Clyde and I decided to head to Bay Bulls – no real paddling agenda, just one of those mucking about type paddles. The wind was blowing a little into the bay when we pulled off the beach about noonish.
We paddled down the south side staying close to shore.
We stopped in a little spot along the way and had a little snack and Clyde decided he would seal launch backwards off the beach. I thought that could just be a photo opportunity but he got on the water without incident…
We continued on enjoying the afternoon…
Then we came to a little cove that still had a lump of ice/snow still clinging to the rocks (sorry the pic is out of focus)…
The swell picked up as we got closer to South Head making things more interesting (Clyde is in the first picture below)…
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Then my camera said the battery was dead so I did not get any more pics from this point. The wind had dropped and we wished we had the time to continue further into Witless Bay. We kept going up past the spout (there are two of them there around the head) until my GPS read more than 9 kilometres before we turned back. The trip back was a little shorter as we did not get into the nooks and crannies along the shoreline.
Along the way back Clyde asked if he could use my spare GP. Now, those who know me know I’m not going to argue with a fellow who wants to try a GP… We rafted up, I pulled the spare GP off my foredeck and Clyde stored his nice, expensive, carbon-fibre Euro paddle on my foredeck (his spare was already on his own foredeck). I thought to myself that since I now had his paddle he would have no choice but to use the GP until we got back to the take-out; he is a good paddler and does paddle a Nordcapp, but I do not think he is proficient enough with the GP to have caught me if he wanted his Euro back!!!
Clyde has used my GP in the past and seems to take to it naturally. I think if he had one sized properly to fit him he might use it more often for touring.
I had my camera poked in my life jacket and just had to check it to see if there was any life left in it (often when the battery gets cold it loses its charge and then if you let it warm up it will still have some life in it. I was very pleased when it turned on so I could get some photographic evidence of the GP event…
I even had enough charge to take a little video of Clyde on a rock with a GP… He didn’t seem to be distressed not having his Euro paddle (sorry, Clyde, I just couldn't resist)...
Well, we spent about 4 hours on the water, paddled over 16 kilometres, and had a good bit of fun. Thanks Clyde.
