Adventures & Sea Trials on the Salish Sea
Sea Trials - TRAK Explores Newcastle Island! This past May Day was very special for TRAK and for our new friends Heather & John! Cole and Jason completed the first ever TRAK 2.0 test paddle on Vancouver Island since the company moved to our new home in Nanaimo.
Heather & John, members of the Nanaimo Paddlers, had been following TRAK for some years. With flexible, retired schedules, they are interested in portable, performance boats as they spend more time traveling in their R.V. As passionate sea kayakers, they really need kayaks that can go wherever they do! After a customary phone call to discuss their goals, we brought them out for a solid ~12km paddle in the Salish Sea.
"Meet & Greet" @ TRAK HQ in Nanaimo
Cole and Jason learned towards the end of the paddle that it was the 39th Anniversary of Heather & John's wedding!
Exploring new areas with like minded paddlers is what it's all about! For Jason and Cole, it hardly feels like work - just getting out there and experiencing the amazing place they get to call home is totally invigorating! There is nothing like being on the water in a sea kayak!
Paddle to Thetis Island!
TRAK staff Jason and Cole have been busy exploring their local waters with every opportunity they get. So far they have paddled from Nanaimo to Gabriola Island, and most recently from Oyster Bay, near Ladysmith, out to Thetis Island.
This 30KM / 16NM paddle took the better part of the day. Jason lives right on Oyster Bay, and is greeted by the ocean every morning. Too many weeks had passed before Jason was able to bring his friend Cole out to paddle on his new home waters!
Hungry after a crossing! The boys stop at Thetis Island where they paid a visit to the local pub.
Cole Wilde paddles to Pirates Cove!
On Friday afternoon, as Cole wrapped up the work day at TRAK HQ, he packed up his TRAK and all of the kit needed for a little weekend escape. With an ambient air temperature forecasted to reach 25C, he thought there would be no better way to spend the weekend than to go "full pirate" down at Pirates Cove. ARRR!!! That means Cole was drinking red wine from his hammock at 3 in the afternoon! - why is the Malbec always gone?!
He sat on the beach all day long, worked on a good sunburn, and enjoyed the warm salty air on his skin. Every couple of hours he would carry his boat down to the waters edge, climb in, and go for some leisurely paddling. To stay cool, he would do a couple of rolls in his TRAK until finally returning to his beach spot.
It was 2:00am on the final night when, hearing a real ruckus coming from the waters edge, he shot straight up from his hammock and reached for his headlamp to see what all of the growling was about. Cole discovered a family of river otters that were play fighting next to his camp! - "Hey!" he called, "I'm trying to sleep over here" and, as if they understood perfect English, they all listened and took their shenanigans to the other end of the beach - surely to disturb the next poor bloke!
It was 4:30am when he was packing the last of his gear into his flotation bags, and storing them back into his TRAK kayak. While enjoying a bacon & egg sandwich, Cole looked out to the glass-calm moonlit water. As he departed the shores of Pirates Cove he was awe struck as he witnessed bioluminescence flicker off of the ends of his Greenland paddle. Cole began making his way north, and was greeted by the most magnificent sunrise over Gabriola Island - a beautiful end to a pirate's getaway.
Cole Wilde presents to the Nanaimo Paddlers via Zoom
We are very excited to welcome you to TRAK HQ and invite you to test-paddle a TRAK!
"Meet & Greet" @ TRAK HQ in Nanaimo
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Jim Swanson
June 04, 2021
I am one of the coordinators for our retirees’ kayaking group here in Parksville. (SloMo Paddlers). We have approximately 70 members and we have about 10 paddles per year. All of the trips take place on Central Vancouver Island with 1/2 being on the ocean and 1/2 on local lakes ranging from Cedar to DeCourcy Islands, Sproat Lk, Ladysmith Harbour area, Union Bay to Sandy Island and the Puntledge River. A couple of questions for you: 1. Do you have a storefront in Nanaimo where our members could look at possibly purchase your kayaks and accessories? 2. Can people order kayaks and accessories online?