It was
shaping up to be a very good paddling day.
Today it would be Tony, Peter and I.
Tony had car trouble yesterday so I picked him up at his house this
morning and then we meet Peter at a nearby Irving station. And off we went to Avondale.
We put in
at the river…
We paddled along
the shore on the west side of Gasters Bay.
Today was Peter’s first paddle for this year. Along the way there somewhere he joked about not
paddling with our crew because it seemed somebody was always ending up capsizing
or in the water... Was
he looking at me when he joked about it?
“If you don’t capsize now and then you’re just not trying hard enough” I
told him….
We rounded Ballyhack
point, and then down into Conception Harbour to the site of the old boat wreck...
The trees are growing rather nicely…
As we
progressed out of Gasters Bay the swell continued to pick up as we passed Mugfords Head,
Kitchuses, and Laracys Point….
After about
ten kilometers of paddling we rounded Bacon Cove Head and took out for lunch in
Bacon Cove…
As we ate
lunch we watched the waves come into the little cove, larger ones and then
smaller ones…
After lunch
we walked around the shore looking for trilobites…
Then it was
time to get back on the water. I made
sure I was off the beach first so I could take a couple pictures of the guys as
they got on the water...
Peter was
next…
Then Tony was
last. A larger swell came in and he was close
to shore...
I guess he was trying hard
enough because next thing he had capsized! Being close to shore he was
in shallow water, but he set up to roll anyway.
The stern of his kayak was kind of elevated and angled (Peter later said
he figured it was up on a rock) and then he was out of his kayak. It looked to me like maybe his body was grounded
and the water simply pulled his kayak from him.
Anyway, now he was standing beside his kayak...
He pulled
the kayak back to the beach, dumped the water out, and got back in...
Then he paddled back along the shore where he had capsized to retrieve his beloved hat before paddling out of the cove.
Other than having
a wet head he was none the worse for it… And so we continued back down into Gasters
Bay, crossing over to Salmon Cove, and following the shoreline back into the bottom of the bay...
We washed the salt water off in the river and then loaded the gear and kayaks onto the cars. Of course we had to go for a
coffee, very pleased with having of had such a fine day in our kayaks.
Dean, still playing my swim over in my head. I got hit by some good water but not enough to knock me over in normal circumstances, I set up to roll and rolled myself right out of the kayak without yanking my skirt off. But, I wasn't leaving my cap!
ReplyDeleteAnother excellent day.
Tony :-)
I figure you leaned into the wave as it hit you and either leaned too much or you were still leaning after it passed under you causing you to go over... If your stern was up on a rock (like Peter thought) it would have put you off balance... Like any capsize it happened quickly - you were upright and then you weren't! If you were further out in deeper water I think you'd of rolled without problem, but being where you were I think caused you to get pulled out of your kayak... Also, better thigh braces to accommodate your size likely would have kept you from being pulled out of the cockpit... Too bad you didn't have your camera mounted on your deck with the video running... Oh well, it was just your turn this time... all just part of a another paddling adventure....
ReplyDelete