[Paddlewise] Weather, weather, weather

Paddling around Vancouver Island is a snap. Cape Scott, Brooks  
Peninsula, Estevan point. There are days you could paddle those  
places with no problem in an open Coleman $400 canoe from WalMart.

In the summer, there are a fair number of such days and many only  
slightly more daunting. And there are many days that you would not  
want to be out in these exposed places. If you were lucky. you could  
paddle every day and whip around the island.

In the winter, there are far fewer mellow days and the place can look  
very unfriendly for long stretches of time in a fashion that is  
unfamiliar to the summer paddler. It can be very nasty and to be  
alone out there for days on end -- I could never do it. Adrenalin  
exhaustion. Places that you could easily stop to rest on a "typical"  
summer day are completely closed out. You are forced to travel well  
off shore which makes finding places to land a lot harder. When I  
have been there "off-season" (and I have never been there in the dead  
of winter) it is distinctly "less friendly". But there was a February  
a couple years ago where things were very calm for many days in a  
row. It would have been easy.

Spring and fall -- something in between obviously.

Weather is such a huge variable that when someone tells you they have  
paddled around Brooks you have no real idea what they were up against  
when they did it. It could have been a joke or a daredevil trip.

If you have time without deadlines then things are more doable. You  
have to be able to stand the loneliness and boredom of just hanging  
out in the rain on some beach.

There is a nice description that J. Swan has about a trip along the  
west coast of Graham Island (Queen Charlottes) in the 1800's. It is a  
pretty exposed place and he has some Indians doing the paddling in a  
open canoe. They did it by NOT paddling MANY MANY days to his  
frustration. If it was questionable at all, they did not move. But if  
time is no object then it is a strategy that will work.

The guy made a good decision with his declining time window. IMO. I  
do not know what this April has been like but there are a lot of  
Aprils that would intimidate me, not that I am so courageous as a  
baseline. I do enjoy the place in summer.


On Apr 26, 2007, at 4:53 PM, Doug Lloyd wrote:

> A west coat sea kayaker guide with a whitewater paddling background  
> attempted a trip around Vancouver Island. He had a hard time up the  
> east coast, but did okay, making it to Port Hardy. It is assumed he  
> paddles in the off season to due to his guide career that takes  
> place in the better paddling weather. He made it to San Joseph Bay  
> the other day, but pulled out for good due to rough waters and the  
> problem of negotiating Brooks Peninsula with his declining time  
> window. This may have been a wise decision. Brooks is especially  
> difficult in bad seas with surf break extending well out, and  
> boomers that grow exponentially as you head further out to avoid surf.
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