SKA Blog

Sea Kayak Adventures office staff member and first time kayaker Amber Crane recently returned from a tour in Baja (Oct 30-Nov 4, 2011).  She will chronicle her adventures in a new blog series:

Voyage of a Novice Kayaker

Part 3: Isn't it time you talked about the actual trip?

My Baja kayak trip began with a 2:00am alarm to catch a 5:00am flight that would deposit me at LAX in time for the only flight to Loreto on Sunday, October 30, 2011.  Upon Sea Kayak Adventures’ recommendation, I took only a carry-on bag with my clothing and thus whisked through my connections without the concern of relinquishing my carefully-packed duffel to the vortex of lost airport luggage.

Red-eyed but energized, I plopped into my window seat for the LAX to LTO flight and watched, awestruck, as the scenery below blurred from chaotic Los Angeles to vivacious Tijuana to coarse desert.  Scrub and brush melted into flowing sand from which mountain peaks crawled to the sky, hues of red and tan bursting against the azure sea.  The deep turquoise of the ocean was interrupted where cream-colored sand flowed down from the mountain peaks to form a beach. In these picturesque places, the ocean appeared as a bright, shocking aqua, as if someone had poured a pool of blue highlighter fluid over the water. I could only marvel over nature’s surreal palette.

Our guests on our Dec 4-9, 2011 yoga kayak tour in Loreto Bay National Marine Park had the time of their lives! Yoga on the beach as the sun rose and set each day, kayaking and snorkeling in turquoise waters, hiking, watching frolicking dolphins!

We do still have a few spots on our YOGA GRAY WHALE CAMP Feb 10-14, 2012 - yoga, sand dunes, gray whale moms & babies - join us!

Sea Kayak Adventures office staff member and first time kayaker Amber Crane just returned from a tour in Baja (Oct 30-Nov 4, 2011).  She will chronicle her adventures in a new blog series:

Voyage of a Novice Kayaker

Part 2: Do as I say, not as I did – Trip Preparation

I didn’t do everything wrong on my Baja trip.  After all, I had the time of my life!  I just don’t recommend pinning the success of your tour on my misadventures. Consequently, I bestow this blog to fellow nervous-novices that you might glean from it the fruits of my foibles.

As mentioned in my last blog, took a proactive approach to my upcoming trip that worked quite well, initially. I familiarized myself with a sea kayak prior to my departure and increased my upper body strength.  I talked through my concerns and asked questions about anything of which I was unsure. (I must confess, I didn’t even know what a ‘dry bag’ was when I started working for Sea Kayak Adventures!)  I joined a trip that had motorboat-support, which was a luxurious addition and support to make up for my minimal camping and paddling experience.  I read through the pre-trip e-mail and thoroughly combed through every page of the trip guide with devotion and studious measure.

…Okay, okay, I actually just browsed through the first through pages, tore out the pack list, and then flipped through to look at all of the animal pictures.

Sea Kayak Adventures office staff member and first time kayaker Amber Crane just returned from a tour in Baja (Oct 30-Nov 4, 2011).  She will chronicle her adventures in a new blog series:

Voyage of a Novice Kayaker

Part 1: Wait, what do you mean by ‘sea kayak?’

Kayak? On the ocean?  Like, where the big fish live?

I confess, when I first joined the office staff at Sea Kayak Adventures this past August and received the generous opportunity to join a trip this fall to Baja, my first thoughts were not of starlit sand or diving dolphins. 26 years of media influence and land-locked living ensured I possessed a healthy caution of open waters and the untamed inhabitants therein.  Consequently, the thought of strapping myself into a sliver of fiberglass and hovering like a delectable hors d'oeuvre above hundreds of feet of water containing what I could only assume would be a swirling mass of “things-that-might-eat-me” seemed, quite simply, impractical.

That SKA owners Terry Prichard and Nancy Mertz have led kayak expeditions in the Sea of Cortez for over 25 years (and operated their business there with thousands of guests since 1993) without anyone swallowed by a whale (most of which, I later learned, are of the peaceful baleen variety) didn’t soothe the stirrings of my survival instinct. As much as I aimed for intellectual suppression of my irrational fears, I remained committed the administrative end of the Baja sunshine: from the safety of my computer screen with my feet firmly on solid ground.

And then I saw the pictures.

Sea kayaking and whale watching tours in Baja and British Columbia with Sea Kayak Adventures are fully-equipped and fully-catered, so all you need to bring is yourself! But don’t worry – just because you’ll be eco-camping doesn’t mean you won’t receive first-class fare. So how DO our guides prepare such wonderful, delicious meals in the middle of uninhabited wilderness?!

Dutch ovens are the first “ingredient” to our success.  Sea Kayak Adventures remains one of the few kayak tour companies that cooks with this authentic, versatile method. Dutch ovens are placed on or over a campfire or stove, often with coals placed along the lid to heat from the top as well.  While most people think of Dutch ovens as suitable only for slow-cooking, like roasts or stews, our specialty is dutch oven baking for savory main dishes like chili rellenos, baked salmon and vegetable lasagna.

We even make delicious desserts in these cast-iron pots, from brownies to pineapple upside-down cake. Want to test your culinary camping skills? See the recipe below – and let us know how it turns out!

Fabulous Dutch Oven dessert: 

Pineapple Upside Down Cake (serves 7-8 people)

Ingredients:

• Yellow cake mix (1 box for 7 people)
• 1 Can of sliced Pineapple
  
• 2-3 eggs & vegetable oil for cake mix/box
• 1 small jar maraschino cherries
• butter & brown sugar

Instructions: Oil inside of Dutch Oven. Cover D.O. bottom with butter & brown sugar.  Arrange pineapple slices & maraschino cherries on bottom of D.O.  Mix cake mix according to box directions and pour batter over pineapples/cherries.  Bake 45 mins.-1 hour. Invert cake onto D.O. lid for serving.

Enjoy warm snorkeling weather and calm waters in Baja:
October & November Trips

As autumn begins to chill the air this year, leave your coat and mittens behind and join Sea Kayak Adventures for our first trips of the season in beautiful, sunny Baja.  October and November offer the warm waters for snorkeling and perfect paddling weather with calm winds for kayakers. Loreto, the city from which we launch our tours, was named by the New York Times as #8 of "The 41 Places to Go" in 2011!

This photo was taken in October of 2010.  In addition to amazing weather, check out our stellar Special Offers page. We have an Early Bird Incentive: book by September 20th, 2011 to receive FREE rental snorkel gear your trip. But don't wait too long! If you would like to make your own memories in this idyllic setting, give us a call TODAY to secure the last seats on the following trips:

Oct 25 - Nov 5, 2011: Loreto to La Paz
Oct 30 - Nov 4: 6-day Sea of Cortez tour
Oct 30 - Nov 6: 8-day Sea of Cortez tour
Nov 13-20, 2011: 8-day Sea of Cortez tour

This week was amazing from start to finish, with orca encounters to take your breath away! Guests on our Johnstone Strait Base Camp tour Aug 15-18 on northern Vancouver Island were thrilled to view over 60 killer whales!  We observed pods: A30′s, I15′s, A23′s, A35′s & Springer, A36′s, A12, A34′s and the A24 matrilines of fish-eating "northern resident" killer whales feasting on the peak salmon runs. Quite often it seemed like everywhere you turned there were killer whales!

Orcas prevail this summer! Rarely have we witnessed a season so full of wonderful wildlife sightings.  The humpbacks seem to be ranging farther into the Johnstone Strait this summer, making them more visible to our sea kayak travelers as they navigate the many untouched island channels in these calm waters.

This weekend marked the end of two more successful trips in the Johnstone Strait.  A charter group of high school students followed orcas between Robson Bight and KaiKash on only their second day of paddling. A close sea lion encounter also enthralled the group, whose younger members initiated a drenching water fight with their parents and chaperones after a day exploring the Broughton Archipelago Marine Provincial Park.

The other kayak group hosted no water fights, but was thrilled nonetheless with a variety of wildlife experiences.  Seals, sea lions, and black bear were spotted as well as Humpback, Dall’s porpoises, harbour porpoises, birds, and of course, orcas.  The Orcas were present a number of times and enjoyed a good belly rub near the shore.  One pod chose to make a dramatic appearance by swimming right past the group at the end of an orca presentation by the Strait watch warden - talk about perfect timing! All were delighted by this display and the marvelous opportunity to view these animals up close in the wild. 

Both trips enjoyed beautiful paddling weather with little rain in this secluded, idyllic location, offering a cool respite from the blazing temperatures elsewhere in the continent.

Sound like fun? Don’t miss your opportunity to secure one of the last 4 spots on our August 14th or August 28th departures. This summer is truly a year of abundant orcas and magnificent marine mammals.  NOW is the time to book and take home memories to last a lifetime.  Visit our website at www.seakayakadventures.com for more information on all of our BC tours.