Mule headed paddle

Oily, calm sea

My shoulder has been sore but at times I can be very mule headed. I should rest it but the draw of the paddle is very powerful. So, I iced the shoulder before heading to St. Philips were I met Dean and Gary to paddle the 5 km crossing to Bell Island.

I planned to take it easy and thankfully the sea wasn't going to make me work hard. A relaxed 45 minute paddle and we arrived at Dominion Pier.

Forest of piles

Dominion Pier is one of two abandoned piers on Bell Island where the iron ore mined on the island was loaded onto ships for processing in foreign lands. The pier has been abandoned since the late '60s and is in poor shape but the piles driven into the seabed still stand out like a forest after a fire has gone through.

Scotia Pier

The second of the two piers is only a jumble of metal. Ore was shipped in railed ore cars to be dumped over the cliffs and loaded onto ships. Somewhere along here two ore carriers were sunk by German U-boats during WW II, the big one.

Reflections

The sea remained calm and acted like a mirror to reflect life underwater. I never know what effects I'll get when I slip the camera underwater but sometimes something psychedelic comes out of it.

Clear waters

Dean and Gary floated on crystal clear waters.

Fall colours

Its well into fall now as the leaves turn colour from green to yellows and reds. Trees catch hold anywhere they can on the steep cliffs. When they turn yellow they really stand out against the grey and buff coloured cliffs.

After paddling up the side of Bell Island for a bit we turned back towards St. Philips for our return crossing. A relaxed paddle just to get in the kayak turned out to net 15 kilometers. I gambled and came out of it unscathed. It was a great day.