Category: Canoe

NEW YEARS EVE PADDLE

Canoe, Snow

20141231-IMG_4692The weather was perfect…….a little cold,but perfect! After yesterdays fantastic Orca shoot I knew it would be hard to beat!
I wanted to see the Lions again down in Cannery Bay,so off I went. On my way there I came across a canoe paddling westward towards town. Brave souls considering the temperature & the fact they weren’t wearing any PFD’s!
When I got to Cannery I found only one Lion! The other day nobody was home at all! That float they love to lay around on was in darkness & will be that way for a month or so. A large hill to the south is blocking the light from the sun.
Said goodbye to my lonely friend & headed over into Tranquil inlet to see if the Trumpeters were around? I noticed on the way out that the Trumpeters were gone from that shallow bay just pass Tsapee Narrows. Turns out they were gone from Tranquil as well.
I did see a Harbour Seal coming around to check me out however.
Headed out of Tranquil. Stopped at Rankin rocks just out front because I saw the resident eagle perched perfectly on top! I do not get to see them very often.
Began my journey back to town. Stopped off at Tsapee Narrows to visit with the Daredevil. He was around & so was Delilah. They both have been coolish to me in the last month or so. With the bad weather we’ve been getting,they do not see for weeks sometimes.
Wished them both well for the New Year & took off. I went to visit with my girlfriend Maggie! She flew out to greet me! Moe wasn’t around.
The snow on Strathcona’s mountains was fantastic & the light by this time was even better! Took a bunch of shots of Maggie but didn’t get what I wanted exactly. Thanked Maggie & headed over to Deadman island to visit with Romeo & Juliette.
Both of them flew out to greet me! I yelled up to them as they passed over top,HAPPY NEW YEAR! I remember Romeo looking down at me as if I was crazy! They’re so funny the way they stare at me when I’m talking to them!
Took some great sunset shots of them both & said goodnight. I wished them well in the coming year & headed back in.

Todays shoot was good! I wish the Trumpeters were around but they are such a skittish lot. Another day in paradise folks!

HARBOUR PADDLE

Canoe, Harbour

20130118-IMG_255220130118-IMG_2556The sky was clear,so I got the heck out of Dodge for the day!
First thing I came across was this canoe. Neither of them was wearing a life jacket & the gunnels were coming very close to the water! Not the smartest thing to be doing in the middle of the winter. I suppose if they did spill,someone would be very close to pick them up anyways?
Found the two “Beck island” eagles sitting beside each other on the rock in the middle of the harbour.
Continued through the harbour & headed down to Tsapee Narrows. Some movement on shore caught my eye! I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a wolf!!
I thought it was “Salty” for a few seconds,but as we all know,she & one of her pups was shot by a local redneck! (btw,he shot himself a week ago)
I soon realized it was Pepper & the two remaining pups,except they weren’t pups anymore! They not only were as big as Pepper but had the same markings as Salty!
I was so thrilled to see them again! It’s been almost a year since I last saw them! The last time I saw Pepper & Salty was on February 5th! I didn’t see the pups with them at the time.
Pepper was looking heavy & had alittle more grey on his winter’s coat,but they all seemed well! I only had 5 minutes or so with them until they went into the bush. I shut the motor off & waited at the shores edge silently for them come back out along the shore line. After 20 minutes,I started up the motor & went around to the other side of that point of land & waited for them to poke their heads out. After another 20 minutes,I decided to go across to the other side of the channel. The channel narrows here (Tsapee Narrows) & I know they do swim across at this point,so I went over to the other side & waited in the shadows to see if they would swim across. I was getting hungry,so I decided to have my lunch while waiting for them to reappear.
Wolfs are smart & I’m sure they were very aware of me being there! After half a hour I booked it & continued down the inlet to visit with the Lions.
For a second day in a row,there wasn’t a single Lion on “Lion rock”! I think all the Stellers have left the inlet? By this time,a large cloud had covered up the sun,so I decided to go all the way down to the rapids & buy some time. Kennedy lake drains at this point into the ocean.I was very surprised to find 5 or 6 Lions diving about right at the edge of the rapids! Not sure what they were doing? Either trying to get some fish or just frolicking?
Came back to Cannery to shoot the rest of the Lions on that float,that cloud had gone but the sun had gone in behind a hill to the SW & I realized the light was gone for the rest of the day inside Cannery Bay! Took a few of the boys on the float but the light was poor,so I didn’t go nuts.
Left them & went over to Rankin Rocks to see if anyone was home? Nope…….no birds or Seals,so I booked it & headed back to Tsapee Narrows to visit with the Daredevil & Delilah. Both were there,but only the Daredevil was up to grabbing a few fish. She always has a laid back attitude!
Said goodnight to them both & headed back to town all the while watching the shore line for my wolf friends!
Went to visit with Moe & Maggie. They both flew out to greet me! Took a few of them with Strathcona’s beautiful snow covered mountains!
Said goodnight & moved on to visit with Romeo & Juliette. Romeo was at Deadman Island but Juliette was MIA?
The sun had gone in behind some translucent clouds,so the sunset was diffused but still very doable. Took a bunch of shots of my friend flying about. He was frisky as per normal & chirpy! He did have to go escort a intruder out of his territory. They are constantly reinforcing their boundaries with their neighbours!
The Geo-Duck opening ( a large bi-valve mollusk) was still on,so several boats were coming back into town to unload their wares at 1st dock.
Took a few sunset harbour shots & called it a night.
Had a really great shoot today & coming across my wolf friends was icing to my cake!

FOG PADDLE

Canoe, Fog, Harbour

I had second thoughts about heading out tonight when I went down to the harbour & saw all the fog! However,I know two things that most do not!
I not only know that there would be no fog in Fortune Channel or Gunner Inlet (& there wasn’t!!),but I also know the route very well! I was able to go through the fog no problem! I use to use a compass to navigate through the thick fog at one point! If you stay on a bearing,at a certain RPM for a set length of time,you have a “Vector”! A means of knowing where you are roughly. It gets you in the ball park.
I managed to get up into Fortune Channel & found a bear at the south end. I haven’t seen this bear before. I noticed it had a larger than normal “blonde”colour to it’s mouth! All of the bears on Vancouver island have this trait! After a short visit with my newly found furry friend,I skipped on over into Gunner Inlet. I came across my furry buddy “Li’l Red”! He seems to like this one area for the fresh greens I suppose! Great place to dine out!
I took some video as well with my GOPRO. I could see that the sun was getting lower in the sky & I could also see that the fog had advanced further into Tofino Inlet! I anticipated that. Fog seems to be fairly predictable in that regard. As the sun sets,the temperature drops slightly & the fog advances! Heat holds the fog at bay during the day,but watch out when it starts to cool off!
I left Gunner Inlet & headed back into town. I could recognize all the well known landmarks through the fog. I had become familiar with them over the years!
A interesting evenings shoot!
I found this Native canoe coming back in from a tourist outing. People pay to go out on a paddle!
They must need the exercise!

Canoeist & Strathcona

Canoe, Strathcona

The weather is “grreat” right now! Our summer may of arrived late,but it is welcomed whole heartily!
I took my Trail camera over to that dead Elephant Seal and set it up! I think it’ll be a good set up!
There were people camping there again! Different people than last night!
I think it’ll die down after tomorrow night. The long weekend has many people coming up to Tofino to get away! They will start to leave tomorrow no doubt and than the beach will be vacant and allow the wildlife to come out.
I than went down to Browning Pass to look for any wildlife along the shore. I started drifting silently along the shore. The wind was gently taking me along. I saw movement in the tall grass and realized instantly that it was a wolf!
A pup actually and it seemed to be playing with some plastic! I continued to drift past them along the shore line.
Pepper came out and was scolding me! I didn’t even realize that they were there until they stood up! I think I have discovered their summer Den?
They settled down but kept a eye on me as I left!
After drifting past them,I started up the motor and went down to Tsappee Narrows. I got one shot of the Daredevil with the half moon in behind and one as well with Romeo too. Romeo is staying in the shade on the east side of Deadman Island. I have no idea why? He just is. These guys are a tough crowd in the Summer!
It was another great night out in Tofino’s backyard!

Heading Out

Canoe, Harbour

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I met these guys when I was going out…..and they were coming back in. I looked at their canoe and it looked like that they hadn’t been out very long?
Turns out that they were coming back to pick up something they had forgotten! Real important too!!
I launched my boat and saw them about a 1 hour later paddling out to Vargas island.
I guess they got what they were looking for!
I’ve forgotten important things as well!