After the storm paddle

Leaving Long Pond

What to do a day after 38 cms of snow, 2 hours shoveling, 2 hours in the gym and another hour to shovel out my daughter's driveway? Paddle of course!

Thursday we had our first taste of winter as a Nor'Easter barreled into the region out of the New England states. Friday was clean-up day and Saturday was an OMG day.

Gerard in his element

A beautiful day to be out on the water. It was cool but pleasant, sunny with cloudy periods, no wind to speak of and a nice swell on the bay. The land (to port) in Conception Bay is made up of low laying glacial tills, densely populated with houses crowding the shoreline. There's not much of photographic interest. On this day the land in the distance with its snow covered hills drew my attention.

In the shadow of Butterpot

As we approached Indian Pond we could see the smokestacks of the hydro generating plant while Butterpot Mountain looms in the distance.

Stopped for lunch

Twelve kilometres from Long Pond we reached our destination of Indian Pond. These places aren't really "ponds", they're estuaries that are open to the sea.

While we had 38 cms of snow, here in the southern end of Conception Bay there was considerably less snow evident. The sea moderates the temperature somewhat and a couple of degrees armer makes all the difference.

Collision

On our return leg Clyde and I paddled along together while Gerard paddled considerably offshore. Clyde is not far away, he's out of sight on the other side of the massive swell rolling in.

When the swell reached the shore there was a massive collision. We stayed just outside the zone where the swell raised up into steep breaking waves as they raced for the shore.

Kelly's Island backdrop

Clyde paddles along with Kelly's Island behind him and the snow covered hills in the distance.

"Royal" Newfoundland Yacht Club

Two kilometres from our put-in we passed the Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club and were almost done for the day. There was no sign of activity at the club unless it was inside at the bar! Maybe they were checking us out thinking they should have invested in kayaks instead?

Arriving back at Long Pond we had paddled 24 kms on the day. I knew I would sleep like a log when night time came ... and I did.