2009-05-12 49 -123
It's a transit-kayak hash.
| Tue 12 May 2009 in 49,-123: 49.4571520, -123.2901707 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Contents
Location
In Howe Sound, directly between Lions Bay and Gambier Island, 3.65 km offshore.
Planning
- The 257 Horseshoe Bay Express bus leaves from Burrard & Georgia approximately every half hour.
- Transfer from Marine Drive and Nelson (just before the ferry terminal) to a C12 Lions Bay (leaving every hour, so that's the bottleneck).
- Walk to beach.
- Inflate and launch kayak.
- The low tide at Point Atkinson and Squamish is 14:15, so it will be close to turning and not a strong cross-current
- A strong wind warning is issued for Howe Sound. It's 11 kts now, and the forecast is 15 to 25 knots near noon, then diminishing so what we see when we get there we expect to diminish. I think we'd be kind of sheltered by Bowen & Gambier, as well.
Participants
Expedition
Robyn
I had been longing for a transit-kayak hash for a while and the beautiful thing about geohashing is that if it can happen in your graticule, sooner or later the algorithm gives it to you. When I saw the coordinates I looked up the bus schedule, the tide tables and the weather forecast. Environment Canada had issued a strong wind warning, but not anything worse than on our previous kayak trip, and they were supposed to subside after noon. I thought it was a go.
My greatest trepidation was not weather but buses. I had to take three buses to reach the geohash. Would one of the drivers refuse my carry on item? Who takes a boat on a bus? But the first bus driver didn't blink at it and nor did the next one, even when Rhonda got on and added a second kayak to the bus.
Rhonda
I was attempting to get chores done before checking the day's hash point, but I checked email instead and got a page changed notification about an accessible point for the day...
A quick check of the translink schedules, two trips to drop off my bike at the bike store for its new rear wheel (the first trip was an hour before they opened for the day), and a vote cast in the provincial election later, I had done the time-critical chores and was packed and ready to catch the bus with my kayak over one shoulder and my paddle in the other hand. I made it to the bus stop in plenty of time to catch the bus for Park Royal, where I would transfer to the Horseshoe Bay express.
The bus driver didn't comment on my luggage or deny me boarding for carrying something the size of a suitcase, plus paddles, although I did get some double-takes from passengers. "Is that actually a kayak?"
C12 Shuttle
Launch
To the geohash
Back to the beach
Packing the kayaks
Up the hill
Home
Epilogue
GPS Tracklog
Look at the tracklog to see ...
- how far we drifted sideways when we stopped to rest (you can see one rest each way, at about the same point)
- our tracks turning into the waves as we neared the point and the waves got strong enough to swamp us
- the zigzags about 30 m from the geohash as I tried to hold my position while getting out a compass in the waves
- multiple attempts to pass through the geohash with my camera ready
- higher speed on the way home
- greater drift on the return leg from higher winds and the incoming tide
- proof that we did reach the geohash, even if we couldn't photograph it
Reported winds
Weather from Pam Rocks weather station, in Howe Sound, just north of us. Wind speeds are reported in knots (nautical miles per hour). Double the numbers for an estimate of wind speed in km/hr (1.852 km per nautical mile)
| Time | Winds from | Kayak bearing |
|---|---|---|
| 13:00 | S 16 | launch 13:45 |
| 14:00 | S 14 | W |
| 15:00 | S 17 | turning around ~15:15 |
| 16:00 | S 15 | E - landed ~16:30 |
| 17:00 | SSE 15G20 |
Kayak to-do list
- comfort handle for case
- wheels for case?
- waterproofing for spray skirt
- waterproof bag to go inside rear compartment
- some way to keep deflator from getting lost
- velcro for spray skirt?
Photos
Public transit geohash
A nice sandy beach to launch from
Under way
Stopping for a snack
Snacks, cameras and feet are kept inside
Paddling towards this island
Being blown through the geohash
Aiming for the blue building
Deflating and drying
Everything spread out on logs to dry
Visitors
