[Former Member]

Greetings-

I’m an intermediate-class paddler planning a two-night kayak camping trip for two people into the southern Gulf Islands this August. I’m hoping I can ask the membership for some advice regarding my planning.

DAY ONE: We will be heading out from Bennett Bay SE proceeding along either the windward side of Samuel Island (or the lee of Belle Chain Islets), and Saturna.  Entry through Boat Pass to camp overnight at Winter Cove.

DAY TWO: Not yet set. I’m thinking about camping at another location on Saturna, or proceeding NW to St Johns Point, and along the W side of Mayne, hoping to camp there, or crossing Navy Channel near Conconi Reef to camp somewhere along the NE or NW shores of N. Pender.

We’re sandwiching this between two nights at a Mayne Isl. B&B (reservations in hand).

My questions are:

1. Can anyone recommend or identify a shoreline campground either the W/SW side of Saturna, W/SW side of Mayne, or NW/N/NE side of N.Pender for my second night ? I’m not having much luck finding one via map research.

2. My tandem is a VCS Aleut II, so ample room. Can anyone point me to the mandatory safety equipment requirements for paddling in Canadian waters ?

3. Calls to BC Ferries regarding reservations to Miners Bay in August have been met with ‘not yet’. But they can’t tell me when they *will* take reservations. Does anyone know approximately when these start to become available ?

Many thanks in advance for any and all information offered.

Peter

Seattle, WA

 

[Former Member]

What better way to enjoy the first day of spring than the beauty and calm of a morning paddle!  March 20^th gear up your boat and be on the beach at 7:00 am, ready to launch.  A hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, coffee, tea, fruit and juice will be served back at the clubhouse.  Please bring a toonie for the bacon, etc., your own mug, and some baked goods (e.g. muffins, croissants, buns, etc.) to share.  1326 Argyle Ave., West Vancouver BC

 Please RSVP by March 14^th to kayak@hollyburnsailingclub.ca

Hope to see you there!

[Former Member]

You are invited to the Hollyburn Sailing Club Kayaking Movie Night.

 Wednesday, March 9^th, 6pm for 6:30 start

1326 Argyle Avenue, West Vancouver, BC

 BYOB, Free Popcorn

 Two movies will be shown: Kayaking the Aleutians and Extreme Open Ocean Kayaking.

If time allows, we will also show Kayaking Across the Tasman Sea – an account of a fateful trip from Tasmania to New Zealand.

 For information contact kayak@hollyburnsailingclub.ca

[Former Member]

Dear SKABC Members,

Thank you to very much to Karin for sending along this information. The source is Cheryl Lewis – Force of Nature and her website is: http://www.<wbr />forceofnaturealliance.ca/

In a nutshell and urgently:

“Those who would like to submit comments to our government should review BC’s Climate Leadership Plan Consultation guide beforehand, and structure their feedback into the following four categories:

1. what we value (carbon pricing, general financial mechanisms),

2. how we live (community and built environment),

3. how we travel (transportation) and

4. how we work (industry, business and natural resources.)

After you have read the guide, forward your feedback to climateleadershipplan@gov.<wbr />bc.ca and pass this message along to your networks before the deadline of March 25th.

This our opportunity to have our voices heard regarding the meaningful change that is required for BC to meet its climate targets.  ”

Please note that if you hover over the hyperlinks and click, you will be taken directly to the source.

Please as a dedicated member of SKABC consider participating in this important issue.

Best,

Roxanne

SKABC, Chair Conservation

[Former Member]

Dear Members, Several of you have emailed me directly and informed me that the link to the article does not take you to it directly. My apologies. Please see below the article in it’s entirety:

Times Colonist
March 2, 2016 07:56 AM

B.C. Parks is in trouble. Despite recommendations made by the finance committee in the report on Budget 2016 consultations to increase funding for the agency, this year’s budget does not.

As described in numerous submissions to the committee, B.C. Parks is in desperate need of funds to ensure basic visitor services and adequate management. Its $31-million budget is expected to cover more than 14 million hectares, or 14 per cent of the province, which works out to about a toonie per hectare (about the size of two football fields). This figure remains unchanged since 2001, outstripped by inflation and despite an increase in the area protected.

For comparison, Parks Canada provides 10 times that amount per hectare, and that’s after the Harper government introduced major budget cuts in 2012. Even then, Parks Canada is considered underfunded and suffers a $2.77-billion backlog in infrastructure repair.

Many of B.C.’s parks are starting to suffer from years of neglect, despite the heroic efforts of dedicated but under-resourced staff to stretch budgets creatively.

In the past few years, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society has seen a marked increase in the number of people voicing concerns regarding the state of B.C.’s parks, including poorly maintained campsites and ecological damage due to inadequate monitoring and poor trail maintenance. Core functions such as research and monitoring have had to be cut. With no fat left to trim, these cuts go straight to the bone.

Sadly, this is nothing new. In 2010, B.C.’s auditor general delivered a scathing report on the state of B.C.’s parks, but little has been done to address concerns raised.

B.C. Parks stewards some of the world’s most spectacular and diverse landscapes and seascapes. Almost 20 million people visit B.C.’s provincial parks each year, making them extremely important not only for conservation, but also for the province’s identity, health and economy.

A report by the Canadian Parks Council estimates that every dollar invested in B.C.’s parks and protected-areas system by the government generates $8.42 in visitor spending on food, entertainment, transportation and other goods and services. B.C.’s parks are a cornerstone of the province’s massive tourism industry.

While the creation of new protected areas, including those in the Great Bear Rainforest, is to be celebrated, without new funding this will only spread meager resources even thinner. Without monitoring and enforcement, these are no more than “paper parks,” protected in theory but not in practice.

Parks that are under-resourced become neglected, and declining visitor experience leads to them being underutilized. This, in turn, makes it easier to alter their protection, a phenomenon that has increased since the Parks Act was changed in 2014 to make it easier to do industrial research in parks.

The 2016 budget fails to recognize the societal and economic value that parks deliver to B.C., and threatens the ecological integrity of these special places. It does a disservice to previous generations who decided to protect these areas from development, and to future generations who deserve to experience them in the same way.

Peter Wood is director of terrestrial conservation for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society B.C. © Copyright Times Colonist

 

[Former Member]

 

Dear Members, The Outdoor Recreation Council (ORC) of which SKABC is a Member Organization, has provided us with the following:

Here is an excellent article on the deplorable state of BC’s Provincial Parks written by Peter Wood of the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society and published in the Times Colonist.

Please see:

http://www.timescolonist.com/<wbr />opinion/op-ed/comment-budget-<wbr />fails-b-c-s-beleaguered-parks-<wbr />system-1.2188324

If you have troubles opening this link I can send to you directly the contents of the article.

 

Best,

 

Roxanne

Conservation Chair, SKABC

[Inge Zegel]

Do you have some great pictures somewhere of SKABC events–trips, training course, social events? We’d love to have them for possible use on the club website.

As you know, the website is undergoing some changes. We started with reorganizing and updating information. The next step will be update the look of the site. We intent to use more pictures to illustrate who we are and what the club is about. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

If you have photos from SKABC events, ideally with people clearly visible, enjoying themselves and looking (smiling) at the camera that you’d like to share, please email them to the Communications coordinator. If possible, include the location and/or event name.

Thank you!

[Nick Heath]

On time and sort of on topic – Vancouver Aquarium will host a session (as they did  last year) at 7 p.m. Monday, March 7, 2016 also via live streaming. See Aliens

They charge admission, unfortunately. The focus again this year seems to be still on tsunami debris, although anyone who paddles our shores knows that this is/was only a very minor part of the beach flotsam mess that we encounter everywhere.  I think it must have something to do with their funding source…and their wish to spend at least some of this cash on something other than salaries & benefits. Probably worth taking in anyhow, and you could ask some probing questions!

[Nick Heath]

Thanks for keeping this rolling, Roxanne! I’m unable to attend but hope you have a lively one.

I have been trying for some time on the Exec to get attention paid and revisions made to our Camping Guidelines course handout and our official Gear List.  I feel both of these should be sent to each new member and widely distributed to all other members, but only after some critical changes have been made to bring them into line with current LNT principles. I’d be happy to share my ideas wit the group for kicking around.

 

[Nick Heath]

I agree with  almost everything you say, Jonathan, but part of this is about influence and politics, so in order to generate the inevitable ‘spin’, organizations seem to feel the need to gather data and justify themselves.

I really like the idea of cleaning up wherever and whenever we go – this has become part of our family’s modus tourandi and it could/should be the club’s too.  One of the problems with picking up stuff is volume. Making a big pile on a beach for some other person to maybe pick up does not seem useful.  It is certainly a better idea is  to travel with a suitable container – a fine  mesh bag might work best.  I have used an old sail bag, but they are usually too big.

Some boaters (like me) might be willing to pick up stuff that is already piled on a beach, but it depends how far away it is – distance is fuel and fuel is both money and pollution.  Burning gobs of fossil fuel to pick up errant plastic bottles is hard to justify.

Eventually, our cleanup actions have to become normal rather than abnormal or special occasion behaviours.

I like the idea of a trip out to Cockburn Beach, but I suspect it would not generate enough participants. However it is worth a try.

[Former Member]

This was posted by Jonathon J.

Roxanne’s email reminds me to post my thoughts on doing a shoreline clean-up with Great Canadian Shore Line Clean-up, which I was keen on at our last meeting.

On the plus side, there are lots of pre-defined shoreline areas to choose from with this group, or one can submit a new one (but presumably it goes through a review process and my guess is that a site that is only accessible by kayak might be rejected as being inaccessible to many potential participants).

However, participation requires counting every item collected and weighing the results. Personally, I think this more than doubles the effort of simply cleaning a shoreline, and reduces the enjoyment. There is undoubtedly some value in the resulting statistics, but…

So, although I was keen on the Great Canadian Shore Line Clean-up, to begin with, I’m now thinking that simply getting out and cleaning up some shoreline, without official sanction, is simpler and more enjoyable. I’m with Reed on the idea of a trip to clean some area up, if a suitable one can be found, and otherwise, or in addition, I’d suggest that we work on making clean-up a part of every official SKABC trip and training course. If every club trip (and ideally every private one as well), took a few trash bags along and collected at least all the small stuff on a beach or campsite, if not the large items, it would make the site that much nicer for the next group. No matter that a few changes of the tide later brings new stuff; it’s not about perfection or returning the beach to a pristine wilderness state as much as it is just making it a bit better for the next group of visitors, in my view. I think this would provide a great sense of satisfaction, without having to record exactly how many plastic bags and cigarette butts were picked up.

Perhaps the next step in the above is to present this to the club executive for official endorsement of the idea that every club outing include a clean-up component, and to the trips and training coordinators to include in materials provided to trip leaders and training course instructors. Maybe it should go on kit lists as a standard item.

I’m going to attempt to put my money where my mouth is and take trash bags on my next paddles and see if I can’t make some small difference.

As for a clean-up day trip by this group and interested others, I defer back to Reed on finding a suitably garbage-strewn area for us to visit. Happy to join that paddle. What about a tour of a few spots in Indian Arm, like Racoon or Twin Islands? Or surely there is some garbage somewhere in Howe Sound. Maybe the mid-June trip can plan to bring back whatever is found.

Jonathan

[Former Member]

Hello and greetings from Roxanne, Conservation Chair with SKABC – our next social gathering will be Tuesday March 22, 2016 at 7pm at Zawa’s Restaurant on Commercial Drive. Hope you can come for a lively discussion on themes that matter to club members. Discussion on leave no trace camping and thanks to Alison for starting a conversation. We will talk about best practices as another topic for the night. As a member how do you feel about the use and effect of microbeads in our waters – thanks to Karin for sending in a link to: http://www.ecojustice.ca. Check the site out and the information on micro-beads. There is a lot of passion on shoreline cleanups and thanks to Reed and Jonathon who have contributed to this conversation.  Let’s continue the talk!! Action can be part of our planned kayak trips! See you soon and let me know if you can join us at Zawa’s.  Roxanne

[Former Member]

This was posted by Reed Clarke:

Paddled out of Pender Harbour to Cockburn Beach on Nelson Island, yesterday. I think this would present a very worthy target for a club cleanup.

Check it out on my blog: https://seareedblog.wordpress.com/

[Reed Clarke]

Paddled out of Pender Harbour to Cockburn Beach on Nelson Island, yesterday. I think this would present a very worthy target for a club cleanup.

Check it out on my blog: https://seareedblog.wordpress.com/

[Former Member]

Roxanne’s email reminds me to post my thoughts on doing a shoreline clean-up with Great Canadian Shore Line Clean-up, which I was keen on at our last meeting.

On the plus side, there are lots of pre-defined shoreline areas to choose from with this group, or one can submit a new one (but presumably it goes through a review process and my guess is that a site that is only accessible by kayak might be rejected as being inaccessible to many potential participants).

However, participation requires counting every item collected and weighing the results. Personally, I think this more than doubles the effort of simply cleaning a shoreline, and reduces the enjoyment. There is undoubtedly some value in the resulting statistics, but…

So, although I was keen on the Great Canadian Shore Line Clean-up, to begin with, I’m now thinking that simply getting out and cleaning up some shoreline, without official sanction, is simpler and more enjoyable. I’m with Reed on the idea of a trip to clean some area up, if a suitable one can be found, and otherwise, or in addition, I’d suggest that we work on making clean-up a part of every official SKABC trip and training course. If every club trip (and ideally every private one as well), took a few trash bags along and collected at least all the small stuff on a beach or campsite, if not the large items, it would make the site that much nicer for the next group. No matter that a few changes of the tide later brings new stuff; it’s not about perfection or returning the beach to a pristine wilderness state as much as it is just making it a bit better for the next group of visitors, in my view. I think this would provide a great sense of satisfaction, without having to record exactly how many plastic bags and cigarette butts were picked up.

Perhaps the next step in the above is to present this to the club executive for official endorsement of the idea that every club outing include a clean-up component, and to the trips and training coordinators to include in materials provided to trip leaders and training course instructors. Maybe it should go on kit lists as a standard item.

I’m going to attempt to put my money where my mouth is and take trash bags on my next paddles and see if I can’t make some small difference.

As for a clean-up day trip by this group and interested others, I defer back to Reed on finding a suitably garbage-strewn area for us to visit. Happy to join that paddle. What about a tour of a few spots in Indian Arm, like Racoon or Twin Islands? Or surely there is some garbage somewhere in Howe Sound. Maybe the mid-June trip can plan to bring back whatever is found.

Jonathan

[Author]

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