2011: Post 34 – A change of plans...

A few of the guys I regularly paddle with decided they were going to meet at 9 am this morning and make a final decision where they were going to paddle (the plan was most likely Brigus to Cupids…).  I went to the Thursday practice, then did the night paddle on Friday (see Post 32), then paddled to Kelley’s Island yesterday (see Post 33). 

I guess I was a little paddled out and I just did not have interest in going very far today for a paddle.  However, I set my alarm last night with intentions of getting up at 7 and meeting the guys at 9 am.  The alarm went off this morning and I hit the snooze, felt rather tired, and rolled over.  I thought to myself “I’ll get up when it goes off again.”  When it did I just turned it off and thought “no, I’ll pass on Brigus today” and went back to sleep.  I woke up a little past 8:30 and got up and showered.

It was a nice day, not much wind.  I checked the weather.  Good day to go to St. Philips, maybe paddle up to Portugal Cove… a couple hours on the water, maybe 10 or 12 kilometers, and back home for a planned BBQ for supper.  I sent out an e-mail and posted to the newsgroup to see if anybody wanted to join me.  Only Gary responded.  We met at St. Philips at noon and got on the water.

The put-in / take-out location..

We paddled out and across the cove and could see that Portugal Cove was enveloped in fog.  Gary said he had never been to Bell Island and suggested we paddle over as an alternative.  I had paddled over a bunch of times but figured it was just the right distance for a little paddle and so we turned our bows to make the crossing.  I took a bearing for Dominion Pier just in case the fog decided to move in… but it did not…

Gary with the fog along the shore...

We took our time going over and when we reached Dominion Pier we got out for a little stretch. 

The beach at the left side of  Dominion Pier

The view from Dominion Pier towards Portugal Cove...

By the time we had a little snack and some water, and relaxed a little almost a half hour passed.  We got into our kayaks and headed towards where the ferries dock.  The Beaumont Hamel was not running today and I was able to get a nice picture of her...

We continued down the shore, stopping in the area of Ragged Head...

Gary checking out a little cave just past The Beach...

... and then decided to make a diagonal crossing from there back to St. Philips.

Little Bell Island (left) and Kelly's Island (right) in the distance...

Gary checking out the Flanders making
her crossing to Portugal Cove...

We rinsed off in the fresh water from the river and loaded our kayaks and gear back on the cars.  We watched the hub of activity of the boaters taking advantage of the nice day and the last day of cod fishing before heading home.

Cod fishers....

Thanks, Gary.  It was just the right paddle for me today... close to home and not too long... We'll make it a point to get you around Bell Island one day, but at least you can now say you have been to Bell Island!

[I do hope the other guys had a great paddle, too.  I'll be looking their blog posts to see what I missed...]