"Apres Paddle"

 

After my paddle on Saturday past I decided to drive around looking for some photo ops. Saw this one of the Scotiabank building downtown St. John's, NL.

"Gull Cannibal"

 
This Gull brought new meaning to the term scavenger. As we were paddling the shore line Wayne noticed lots of feathers in the water. I thought it was nothing. It may have been a gull scrap and if so, this was ones' fate. The gull floating nearby was digging at the not so lucky gull's chest as we paddled near and he wasn't willing to fly away none too soon either.

While swimming in Fox Island the Atlantic this time home wasn't so cold and when you ducked under water, we use to call it "getting your ducking", you could see these little minnows.


At first I was alarmed when Wayne yelled that there was a black cloud moving in to shore and that it was moving around quickly. Well, exposed up to my waist I wasn't too happy about any black cloud moving uder water that I couldn't see. So I ducked under again and saw the huge school of fish swimming around our legs. Very cool!

"Glasgow Pond, Aug 10th, Canso Day 2"

Matt getting ready for his first rolling lesson. What a day, what a friggin day!!

"On Approach"

 

It happens all the time when you paddle on the ocean and want to return home. When conditions change or maybe don't you still have to determine an approach. An approach in a kayak is sometimes I guess like landing an airplane, not that I ever done so or ever will, in my mind just seems similar to some degree. There are calculations probably most done subconsciously, like what stroke to employ or what edge to take, now these calculations may be more important near shore. Granted most bodies of water, coves, bays, inlets, tickles, harbours etc you enter when returning from sea have pretty big entrances to a kayak. Sure, but things like clapotis, shoaling, current, covered hazards (rocks)that may expose and cover with swell and or waves, huge cliffs with down drafts, gusting winds,or constricted entrances (such as Quidi Vidi) can all provide interesting and challenging passages at different times of day during different conditions such as fog, wind, rain, snow sleet etc. If you use rudders or skegs there may be parallels to similar components of an aircraft but certainly not as complicated. Now the paddle in concert or individually with skegs or rudders can provide degrees of lift when needed and certainly propulsion and depending on the paddle, employ similar lift characteristics as those of wings on a plane, well we do have winged blades.

Things such as viscosity(solute concentration in H2O), drag (imperfect surfaces), flutter(improper paddle stroke), not to mention boat design all to some degree influence an approach. Skill as in flying anything especially a kayak by the seat of your literal ass is most times fun, challenging, calculated, engrossing, enjoyable and able to be done at a pace suitable to your skills and suitable to conditions hoping you have one to meet the requirements of the other.

Negative G's are most likely to get you wet but proper skill and maneuvering will only allow that to be a temporary sensation with the execution of a quick roll to keep you going on your way.

In reality on this paddle we were trying to stay afloat and enjoy the scenery of Cabot Tower on Signal Hill approaching the entrance of the Narrows to St. John's Harbour, Newfoundland, with good pal Tony!!! lol

"Haunted Hike"

 
There is an organised walk two evenings a week in St John's that runs to Sept. whereby two individuals from the community take you on an hour and a half hike around the innards of the city and embellish you with tales from St. John's crypt. A montage of ghost stories collected trough folklore over the years. The ambiance is further enhanced by the costumes of the narrators and the climate of St. John's which on most evenings is dense with an eerie mist, fog and light drizzle that ensures chills down the spine at least once during the hike. For a mere pittance of $5 you can't go wrong if nothing else you get exercise from the climbing of the many hills that encapsulate the downtown core. There is another walk dedicated to the tales of the criminal element and history of St. John's that I have found the better of the two. From deathly duals between gambling sea captains to drunken stupors by no less than Napoleon Bonaparte himself, who once visited the island and hated it. Apparently the ale didn't agree with him either, there seems to have been a dastardly rough and colorful history not far from the docks of the harbour.

"Humpbacked Duo"

 I guess if you are dining out you might as well have company! Here two Humpback's are gracefully slithering back to the depths in St. John's Bay feeding on capelin that may still be littering the waters and providing food for these monoliths. These two probably mother and offspring, were around the area for about an hour and more.

"The Blow Hole"

 The Blow Hole is quite visible on this Humpbacked Whale. There was a bunch out in force the other day. They are feeding around the St. John's area and have been for the last month or so. They are amazing to watch but they are not the only whales here this year. There are Minke, Fin, Blue and even Killer whales spotted this year already. Greg Stamer actually had a close up with a sizeable shark on his journey around NL. There must be lots of food for these animals to be here.

"Bay Fog"

 Fog in St.John's Bay Wednesday June 18th, 2008 on one of the first sunny days we've had in a while. It was very mystical watching this move about the land and the sea.

"Roll'in Fog"

 It was a beautiful day in St. John's today. I was showing a visiting Nuclear Medicine Instructor around the city and on our visit to Signal Hill this most amazing fog transformation was taking place. Ya just never know in St.John's what element mother nature has in store to put on display for you. The tourist were very nicely treated to an ever changing phenomena.

"Fog Bank Distant"

The fog is off in the Bay of St. John's you can see its' darkened form lurking beyond the harbour boundaries of the cliffs on the North to the left and on the South to the right which also has the Fort Amherst Lighthouse which appears to be keeping the fog at "bay" so to speak. The supply vessel for the rigs in the Hibernia Oil Fields is docked waiting to take out its cargo for the "vile black sap of the earth" that we have termed "OIL", which name rings as ominously to those who can hear, as that of the looming quilt of fog that is ever threatening to engulf us with its cold foggy fingers and its' white blackness as it lurks the bays and coves of the Avalon waiting to devour any land or seascape that it chooses.

"A Light Rain"

 
Well this shot may bring new meaning to the term "A light rain" outside. Looking into St.John's harbour it is actually raining light.........at least to the camera's eye. The Camera is seeing the flash's refletion of light from the falling rain drops outside. So indeed it is raining light! I hear it is sunny in Nova Scotia though.

"Trapped"

 
Trapped in the entrance and the exit to Quidi Vidi Gut this diminishing Iceberg is in the throws of decay. It is laboring in this small area where kayakers and fishing boats come and go to the Bay outside. It has share rock cliffs on either side. The Iceberg was bobbing up and down to the confused waters rushing in from the bay and the clapotis rebounding back out to sea it was kind of sad in some strange way.....like it was dying or something.......perhaps it is time to die when you are 10,000 years old.

"Quidi Vidi Lake"

 
This lake is smuck in the middle of St.John's NL and is home to the paddling club that resides there and they were out practising today in the fog that hung low over the lake's surface. These boats are more for advertising than anything and are on the lake's shores all season.

"Majesty"

 
Seeing these things tend to elicit a lot of different emotions and the neat thing about photgraphying Icebergs is that tomorrow or in a couple of days they may look completely different, from calving or simply being eaten by fog. I guess, in a sense, fog, rain, and heat are Iceberg Predators. It is hard to believe that anything that big has a predator and these are probably no where near the biggest that are yet to arrive.

"Upon Cuckold's Cove"

 
Climbing a hill in Cuckold's Cove gave me this picture this evening. The Coast Gaurd Iceberg Patrol is currently tracking no less than 500 or so Icebergs heading down Iceberg Alley towards the Avalon Peninsula of NL and hence St. John's. If you were ever to pick a time in your life to be near an Iceberg I would have to say that this is the year in St. John's NL and they will probably be around until late June. I'll see ya when ya get here! May 1st, 2008.

"Bergs In The Yard"

 

It's like waking up one morning as a kid and looking out the window of your bedroom and exclaiming, "Hey Mom....the Bergs are in the yard again!!" MAy 1st, 2008 outside of Quid Vidi, NL.

"So Close"

 
So close are these bergs and so captivating watching 10,000 years dissolve right in front of you releasing 10,000 year old air......berg farts I guess you could say, but it sounds so derogatory to hear it in the same sentence with the majesty of the word "Iceberg", but they do release air.lol

"Grounded"

 

Resting in Cuckold's Cove, Thursday evening May 1st, 2008

"Ice Control Zone"

A couple things about this picture. The red light (red, right, return), harbor marker is on at five sec intervals. It was still a small challenge to coordinate the camera digital delay time with the Red 5 sec harbor light marker to get a shot with the red light in the picture. About four different tries.
Listening to the weather station on my VHF I am hearing and have been for some days now that St. John's Bay about 1.5miles give or take from shore is declared an "Ice Control Zone" this means that there are significantly sizable icebergs out there that post a hazard to mariner navigation. To top it all off there has been pea-soup thick fog whereby you can't even see St. John's Bay. The little Bergy Bit in this shot is at the entrance to St. John's harbour. Though this may not appear menacing to huge boats to the smaller boats like fishing vessels it could be hazardous if struck unexpected. It is cold this evening and thinking on the sinking of the Titanic in such cold waters and similar weather as this, sent chills down my spine, as I envisioned the passengers floundering for their lives in the black of night, in cold Atlantic waters. April 30th, 2008, the last day of my birth month.