2011: Post 40 – How to solve a problem like Hurricane Maria

Hurricane Maria came through Newfoundland yesterday.  We figured the day after would not be fit for paddling but it would produce some fun at St. Philips.  The weather channel was calling for 55 km westerly wind, gusting to 70 km, for the morning.  So myself and Tony met before 10 am this morning and hit the water.

I took a bunch of pictures but since Tony was the only one there, other than myself, this blog entry will seem like a 'Homage to Tony'... Well, if he is the only one that would come along this morning than perhaps he deserves one... Yee haw, buddy!!

After our fun, while we were packing up our gear, three older ladies came over to us and told us how concerned they were for us out there.  They had been watching us and became worried when they lost site of us (I think we had paddled back in at that point) and so they all walked down to check on us.  I asked if they had planned to swim out to save us... They laughed, but they were not sure what they were gonna do, but I guess they felt they needed to see if we were okay.  It was very sweet of them, but kind of funny...

2011: Post 39 – A moonlight paddle

Last night the conditions were right for a moonlight paddle from St. Philips to Topsail Beach.  A healthy crew of ten paddlers showed up for the paddle but the main attraction - the moon - decided to not partake; it stayed hidden behind a cover of cloud.  But moon or not, we were intent on paddling...

I have paddled in the dark several times in the past and I have paddled from St. Philips to Topsail Beach many times, but for me paddling it at night was a first.  We had a good bit of fun and it was good to see a few paddlers show up that I have not paddled with, or even seen, for a while.

It's hard to get good pictures in the dark.  But here are some of the ones I took...

Stan

Sue

The last of the sun

Derrick and Gerard

Tony

Gary

Sean

Hazen

Gerard

Brian

I think it was about 10:30 pm when we got off the water... maybe just a little too late for some paddlers....

Thanks to all who showed up for this paddle.  It was great to see those of you that I have not paddled with for a while, and just as great to see those of you whom I paddle with on a frequent basis.

2011: Post 38 – Disko Fever

Sean finished his modern replica of his 1931 Disko Bay skin-on-frame kayak, except for the deck rigging, and brought it to last week’s Thursday practice.  Sweeeet!  Be sure to check out his blog.  He has some nice shots of it during and after he took it out of his house.

Since he started the build a few months ago I have been interested in the possibility of trying my hand at building one of my own.  I e-mailed Dave Gentry for the plans for it and started to figure out how to make one.  I e-mailed Dave with some questions, looked at some websites, and have been asking Sean a bunch of how-to questions while he has been building his.  I think I have mostly figured it out in my mind and have been thinking it would be a good winter project... something to pick away at in free time on cold nights.

At the end of Thursday practice Sean let me sit in his new kayak and it felt pretty nice.  A little bit of Disko fever set in…

I figured it was time to make a start and at least get the plywood frames cut out.  Shortly after I received the plans with the offsets from Dave I figured drawing the frames out on plywood was time consuming.  I have access to computer drawing software and so a while ago I had drawn up the frames had plotted them out full size. I picked up a sheet of bristol board and glued the paper frames to it.   Then I cut out the frame templates that I could use to trace around onto plywood. 

Gluing the paper frames onto the bristol board



All six frames glued to the bristol board and cut out
(the bristol board provides a raised edge to easily trace around)



I had intended to paddle today but then decided not to.   I picked up a piece of 17.5 mm thick Russian Birch plywood (as recommended by Sean) just before Home Depot closed last night and traced out the frames with my templates. 

Frame five just happened to fit inside the masik
so there was a little less wastage

The sheet of plywood is 24x48 inches and, because frame five fit inside frame three, I was able to fit all six frames onto half the sheet, with the sheet cut diagonally… Not sure what to do with this half-sheet… maybe Sean will make another one, and Tony thinks he may built one too…

I placed the templates around the plywood edges to reduce the
amount of cutting along the straight edges

All the templates traced out, with some
of the straight cuts done by handsaw

Before suppertime came around I had all the frames cut out, with the exception of the notches for the foredeck in frames two and three… these can easily be done later.  The rough edges can be sanded out after the kayak is completely framed; except for frame three and four, you will not see the frames so required sanding is minimal.  I know I will still have some adjusting of the notches to get a good fit for the chine and keel stringers.

I expect this project is a big undertaking for me as I am limited in tools, space, and know-how, and it will therefore go slow.  But I am not in a big hurry so I will take my time and try to do it right.  At least now I have made a start. 

2011: Post 37 – Flatrock to Outer Cove

Yesterday afternoon a small group of us left Flatrock.  Our plan was to follow the shore and paddle as far as Outer Cove.  There are a lot of caves in the area and when the conditions are right you can check out every one of then, and the conditions were right for our afternoon paddle.  

The put-in at Flatrock

Today's participants:

Tony

Paul

Ysabelle

Neil

Some pictures of the paddle along the way....

Ysabelle

Neil

Paul heading into one of the many caves.
I like how this pic is divided by light and dark...

...the shadow kayaker

There is an eagle in the middle of this pic
(my camera couldn't zoom in any closer)

Neil, a very experienced paddler, enjoying some playtime...

Neil and Ysabelle at Middle Cove

Young boys playing in the ocean at Middle Cove...

Break time at Middle Cove

Tony let this young boy sit in his kayak...

of course his sister had to have a turn too.

I did not know I took this pic until I reviewed my shots at home,
but it is kind of interesting though...

Tony making his way back across Tor Bay in the evening sun.

Paul, Neil, and Ysabelle

There was some increased swell on our way back...

Neil finding something interesting to take a picture of...

The days paddle done.

This was an excellent paddle.  It is so close to home and provides hours of relaxed paddling and many caves to check out.  But you have to mind the weather and sea state.  You have to pick your day to be able to check out those caves and Neil picked a perfect day for it.  Thanks Neil and Ysabelle for the invitation to go on this paddle. 

2011: Post 36 – Little Bell Island Cicumnavigation

A couple summers ago I was on a paddle in which we took the ferry over to Bell Island and then paddled around it.  Last summer we paddled from Topsail Beach to Little Bell Island, then over to Bell Island, then to Kelley's Island and back to Topsail Beach.   In August past Tony, Gary, and I  paddled over to and around Kelley's Island (see Post 33).  I've since had the circumnavigation of Little bell Island on my mind....

Today, with Tony as my paddling partner, I was able to cross Little Bell Island off my list.

We met at Topsail Beach and brought our boats and gear down to put in at the little freshwater pond which dumps out into the cove.  There were a bunch of curious ducks that came over to check us out...

Our objective can be seen right above my kayak...

Feathered visitors... they were not skittish at all...

This one decided to get a closer look at my kayak...

We made the crossing to the smallest of the three islands in Conception Bay.  It's only about 4.5 kilometers from Topsail Beach.

Tony on the way over to Little Bell

The wind was up a little but by the time we got around Little Bell it had all but dropped to nothing. 

Tony on the North side of Little Bell

When we had made our full circumnavigation of the little Island - it's approximately 3 km around - we decided we would climb up and have lunch and take in the view... it was another beautiful day in Conception Bay, much like the day we went around Kelly's Island.

Sometimes I think we do these paddles
just to enjoy food in the outdoors...
it certainly does taste better out there...

The view from our lunch spot atop of Little Bell Island
looking back toward Topsail Beach

After lunch we decided to make a diagonal crossing over to St. Thomas Cove.  It was a warm day and we did a couple rolls to cool off before making our way back to Topsail Beach.   There was a lot of people enjoying the sunshine at the beach when we arrived, but I was very happy to not be one of them.  It's much better to watch them from the seat of a kayak...

Beach-goers enjoying the day... but
I've said it before and I'll say it again,
kayaking is a spectator sport...

It was a very enjoyable paddle - 16.5 kilometers total.  A very nice way to spend a few hours on the water close to home.