• We apologize for the somewhat convoluted sign-up process. Due to ever-more sophisticated attacks by chatbots, we had to increase our filtering in order to weed out AI while letting humans through. It's a nuisance, but a necessary one in order to keep the level of discourse on the forums authentic and useful. From the actual humans using WCP, thanks for your understanding!

PPS report

pawsplus

Paddler
Joined
Jan 19, 2015
Messages
1,063
Location
Landlocked in Tennessee
Had a GREAT time at PPS! Lester Pearson College is amazing and beautiful and pretty much heaven on earth. I saw 3 deer just outside my window one morning. :) There are no locks on the dorm room doors--that would be impossible in the US (parents would freak out). I took an all-day class with Justine Curgenven on eddies and currents, which was really fun, and a 1/2 day class with her on rescue techniques for dynamic waters. Learned some good techniques for being a smaller paddler rescuing a larger swimmer, which has been one of my concerns. Also took Greenland rolling with Freya! It was a terrifying experience, LOL, but I guess out of sheer fear, I rose above myself--she had me doing the norsaq roll and the HAND ROLL within 20 min. She doesn't tell you to arch your back--she just jams her knee into your back, and by god you arch it! :) Her talk about the S. American circumnav was fascinating as well.

et_pps_drysuit.jpg


et_freya.jpg


Before PPS, my friend Joel, who went with me to PPS, and I spent 24 hours in Victoria, which was great. I finally made it to the Emily Carr House, and we also went to the Royal Vic museum.

DSCN0506.JPG


After PPS, I spent 4 days w/ my mom in Van. I took a rolling lesson with Mike Gilbert (who was at PPS, but not teaching rolling there). If you recall, I took a rolling lesson w/ Mike last summer, when I was worried and cautious--he said I was like a whole different person this summer, throwing out rolls all over the place LOL. We worked more on the norsaq and hand rolls, and I got the shotgun roll! I basically have the butterfly as well--I just need to perfect that. I can't say that I can hit the norsaq and hand rolls all the time either, but they are getting there. So that's 4-5 Greenland rolls!

I also took a boat out for a day paddle, crossing Burrard Inlet to Lighthouse Point. There was only about a 6 knot wind, and I would have gone on over to Passage Island, but I got a late start due to equipment issues (the Romany I had reserved had been swiped by an instructor), and by the time we figured that out, and I had found another boat, I'd already wasted half an hour. My phone doesn't work in Canada, and I had told my mom what time I should be back, so I didn't want to risk being much later than that. But I went up around the Grebe Islets and had lunch in a little nook made possible by the ebbing tide. Only a few pix from the start of the trip b/c my new camera seems to have the battery life of a grain of rice and it gave out on me just as I got to the lighthouse. It looks gloomier than it was--and the clouds lifted during the second half of the trip. It was a lovely day.

DSCN0690.JPG


DSCN0692.JPG


So now I'm back in stinking hot TN, and missing your wonderful weather and amazing scenery! I will be spending the summer at the bathtub-temp lake working on rolling. :)
 
I also took a boat out for a day paddle, crossing Burrard Inlet to Lighthouse Point. There was only about a 6 knot wind, and I would have gone on over to Passage Island, but I got a late start due to equipment issues (the Romany I had reserved had been swiped by an instructor), and by the time we figured that out, and I had found another boat, I'd already wasted half an hour. My phone doesn't work in Canada, and I had told my mom what time I should be back, so I didn't want to risk being much later than that. But I went up around the Grebe Islets and had lunch in a little nook made possible by the ebbing tide. Only a few pix from the start of the trip b/c my new camera seems to have the battery life of a grain of rice and it gave out on me just as I got to the lighthouse. It looks gloomier than it was--and the clouds lifted during the second half of the trip. It was a lovely day.

Congrats on surviving that terrible Burrard Inlet crossing. The Grebe Islets are fun.

I am curious to know what is that new camera with such a poor battery life.
 
Sometimes new rechargeable batteries need to "exercised" a few times before they operate with their full duration potential.

What a great lineup of instructors!

Thank you, Paws, for sharing.
 
Congrats on surviving that terrible Burrard Inlet crossing. The Grebe Islets are fun.
LOL

I am curious to know what is that new camera with such a poor battery life.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XKMPWZD/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My old one (a Fuji of similar ilk) held a charge a long time. This one hadn't been charged since PPS, but I didn't take many pix there, and no videos, so it really should have still been fine. I'll have to be more vigilant!
 
Back
Top