[Kevin Amos]

Destination Parks Pay Parking

https://westvancouver.ca/parks-recreation/parks-trails/destination-parks-pay-parking#:~:text=During%20the%20initial%20phase%20of,and%20transaction%20fees%2C%20per%20year.

[Nick Heath]

Coastal Caretaker Info Sessions 1 & 2

• March 21 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm and
• April 9 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Free online sessions
Coastal Caretakers are BC Marine Trails members who strive to participate in and contribute to our vision of preserving and protecting our marine coastline as a natural recreation paradise for all to appreciate now and in the future. We are building a team of volunteers who clean up beaches wherever they go, report for us and inspire others to take charge. Join us for an information session to learn more and discuss our plans for 2024.

Open to all.

Register/info

https://www.bcmarinetrails.org/event/coastal-caretaker-info-session/

https://www.bcmarinetrails.org/event/coastal-caretakers-info-session-2/

/ Nick H for Karina Younk BCMT

[Nick Heath]

Thanks for the kind offer Susie!

4 of us camped there this past weekend and it was tolerable,  even comfortable!. It is true that one might get just as much achieved on separate day visits rather than staying overnight on the island, but the transport either costs more and/or takes more time and when we were planning, your offer of  accommodation had not been received. So I think we will stay with our plan to camp when we go back in March.  Depending on how BC Parks find our work (I’m visiting the island with the Park Ranger next week) we will likely be planning further visits in the off-season when the birds are no longer nesting.

[George Prevost]

Philip Kubik, who is one of our members, and George Siudut, a PIKA member, are offering a Paddle Canada Level 1 course that might be of interest to some of you.  Details are below.  Please note that this is not a SKABC course.

Dates: June 1-2, 2024 plus 1 evening Zoom session

Location: Lower Mainland

Instructors: Philip Kubik and George Siudut.

Fee: $150.00.

For information or to register, contact Philip Kubik (philroku@gmail.com) no later than May 1.

This Paddle Canada certified course teaches participants how to move beyond flatwater kayaking and into the sport of sea kayaking.

Two 1-day sessions on the water plus 1 evening Zoom session are included. The on-water portion of the course will take place at a location in the Lower Mainland, which will be chosen to be reasonably convenient for the majority of participants. The dates of the evening Zoom session will be selected based on the availability of participants.

Prerequisites:
1. Paddle Canada Basic Kayak Skills certification or equivalent skill and knowledge, at the discretion of the course director.
2. Paddling skills and experience:
a. Five kayaking excursions (at least 2 or 3 hours each).
b. Ability to perform a wet exit.
c. Ability to perform an assisted re-entry.

Participants must supply their own kayaking equipment, including a wetsuit or drysuit.

A detailed description of the course may be viewed at:

https://www.paddlecanada.com/levels/sea-kayak/akasharkbow/

[Philip Kubik]

Hello Doug,

There is a maximum of 8 participants.

[Doug Horswill]

How many people  will be on the trip.

[Philip Kubik]

A trip to the Nootka Sound region using two attached, rustic floating cabins off Bligh I. as a base has been posted on the Trips List. Dates are Aug. 16 – 25. Participants will stay at Utopia Bay Lodge for 7 nights and have the opportunity to explore Nootka Sound, including Bligh Island Marine Park, Strange Island, Friendly Cove, and the Spanish Pilot Group. For more information and to register, log in and go to the Trips List on the Trips menu. Registration deadline is Mar. 31.

[Susan Servos-Sept]

I live on the Sunshine Coast (Halfmoon Bay). I am willing to help any way I can but not willing to sleep out on the the Island this time of the year (March). Have you considered the water taxi and just going out for the day / 2 days? You are welcome to stay at our home (inside and warm) if you don’t mind couches and the floor.

Susie

 

[Cynthia Materi]

Hi, I could help assemble the kits.
Cynthis

[George Prevost]

Hi everyone,

Last year the executive learned that Transport Canada requires a first aid kit meeting their specifications to be carried on all of our on-water activities, both trips and training. We struck a committee that did some good work on examining commercially available kits, considering what would work best for us, etc. The committee concluded that we can best meet our specific needs by creating our own kits and put together a couple of samples which seem like they will fit the bill. A lot of the hard work has been done, but there’s still more to do.

We are looking for volunteers who are willing to help with one or more of the following tasks:

• Sourcing and purchasing supplies – we already have a list of what is needed and a couple of names of potential suppliers.
• Assembling the kits – we are planning on putting together ten kits. Once the supplies are on hand this could probably be done in a couple of hours by a small work party.
• Distributing the kits to instructors and trip leaders as needed and keeping track of where they are. It’s not clear yet what the best approach will be, but it will probably involve assigning some or all of the kits to instructors and trip leaders who have already signed up to lead courses and trips this year and then coordinating swaps between them and any other instructors and leaders who weren’t initially assigned a kit. Sounds complicated but in practice might not take much work. This would be a good job for someone who is well-organized and detail oriented.
• Ensuring that the kits are kept fully stocked with items being replaced as they are used. Again, this would be a good job for someone who is well-organized and detail oriented. Ideally it would be the same person who is in charge of distributing the kits or perhaps a team of two could work together to do the two jobs. (Eventually we will need to ensure that supplies in the kits are replaced as they reach their expiry dates but that shouldn’t be a problem for a year or two.)
• Normally our Safety Officer would take the lead on this project, but, unfortunately, we have been unable to find someone to take on the Safety Officer role this year. If this is something that interests you, we love to have you join us on the executive.

If you are able to help with any of the above tasks, please reply to this post or send an email to membership1@skabc.org.

Thanks!

George Prevost
SKABC President

 

 

[Chris Fleming]

According to a friend who lives on Dufferin the restrictions were initiated by the Residents of the adult only, gated community at the top of the beach.  They  used COVID fear to lobby the City to restrict access completely.  They went door to door with stories of groups of children coming from Vancouver to play on the beach in groups larger than six.

I tried writing to the City about getting registered to access Stearman Beach for more than 3 hours and was never even dignified with a response.  I live about a kilometre away from this beach and have used it for 25 years.  The irony is that another friend who lived by the beach said that she could register my license plate as being  one of her family members.

[Nick Heath]

Likely BRMB is your best bet.

[Nick Heath]

Maybe the rot set in at Lions Bay and moved south during Covid?

DWV should be ashamed that Batchelor Cove’s quite fancy concrete small hand-boat launch will never get used again because no kayak or SUP owner can park near enough to it. ( I thought 15 spaces on Dufferin had a 3 hr limit, but perhaps the NIMBYs have lobbied to reduce that to 1 hr?)

It might be time to start writing letters…

[Admin S. Jensen]

Western Canoe and Kayak has announced a sale, Paddling Expo, and a Paddling Film festival. They sent details and a coupon to distribute digitally. Here’s a link:

https://www.skabc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/WCK-Gear-Up-2024.pdf

Specific sale items include:

● PAST SEASON NRS PFDs & APPAREL – 30% OFF
● MUSTANG DESTINY & TRIDENT PFDs – 30% OFF
● GREYOWL HIGH PERFORMANCE DRAGON BOAT PADDLE – 40%OFF
● GREY OWL OUTRIGGER ECO PADDLE – 25% off
● BLACKWATER CARBON DRAGON BOAT PADDLES – 15% off
● DRAGON SADDLES – 15% off
● ALL SUPs ON SALE – SAVE UP TO 50%

There is also 10% off other items with the coupon. The Paddling Film Fest is in Mission on March 7. The Paddle Expo is at Cultus Lake on April 28.

[Chris Fleming]

West Vancouver residents can get a $20 annual parking pass for use at Whytecliffe, Lighthouse Park, and Whyte Lake parking lots.  The City is also looking at charging for permits to use picnic tables, Divers changing rooms, Dive class/Dive Club usage of the beach, and anything else they can to limit the use of the parks and make some coin

Covid stranger panic allowed waterfront residents in West Vancouver to lobby West Vancouver city hall to put  year round parking restrictions in around all of the useful beach accesses in West Vancouver.  They now have between 1 hour at Bachelor Bay to 3 hours at Stearman Beach (where I put in to kayak Pt Atchinson).  At Stearman, a local waterfront owner patrols the limit and calls the City Bylaws to get offenders ticketed.  They have successfully banned dogs  from the beach (despite waterfront owners dogs running around)    And  banning winter use fire pits, despite the owners all having their own  fire pits.

Eagle Harbour still has some unregulated parking spots probably because of the yacht club and their need for visitor parking.  This is a good spot to put in to access the waters from Lighthouse Park, the little offshore islands, and past Fisherman’s Cove over towards Horseshoe Bay

it’s fair to say that I’m pissed off at the restriction of these public amenities  by the influence of a privileged minority.

[Author]

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