A coast less paddled

Stan with his new Greenland paddle

Cape Broyle was the paddle destination today for seven of us. Its still winter on the calendar but we had weather that was more spring-like than winter.

I got a late call from Stan as the crowd was leaving for Cape Broyle. I thought I'd slept past the meeting time but with haste I could meet them in Cape Broyle. I was 15 minutes behind them but in racing mode I pulled up as the last of the boats were being taken off the cars. Made it!

Made it and glad I did, thanks to my good friend Stan. It would be a glorious day.

Salty water on ice, neat

Fresh water pours over the falls and floats on the heavier salt ice and freezes over. The falls here are the first stop for paddlers when paddling in Cape Broyle.

At the falls

After punching through some rotten ice, we were able to get close to the falls. Hard frozen ice can be rotten to get through but when we call ice "rotten" its because it has started to meld and is crumbly.

We took turns paddling up to the falls to let the falling water sound out a beat on the deck of our kayaks.

In unfamiliar territory

Cape Broyle is the usual destination for Kayak Newfoundland and Labrador's annual Fathers' Day paddle. Normally, we would cross over to the south side of the harbour at the narrows at the point behind Neville. We decided to continue paddling along the north side to see what treasures we pass up on Fathers' Day. We weren't disappointed.

It was a bright sunny day

Here we discovered a cleft in the cliffs that had at one time been a cave. The roof had long ago caved in to let the bright sunlight pour in.

Paddling between the rocks

We had just a little bit of swell that made paddling between the offshore rocks and cliffs safe but still interesting. The shore here was protected from the swell but things would change on the south side of the harbour.

Massive cliffs

The cliffs here are part of the black shales of the St. John's formation but caught in the bright sunshine the weathered surface reflects in purple and bright grey. It was a day of just enjoying the scenery and taking our time to let it sink in.

Another picture of kayakers stopped for lunch

We stopped on a small beach just outside of Brigus South. Lunch is a chance to heed the call of nature, stretch legs and refuel with what goodies were packed for lunch. On a day like this there was lots of back slapping about what a fantastic day it was for March 14 and how good it was to be out on the water.

Checking out a cave

Back on the south side of Cape Broyle we checked out the caves on our way back to the take-out. On the north side we were in bright sunlight but here we were in the shadows under the tall cliffs.

Some of us did some rock hopping. Some of us, meaning me, have to learn to be a bit more patient and read the situation before paddling into tricky situations. No damage done and rescue techniques which we've practiced were found to be effective. Enough on that for now.

After we lashed the boats back on the cars and stashed our gear we stopped for coffee at the local restaurant where there was more basking in the afterglow of a wonderful day. Thanks guys.