Vancouver Island 2007 - Joe O'Blenis
On the evening of Wednesday August 15th, 2007, Joe O'Blenis
paddled
into the Brechin Boat Launch in Nanaimo at 8:00 PM, successfully
completing his solo circumnavigation of British Columbia's rugged
Vancouver Island. In doing so, Joe shattered the previous speed record
of 28 days, having completed the expedition in just 23 days and 10
hours!
The expedition was done with support from Kokatat
Watersports, Sea kayaking UK (Nigel Dennis), Comox Valley Kayaks and
John Kimantas of the Wild Coast (Guidebooks and Marine Atlases). Also
helpful in countless ways were a good number of people, too numerous to
mention in this brief press release. Many thanks to you all!
The
expedition held many challenges right from the start from the dense fog
at launch time to the headwinds of up to and over 40 knots for the
first 17 days. Rough seas, limited landing spots and the
ever-persistent winds took their toll during the expedition but despite
the challenges, the rewards were equally plentiful. From the
magnificent scenery of Vancouver Island to the vast array of marine
wildlife with near daily sightings of a variety of whales, sea otters,
seals, sea lions as well as deer, bears, eagles and so much more! The
beautiful but incredibly rugged shoreline of the west coast of
Vancouver Island with its cliffs, sea stacks, caves as well as number
of long sandy beaches made for an amazing and inspiring journey.
Highlights
of the trip included camping on the outer tip of the Brooks Peninsula
complete with a large bear just down the beach from my camp, rounding
Cape Scott in pristine conditions, a cold can of beer in the Bunsby
Islands compliments of the staff at West Coast Expeditions on Spring
Island and of course finishing the expedition back in Nanaimo with the
hot shower & shave afterwards closely followed by delicious
chicken
wings and beer at the pub with good friends!
The new record,
four and half days faster than the previous mark, is now there for the
taking. In Joe's words, “It is my hope that the record will fall within
the next year or two, giving me reason to do it all over one more time,
using the knowledge gained from this expedition to shave a few more
days off the mark and, hopefully, beat the time from Keirron Tastagh
and Jeff Norville who paddled a tandem around the island in May 2007 in
a record time of 19 and a half days in a Triton double kayak.”
Hopefully there will be some stunning photographs from the expedition in the gallery once Joe has gone through them all!
Sponsors List
Sea Kayaking UK: www.seakayakinguk.com
Kokatat Watersports: www.kokatat.com
John Kimantas/ The Wild Coast: www.thewildcoast.ca
Comox Valley Kayaks: www.kayakutopia.com
Please feel free to contact me for more information and to discuss the expedition : ultrapaddling@yahoo.ca
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