Paddling in familiar territory

Under the "Gaffer IV"

We paddled today in Bay Bulls. I'm beginning to know it very well but, what the hey, its a day on the water.

The Gatheralls operate a whale-watching and sea bird tour business in Bay Bulls. I've been on the catamaran, the "Gaffer IV", that they use for the tour. Its much more stable than a mono-hulled boat which is a good thing for some landlubbers who don't have well developed sea legs.

I took a picture of Cyde and Gene who carried on while I padded under the catamaran.

Eugene and Clyde in Valley boats

Eugene is in a Valley Aquanaut while Clyde is in a Valley Nordkapp RM. That made it a theesome in Valley boats. A lot of people are buying them and they certainly had a lot of desireable qualities that suit the paddling environment we have here in Newfoundland.

Gene used to paddle a Feathercraft inflatable which in a stiff wind must have been a slog to paddle. This year moved into a sleeker boat and I expect he'll be difficult to catch once he gets comfortable in her. Joining us at St. Philips for practice in rough water (or not depending on the weather) is definately helping him grow into the boat.

On the land - the East Coast Trail

We paddled along the north side of Bay Bulls where a part of the East Coast Trail also runs. The East Coast Trail runs all along the east coast (duh!) of the Avalon Peninsula. Its a world class hiking trail that runs through some spectacular scenery and a few scenic fishing communities. We see most of the same scenery but from the cockpit of a seakayak.

We saw a number of hikers out today taking advantage of a great fall day. I noticed some of them stopped to look at the three of us. There's a couple of them in this picture but you'll need to enlarge it to see them.

Seagulls

Seagulls are so much part of the seakayakers environment. I don't know how they are seen in other parts of the world but here in Newfoundland I think they part of the spirit of the place. E.J. Pratt wrote a famous poem about seagulls that every Newfoundland student has learned in literature class.

If there are seagulls, then does that mean there are other gulls - like landgulls? Why not just gulls?

Tour operator "The Outfitters" clients

From the north side of the bay we could see kayakers on the south side. We decided to cross over and tag along. The Outfitters operate tours out of Bay Bulls and I didn't expect that they'd still be taking clients out. The paddlers were almost all in doubles. They had a great day for it today; its a sign that paddling season for most is still not ovr.