"Early Morning Pond in Placentia, NL"

Left St. John's this morning at 5am for a paddle from St. Bride's to Cape St. Mary's. The weather spoke for sun and temps hitting 21 degrees celsius. What beautiful scenery to start the day.

"St. Bride's and Distress Cove, Newfoundland"

This is a very picturesque area and a good put-in for a trip to Cape St. Mary's. It is a difficult area to paddle because of various weather conditions and their influences on the land and the waters in this area. Fog is very common and waves of all shapes and sizes predominate it's coast and changes to conditions can happen rapidly. Be prepared is the best advise.

"Island Head"

I put in at St. Bride's on a sunny morning of Sept. 27th, 2008 for a paddle I hoped would take me to Cape St. Mary's and bird sanctuary. Plans sometimes change quickly on the water. I putin at Distress Cove and was paddling pretty much south to Island Head when I saw the fog roll down from the head land. I knew that southerly winds down here bring fog so I knew there was much more to follow. Winds WSW with lots of "lop" had me turn back for Distress Cove because I figured not much to see paddling in tricky conditions in Placentia Bay and wide open ocean. Within five minutes of turning around I was completely engulfed in fog with visibility down to...well....in front of my kayak. It was paddling on a compass heading back to my put-in.

"Going Out - Coming In, Distress Cove, St. Bride's, NL"

Going out of a harbour or coming into a harbour can be like night and day or like sun and fog as the case may be. Sometimes there are many shades of grey in between so honing and learning skills to accomodate different situations while paddling is crucial especially when paddling alone. Being able to read a compass, take bearings, plot a course and determine a heading will take you where you need to go. Referencing nautical charts at hand and /or a GPS will make your life much easier. Never depend on electronics to see you thur. Though they will a back up such as charts are indispensible when paddling near or offshore. I keep a spare set of batteries for my electronics close at hand in a water tight bag for use if current batteries die.

I find it amazing how the eyes constantly search for reference areas in the fog. When paddling near cliffs...everything looks like a cliff. You may catch a glimpse of a cliff and then loose it in the fog and when you look around you see that blasted cliff everywhere, even in the fog from seaward. The compass.....ever mariner's tool.

"Arriving Out Of The Fog"

It is sometimes a challenge paddling in fog when you are only paddling on a compass point. Not too bad when you are on an island because you just keep land to the right or left of you depending on your route. You still wonder in your mind however if that land mark or aid to navigation is going to be where you took your bearing from before you left the harbour. Something too look forward to on your return perhaps. Paddling too close to cliffs etc. in the fog is tricky at times especially if little outcrops of rocks or ledges appear out of the fog suddenly. You can listen to the waves crashing to let you know your proximity to shore as well as evaluating the waters you are currently in for refractory waves, clapotis from cliffs and ocean swells and wind waves. Confused seas are easy to detect when you near them obviously and all these clues are picked up easily and sometimes simultaneously when you paddle in dense fog and can see only meters in front of you.

"Blog Author"

Well as I was heated from the paddle in the Distress Cove and Island Head "Lop", I decided to snap a shot for prosperity purposes.lol I am pretty much soaked from saltwater spray, sweat and fog mist and all very refreshing on this warming day on September 27th, 2008.

"St. Bride's Harbour"

After my return from Island Head it was time to explore the Harbour of St. Bride's. The sun poked it's head out and allowed for a couple of fog/sun shots.

"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.

"Securite, Securite, Securite"

 
"Securite, Securite, Securite", "all stations, all stations, all sations", this is "ocean paddler one, ocean paddler one, ocean paddler one", switch to channel 06 ,safety message concerning Cape Spear Head to follow. Out. [Channel 06]"Securite, Securite, Securite", "all stations, all stations, all stations" this is "ocean paddler one, ocean paddler one, ocean paddler one",of Cape Spear Head, in reduced visibility, compass bearing 015 degrees, in transit to Cape Spear Parking Lot, ETA 60minutes. Ocean paddler one out.

Halfway thru the VHF course thought I'd practise in the fog so to speak. Cape Spear light is about 60 meters above sea level you can just see it to the right of the picture above. I guess I was about 60 minutes from the parking lot. This is what fog can be like along the coastline of NL.

"Bannerman Park, St. John's NL"

A 5 plus degrees celsius today in downtown St. John's , NL and the fog created is very good for getting rid of the snow. There is however lots to go and Bannerman Park shows a little bit of what we have left, with more to come for sure. I noticed the Christmas lights still in the trees. Well why wouldn't they be. Added a bit of contrast. Can see them if enlarge pic.Jan. 30th, 2008

"Out Of The Fog"

 

On one such day in foggy NFLD.

"Dildo Portal"

Dildo Island has a few landing spots with coarse gravel and shards of shale in spots but the rock formations and diversity is ever present in a very small area.

"FogBank"

Sometimes the fogbanks and the sky are inseperable in NL but the dynamics of the constantly swirling and moving fog and clouds in the sky can entertain for hours.

"A Fog Wrap"

It is too cool to see how the fog slowly encapsulates the land when the air is very warm and humid and the wind is mild. This is on the East Coast Trail on the way to North Head Point, St. John's , NL. Aug.18th ,2007. Mind Cleansing.

" Fog Hugging"

The fog was spectacular on the hike to North Head just 5 km from Cape Spear. There were spectacular landscapes as the fog rolled in and out during the whole walk, some of the scenery was very captivating and it was neat watching it change within seconds.

"Lookout"

I believe Riley was as captivated by the scenery on this hike as I was. Just Riley and I went on the hike from Cape Spear to North Head, which is about 9 km return. We had a snack at the North Head Point and watched waves crash aginst the rocks and the seas were pretty heavy.

"Misog"

"Misog" .......This is my word for mist and fog and this was their capture at Chance Cove.

"Out Of The Fog"

No this isn't Patty, but you never know what will happen out of the fog. Experiencing navigating with the GPS these few days here at Chance Cove, NL, JUne 8th-10th, 2007.

"Shore At Last"

Cruisin in the fog at Chance Cove Jun 9th, 2007. It was there for the whole weekend which was exactly what the marine weather synopsis had forecast.