“Rocky Roost"

Seeking a bit of shelter during our Witless Bay paddle. While the guys played in the waves I took a few snaps from shore.

Clyde in the distance is seen digging in the surf. This was actually a neat little spot to stop because of the shelter from the wind and the swell. Right now we are in the middle of a snow storm of sorts. It was miserable all day and it seemed to me that it sure was the longest time taken to accumulate 5 cm of snow and forecasts do not look too promising for the weekend. 

"Side By Each"

When I was a waiter in the days of old I had an old timer come in one morning in the restaurant I was working in and order breakfast. He said,” I’ll have a pair of eggs side by each, and a pair of bacon parallel to each other.” He kind of caught me off guard so I asked if he was having four pi geometry coffee. In Nuclear Medicine we use a Dose Calibrator to assay our radiation before we inject it. It’s measuring chamber almost approaches 4 pi which makes it fairly accurate. (kinda mug shaped). However when I was laying out his utensils I definitely made sure they were nice and straight and lined up with the straight edges of the table sides.

This photo just reminded me of that, the parallel to each other part anyway. Probably just a long winded way of saying not much of anything to post a pic. 

Clyde is washing the back of his deck here I believe. The good thing about the low profile of a Nordkapp is that the waves will wash right over rather than wash you over and as Clyde is demonstrating it is essential to brace into the wave rather than the sometimes instinctive opposite no matter how small or big the wave, to prevent capsize.

“Givin’er"

Ya know what? Sometimes you just break out in a sweat watching these crazy adrenalin junkies on TV or in magazines. Sometimes you just break out in a sweat putting your snowshoes on. Other times you’re sweating because your anxiety is so beyond control your body has a hard time dealing with its situation and its reality whatever that may be at the time.

More often than not I hope you break into a sweat because you truly earned it. That is, you exerted your body’s potential to a max or near max or maybe just to your rev zone.  The area where your muscles and your breathing are peaking in unison and lactic acid buildup is beginning to cramp and taunt your muscles for just a mere break, just a pittance of time to cycle some glucose and feed those  pains. Then slide down off that wave and wait for the next one and grip the surface breaking the tension between blade and ocean getting purchase and accelerating through the stroke as you ride the trough to the crest and descend the face bringing salt and spray and brow sweat flying with every feeling of excitement and exhilaration as you release into the calm of the outer  flow of the wave cycle and brace for the next ride. Hell you earned it! You Sweat!

“Isn’t It True Though…..?"

Isn’t it true that when you are doing something you enjoy the passage of time feels as though it wasn’t even there in the first place save for the markers of time passage like day to night, sunrise to sunset, small belly to big belly for some, big muscles to small muscles for others or wrinkles!

So isn’t it true that we associate wrinkles with aging and thus by association or perhaps even still because of, the passage of time. Isn’t it also true that we as kayakers treat our boats sometimes like a second skin. You really have to feel it, to get the most out of it, that is for sure. It is kept reasonably clean by all the exposure to waters.  It is fairly easy to accessorize. God knows we like to do that to her.

But sometimes just like our own skin, our boat “skin” gets the equivalent of “wrinkles”. They come in the form of stress fractures, dings, nicks, scrapes, bumps, rubs, slaps, chafes and well just about anything else. Even the color may start to fade a bit as the “boat skin" takes on its older more mature pallor. Like other skins it comes in all colors and I tend to like all colors equally well, well most. Robin Egg Blue is not one of my favourites but it is the color most easily seen from the air when looking down on the water. That is a fact. 

So whatever color your boat skin may be it sure looks good on the water to me. I really am not to concerned about the number or presence of wrinkles in your boat skin or mine for that matter nor the passage of time. Somethings just are and will just always be. But you gotta like that feeling of realization when you discover geez! I’ve been on the water for 5 hours, where does the time go? Absorbed in good times and fun with friends I guess, better to be on the water then, than anywhere else. 

“Three Amigos"

Three different brands, three different boats. Perception Eclipse on the far left, Current Designs Siroco in the middle I believe and Valley Aquanaut far right.

Neville, Dean and Gerard embarking in a flotilla of yellow. The sunshine on a cloudy day!

Refuelling the engine.

Maintaining the peace.

“Having A Time"

I love being on the water. It seems some force just takes right over as soon as I get into my boat. I really don’t want to get out. It just feels good knowing I got all my gear safely stowed and could be self sufficient if need be. It makes me want to roam. Getting there sometimes is difficult. I may be tired and not motivated, planning something else, weather could be real crappy(a blizzard/ storm as I type), or I just too involved in taking photos on land.

When I do get to the waters edge I am always delighted that I made the trek. Good company makes it that much better of course. Being involved in the pre-paddle work up through email exchanges and AMEC weather forecasts posts from members of our club and friends certainly helps with getting your butt out there.

Catching up on all the news since the last meeting, well, is all part of the fare. Even taking pictures of people taking pictures is a blast. Most of us have blogs and paddle on the same trips typically so it is pure fun to check in on how the other guys saw the paddle and review their take of the trip.

Coming into Camel Beach I believe for a mug up. Not sandy by no means here. The Avalon is mostly rock and when you paddle the coast you will be accustomed to this.

I’ve started bringing my other camera. It is certainly better than the Olympus one i use on the water and those shots are starting to degrade as the many immersions in the dunk are taking their ware on the quality. The only problem with my Nikon is that I have to be out of my boat. I certainly won’t use it on the water in any condition but I may get one I can..and a waterproof case. I am becoming more interested in getting the on water image of kayak out there to everyone or anyone willing to look at photos or maybe video. Quality is an issue with me. I want more of it.

Clyde playing on the waves. I actually have some real cool ones of Clyde and some of the guys but the were sent of for possible publishing. If not they’ll end up here. They all, always do!

Clyde just loves that stuff. Me too. I had a most excellent time this paddle. It was full of energy and fun rather than just straight line destination traverses. Not that many of our traverses are ever straight. All of our guys like to explore. There are at least 5-8 Christopher Columbus’s whenever we are out there. We love it.

Of course paddling this time of the year allows for a shoreline display of frozen water falls that very few get to see, especially close up. Some are neat but all are unique in their surroundings and contrast starkly with the deadfall of the land,  the shore rocks and cliffs that the frozen monoliths cling to.

One thing I always forget to take with me is a dry cloth to clean of the lens while on the water. A lot of these shots reveal streaks etc. I lost a lot of good ones to these instances. Thanks Gary for being patient. The smudges on the lens were less than desirable which made for some less than stellar cropping. lol What a day though.

“Scratching The Surface"

A paddle out of Witless Bay yesterday to Camel Beach and Witless Bay Head saw for quite a bit of excitement on the water. This was not our sometimes typical paddle to a destination and return trip. This was:  Hey! We’re on the water, lets play.

Put-in in Witless Bay. You always need these shots. We still have snow but it was about 5 degrees Celsius. Not bad.

• 1675, the population of Whittlless Bay is 34.
• 1700s, Irish fishing servants begin arriving in the area and quickly start to outnumber the English
• 1755, as Roman Catholicism is still outlawed in Newfoundland, priests disguised as fishermen, minister to the spiritual needs of the community.
• 1836, the first official census of Newfoundland puts the population at 542, of which 540 were Roman Catholic.
• 1845, Roman Catholic Church opens.
• 1860, the Presentation Sisters open a convent and a school for girls.
• 1871, population reaches 928.
• 1960s, people are re-settled from Gallows Cove at the southern headland of Witless Bay to the community of Witless Bay.
• 1986, Witless Bay is incorporated
• 2006 Census Population: 1070 
• 
  

Oh that preparation. 

Getting out to the ocean is as  fun as being there sometimes.

Some fog of Gull Island. Oh that’s OK , we’re not going there anyway. We have more compasses on our persons than Richie!

Gerard and Gary travelling out of the Bay. Today like so many days was or at least seemed about waves.  

I guess because we are not only constantly on them but in them and enjoying them, playing in them, studying them and their effects on our boats before getting the line, the nerve, to indulge them.

Just a high ride sometimes. Believe me! There is altitude at sea level.

I turned around to face the guys behind me when we hit Witless Point. Out here the waves had intensified as did the wind. We were exposed and though not visible here Green Island was behind my right shoulder. Why is this significant? It’s not! Just that Gull Island and Green Island are part of the ecological bird sanctuaries in Witless Bay and soon they will be making their way here once again.

The headland in the distance behind these boys is South Head even though it is pretty much due north. Or Mutton Cove.  Waving it up and waving it down.

Sometimes being on a roller coaster is as entertaining as……well….being on a roller coaster, that’s what this kind of felt like, but much more gentle. Tony is heading down in the distance while I am going up out of the trough.

After a bit of lunch and energized. We are ready for play. But that will be another post. I have to stick with my wave thingy.

Some of them were rolling in and some seemed like they were rolling out. Clyde here got his eyes on this one.

And like so many things, sometimes it is not the quantity but the quality that delights. You know we got a good bunch of paddlers here and good friends, and always the coffee and tales afterward.

"Gullfeather Bows"

Viewing a sun room down on the shore  from my kayak. Whomever owns this land has a spectacular view of the entrance to Witless Bay and all the boat traffic that comes and goes. As well they would be entertained by the yearly immigration of Humped Back Whales that frequent these waters and love to play in this area. No doubt this landowner has wicked photos.

Archiving this image that was in my header to my blog. This image was taken as we rounded Horse's Back Point and seeking a bit of rest and shelter from a southwest wind. Sure didn't find it here and we knew we wouldn't. Just out around to the left of this headland the waves were big and breaking as the area was shallow and the termination point for the waves and wind being blown over the long fetch from the south. Needless to say we made it back to our lunch stop in no time.

"Over and Back"

On the way to Green Island on Sunday. Clyde and Tony after we had our bite to eat and heading down the south coast of Witless Bay for a small crossing to Green Island. The waters actually turned out to be kind of gnarly over there and we realized that Clyde's' day hatch cover had popped off some where so we headed back. Interesting enough when I was trying out Malcolm's Nordkapp before I bought mine, I forgot to put the day hatch cover on after a short break. We then paddled out into some gnarly conditions, then too, and realized the cover was off but it was tethered and the hacth filled to the top with water. I didn't even know the hatch cover was off til Tony pointed it out. Nordkapps I find, and I discovered this at the pool last week with a cockpit full of water, remain remarkably stable with water in them. I don't recommend paddling that way but good to know when in a bind. As compared to other boats I've paddled with water in them, the Nordkapp is by far more stable. This may be true to a point but one must understand that once sloshing for whatever reason starts to happen inside the boat you can be rest assured that the stability will change for the worst drastically.




Returning from Green Island. Clyde, the distant kayak, paddled across without hatch cover in place but when we hit shore on the other side he did a nifty jerryrig on the hatch by rearranging the gear inside and inserting his inflateable paddle float in the hatch, with the valve sticking out and inflating it to make a tight seal on the hatch opening until we returned to our takeout. Pretty cool I thought.

"Witless Bay"

Well we had overcast skies as we headed out this morning at about 10am. The day proved to be quite an adventure with play time, wave action, gnarly waters, lots of birds, lots of rock gardens and lots of surfing not to mention tons of bracing. A good exercise day.

"Wave Breakers"

Tony and Clyde having at it in the wave break. Many dotted the coast along here and were fun to catch rides and generally dart in and out and around. Just trying to find a little bit of wave action. We had lots today this was fairly benign though.

"Breaking Beach"

So we took one after paddling to Horses Back and back to this beach. Many stops along the way. I was pushing my envelope the whole way. Some close encounters with rocks and such but it sure was exhilarating. Gull Island is in the distance.

"Witless Bay Coast"

A wicked day on the North Atlantic Ocean.

"Green Island"

Green Island in Witless Bay.

"Green Island"

We paddled over to Green Island after a lunch break. It is an Ecological Bird Sanctuary. From where we ate you could see the birds circling the island round and round like a huge swarm of bees.

"19.3 km"

Tony packing up after our jaunt today on the water in Witless Bay NL about a 40 min drive from St.John's to the southern shore. I had a great paddle today. Felt in good health and had lots of energy. Been lots of cold bugs going around as of late and while most were at home complaining how crappy the weather has been (myself included) we were enjoying every ounce of it. Like Tony says on his blog, I was in some knarly spots today but it felt good to be there.

"Bergs Thru The Rocks"

Well on the way back from the paddle I thought I'd stop and play in this little rock garden, seemed innocuous enough. This is a little isthmus between Fox Island on the right and shore on the left. I was here as tide was ebbing and the waves that were coming thru were ....well......developing. I wanted a shot of the Icebergs in the distance and was timing the waves coming thru and they just kept coming in nondescript patterns and shortly after I took the top picture I snapped the second and grabbed the paddle to pound thru the second picture. You can just see a bit of yellow and reflection at the bottom left hand corner of the wave picture, not much time to get the kayak fully in the shot. Needless to say I caught the wave that whetted my digital. So nice were the waves coming thru this area they call The Gut, that I was able to get a bit of wave surfing in. For the most part you can see them coming a ways off and be prepared to either pound thru or turn and surf. Quite exhilarating whatever route.

"Ralph"

On the Bay at Witless. NL. summer 2007

A nature lover is someone who, when treed by a bear, enjoys the view.

"Anterior"

Paddling on a wave just about to crash on the little cove behind me.

"Nose Dive"

This was a steep launching pad at a cove in Witless Bay. Although the picture does not accentuate the angle of the beach well it sure was perfect for a seal launch and a bit of a rush as the kayak buried in the water right up to the cockpit combing before it resurfaced. I figured the kayak would submerge like that. Cool!