Southmarch Highlands - late afternoon ride

Andrew got me out for a ride on a great day.  Liam and I did a little mountain biking up at Camp Fortune in the morning but my flat tire syndrome continued -  we somehow ended up in the zipline park and spent most of our time there.  On the way home, we stopped at Joe Mama's at scored 3 tires at $15 a pop (sticker price $90).  The store is no longer doing mountain bike stuff, but they had a box of dh tires in the back and they just wanted to get rid of them.  Plenty of 2.7 tires too. I grabbed 2 maxxis 2.35s and a kenda nevegal 2.5.  Think I'll be running tube-type tires for the rest of the season.  I was a little fatigued for the ride and my shoulders were tight, but the ride was worth it.  Seem to be tons of song birds in the woods, oven birds, warblers, thrushes,vireos all had the volume cranked up but didn't actually see too many - leafy canopy is hiding them I guess.

what a bunch of knobs

Andrew, Me

SUP: Mississippi

Again: Liam has TKD, I drop him off and kill an hour on the water.  Brought the gopro along and didn't bother with the big camera.  Kept an eye out for birds - the usual suspects were there.  This is exactly what to do when there is no wind...at least one of the things to do.  The only problem with this session was that it was too short.  I would have jumped in for a swim if I had time.

south west side of the river is like a swamp here

Birding + paddling

I dropped Liam off at Taekwondo in Almonte so I had an hour to kill on the paddle board.  Brought my camera this time in search of birds.  Saw a few birds but never any good photo ops.  Kingfisher, green herons, eastern kingbirds, various swallows...I could hear some types of warblers but mostly yellow and yellow throats.  Strange sounding frogs too.  Taking pictures from a floating position requires a bit of luck - especially with a light breeze and a current.  This could be a really interesting way to go birding as long as I don't fall in.

lily pad zone

Morning Ride / Afternoon SUP

Met up at second line / klondike rd with Andrew around 8:15am (tried for 8 but slow to start- super hot day, so we needed an early start).  Good ride despite a slow leak in the rear tire that I had to pump up - switched in a tube - still leaked.  Gotta get my ride working better.  Lots of birds in the woods - tons of oven birds, & warblers.  In the afternoon hit Almonte beach with the paddle board.  Took Liam for a little boot up the river too.  Shortly after Liam's ride, Dad showed up with Gus for a swim.

on the road to Kanata

heading to Almonte

Liam made a friend

Gus & Dad

Paddling up the Mississippi

Remarkable day to go for a paddle.  Very hot and clear. I was surprised at how many fish I saw - (polarized sunglasses help).  Very calming and relaxing.  Saw a few birds along the way (grebe, loon, kingfisher, great blue heron, many others).  Paddled for an hour or so then jumped in for a swim.

this angle is getting tiresome!

Mississippi River - Almonte SUP

late afternoon paddle session - explored the river upstream and back down to the falls.  The river is surprisingly shallow for quite a ways.  The current is fairly negligible. Spotted interesting birds along the river banks.  Maybe I'll bring the telephoto next time.  Got to try some yoga moves on there some time!

calm waters

stretch!

OBX - wild life refuge SUP / ocean SUP

Jim and I headed to Pea Island with the paddle boards to do some birding.  Took a risk by taking my big camera on deck while paddling.  Saw lots of shore birds, sea birds, peeps.  In the afternoon I went out alone on the ocean with SUP.  Sea legs working better but fell hard (hit thigh on the rail).  Catching waves with the SUP seems harder than with the surfboard!??

OBX - sound / canal SUP

No wind - shopping day, SUP day.  Jim and I explored some canals - slowly ran out of water and we had to portage about 1km back to the sound.  Raced Jim back to the house.  Getting used to the board.

OBX - second windiest day

The wind carried forward into Wednesday, but not as solid.  Sailed the JP 102 and 5.7 the whole time - nicely powered.  Back to vulcan school...only 500 more attempts.  Had some fun with Jim and his contour video (helmet mounted).

Myro hanging on

Martine on Nori's old sail

OBX - windiest day of the week

The overall forecast for the week was not spectacular, but Tuesday was forecast to have the best wind.  Started out sailing 5.7 with JP102.  Later shifted down to the 5.2 and 85L quatro.  Got some ding stick for the quatro as it suffered a tiny nose crack last season that I didn't repair.  Also discovered my tiny freestyle fin took a bad hit from the rocks and sandbanks last year in the fall - totally forgot about that.  Sailed it anyway, but I'll have to repair it with fiberglass or file it down.  Totally rusty, but started back into vulcan practice.  Tried not to overdo it and keep the blisters at bay.

sailing day...didn't take too many pics!