2013: Post 44 – Saturday Paddle

The level 2 course got postponed until next weekend... soooooo....

The forecast for yesterday was for wind; SW 35 km gusting to 48.  We made a plan to go to St. Philips to see if we could get some surf rides.  Well, the wind was down and so were the waves.  And so we paddled the familiar route to Topsail Beach...

Old Wobbly

Brian

Tony

Derrick

While we were taking a little break at Topsail Beach we had some fowl company, or rather he found us.  His name was Stew.

Hazen and I tried to get Stew to take food from our fingers but he was not keen on getting that personal, but he would come very close when we dropped the bits of granola bar near us...

Stew wondered around us for a long while...

... and then gave us some instruction on how to do a proper surf launch....

Tony shot some video yesterday and posted it on utube... check it out

2013: Post 43 – Aquaforte Club Paddle

Yesterday Gerard (a.k.a. 'the G-man' or just 'G') led the annual Aquaforte club paddle. There were twenty eight kayaks; one of them a double.  It was a glorious September day with sunshine and warm temperatures.

Since this paddle would be my last weekend paddle until the end of September (I'll be doing the Safe Kayaking  Level 2 course over the next couple weekends...) I was more interested in paddling than taking pictures... But here are nearly half the ones I did take... 

I have to give credit to the G-man... Club paddles generally have large groups and therefore it tends to take a while to get the group off the beach and on the go, and then larger groups often get strung out once on the water.  G-man said the put-in time would be 10:30 am and I think it was only 10:45 when we were on the water and moving... and G tends to do a good job keeping the group relatively bunched up once we are on the water.   His experience as a kayak guide for one of the local outfitters is a real asset when it comes to leading club paddles.  You da man, G!!

G-man after breaking a Greenland paddle
during the 2011 Paddling Symposium
(I think this is probably my favorite picture I've
taken of G... despite my camera being fogged up)

Also check out Tony's blog entry on the paddle...

2013: Post 42 – Chance Cove Club Paddle

Eighteen people in seventeen kayaks.  Fog, sun, and little wind.  An eagle, some jellyfish, and trees in the water.  And of course lunch on a beach. A good way to spend a Sunday. 

This was how we spent the day yesterday...

It was a good day to be a kayaker.

2013: Post 41 – To Topsail Beach

Julie, Gary and I had a fun and relaxing paddle this morning from St. Philips to Topsail Beach.  Some pics to share:

Here's a short video of Gary  having a little fun before we left Topsail Beach ...

Although not as plentiful as yesterday, there were still lot's of jellyfish around...

It was another spectacular little paddle with a couple more good paddling buddies...