News | SKABC – The Sea Kayak Association of BC – Vancouver-based Kayak Club | Kayaking club — in Vancouver with paddling in the Lower Mainland and BC

Volunteer opportunities with SKABC

Posted on September 15, 2018 by Admin

Help is needed immediately to make this Fall's events and programs great.

Help plan club meetings by joining the club executive as the Programs chair
Suggest guest speakers or lead a presentation at a club meeting
Nominate a member for the Orca Award or Silver Paddle Award.

Please contact Susan at vicepresident1@skabc.org today with your ideas and to help in any of these areas.

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Info and links from guest speaker Graham Sorenson on coastal bird studies

Posted on September 11, 2018 by Admin

Here's a note and some information from September's guest speaker Graham Sorenson:

"Thanks again for a great evening yesterday ... it was a great crowd to present to. I really enjoyed getting so many interested questions. I wanted to send along some links to different information that I mentioned during the talk in case anyone wanted to know more.

Subscribe to monthly eNews from Bird Studies Canada – updates on projects, new findings, and birds across Canada.
Volunteer with Bird Studies Canada in BC with one of these programs
Join our national program, Project FeederWatch, and contribute to citizen science from your home.
Use eBird to document species you see, while kayaking, walking, or sitting on your porch.
Document birds and other species with iNaturalist, and get help with identification just by uploading a photo (the program can provide automated suggestions, other users on the site can also suggest IDs).
Use bird books or phone apps to learn to ID birds (Merlin bird app is free and walks you through steps to ID your bird)
If you are interested in volunteering in a coastal program (Coastal Waterbird Survey or Beached Bird Survey) consider coming out to our Training Workshop in Tsawwassen (details and registration in link)."

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Picnic tables built for Howe Sound Sites

Posted on August 21, 2018 by Nick Heath

Earlier this month, SKABC members Darlene Heath, Steve Best and I delivered and put in place 5 picnic tables at 4 of our 6 Howe Sd sites. Mick Allen had also helped on the project, but was not part of our delivery and installation crew.

The tables are cedar and, including delivery and RSTBC official brown stain, they cost about $150 each. The low cost was not due to poor materials - every board is through-bolted with substantial galvanized coach bolts - but is largely due to the lumber being "free" i.e. re-purposed house decking. It was more work to be sure - but durable, we hope. It gives some additional satisfaction to know this usable lumber did not go to the landfill/chipper/composter, unlike so much other used lumber.

So each Sea to Sky Marine Trail (STSMT) site now has a table except Islet View, which seems too small for one, unless we can brush out more area. Zorro Bay has 2 tables - one at the main N beach and one near the the S beach. Tantalus Landing has, of course, the superior Randy C mega-table.

** Update 2018 08 24- we move the second Zorro Bay table to Islet View for reasons that are too complicated to explain here, so now each has a table of its own ** (Nick)

It remains to be seen how well they stand up to weather. (The humans wilted a little in the heat that day.)