for more details. In most cases, a vote is not held as
the position is usually filled by acclamation.
Our club operations throughout the year are organized by volunteers. If you are interested in participating in the organization of our club, join this year’s executive and
committees. Please send your name and area of interest to our president, Leslie
Hansen, at president2@skabc.org before the AGM.
Agenda
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Approval of 2010 Minutes
President’s Report – Leslie Hansen
Treasurer’s Report – Rob Leeson (for Harald Riffel)
Committee Reports – various Committee Members
Election of Officers for 2011/2012
Followed with social gathering.
See you there!
October 2011
Page 3
Upcoming Meetings
October 4th
Annual General Meeting and Elections (see article in this issue)
November 1st
tba
Upcoming Events
Regular meetings
are held on the first Tuesday
of the month starting at
7:30pm at the Vancouver
Museum,
1100 Chestnut Street
Vancouver
Volunteer Appreciation Night
SKABC mailing address
Calling all volunteers who have offered their time to make SKABC such a great club.
You are warmly invited to the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner.
Box 751, Station “A”
Vancouver, BC V6C 2N6
Date:
Time:
Place:
Saturday, November 5th
5:30pm to 9:00pm
Hollyburn Sailing Club, 1326 Argyle Avenue, West Vancouver
Please bring along your plate, cutlery and glass (BYOB)
Please RSVP before October 29 to Maureen Benzon at benzon@telus.net so we can
plan the menu for you wonderful volunteers!
SKABC Christmas Party
Details will be announced.
Nominations for
O r c a a n d S i l v e r P a d d l e Aw a r d s
SKABC Executive is seeking nominations for the ORCA and Silver Paddle Awards.
The ORCA Award recognizes long-standing members who have made an outstanding contribution to SKABC and the sea kayaking community as a whole. Past
recipients include Cindy Dopson, Tony Clayton, Rick Davies, Ray Pilman and Harald
Riffel.
The Silver Paddle Awards were instituted in 2008 as a way of recognizing members
who have made a valuable contribution to the club. These awards recognize and
celebrate club members who may be newer to the club but have nonetheless
worked hard for our volunteer-run organization. The 2008 recipients were George
Prevost, Peter Kearney, Kallie Cunningham and Gayla Shulhan; 2009 recipients were
Maureen Benzon and Bob Maher.
The Awards will be handed out at our January 2012 meeting. So put on your thinking
caps and as you look at our great club think about who you would like to see acknowledged for their efforts. Send your nominations to our President, Leslie Hansen,
at president2@skabc.org by November 15th. Include a few details supporting your
chosen candidate. Leslie will be happy to answer any questions you have on the
awards.
Membership year
April 1 to March 31
Fee is $45/person or $55/
family for the year (prorated fees for new members
joining after October 1st
Register on-line at:
www.skabc.org
Library
Come check out the
library! We have a wide
range of books and
DVDs that you can
borrow for a month. You
can find a
complete index of all our
books on the SKABC
website. And if there‘s
something you‘re
interested in, but we
don‘t yet have, contact
SKABC Librarian,
Ray Saadein at library3@skabc.org.
We‘re always looking for
suggestions to build
upon our great
collection.
October 2011
Page 4
S c e n a r i o : W h a t W o u l d Yo u D o ?
In our continuing series of “What Would You Do?”, here is the next scenario to ascertain what would you do?
Rick Davies has kindly provided us with various scenarios. Read the scenario below and look in next month’s
issue to find out what Rick and Jacqui did do.
Refer to chart # 3463.
It is 1400 on a late-spring Saturday afternoon. Your team is on a weekend trip in the Gulf Islands. You
launched at Cedar, south of Dodd Narrows, had lunch at Link Island and you are halfway between Link
and Gabriola Passage. Your intention is to traverse the passage and camp on the Flat Top Islands to the
north east of Gabriola Island.
You notice an upturned kayak just ahead, and someone is floating in the water some distance away. This
person is alive, unable to speak, is semi-responsive and is dressed in cotton T-shirt, PFD and shorts. This
person is very overweight and is alone. You can see no other boats, big or small.
What would you do?
D e e r G r o u p Tr i p R e p o r t ( c o n t ’ d )
another day to explore
these). The beauty is that
you paddle along and all
of a sudden appears a sea
cave.
Approaching
Ross Islets
We’re home!
We continued our
travels down Fleming Island to the
Ross Islets where we
set up our camp
(we were so fortunate to score this
camping spot). This
Three-Tree Island
is the most incredible, idyllic site I have ever camped and we are here
for three nights – are you kidding me.
View
from our kitchen
October 2011
Page 5
We awoke the next morning, listened to the radio
and planned our day. With nor'westers in the forecast, we changed our float plan (which we ended
up doing on a daily basis). We paddled south on the
outside of Sandford Island, crossing Satellite Passage
on our way to circumnavigate Diana Island. We
paddled the turbulent waters around Kirkby Point.
We were now in Dodger Channel where one of the
paddlers was heard to say that he/her had been
holding his/her Kegels for half an hour! It was an exhilarating paddling! We
found a nice beach on
Edward
King
Island
(facing Haines Island)
where we lunched and
took in the beautiful scenery. Our return voyage
was on the inside of
Diana and Helby Islands
with a wonderful push
home to the Ross Islets,
crossing again over Satellite Passage.
The next day (third day) found us paddling the inside
of Fleming Island, checking out the nooks and crannies on our way to explore the arch and sea caves
on the outside of Tzartus. The tide was high enough
so we could paddle thru the arch – it was such great
fun that we did it many times over!
Okay, who’s going first?
There goes Dennis !
And here comes Clark
The next morning we were listening to the marine and
weather forecasts for that day and the next day. As
the reports were
not favourable, we
changed our original plan (again)
and opted for a
beach
day
to
‘battened
down
the hatches’. This
was the day we
were
to
break
“ Is anybody there? ”
camp and move
northeast up to the Stud Islets, however, we took heed
and stayed put
(plus we got to
stay longer on the
Ross Islets – yippee!) Conditions
were
okay
enough to explore close to
home and a couple of paddlers
went out. Note: At the end of the day, we could
have paddled according to our original plan because
the conditions did end up being okay, but we took
heed.
The next day and again listening to the reports, our
plan to travel to the Stud Islets would be changed,
again. Instead, we paddled over to Bamfield to
check out the town from the water and grab a bite to
eat.
Our crossing required
us
weaving
through the numerous
fishing boats and their
nets. Our return crossing
was not for the faint-ofheart, although it was
only 45 minutes in dura-
October 2011
tion. With the rollers from the open Pacific, the westerly wind and the dynamic wave action, it was a
challenging and exhilarating paddle! (note: novice
paddlers should not paddle this crossing under these
conditions).
As planned, the next day (sixth day) we broke camp
and paddled our way up Imperial Eagle Channel for
Stud Islets. On our way,
we explored Marble
Cove with its many sea
caves
and
rugged
coastline – a beautiful
sight indeed! We continued poking in and
out of nooks and crannies of Tzartus to finally
end up in Holford Bay where we set up camp, as
Stud Islets had tents
camped on it.
We
very much enjoyed
camping
here.
(camping note: our
high tide was 9.2 ft
and we camped with
only several feet to
spare).
We awoke on our last
morning to a most glorious view. We looked
over glass water across
to the Broken Group in
mist – a breathtaking
sight with the mix of
Sunset from Holford Bay
colours of the rising
sun. We departed Holford Bay and paddled the
north end of Tzartus over the glass water with the sun
shining on us from the
blue skies above. It was
surreal – the only sound
was our paddles moving in the water. We
continued down Trevor
Channel, crossed over
and returned back to
Poett Nook. My mantra for the last paddling section
was “shower ‘n soap, shower ‘n soap, shower ‘n
soap”! We cleaned up and set off for home.
Page 6
Note: The Deer Group is not a trip for novice paddlers.
In comparison to the Broken Group, the Deer Group is
linear in form, with the islands strung southeast to
northwest and much more affected by the westerly
winds and the open Pacific ocean. We did have a
few ‘power paddles’. In the Deer Group, sheltered
areas are few and far between, and most shorelines
are exposed to prevailing winds and swell. The Broken
Group is a round‑shaped cluster of islands with scores
of islands and islets within it. I much more prefer the
Deer Group for its rugged beauty, diversity of scenery
and lack of other paddlers.
I want to very much
thank my fellow
paddlers for a fantastic trip – my best
ever! The camaraderie, laughter and
laid-backness was
superb. I hope to
paddle with you
again.
More photos of Ross Islets
Stonecrop
Different vistas
Sunset from Ross Islets
October 2011
Page 7
Tr i p p i n ’ O u t
As a trip participant, your responsibilities are:
Wearing a Coast Guard approved personal floatation device and carrying all gear recommended in the
Gear Checklist (shown on the website under Trips).
Having recently practiced self and assisted rescue techniques.
Being ready to launch at the agreed upon time.
Packing the appropriate food and clothing to maintain an optimal level of comfort throughout the trip.
The Gear Checklist (shown on the website under Trips) is a good resource for both short and longer kayaking trips.
Travelling/staying together with the group throughout the trip.
Note: For most up-to-date and current information, check the website
Day Paddles
Date
Destination
Oct 15
Harrison River
(full day
including
commute
and car
shuffle)
(Harrison Hot Springs to
Kilby Regional Park)
Class
B2
On Water
Co-ordinator
Karin Hartner
Co-ordinator
Karin Hartner
Max.
Prtcpnts
—
khartner@shaw.ca
604-803-5215
Weekend or 2-3 Day Trips
Date
Oct 1 & 2
(2 days/
1 night)
Destination
Keats Island/Howe
Sound
(weather permitting)
Class
C3
(see website for
trip description
and alternate
plan)
On Water
Co-ordinator
Maureen Benzon
Co-ordinator
Max.
Prtcpnts
Maureen Benzon
8
benzon@telus.net
Submissions to The Paddle
Remember this is your newsletter and we need your submissions.
The deadline to submit your articles is the 20th of the month.