"Terra Nova River"

The NL kayak club is very fortunate to be able to host whitewater and sea kayaking events simultaneously at their retreat as both waters are within very easy reach of the designated camp site and retreat base. There is always tremendous paddles either on the sea or various rivers around that area of NL. The Terra Nova empties in an area known as Glovertown, which in itself is an extremely scenic community as are all the communities in the Terra Nova Park area. This geography also allows for the whitewater and sea kayaking members to socialize together and share their skills and beer.lol It truly is a great time and as can be seen in the pictures that follow you can enjoy the energy of both venues WW and sea kayaking, as I like to do. Last year we had Greg Stamer and Freya Hoffmeister as guests and this year we had Bryan Smith who is making a movie in NL in the Twilingate area, lots of icebergs up there, and Fergus Coffey who I did not meet but also was a guest at our retreat this year.

The interesting thing is, is that they had to fly to St. John's twice only to be unable to land due to fog. Finally they landed in Deer Lake at 12 midnight on the eve of the retreat and drove 5 hours in fog to their destination to hold clinics at 10 the next morning......and they did. It seems so true in kayaking that the best layed plans always seem to encounter a hiccup.

"The Ruins"

Our set up site for our WW day. We gather at a place called the Ruins because of course of the old mill that now sits in ruin at the edge of the river. Our Sunday white water day proved to be very exciting and educational and extremely fun.

"River Prep"

Stretching for a river run or instruction or both is totally essential. Our heart rates were up already as we had about a 100 meter hike with our boats to the put-in site on the Terra Nova. We were all anxious to launch.

"River Left"

Lunch on river left.

"Took-A-Look"

Always good to take a peek at the put-in to make sure everyone has capable access.....so we did after the stretching.

"Bryan Smith"

Bryan going over some hand signals for the group. Our Mark Dykeman shared some of the local WW signals as well. I just wish I would have taken shots of Bryan and Mark instucting so one could visually see their talents but I was so into paddling that pictures took a back burner. I felt like a sieve soaking up any WW wisdom they were willing to share and needless to say their was lots.

"Andrew"

Andrew is certainly on of our better WW kayakers. His skills for river playing are a joy to watch. Andrew likes to set up on a wave then throw his paddle to shore. Cart-wheel, cut, carve and spin on waves are just a few of his WW talents. I believe Andrew grew up near this river and knows all its nuances. This river the lower Terra Nova is an instructors dream. I am not sure that one could be designed as good as nature has etched this part of the river. In about 1.5 to 3 km this river provides the blueprint for perfect waters for teaching entry level whitewater paddling skills. Beautiful eddies, little drops, surfing waves, etc. are all withinn properly spaced distances that actually allow for progression of skills, it's amazing really! Near a place called The Ruins during kayak retreat 2008.

"River Parking"

I was always told that eddies can sort of be considered the "parking lots" of rivers, places to take breaks or to hold until the next line on the river is evaluated. Some of the river runners from the club sharing an eddy with Bryan Smith and others waiting for instruction.

"Shoot'n By"

Well if they can digitally remaster music I figure we can give photography a go. So many pictures are "played with" now that we have digital photography and the processing software that is available to newbies and pros alike. I just enjoy sometimes seeing the different images that one can end upwith when you mess with a few things like increasing shadow, filling in light, sharpening the image, softening the image, tinting, filtering, warmifying or even mess'n with the saturation that can sometimes give you very extraordinary colors. I just use Picassa but there are much more powerful programs out there for sure.

I like this shot as it was sort of the last few strokes of the day.

"Zoned"

We just were!! Pete, Brian and myself enjoying Salmonier run.

"Time Out"

You can't have a successful and fun river play without a little break and energy reload session. April 2oth, 2008. Salmonier Bridge, Newfoundland. It was a great day and being somewhat inspired by the clips from the Reel Paddling Film Festival the night before it was only a major bonus to have the weather cooperate for us. Great outing Brian and Peter.

"Brian / Peter"

 
It was cool watching these guys hit it from on the Salmonier Bridge. It was a beautiful sunny day for a little jaunt to the watering hole.

"In -The-Groove"

 
Peter Noel was a joy to watch as he caught the surf waves lots today. The river ws flowing nicely and the waves were a blast to fly on.

"Eye'n-it-up"

 
Brian Duffet was looking to catch another run on a few of the good surfing waves that were at the Salmonier Bridge this Sunday. Picking his line as he was about to be snatched by the river.

"Diggin' In"

 
Well most likely I overshot the nice surf wave but was persistant enough to catch whatever was behind. Such was the fun this Sunday April 2oth, 2008 at Salmonier Bridge. The weather was excellent which meant the sun was out all day with temps hoovering around 8 degrees celsius. Not bad for April runoff in NFLD.

"Moose Encounter, Of A Strange Kind""

On another back Channel paddle on the Peace River we encountered a confused moose swimming towards us. Needless to say we were quite alarmed at first but the poor thing looked extremely tired. I noticed that the young moose had a massive tick infestation on its' ears and on parts of its body. We thought it may have been trying to release these buggers somehow but I doubt that the water would have worked. We did edge the moose towards shore where it weakly emerged from the river and clumsily disappeared in the bush. When you paddle in Northern BC it is almost impossible not to encounter wildlife on every outing. Makes for great stories and photos and never is there a dull moment.

"Back Channels"

The sometimes fun part about paddling long and wide rivers like THe Peace River of Northern BC is that there tend to be lots of "back Channels". These are seperate water areas from the main river flow and some of them can carry on for quite a few km with their own flow but more often than not they are rest areas with calmer water and some great fishing spots. Camping spots too. Here we actually saw a black bear and we were watching him from our rafted up position. It was very foggy on the river in the early evening hours and we were looking for a place to camp, so needless to say we took our pepper spray and headed on down river a bit further where we hit another back channel that actually had a camping area already established.

"Kinuso Falls"

These are some rapids just before the falls. This may be a first descent for someone however you might consider that these falls are longer than the falls of Niagara in Ontario, Canada. Here is a link for the beauty of the area www.canadaka.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=25797 . I did paddle this river a ways up from these rapids a long ways up!!!! Tumbler Ridge is a mining town and is host to some of the most spectacular scenery in North Eastern BC. Many NFLD's live there and have done so for many years.

"Halfway River, Almost There"

This is the end of the Halfway River In NorthEastern BC and just around the bend it feeds into the Peace River. I used to use this spot as a put-in site to travel down the Peace. The Peace River is wide and lazy for the most part but there certainly are action spots along it's length but it is certainly manageable in a seakayak. This is a Quest x3 from Seaward kayaks of Ladysmith, Vancouver Island. I came across this picture looking for the next two posts and realized that I did manage to get a paddle or two in ..in the cold winters of northern BC. This was getting closer to spring though and I believe I was harbouring the same feelings that I am now.......can't wait to have the ability to go paddle if you want to.....outside that is.......almost there!!

"In The Dunk"

Well there was lots of rolling at the pool last evening as I tried again to perfect my back deck roll...lets just say....I need work. The shoulder is still a bit sore so I wasn't too aggressive. Thank god the other rolls are fine. After a few attempts at the BDR I decided to try learning to squirt well the only thing squirt'in was the water from my failed attempts and frantic paddle strokes. I was a good laugh for awhile. But i am determined and will hopefully by May have mastered one or the other or maybe even both. I have to set a goal.

These pictures were taken in BC on the lazy part of the Beatton River. I was learning to wave surf not always succesful as the picture of me holding on my boat and taking a picture would indicate. Always got to get the shot too. But I did persevere and eventually surf waves. So I am not detered by my attempts last evening to try something new. It will be nice to put that endeavour in past tense though. When I can say I nailed my BDR and maybe even did something like a squirt.