2012: Post 33 – Another Sunday afternoon

Last Sunday (see previous post) it was windy and so we went to St. Philips for a little fun in the cove.  This afternoon Tony and I went to St. Philips again, but decided to paddle to Topsail Beach once we got there.  The weather was calling for 30 km wind from the south so we would be fairly protected for most of the paddle... and there was a nice swell coming into the bay so there were a few places to enjoy some clapitus...

Some pics to share....

I have paddled this stretch of the shoreline many times.  But the conditions we had this afternoon took away that 'just another paddle down to Topsail Beach' feeling... 

Another excellent day on the water...

2012: Post 32 – A Sunday afternoon

It was windy today.  Supposed to be 45 kilometers from the west this afternoon, but it certainly felt like a bit more than that.  A good day to go to St. Philips for a couple hours in the afternoon....

Some pics to share....

It was all good fun...

2012: Post 31 – The British Invasion

Hazen, Clyde, Tony and I met at St. Philips this morning.  i was looking forward to trying Clyde's Nordkapp RM again...  We paddled down to Topsail Beach, had a little break, and then paddled a little further before turning to head back.  On our way back we could see three other kayakers coming toward St. Philips.  It was Des, Malcolm, and Gerard out for their own morning paddle...

A few pictures…

Hazen

Tony

Take-out on Topsail Beach

Clyde

Gerard washing up in the river at St. Philips

Hazen making sure Clyde and Gerard
do a good job rinsing off the gear...

Back at the slipway...

On the slipway it looked like a British kayak invasion... There were seven paddlers all paddling Valley kayaks.  There was an Aquanaut LV RM, a Nordkapp RM, two Nordkapp's, and three Nordkapp LV's (one of them a carbon/kevlar).  

Seeing all these Valley kayaks in the picture above, I remembered a posting on the newsgroup a while back.  I did a search and found it...  Someone was looking to buy a kayak and was asking for recommendations.  Part of a response posted by Malcolm said  "Forget the rudder. Forget North American design. The war is long over. The British have won!"  I know some will disagree, but I think a lot of people just might be of the same opinion...

2012: Post 30 – Impromptu Paddle

There had been no e-mails going around about paddling this weekend.  I woke up a little early this morning and looked outside.  Not much was happening in regards to wind.  I checked the weather; it was calling for a bit of rain in the morning but only 15 km wind from the northwest.  A good morning to go for an impromptu paddle.  So had some breakfast, threw my gear together, loaded up a kayak, and headed out to St. Philips for a short paddle to Portugal Cove.

A few pictures…

 

  

Today was a rather excellent paddle, for today I was paddling Clyde’s Nordkapp RM... Hmmmmm!!

2012: Post 29 - Night Club Paddle

For some time now Alex McGruer has lead a KNL night club paddle out of Avondale.  The last three years Tony Roestenberg has organized a second yearly venture into paddling in the darkness.  I missed Alex's night paddle this year, but did not miss Tony's Harvest Moon Paddle...

Last night 15 club members in 13 kayaks (we had two doubles) showed up for a moonlight paddle from St. Philips to Topsail Beach... It's difficult to get good pics in the dark but here's a few to share...

Ron gearing up

Julie

Gary

Tony

Sean and Cheryl

Alex

Brian and Sue

Always nice to have a fire on the beach...

Sean and Cheryl purchased a new double kayak just a little while ago.  While coming back from Topsail Beach I noticed Cheryl had stopped paddling and was letting Sean do all the work... I pulled alongside and joked that Sean only bought the double so that Cheryl could be his 'spare paddle holder'... All in jest, guys...

Sean's spare paddle holder...

Hazen

Thanks to everyone who showed up; it was a great night and lots of fun.  Also, see Tony's blog entry on last nights paddle...

2012: Post 28 - Bell Island, the long way...

During my second summer of paddling I paddled around Bell Island with Brian, Tony, and Derrick.   I remember that paddle well... I was a paddling newbie then and was not efficient in my forward stroke, nor my paddling skills in general.  But they invited me and I went... We took the ferry over, paddled around the island, and then took the ferry back.  It's the day I sometimes jokingly refer to as "the day they tried to kill me..."   

For a while we have talked about paddling around Bell Island again.  But instead of taking the ferry over and back, we would do it by leaving St. Philips, paddle over, do a complete circumnavigation, and then back to St. Philips.  Tony, Brian, Hazen, and I met yesterday morning in St. Philips to paddle around Bell island, the long way...

Pictures to share...

Brian checking out Bell Island 

The island from St. Philips

The conditions allowed us to do the crossing in under 40 minutes

We took out on a beach at Dominion Pier for a few minutes and decided on a clockwise circumnavigation of the island...

The view just past The Beach

Hazen was left high and dry while trying to get
through a cave/tunnel at Eastern Head

Tony has a geology degree and must find
this a very interesting paddle to do

Hazen and Brian

Tony

Caves

The other three guys must have stopped to chat or something because I found myself a little ahead of them by the time I reached the caves in the above picture.  I contemplated getting out of my kayak but the rocks looked slippery.  So I continued past them and when I came around a little stack there was a tunnel in the face of the cliff.  The other guys were back a way so I decided to get out and check it out... 




The tunnel was built complete with protection from falling rocks...



View from the tunnel entrance 

I walked about halfway through the tunnel to the point where the wooden supports/roof stopped.  There was an opening at the other end.  I was thinking that without the wooden structure in place to prevent rocks from falling from the tunnel roof maybe it would not be wise to continue through... so I turned and went back...



The light at the end of the tunnel...

The guys were still not in view; they had stopped at the caves where Tony had gotten out for a look.  I got back on the water and paddled further to have a look at the other end of the tunnel.  At the other end there were a bunch of people in hard hats and safety vests on the beach.  They must have been very interested in the something because I paddled by them, turned on my camera, took a couple pictures of them, and floated there for a couple minutes until the the other guys came along.  Not once did they look in my direction... When Tony seen them he headed right for the beach, got out and had a chat to them... they were geology students on a field trip...

Students so engrossed in their findings that they
did not notice a guy in a yellow kayak paddling by... 

We paddled onward and then finally The Bell of Bell Island was in site...lunch was close at hand...

Tony and The Bell

Lunch beach just past The Bell

We had the wind on our beam as we paddled across the western end of Bell island...

Brian and Hazen

Tony

 

When we arrived at Dominion Pier we took out on the same beach we had taken out on earlier in the morning.  Our circumnavigation of the island was complete... We rested for a while and then made the crossing back to St. Philips.

Thanks guys for another great paddling adventure.