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Southern Gulf Islands Boating And Kayaking – Portland Island, British Columbia

July 29th, 2010
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British Columbia’s Portland Island is a favourite location in the Southern Gulf Islands for both boaters and also kayakers. Portland Island is a wonderful destination for a day trip or multi-day boating and camping adventures with two protected moorages and three campgrounds.

First Nations people utilized Portland Island going back three thousand years as is evidenced from the middens that can be located on the island. These middens are categorized as archaeological sites and therefore are protected legally. As such these middens should not be disturbed. Later the area was inhabited by Kanaka (Hawaiian) immigrants and was used mainly for farming purposes. An ecentric proprietor in the 1920’s was Frank “One Arm” Sutton, a retired British army officer. Frank Sutton bought the island with money he had won gambling on horse races in China. The master plan was to raise & train thoroughbred race horses on the island. All evidence of the old horse racing track along with a golf course have now vanished.

In 1958 the island was presented as a gift from the Province of British Columbia to Princess Margaret to commemorate her visit to the province. Princess Margaret returned the island to the province of British Columbia in 1967 for use as a park and it became known as Princess Margaret Marine Park. The Canadian Government purchased the island from the Province of British Columbia and it became recognized once again as Portland Island and became part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve of Canada.

Portland Island is located roughly 4.5 kilometres from Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island making it a well known day getaway for kayakers and boaters. Although it’s not a very large crossing, it may occasionally get quite rough during bad weather conditions.

3 camping locations are available on the island; Shell Beach Campsite is located on a beautiful shell beach directly across from Brackman Island (Brackman Island is an ecological reserve and visiting isn’t authorized). The beautiful shell beach is partly sheltered by Brackman Island and does not get hit directly by ferry wake. Arbutus Point Campsite is located on a small peninsula on the northeast end of the island and offers terrific views of the surrounding islands. The beach for the campground is located on the north side of the peninsula. Princess Bay campground is situated above the bay and has a superb view of the panoramic bay, the most popular overnighting stop for pleasure boaters. Pit toilets are situated at each one of the campsites on Portland Island.

In addition to Princess Bay, boaters have got an alternative of staying on the northern end of the island at Royal Cove.

BC’s first artificial reef, the sunken freighter G.B. Church, lies off the northeast coast of Portland Island. The scuttled vessel now serves as a haven for underwater creatures and is a place of interest for technical scuba diving.

Books about the Gulf Islands.

 

 

kenhay Boats & Boating, Cruise Travel, Cruising , , ,

Thinking Of Getting An Inflatable Pontoon Fishing Boat?

July 28th, 2010
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All anglers know that having a stable platform to fish from is a prerequisite when fishing. While fishing from a kayak is nearly impossible they certainly have one particular advantage over flat base fishing boats, and that’s maneuverability. Precisely what boat type brings together stability as well as maneuverability? You guessed it; the inflatable pontoon fishing boat. As you will see in this article, an inflatable pontoon fishing boat is transportable, resilient, and steady in the water.

A good inflatable pontoon fishing boat includes many options depending on your fishing needs. One and two seater options can easily be bought. These seats are generally well built and some versions are offered with plenty of padding to make sitting in them for a long time comfortable. Many inflatable pontoon fishing boat seats will also incorporate a high back for power whilst rowing. You can even decide to have a small gas or electric motor for your inflatable pontoon fishing boat. The motors help make trolling and maneuvering whilst coping with fishing tackle simpler. They come in variable sizes, 2hp or 3hp being the most common. Prior to choosing your inflatable pontoon fishing boat you should take both you and your fishing buddy’s weight into consideration.

It’s clear that an inflatable boat is going to be easier to transport than a large flat bottom boat or even a kayak. The inflatable boat can readily be folded down for transportation. Some larger designs might not be as maneuverable nevertheless they should not need a trailer to carry them. A one person inflatable foldable pontoon boat can generally be folded down into a large backpack. These boats range in weight from 20 up to 40 lbs. If you plan on hiking with your boat, it is not recommended that you take a motor along with you. A boat motor will significantly increase the weight of your craft.

Rigid metal frame construction makes the inflatable pontoon boat incredibly resilient. They are built to last for years and may quickly be repaired or patched should an issue happen. The pontoons are constructed from coated PVC and heavy nylon and are sufficiently strong to be taken down light rocky rapids. There’s some trade off when it comes to durability with these types of craft. The more durable the more the particular boat will weigh. If you plan on only using your boat for fishing you may want to opt for a more durable boat because you will probably not be trekking with it for extended distances. A few designs even offer fold-down wheels as an option. These wheels will make moving your boat from the vehicle to the shoreline much easier as well as reduce some of the wear on the base of the boat from pulling.

An inflatable personal pontoon fishing boat doubles for alternative activities such as swimming and sun bathing. Before selecting your boat make sure you take into account everything you would like to use your vessel for and take into consideration the quality of storage space each boat provides.

kenhay Boats & Boating, Cruise Travel, Cruising , , ,

Calling All Adrenaline Junkies: The Thrill Of White Water River Rafting

July 27th, 2010
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What’s better than a splash of ice water from the Colorado River landing right on your face? Or even better- being thrown out of an inflatable boat while whipping through a rapid? These things can only be experienced by going on a white water rafting tour on one of the great rivers in the United States.

Next time you are craving adventure get a group of adrenaline junkies together and book a rafting trip on any of these rivers. If you feel you need to start slow, find a local river near you and inquire about any river rafting trips they offer.

Colorado River
The best place to ride the rapids of the Colorado River is near the Grand Canyon. The strip of the river that is the most popular to raft down is the portion that runs through the Grand Canyon National Park. During this rafting trip you will see sights that are not accessible to tourists by foot. Be sure to bring your camera to capture the waterfalls along the way. If you want to go for an extended length of time (multiple days) you can experience sleeping in the mountainous Colorado terrain. River rafters have been known to run into plenty of wildlife while camping. Rafting companies that go out of Grand Canyon National park offer rafting packages that range from one to seven days.

New River Gorge
The New River Gorge is located in the beautiful state of West Virginia. Located in what is commonly known as the Grand Canyon of the East. It is said to be one of the best places to raft on the east coast. The canyon is lined with forests and cliffs that make for great adventure hikes and outdoor activities for the whole family.

Salmon River
Located in Idaho, the wonderful Salmon River also offers great white water rafting trips. Be prepared to drop down over tons of rapids because this river drops over 3000 feet during a rafting session. You will see granite mountains as you travel over 100 miles down the river. There are guided rafting trips on the Salmon River that last anywhere from four to eight days.

Rogue River
Oregon’s best place to go white water river rafting is the Rogue River. The most popular stretch of the river to raft is between Foster Bar and Grave Creek. Along this 34 mile stretch you will see an abundance of wildlife and scenic views. The Black Bear is popular throughout these mountains. The guided trips along the Rogue River are some of the most affordable trips in the country. This is a great trips for families and young ones.

White water rafting is one extreme sport that the whole family can experience together. Different rafting trips are rated differently so you know what you are signing up for. Be sure to choose an easy ride if you are bringing children along. If it’s a bunch of adrenaline junkies- sign up for the most exciting! Be safe but have fun experiencing the great outdoors!

 

Morgan Turley is a yoga instructor at Essence Yoga Studio, an Arizona Yoga Studio.

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kenhay Boats & Boating, Cruise Travel, Cruising , ,

Brand-New Boating Marine PDFs And Marine Safety Equipment

July 26th, 2010
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Before you can begin to search for discount water PDFs or marine safety equipment you should recognize clearly the kind of bargain safety life preserver or marine safety kit you want to find. Your task may appear easy, nevertheless it very often does not turn out to be the case. When you purchase the best flotation life preservers and marine safety equipment, you have many selections to make when you select a special flotation life vest or boating safety gear merchandise that meets your desires.

Determine what type of safety PDF and boating safety equipment to shop for. Specifically, when you intend to seek out a superior kind of personal flotation device or boating safety equipment for your own desires or needs, it is recommended that you think about whether you would benefit from a certain kind of discounted safety life preserver and water safety gear. Additionally it is recommended that you determine what quality of water safety gear you need.

Unless merchandise is such a low-cost bargain that the product does not require your time to analyze, you should always think carefully concerning the features you want prior to buying the product on sale. Your evaluation might include conducting a bit of research via talking to acquaintances plus consulting evaluations in cyberspace. When you ask anyone you know that has experience with bargain life vests or boating safety kits, understand if their stronger needs and desires are akin to yours, as you talk to them concerning their happiness associated with the merchandise. In addition to, ask if they would purchase the merchandise over again.

When you do research by discussing opinions with the sales staff in local stores or by finding evaluations in cyberspace, evaluate whether the articles are biased. The preferred approach to decide whether your really are receiving less biased articles about bargain personal flotation devices or marine safety kits is to look up many sources and to be satisfied whether you understand what you need in advance of when you lay out your money for the item you want. Multiple article sites would help understand better the incidence of the less objective information you could come up with in only one website.

Determine how much to pay for neoprene lifejackets. With any kind of merchandise there are choices that contrast features and price. As an example, some marine PDFs and boat safety kits are made of higher quality constituent materials, however these types of better grade water safety gear items very often are more expensive.

At the outset, you need to choose the amount you are able to afford from your spending budget. Through rationally evaluating just how valuable the merchandise would be within your total ability to pay, you can more quickly pay attention to a array of merchandise that you can afford to pay for. Evaluate not only the cost of the particular merchandise alone, but additionally concerning any added outlays that you might be required to incur though the use of the sales item. Because bargain flotation lifejackets and marine safety gear that you could find are just a part of the expenses of pleasure boating, and then your total expenses of sports boating or pleasure boating will be much greater.

Furthermore, even if you have enough money to buy the highest cost product available, you should decide whether purchasing the higher cost merchandise would be necessarily of greater benefit to you. Many life vests and boat safety gear may offer additional abilities that may seem useful, but you might want to analyze if they are features which you really want and need. If you buy a product for expensive abilities which you do not use, then you are simply throwing your money out the window. A less costly thing could have done adequately. Conversely, you could pay less than you should and have a product which will not adequately serve your objectives from other viewpoints. The cheapest merchandise with a highly reduced price may be without some functionality you really require or the product could be shoddily made and, thus, will not hold together or will have to be bought again earlier than expected. If the cost is so low that it then appears to be an exceptional deal, well it probably is.

Lastly, understand clearly before committing to the purchase the terms for sending back the water PDF or water safety equipment product and if it comes with any warranty. While you might not get what could be the cheapest purchase price, dealing with a trusted store offering a good returns policy is often worth it. Typically only some of all merchandise that you buy have to be refunded, however checking out your merchant’s policies prior to when you spend your money can help you after the purchase, when there are problems.

Where can you purchase a top inflatible raft? Before anything else when shopping, you should have direct access to the full array of merchandise in the more narrow category of bargains that you are looking to get. Broad access can be ensured, if the product catalog you are using accesses the largest selection of such products on the planet. Also, you really need to search thru the products that are being offered at a discount to find just the products that are exactly what you want to find. To find things efficiently, you need to have access to a search mechanism which quickly delivers the right stuff. Web-based vendor competition to get your purchase means that you get the best prices. Sellers understand that they have to provide to you excellent products, as they have to offer you very low prices otherswise you are likely to just buy from a competing vendor.

For those who wish to find better boat safety kits go here. This shopping site gives the fastest, most visual buying process. The product browsing web pages of this web shopping portal provide color picture arrays of a wide range of discount safety life preservers or marine safety kit items. On this website you can quickly look over many competing sales merchandise items from alternative sellers. Subsequently, you can acquire the best product at discount prices. Perhaps best of all, you are able to get what you want at home from the delivery truck. You do not have to waste time and expensive gasoline traveling around to buy what you want in terms of bargain life preservers or boat safety gear. It is frustrating to deal with regular stores that are out of stock and this shopping site can just save you from wasted trips.

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Lewmar V700 12C 1/4″ Gypsy Ss Windlass

July 25th, 2010
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To minimise boating hassles Lewmar have introduced the V700 windlass series. This unit represents luxury at an affordable price. This handsome unit is the small fry of the “V” series windlass and best suited for vessels between 20 foot to 35 foot. It can be easily mounted more or less where you want due to its compact size. Operation is made very easy by the pressing of a button. This gives you the option of operating the windlass ifrom a sheltered position on the boat.

Construction of the Lewmar V700 Windlass is from polished 316 stainless steel offering the highest quality. A variety of tackle can be handled with ease whether rope, chain or a bit of both. The use of high grade steel combined with  clever design means it can handle high levels of abrasion. And the features don’t stop there. The windlass uses a robust worm gear system that is very well protected by the stylish exterior housing. To safeguard longevity, a motor protection system and an anchor lock are incorporated. A further enhancement to durability is waterproofing. The V700 is rated at IP67 which means its waterproof to one meter. Also featured are a manual recovery option, a fast recovery speed and a reed switch and magnet fitted as standard for chain counter applications.

The Lewmar V700  is supplied with complete with gasket seal, mounting studs, installation wrench, circuit breaker, toggle switch, and instructions.

Lewmar warrants that in normal private pleasure boat usage and with proper maintenance its products will conform with their specification for a period of three years from the date of purchase by the end user (subject to their terms and conditions.

The technologies developed by Lewmar for today’s Volvo, Vendee and America’s Cup challenges will be integrated into the mainstream products of tomorrow.

You can find out more about the V700, or if you would like to purchase today, follow the links provided.

 

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