Whiffen Spit

December 26, 2009
Michael, mom and me went for a hike out along Whiffen Spit – the great protector between the feisty Strait of Juan de Fuca and the inner placid waters of Sooke Harbour. The spit is a narrow, kilometer and half point of land extending into Sooke Inlet on the west side of Vancouver Island. In some places, its very thin and ends at an aid to navigation – its not uncommon to see the swift moving water of the inlet emptying out into the strait. It creates a semi-natural barrier that protects Sooke Harbor. The photo above was taken by a kindred spirit Jodi -- who photographed the coast line from Washington State to Glacier Bay Alaska hanging out of the side of a helicopter in full immersion gear just a few hundred feet of the ground as part of a near shore research project. A lot of her work focused on the recovery of Prince William Sound after the Valdez oil spill.

As we walked we came across a decorated Christmas tree – we stopped to pay homage to this Sooke tradition – that mysteriously manifests itself and fades every year in this location. Technically, spits are created naturally from the ebb of the ocean currents – it appears to be a permanent fixture but like everything is constantly shifting, wearing away and rebuilding.

As we traversed the gravel and grass the wind blew hard out of the north making the bench in the lee, facing the strait, a welcomed resting place. As the sun’s rays warmed our faces we looked out at the entrance and out to near by islands. I thought back to other times paddling by here with friends – with Ingrid, and Jergen along rugged East Sooke Park, Jodi in Sooke Harbour and with Kirsten as we headed back to Victoria in 2001 after paddling around Vancouver Island.

Amongst the gnarled driftwood was sea grass and small shore pines. Michael and mom stopped to look back towards Sooke noticing the the long board walk that I hope will someday stretch all the way down to the Sooke River – what a walk that will be if it ever happens. Looking back out into strait we could see the snow-capped Olympic Mountains to the west and a lone seal swimming amongst the sea birds and bull kelp.

The Static Brace

December 12, 2009
This was one of the first kayak skills training sessions I have done in years. For until 2008 my main focus was training for adventure and mountain bike and trail races – running, cycling and paddling was where my energy and time went.

My intension in this session was to do a static brace and review some kayak roles – expand my repertoir. I am scheduled to teach an up-coming Greenland course, but all that was on my mind tonight was my inability to do a static brace – it was stressing me out – what a beginner I thought.

Working with my mind – with its never ending thoughts, demands, desires, judgements, analysis, never ending discursiveness…. My mind is focused on the limitations that severe hip joint osteoarthritis poses for me, will I ever be able to static brace, what are my new limitations and why me, why me…the static brace is one of the skills in the course curriculum but the curriculum is already about working with the clinging and struggle to recognize that there’s nothing to hold onto. The changes in my body and my “trying” – to learn the static brace – are good teachers – struggling with the circumstances I am finding myself in…tight, closed, fixed…afraid.

Daniel offered to give me some lessons – he usually welcoming people to the pool, tracking drop ins and moving boats. I had no idea he was a highly skilled instructor too – when he paddled by to offer some instruction I was less then hopeful – the limitations of a tight and fixed mind and body already had me planning for the next pool session or 3 or 6….but in no time I was easily floating in the water…to my disbelief and joy.

The Thursday Morning Paddle

December 10, 2009
Me and Gary broke out our dusty racing kayaks and finally headed out to Juan de Fuca Strait after an 8 month break. Thank god he was into some interval training and more of a race pace – I finally got my heart rate up. Its been a year and a half since I stopped training with Hicham’s Ladies at Oak Bay Track and Club Mud where we trained on the many rain forest trails around the peninsula. The cardio workouts were so textured and flowing – breath in, breath out…

I knew something was different about this paddle as soon as I saw Gary warming up – he looked more serious, more focused and there was a sense of urgency about getting started. We started with a warm up towards the West Bay and out into the Strait.

The tippy race kayak made me a bit nervous as we headed into the choppier strait with the cold water and no thermal protection. Soon we were doing short sprints as float planes landed near by and Great Blue Herons fished off of the rocks. Across the way a freighter was loading large cruisers – probably from people touring the coast from Asia or Europe. One new one boat built in Seattle was being shipped to Hong Kong.

As a Helijet flew over head just a hundred feet up I thought about what the people on board thought about us – seeing us kayaking – were they business professionals or government ministers dreaming of paddling freedom and encounters with nature or perhaps they’re just wanting to move their bodies in the fresh and spacious Pacific air?

More intervals and sprints on the way back to the Ocean River Sports dock. It was a cold morning – we couldn’t use the hose to clean our boats at the end – but it was so good to be in the sun and to train with another…athlete…