St. Phillips To Portugal Cove

It's just a short jaunt and one we made many times but it is always fun just to hang with the guys on the water. Tony, Dean, Clyde, Brian,Sean and I made the paddle. Turned out to have very flat waters with no wind not a bad Dec.4th paddle at all.

Railing the shore and the rocks. The shoreline along this small section of coast is kind of rugged and the rock gardens provide entertainment for most seastates. Today even with no wind or swell to speak of there was still wave action around the rocks. Clyde found some.

In the distance along this stretch of  coastline you can see Piccos Ridge, Big Hill, Franks Hill and others on the horizon that pass by Bauline and on to Cape St. Francis. Here we are just out of St. Phillips.

Tony  working through some sea froth. Good to be padling with you again buddy.

The other thing I like about this stretch of coast are some narrow passages that have to be carefuly navigated depending on conditions.

Dean sinking and sneaking in behind an awash rock, covering and exposing at the ocean's whim.

Brian making way with the pack seeking distant headlands.

With none of the predicted winds of ESE gusting to 50km we made good time. Starting out was over cast some light mist but all soon cleared and visibility remained fine. We were just leisurely paddlers. In the distance is the Portugal Cove Ferry that traverses the Tickle from Portugal Cove to Bell Island seemingly many times a day. The distant headlands were to remain shrouded in fog and low lying clouds as the weather changed but was held off until after we got back in.

We also had the opportunity to paddle by big homes. Man this one is some size when viewing from the water.   ; )

Portugal Cove Or Bust: This Is The Ocean

It has been a while since I've been on the water. I sure know what I've been missing though. I've been miss'in Clyde in action!!

Clyde decided he wanted to side surf today. Hmmm I thought there could be photo matter. Clyde got his wish on the first wave. I got mine.  ; )

Seeing how that first one was so tastey I guess he decided to meet that other sucker that was right on the last ones tail. Steady buddy!!

At a boy Clyde...... Chew-Dat-Up!!!!

Now that looks like a smile. Ready for some more?? Very nice buddy, very nice!

Mistaken Point Newfoundland

A true trooper and welcomed company Agnes and Eric drove the ways down the South Shore. Agnes always willing to lend a hand. That damn tripod anyway. lol

 

565 million year old fossils. I thought I'd add some contrast.

I wanted to show some contrast.  So I put the iPone from Nov.21st, 2010 next to a 565 million year old fossil at Mistaken Point. Where we were, to where we are. I Started thinking ..........man we've come a long way,   and then I remembered the recent catalogue from UNICEF on our lounge table at work asking for donations of not money for people in Africa (the very rock this most likely came from) but goats, wells, huts, seeds etc. and realised we really may not have travelled that far at all! Ironically enough the writing under the map on the iPhone reads Bigdeal, not by design of course, it really is though I think.

Mistaken Point in the distance is becoming a tourist attraction on the south coast of NL. 800 and some visitors a year. It is remote. Land and Sea, a CBC program, recently did a take on it. We were actually standing on the rock as it was being viewed across NL on TV. It was afterall Nov. 21st with a -5 Celsius chill and cold western wind that day.

Precambrian rock from Avaloniam Terrane, some of the oldest rock in the world and when you see it you are mesmerised by it's presence. Sutured into it's new home from another early continent it was part of but retaining it's geological information and fossils.

Some very old fossils here. This may be a spindle as these are the most plentiful.

More to see and amazing that they were discovered in such an isolated spot in the late 1960's by a Memorial University Geologist. Tony was too young then I think. Sorry buddy had to get a dig in. Excuse the pun....I'll just stop now.

Tony I believe I would have loved to have made this trip with you as you are the geologist quite literally of our kayaking group. I would have learned so much. I had to read instead. I like that too. I wanted to show some dimension to the fossils still preserved on the rock and display how vulnerable and sensitive they must be to the environment and visitors. You have to remove footwear to step on the rock. We did this even in -5. I later found out that the elevation of the small fossil parts may not be due to the biota but to the compression of the organism over time and subsequent small eruptions from underneath. No matter, you still get an excellent view of these original organisms from so long ago. Some of the biota found here is particular to Newfoundland and never before identified.



"Eugenie"

A nice colorful hike through the forest alonfg rivers edge. In northern Ontario.

"Meaford Ontario and Toronto"

Toronto always delights......ya gotta like this billboard!

I was walking down Yonge Street in Toronto behind this lady who looked up at this billboard and started laughing. Not to strange to see people laughing on Yonge Street for no apparant reason but I looked to see what she found so amusing. Nice legs I thought.......

After a few secs gauking like a perv at the billboard legs a small waft of wind blew and lifted what was a piece of fabric over the billboard lady's butt (which was supposed to be her skirt, I'm sure you figured that out lol) and revealed her ..well undergarments and shapely behind. Nothing to do with kayaking I know but I thought this was ingenius marketing at least for those of us that keep our heads in the clouds .....sometimes. Nice I thought even if it is a bit up in the air!

Toronto skyline.

My first time in the CN Tower and I decided to go to the highest observation deck which is the Space Pod. 1465 feet about the ground. I decided to cross the barrier and lie on the outer window of the CN Tower on top of Toronto. I didn't think I'd be doing that  going up there.

The city of Toronto from the CN Tower. Which now stands for Canada's National Tower.

I visited a friend in Meaford Ontario and took tons of photos. Here are a few falls shots. Needless to say my feet were wet for the whole trip, now this can be similar to kayaking! These are called Walters Falls I think.

Walters Falls

Not sure of these falls name but they look out to the Niagara Escarpment which runs down to Rochester New York. It is this mass of rock the the Niagara Falls flow s over, hence the name. I have more shots of the valleys and the canyons of the area and some can be seen at http://www.gullfeather.com/  if you are so inclined. Snow fell the evening of the 5th of November so the following Staurday had a nice dusting for photos. Did lots of hikes and enjoyed the beautiful wilderness in this beautiful part of Canada.

"Just Do It"

Finally on the water and finally a kayaking blog entry.

It was a blustery day in St. Philips. A late put-in at about 1:30pm and gusting 50km winds made for some mini wave action and a bit of surfing. Brian and I caught this odor with an accompanying huge brown spot on the water and decided to investigate. ???????



A bunch of bows and I have to say that my camera is on its way out as the quality of pictures seems to diminish eveytime I use it. Too many dunks in the sea water  guess.

Brin and I took a bit of respite from some wind. We were paddling hard most of the time against the wind hoping to catch "the wave" for a decent surf back. You can do this in St. Pilips when the wind is SW. You paddle like the dickens out round a small headland then surf back. Why not? It's Saturday!

After so many times out and back everyone needed a bit of a break.

Some of the gang paddling into the waves and a brisk SW head wind. Great to be back on the water with a good bunch of people. Thanks Tony, Dean, Gary, Clyde, Brian,Tobias and Sean for another good one at St. Philly.



"Beautiful Autumn"

Autumn Art

On A trail not far from home. Smetimes out of focus ain't so bad,

Greater Yellowlegs Sandpiper and Northern Pintail sahring the waters. We as kayakers are use to that.

Greater Yellowlegs Sandpiper for a water stroll.

Standing in the ripples. I went for a walk with the dogs yesterday after work as the sun was going down. It produced some fun shots considering they were a pain in the as% to have around while attempting any shot. Note to self...no dogs on photo shoots. It was their walk though so I wasn't too concerned with quality, just wanted to catch some fall.

"At The End Of The Day"

Well I guess we have all heard it  and some probably used it........"at the end of the day.."

At the literal end of the day there was this sunset at Topsail Beach. It wasn't yesterday as it rained most of the day. As Autumn seeps by and winter slowly creeps in the light changes, the air changes and things seem to be a richer and deeper color to me. Autumn has always been one of my favourite times of year for amidst all that decay and preparation for another seasonal slumber comes some of the most beautiful colors on the earth and in the sky. Walks and hikes become more common than paddles it seems and even the birds at the feeder are reducing their number. Saw a northern Flicker the other day but he wasn't around long. The screech of the BlueJays can sometimes still carry across the early morn but even they seem to have moved on. So really, at the end of the day, what more can one ask for? Health is good, family is safe, everyone seems to have an air of humility and closeness sort of a recognition of vulnerability and a desire to move on. So be it.

The beautiful BlueJay.

A-Last...down to earth! A-last... the end of the day!

"Keeping Things In Sight"

When paddling it is not a bad idea at all to know where you just came from, where you've been paddling and where you are going to. All in compass info of course.

Outside Aquafort HArbour a week ago. Was thinking on changing conditions and how they can affect the mood of a paddle. When we set out it was flat calm, outside we got some lop with drizzle and dark skies and paddled back under blue skies, sunshine and calm waters again. Kind of makes the paddle a bit more interesting just from the weather side of things.

These are the skies changing from the lingering dark clouds to the bare and pleasant blues as the white tails off. Gary here enjoying a bit of that moment during transition.

"Saturday Morning"

A Saturday morning walk downtown always an adventure.

The HMCS St. John's is at dock on the harbour front. Some of a crew did a run for the Children's Wish Foundation. I stumbled on the tail end as  the guys were just heading to the finish line which was made up of their sailing friends.



Waiting on the returning runners.

I continue my fascination with boats of all kinds. The HMCS St. John's reminded me of a shark.

A walk by the Yellow Belly Brewery was enticing for a brief suds but I settled for the shot instead. Too early really.

This shop always intrigues me with their display as they are always colorful and unique. It is a soap shop and everything in here is soapy. Even Madonna has been know to order soaps from here.

A street performer with an early start to his day enjoying the Saturday morning sunshine as I was.