Alouette Lake Revisited

Ted and I decided to take a day trip on Alouette Lake and join our friends who were spending the weekend paddling the lake.  This was my second time paddling Alouette... see a previous posting.
Just like the last time, Ted was very kind to offer me a ride to the put-in site in Golden Ears Provincial Park.  After a bit over an hour of driving we arrived by the edge of the lake.  As usual, setting up the boats and getting everything ready to paddle took a bit over an hour.  Time does fly!

This time I took my bike's GPS unit to track our route.

...a straight forward to-and-from route.

Starting out...

Ted with his Wisper's narrow beam and Greenland paddle was keeping up a good pace.  I managed to keep up with him with my Java.

 A good southerly breeze of 8 to 12 knots kept us going forward without hesitations.  I wonder if my boat speed would have greater with the use of a sail.  ...maybe next year.

Conditions were quite different from last time.  I enjoyed the tail wind.

The return trip will be a different story.

It took us just one and half hours to paddle the 9km to the Moyer Creek campsite; that's an average of about 6km/hr!

Steven, Janice and Michael arrived to the campground earlier in the day.

Shortly after our arrival, Michael came back from an exploration paddle.  He was with his brand new sleek looking folding Pakboat XT-17.

Ted was really excited about the new kayak.

My teal Java in the foreground looked good too though.

After walking around the campsite I found Janice's beast.

The campsite.

We resisted offers of marshmallows for dinner to make us stay overnight.

A frigid looking Moyers Creek in the campground's backyard.

A "cool" underwater shot of the creek.

Michael got really excited trying Ted's seasock on the Pakboat.  A seasock is an excellent safety feature in a folding kayak.  It keeps most of the water out and the kayak's interior much cleaner.

He want one now.  ...while an Helios is resting.

Getting ready for the return trip.

 Returning wasn't quite as hard or long as expected - just two hours.  Most of the time the winds stayed under 12 knots.  We experimented feathering our paddles.  45 degrees works magic in reducing wind resistance on that airborne paddle blade.

Early evening sun coming through the clouds.

We are close to our destination.

Some interesting stats from my GPS.  The first graph's boat speed clearly shows a much faster outgoing passage then the return, due mainly to a southerly wind.  Also interesting is the elevation graph, with three little humps at the start, the end of the paddle and the middle when we stopped.  The difference in elevation I thought would be negligible, but it was still picked up by my GPS.

Alouette Lake - Easter Weekend 2011

It was just a perfect day to paddle Alouette Lake.  Ted and I decided to join Steven and Jim who were camping on the lake this Easter weekend.  This would be my first real paddle with the new Feathercraft Java.  I wouldn't be disappointed.

The red marking indicates Alouette Lake in relation to Vancouver. Just about an hour drive from town.
Assembling the Java went quite smoothly.  It's easier and faster than putting my old Wisper ogether.  It ought to be, being a sit-on-top kayak with an rudimentary frame without ribs.  Assembly pictures can be seen on an earlier blog.

We put-in at the boat launch site located at the lake's south end.

After setting up we padded north pushed by a pleasant southerly of about 5 knots.

 Ted had his FC Wisper XP.  What a slick kayak that is!
Then about one third of the way up the lake, the wind died completely.  These idyllic conditions remained for the rest of the day!

Another view of the glassy calm water lake surrounded by white capped mountains.

After a 10km paddle in one and half hours we were met by Steven on his Sunny. 
Their camping spot was just a few paddle strokes away.

Our Feathercrafts, and their crew, are now resting. This was a good landing spot, with a few flat tent pads up from the beach.

From the beach we walked across a "log bridge" to see what was on the other side...

...and there it was: a lush mossy forest.

Walking back on the bridge.  Watch your step!

Our kayaks look like they are ready to take us back.

The Java and Wisper side-by-side.

Notice Ted's new Greenland paddle.

Again, heavenly conditions. 

On the back deck I'm carrying the Safari waterproof backpack.

No words needed.

By the way I'm dressed it might seem the air was cold.  It actually felt quite warm under the spring sun.

Another cool shot.

Since we made good time paddling back from the campground, we took Steven's suggestion to explore Gold Creek.  It's a short half km paddle to the watefalls.

The creek's entrance can be seen right above my paddle blade.

We are now in shallow water approaching the creek's entrance.

After a short distance we reached the end of calm waters.

 

It was fun getting pushed back the creek's current.

On the way out.  Cristal clear water.  It would be fun to practice skinny dipping here in the summer.

After leaving Gold Creek we paddled about another 4km back to the start.

Alouette Lake is an excellent paddle destination early and late in the season.  Apparently during the summer the lake is overrun by powerboats filled with beer drinking youth... a place to avoid.

A good start to this year's paddling season!

My new Feathercraft Java First Paddle

We finally had a half decent weekend without rain, snow, etc...  Time for a long awaited launch.

They promised sunny skies with a high of 8C.  It turned out to be a hazy sun with barely 7 degrees for a high.  Better than snow anyway.

BTW, please don't mind this mini post lack detail and pics... more will follow.

Of course like most folding or inflatable kayaks, it's quite easy to tow the whole thing behind your bike, or at least my bike.  The trailer shown is a Burley Flatbed I purchased from the Bike Doctor in Vancouver.  I usually go to my paddling sites this way... kayak in tow and four panniers.  Of course if there's easy transit access, then I opt to take my kayak on the bus.  But that's another story.

Put-in place is a floating dock belonging to the False Creek Community Centre.  It is actually located very close to the Feathercraft factory.

Set-up was straight forward.  I have been through this a few times in my living room.

...and here she is.  It's still not a 10 minute assembly time like FC claims, more like 30 minutes for now.  With practice, I will be happy to cut it in half to about 15.  In comparison, the Wisper took about 40 minutes with practice and the Safari just about 10 minutes.

Off I go!  Strangely, at first I felt very unstable.  But that's probably because during the winter I lost my kayak legs.  Back in September I test paddled the Java, it actually felt more stable than my Safari.

This somewhat blurry photo doesn't really show I was actually slip-sliding all other the place. Then I realized I forgot to deploy the skeg.  Now I know how the Java paddles without it.

Back to the dock to catch my breath.  I wasn't sure how difficult it would be to lower that skeg.  I heard complaints of this being a problem.  But no, no problem.  A good firm pull on the line and I felt the skeg go down.  Now I'm really ready to go.

The afternoon is well advanced, I will just have time for a short paddle.

Alright, this was a pathetically short ride.  I barely made it to False Creek's entrance on the way out to English Bay.  A total of 3.5km round trip.  A strong current, lack of time and... hunger made me turn back to the start.  It was fun anyway and besides, it was my first paddle of the year!

My first time out was actually a success over all.  I had a taste of how things work and feel.  So far I'm quite happy, the Java is very comfortable and I'm sure I will have lots of fun with it.

Last summer when I test paddled a demo Java I was really impressed by it.  I duplicated dumping and re-entries like I often do with the Safari, for fun.  We all know when we do these practice things for fun is really to avoid future problems when it gets nasty out there.

Back at the dock I noticed how handsome this Java is.  Just like all other Feathercraft products, design is first rate.  I also love the colour.  It was a toss between teal and red.  Colour was probably the hardest decision I had to take.  I kept changing my mind for this-or-that-very-good-reason.  But then at the last moment, just before going into production, I settled on teal.  I like it.

Feathercraft Java Sit-on-Top Kayak First Assembly

After long deliberations, I finally decided to order a Feathercraft Java sit-on-top kayak.

Around early February I cycled to FC with my trailer in tow and took delivery of a brand new Java.  It's mainly a single seat kayak configurable as a double to carry the occasional second paddler.  A rudder can be added for double paddling and in following seas conditions where directional stability is often difficult to handle on a kayak, or any boat.

For a few weeks my living room was my paddling playground.  Winter this year proved to be longer and harder than usual.  So I would have to wait for spring.

Java in a bag.  Where it all starts

...out of the bag

Just add air and there it is.  Not as simple as that, however assembly wasn't too bad for the first time.  It took about a half hour.  Hopefully assembly will speed up with practice.  Now it's a two seater, but would normally be a single.

Cool view of the aft paddler seat

Your typical Feathercraft rudder.  Cool and functional.

The rudder isn't generally necessary unless the Java is paddled as a double.  The built-in skeg should be sufficient to guarantee straight tracking in normal flat-ish water conditions.

Storage is secured under these "nets" located towards the bow and stern.  This system will make loading and unloading of bags much easier than with a regular "decked" kayak with hatches.

Last but not least the paddlers "cockpit".  Note those footrests and thigh straps for balance.