Spring has definitely sprung but we think the spring is a bit rusty.  We are barely in the double digits during the day, while we see other locations with much warmer weather.  We are told that it’s a ‘cold’ spring.  BUT the blossoms are coming out, the sun feels warm and it feels like spring even if it’s not as warm as it ‘should be’.  So we are not complaining! We have hiked, paddled and biked this week so we have kept busy. Earlier this week we paddled from Ladysmith and had a mixture of blue skies, rain and dark clouds. This is now one of my favorite pictures. It shows Ladysmith from the water that we see from our deck and the God Rays make it a special picture.

Even though we have paddled with just the two of us throughout the winter, and loved it, we have missed the group paddles, which were suspended back in November, to meet provincial guidelines.  Thankfully they have restarted and we had a wonderful paddle today, and we even knew a couple of the people, so we are making progress. 

We have done this route before, and it’s always a treat.  Eight of us set out in breezy conditions – perfect for paddling.  Just enough breeze to keep us from sweating in our drysuits and not enough to make it difficult.  We drank in the blue sky and again revelled in the fact that we could be paddling on the ocean, in March, with so much to see.

There is an open water crossing of about 2km where you can see beautiful views of the mountains back on the ‘mainland island’. 

Then we paddled around  De Courcy Island with a lunch stop in Pirates Cove.  It was quiet today but this is a popular spot in the summer and quite busy. 

The west side of the island is a non-stop feast for the eyes with its beautiful sandstone shapes and erosion patterns, so typical of the Gulf Islands.  Paddling along them slowly we could really appreciate them and wonder how on earth they are made.  

Then we got to paddle back across to the ‘mainland’ and again appreciate the mountain views.  All in all it was a pretty perfect day.  We are very thankful that we can have special days like this.