2016: Post 25 – Slow paddlin', tardiness, and onion rings

Since we did our overnight kayak camping trip  on the 1st and 2nd of October it has been windy on weekends, and so I've been getting in some hiking trips instead.  I've managed six day hikes in October!

This past weekend the forecast was calling for more wind but there was a lull for Saturday morning.  Tony and I met at St. Philips before 9 am with hopes to get in a short morning paddle before the wind picked up after lunch.  Cathy and Gary said they would be there but they hadn't showed up. We decided they must have changed their minds and so we headed out of the marina and turned our bows toward Topsail Beach.  

Tony at Wester Point

There was little wind but a bit of swell that made things a little fun along the way.

We weren't in any particular hurry and were just sort of poking our way along.  We were a few kilometers down the shore and happened to look behind us and there was Cathy, clipping right along.  She said she had pulled into the parking lot just as we were rounding Wester Point.  She quickly geared up and picked up her pace to catch up to us.

Tony and I have done a lot of paddling in the past with just the two of us, but we prefer to have company...  besides, three kayakers are far better and safer then just two...  

The three of carried on towards Topsail Beach...

When we got to Topsail Beach we kept on going another kilometer or so along the beach before finally stopping.  We rafted up and chatted for a while and then decided it was time head back.

Cathy passing through the outfall from Topsail Bight

We took our time paddling back to St. Philips.  Once there we rinsed off in the fresh water of Broad Cove River and then headed to the nearby restaurant for coffee and conversation.  Cathy also treated us to a big basket of very good-tasting onion rings...  yep, we sure were glad she showed up for the paddle...

2016: Post 24 – Back to Bull Arm

On the first weekend of September (see previous post) some of us spent a night in Bull Arm.  Tony was busy with house repairs and would not take the time off to do the trip. 

This past weekend (Oct 1 and 2) Tony suggested a night in Bull Arm so he could go have a look at the Hebron GBS in Mosquito Cove....

Tony had not been on the water much lately due to house
repairs and was the first one on the water at Chance Cove... 

Gary

Derek

We did not have far to paddle to the proposed camp site near Masters Head.  I was going to suggest we carry on up to Stock Cove to camp (where Clyde, Derek, Shane, and I had camped in September) but decided to not try to change Tony's plan.

The camp site

When we got to the campsite we pitched our tents and then it was time to have some lunch.  Cathy had recently obtained her Level 2 Sea kayaking certification and I had e-mailed her before the trip and teased her about how it would be good expedition behavior for her to feed me on this trip... just so she could have the practice.  Well, she took me up on it and made me a couple wraps for my lunch.  They were so good and I was so happy to allow her to practice her new skills...

After lunch Tony, Cathy, and Hazen got into their kayaks and paddled up to Mosquito Cove.  
Gary, Derek, and I had decided to stay at the camp site.  It was such a beautiful day and at this time of year the evenings are short and if we paddled up to Mosquito Cove I knew it would be supper time before we got back to camp.  Nope.. wasn't gonna do it.... I decided to just relax and enjoy the day in the sunshine.  I told Cathy we would collect up some wood for the evening fire and keep an eye on things while they were gone.

We fully enjoyed the afternoon. The first order of business was to relax and have a beer...

Gary

Derek

After a while Derek and I  got our saws and work gloves and proceeded to collect up some wood for the evening fire.  Gary decided he would lay down in the grass and take a nap.

There was very little wood on the beach and so Derek and I took to the woods.  There was a lot of dead trees that had blown over and plenty of dead standing ones as well.  

We spent a couple hours sawing up firewood and dragging it out of the woods.  It was a warm day and we had to stop a couple times to have a beer-break.

Once we were satisfied with the wood pile we lounged around the beach, waiting for the other half of our group to come back from the sea.  We watched a Minke whale that was quite close to the shore, and we watched the boat traffic coming and going.

I believe it was shortly after 5 pm when the seafarers came back to camp.  They had a long days paddle.  

Cathy was cooking salmon over the fire for her and Gary's supper and so Derek got the fire going.  I had already had my supper but she shared some salmon with me.... yep her expedition behavior skills are coming along quite nicely.

It wasn't long and the sun disappeared behind the hill and then darkness crept in on us.  We had a decent pile of firewood and Derek piled it all on at one point and it burned until about midnight when the last of us went off to our tents.

I was fully awake before 6 am.  I tried to go back to sleep but it wasn't going to happen and so I crawled out of my tent before 6:30 and had the beach to myself.  I watched a Minke whale swim along the shoreline, surfacing three times.

There was a skim of ice on my front hatch cover... a sign of the changing season.

While I was eating my breakfast I noticed a chair was floating in the water near the shore.  I retrieved it and realized it was Derek's.  I could not figure out how it got into the water as Derek had put it up by his kayak (well away from the waters edge) and there wasn't any wind during the night to have blown it down the beach.  Perhaps Goldilocks was around during the night and, finding that the chair was either too big or too small, she hurled it into the sea!!!

The rest of the guys began stirring and breakfasts were made and camp was broken.

The plan for the day was to handrail Rantem Cove back to the cars in Chance Cove...  

Not too far into the paddle I had to stop and re-adjust one of my foot pegs.  It had been moved 3 or 4 notches forward... I could not figure this one out... perhaps Goldilocks tried my kayak during the night and she has one leg shorter than the other!!!  

Hazen

Gary

Cathy

Derek

Tony

 We all arrived safe and sound back at Chance Cove...

For me it was a fantastically relaxed trip... just what I needed.  Thanks to Tony, Cathy, Hazen, Derek, and Gary for another fun time.