2013: Post 13 – Middle of the week paddle

On the afternoon of Tuesday past, Tony sent an e-mail to see if anyone was interested in a short paddle to Portugal Cove.  It was a very nice afternoon and I had nothing on my plate after work... so at the end of the work day I headed home, loaded up my kayak and gear, and headed out to St. Philips...

A few pics...

When we arrived at Portugal Cove, Tony sat and waited for a chance to do a little rock-hopping.  He mis-timed and soon felt his hull touching the bottom as the water sucked out from under him...

After snapping the above pic I could see the swell coming in behind him and hit the video button and got this short clip...

We only logged just over nine kilometres but it was a great bit of fun on a nice spring evening...

2013: Post 12 – Avondale

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.   

  

2013: Post 11 – A windy weekend

We had a lot of wind this weekend; not fit for a paddle.  So it was back to St. Philips for a bit of water time... Sean calls it "slog 'n surf".... that's exactly what it is... slog out of the cove against the wind and surf it back in....  Greenland paddles generally don't catch much wind, but today mine certainly did at times.  At one point I was taking a pic of Sean, holding my GP with one hand when a wind gust very nearly took it away from me....

Here's a few pics...

There was someone in this shot but I was
too slow and they became hidden by the wave....

Brian and Tony

Brian

Sean

Sean

Tony

Sean

Taking a little rest  at the side of the cove...

It was certainly a good bit of fun.  Sean and Tony took some video so we are hoping the got some good video of the conditions.... I'll add a link to their blog posts once they do their posts... Here's Tony's video...

2013: Post 10 – After the Storm-surge...

The weather people were calling for northwest 45 km wind this afternoon, but the seas were much calmer today compared to yesterday (see pics on Tony's blog from yesterday).  So this afternoon Tony, Tobias, Sean, and I  met in St. Philips for a little post-storm-surge playtime in the cove...

A few pics...

After yesterdays stormy weather, there was debris floating
in the water, but mostly near the beach.  But we still had to keep
an eye open for stuff still bobbing around out in the cove.... 

Sean and Tobias getting ready

Sean in his Point Bennet

Tobias

Tony

Sean

Tobias

Tony 

Be sure to check out Tony's write-up and pics from this afternoon...

2013: Post 9 – Bay Bulls

Hazen, Tony, and I spent a couple hours in Bay Bulls this morning...

Here's a few pics to share...

It was a short paddle, but was a lot of fun...

Be sure to check out Tony's post of the paddle.

2013: Post 8 – St. Philips to Portugal Cove

The forecast was calling for some rain and 25 km wind from the east today.  Tony suggested the possibility of a paddle around St. John's Harbour...  but we decided to head to St. Philips once again...  

Neville joined us today for his first paddle of the year.  A little while ago he had dug through the pile of 2x4 cedar in one of the local lumber stores and managed to find a really good piece to use for his first attempt at carving a Greenland paddle. He ended up with a knot-free paddle and had been wanting to try it on the salt water....  When we got to Portugal Cove we compared his paddle against mine and found his loom was about three inches less in length.  He tried my paddle on the way back and found the longer loom felt better.  I expect it won't be too long and he'll be producing another one...

I didn't take many pictures today, but here are are a few to share...

When we arrived at the channel at Sailing Point we sat and had a look.  The swell was dumping into the channel through the end and the couple of openings along the length, the water was sucking out and filling in, and the the waves were crashing back and forth inside the channel.  It was plenty gnarly in there, and I was thinking it could go either way...  Tony decided to go for it!  Just as he went in the water sucked out and he was sitting in the bottom of a trough with the near vertical face of the rocks on either side of him.  The water came in and he rose vertically, and then his kayak was on the face of the wave  with several feet of his stern sticking up off the crest of the wave; I could see the underside of his hull... Then he was pushed forward into the channel and out of my site.  I guessed he was at about the same place where I had dented the nose of my plastic kayak a couple weeks ago!  He has a fiberglass kayak and I hoped he did not have the nose of his kayak pushed into the rocks... I decided I would not enter the channel today and quickly paddled along the outside to try to keep a watch as he made his way through.  From what I could see of him as he navigated his way though the channel, I have to say he produced an impressive display of paddle skill and calm control... We discussed after that it would have been great if he would of had a helmet cam and had a video of his run through the channel... Another kayaking toy to purchase? 

We carried on...

I took a little video just before we got to Portugal Cove... I was trying to zoom in to get a pic of Tony and accidentally hit the record button so just decided to let it run for a bit... 

We took out on the beach near the ferry terminal at Portugal Cove and had a granola bar and a chat before making our way back to St. Philips...

Another splendid day.  Thanks guys.