"Reflection"

It is miserable weather here in St. John's Newfoundland. A time I figure for reflection, to break the Hoo Humm and monotony of a stretch of cold rain, fog ,drizzle with some strong winds. You might as well be inside which I am but thinking on other days past and resorting to my pictures for restitution of thoughts on finer days and basically just passing the time. I'm actually thinking too about chicken wings, I do that some times, but I don't have pictures of those.

Tony and I enjoy paddling near icebergs and it is getting close to that time of year again when they begin to make their sojourn from distant blocks and ice sheets to the waters off Newfoundland. Carried in the cold current of The Labrador they stealthily saunter in the night and day. One night you can go to bed with no sighting and the next, there they are, like out of no where. Realizing though, probably just "out of the fog".

"Bay Bulls"

 

Apparantly this berg calved shortly after we finished our paddle around it yesterday. It would have been a wondrous sight to witness.

"The Bay Of Bulls......."

...and Bergs as it turns out today on a paddle in Bay Bulls NFLD with my friend Tony. We always seem to get into something when paddling here on The Rock. Today I guess was no different.


Tony being Dwarfed again. In NFLD you always seem to be dwarfed when kayaking, either by bergs, cliffs, sea stacks, caves, waves or boats..there is always something wayyy bigger.


Zoning in on the blueness in this berg. It had a stripe that went through it on one section.

"THe Blue Line"

 

Getting a better look at that line anyhow!

"Edging"

 

When you want to catch a current ya sometimes just gotta reach out and touch one, eh Tony?

"Oh Striped One!"

 

This berg had an interesting blue vein through it on one section. Tony suggested that a crevice had formed and water had frozen in between. Sounded good to me. Bubble free ice these blue bands are. It looked cool, excuse the pun and looked as if it might severe at any minute. Kinda sounded like it too.

"Icebergs OF Newfoundland"

Icebergs Newfoundland from Stan MAc Kenzie on Vimeo.

"The Color of Bergs"

Paddling near Icebergs and berg bits offers a myriad of possibilities for someone who likes pictures. I love pictures. I like looking at them as much as I like taking them and learning from them really. How to do it better next time and maybe a better angle which is always a bit of a challenge if you've taken photos from a kayak as obviously most kayak bloggers will attest to, but that is just part of the fun. Kayaking keeps me so engaged that I crave it's distraction ability and soak up "All" it has to offer when I am out there. Like Silbs said in his most recent post, "Some sit in meditation, some whittle or do some hobby, and some of us just float for a while with our paddles at rest", sooo true! It is good to just "be" indeed.

"SeaScapes: Melrose, Bonnavista, Port Union"

Port Union NL

Dungeon Provincial Park Bonnavista NL

Melrose NL

Melrose NL

Near "The Dungeon" Sea Cave Bonnavista

"And They Come.....Down The Alley.."

Stealthily they come. Sometimes one by one, sometimes by twos and other times in packs. But they come. Using distant off shore fog, dusk and darkness, even sea stacks as their cover they sleek seemingly unheard or sensed...


..but something primordial tells you it is there...lurking, waiting .....choosing it's time, it's moment....


..pulling it's arches, it's age old frame as it draws as close as the bottom of the sea will allow it and even then it will heave and mend, and grind and belch until soon oh very soon you will know...everyone from far and wide will know......it has arrived.

"A Worthy Adversary Indeed, White May"

By early Staurday morning there she was, hiding no more. A visible behemoth, a monolith of white frozen energy. White May! Her camaflouge, her cover...... discarded. Her true self revealed. What a journey for her, a challenge for me.


Even from a distance White May made sure you knew she was there. Initially trying to conceal her presence now announcing it in spectacular defience to the community of Melrose and beyond....I........have arrived!


It was still too windy on Saturday morning when I arrived after my three and a half hour paddle in Bonnavista to attempt to assail her. I waited about an hour then headed out of Melrose only to return at about 1530h to try and meet White May again. Dan, a local fisherman said she was about 2 miles off and even at 2 miles off she was larger than any structure in the community of Melrose...the biggest Berg I'd seen. The winds near shore were not bad so Pat and Dan helped me load up and I was off. Well I reached about a mile and a half off and the winds began to pick up. It was extremely difficult to manage beam seas that were intensifying and take pictures of that monstrousity I had travelled so far to paddle near. I had to concede, I had to turn around, I didn't feel safe at that distance by myself in worsening conditions. I felt deflated for not getting the shot I wanted but hey, there will be more and White May's journey had been much longer than mine. She sure was a beauty as I viewed the shots on Dan's camera he had taken from his fishing boat. He offered to take me out but it just didn't feel right, it just wasn't meant to be. I'll settle on her shots from a distance.



So life goes on in Melrose. Logs get split, Pat has a cold brewsky and whiles away a beautiful spring day seemingly oblivious to that towering monolith in the background but he knows as I know ....it is there, you sense it, you can most certainly smell it mixed with the brine of the air, lingering waiting..........for replacements.

"Clouds Of The Ocean, Dungeon Provincial Park Bonavista Bay"

After paddling in the Dungeon Sea Cave on Saturday MAy 16th, it was time to head East into the ever rising sun and explore some Icebergs, albeit small ones, that were sitting in the Bay. Paddling past sea stacks along the way and noting the sea bottom as it was fairly visible for much of the paddle.


This Iceberg was located just outside Lance Cove and was grounded there in the shallow water.


Icebergs to me are the clouds of the ocean. They can at times drift with the wind and certainly contain their on micro climes in terms of temps and surrounding sea states. They can be dangerous as some clouds can and they can release a furry as wild and ferocious as any cloud when they calve or start to disintegrate. They can leave signs of their presence and sometimes their intentions. Clouds may use color and shape, bergs can use shape and sound, perhaps, color as well when sizing cracks and ice age. Icebergs however are not as predictable as clouds. There is very much of an iceberg we never get to see beneath the waters, maybe the same is true of clouds, but I suspect you see most of the cloud.

Also like clouds we sometimes see what we want to see. We give them names, we give them shapes and we relate them to other things they may look like. So too do we do this with Icebergs. "That one looks like a ....", and it goes on.They are dreamy and they are captivating. That is why I think I like them.



As much as clouds impart color to the ocean below and various shades of blue and green, icebergs seem to impart color to the ocean above in various shades of green and blues as well.

"What Do Little Kids and Little Icebergs Have In Common?"

When doing a "drive by iceberg". You get a bearing!

Line it up and go through! Careful now to observe all the melting formations on the berg sides as you pass by, quickly, listening for sounds you really don't want to hear, like cracks or "large popping" bubbles.

Then exit cleanly on the other side hoping the stern ender picture comes out and spectacular colors are captured as my black tail slithers by.

Take and under water shot because Tony and I forgot on our other Iceberg encounters to do this and notice the 10,000 year old air bubbles escaping....

Take another underwater shot and notice that this Iceberg looks like it has a tumour on it's underside, a bulbous like protrusion. Perhaps some form of melt formation and again notice more 10,000 year old bubbles escaping.

To get back to the original question, "What do little kids and little icebergs have in common?....They like to release air in their respective tubs!"LOL It's all a matter of perspective. ;-)

"When One Is Not Enough"

 

Well sometimes two paddles are better than one, that is, after one outing maybe another will satiate that kayaking palate. After our group paddle yesterday in Tors Cove Tony and I decided on the way back home to stop in Mobile Newfoundland and have a close encounter of the frozen kind with a berg sitting grounded in Mobile Bay. Might as well we got the boats with us. Great paddle Tony, great day buds!

"Bergging"

 

Bergging to me is hunting down bergs and snapping as many pictures as you can of them while enjoying the paddle. A docile hunt but not without some quick skills to get the right image. We're learning Tony. This is also an excellent practise for balance drills while in your boat. What we also learned....keep the camera tethered.

"How You Cut It"

No matter how you cut it when you take a shot of an iceberg from varying angles or positions they will always look characteristically different. Not many things you photograph have that morphing affect with the camera. So every shot makes like a new berg ....kinda! That's one of the reasons they are so fun to be around.

"Berg Environment"

 

Bergs develop their own sea states when they arrive at a location. They are so big usually that they affect and can disturb the waters around them by creating their own clapotis and cascading sea flows by altering incoming swells , wind waves or both, so paddling near them in these conditions makes a paddler be weary of how close to get because sometimes the water movement around them isn't that predictable. So we always exercise caution when conditions dictate. This one was grounded, flat and close to shore so it was a bit less of a hazard but one still need be weary.

"Fire and Ice"

 

Not a huge berg by Island standards but some neat curves. Bergs are always cool o watch when the sun shines on them as you see lots of greens and blues mesmerizing like watching a fire. Very opposite ends of the spectrum I would say, how ironic though.

"Getting An Angle"

 


Tony and I both like taking pictures and when you are jockeying for that shot you are also jockeying for that angle. Not always easily obtained when the water is constantly in active motion. Sometimes you are not even aware of conditions cause you just want that shot, until of course you feel it........that tipsy motion!

"Blackhead Cove, Newfoundland: 2007"

Remembering this day runs like cool spring water through my mind. As I was gearing up to make my first attempt to paddle near my first Iceberg since moving to Newfoundland in 2005 my heart began to race with anticipation. I longed for many years after many googles of icebergs to paddle near one some day. I am not going to get into the risk assessment and risk management thing here, suffice it to say I was going. I just had to paddle out there to greet it.


As I neared the monstrosity I thought I could smell it, wasn't sure if it was the Iceberg or fear. Didn't want the thing falling on me afterall. I could also hear it's presence which was becoming more evident with every stroke. The wind was picking up so slop was forming along with some white caps. I had to hurry to get shots. As I got near I could hear not only the ocean waves pounding against her but the sounds of the surf that was building and crashing between the two sections. These two sections were attached under water. The ocean water was dark blue that day but the water between the two pillars was a turquoise shade and beautiful to gaze upon. As we near that Iceberg season again in Newfoundland I can only hope that we are treated to a few coming down the alley. About 500 and some last year. Three or four would suit me fine as long as I could try and smell them again, they are truely the nectar of the ocean and when you hear the 10,000 year old air being released as large pops and cracks, you can't help but think about how clean the air must have been back then and when you realize that you are only seeing one tenth of the Berg you are instantly humbled by nature and thank all the nature gods that you were able to share that day with the elements