INTRODUCING OUR NEW MOTHERSHIP
This season we will be introducing the Aquitania, our new kayak mothership, This unique 45 foot cedar strip vessel which we have redesigned to better carry kayakers, will enable us to access a fascinating new paddling area - the Oak Bay islands near Victoria. Go to Mothership for a full description of this vessel and how she was built by the tour Operator to serve both as a kayak carrier and touring vessel..
OAK BAY DEPARTURE POINT
We operate year-around from our base, Victoria, B.C. on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. This is a convenient jumping off spot for day as well as overnight tours to some of the most beautiful islands and campsites to be found in the Canadian Gulf Islands.
The Discovery-Chatham Islands which lie right on our "door step" for example, offer what many consider the best paddllig to be had on southern Vancouver Island, all within a 45 minute paddle from our Oak Bay base!
FAVOURITE TOURS
We have fallen in love with a new tour of the West Coast (our Rain Forest Tour). This all-encompassing tour combines hiking old growth trails, with river-running, ocean kayaking with beach camping. The world renowned West Coast Life Life Saving and Juan de Fuca Trails are located adjacent.
We pride ourselves as being wilderness escape artists, who love what we do - which is to explore by canoe and by kayak the many unspoiled and tranquil places which still constitute much of our B.C West Coast heritage. We have been in the guiding business for over 14 years. On our vacations, my partner Sue and I like to do exploratory paddling trips abroad.
Blackfish Wilderness Expeditions is a long-standing member of Tourism Victoria. We are also proud members of Earth Foot, a society dedicated to low-impact 
eco-tours- tour operations which are small in scale, owner-operated, locally produced, and culturally sensitive to the needs of locals. We are also in the business of making friends, rather than customers. Most of our camping tours are customized.
Our philosophy is to teach new skills, and to impart knowledge which will lead to a greater sense of awareness and respect for conserving our unique marine environment. We seek to expand the wilderness horizons and consciences of fellow adventurers, wherever these trails may lead. Our underlying aim is to have fun, to make new friends and to develop the camaraderie and team work that only wild places and the challenge of broad ocean horizons can elicit.
Al Lubkowski is the Tour Operator and back-up Guide for Blackfish. His background is in regional and resource planning. But his life long interest has been in exploring wilder
ness areas by canoe and by kayak. His stint as a tour operator in Belize, is one example of this "wander lust". His building the 45 foot cedar strip canoe which Blackfish uses as a kayak "mothership" is an example of Al's versatility and adventurous spirit.
Al's paddling experience is quite varied ranging from jungle rivers, Arctic waters and many parts of the Canadian Shield (click for a fun story of our Everglades paddle ).. In the last 15 years (through his last two adventure companies), Al has spent considerable time paddling and sailing closer to home- the West Coast. You will find him to be a fount of information on most everything you will see and experience while on his tours. You can rest assured that he has trained his guides well. Both Al and his guides are certified with the Sea Kayak Guide Alliance of BC. (SKGA)
Marc Lecacheur is Blackfish's principal kayak guide. Marc is truly an adventurous spirit, having t
ravelled extensively by bike, by foot and by kayak in third world countries (he is particularly proud of a rugged 300 km paddle of the African coast which he did on his own). In recent years he aquired worked as a guide in South African game parks. His interests in wildlife and its preservation are reflected by his field studies of wolves and raptors in Europe and his work coordinating symposiums on these subjects. Marc's other passion is writing and to this end he has contributed a number of articles to adventure magazines describing his travels to wild and exotic places, including his last summer's trek along the Juan de Fuca Trail.
Marc has become so enthraled with the kayaking opportunities he has discovered in Canada that he has decided to leave his native France and to return as a landed immigrant. Blackfish is fortunate to to have a guide with such talent, enthusiasm and sense of humour to share with fellow paddlers.