On to Hogan Cove

Beautiful morning

Sunday, day two, broke still and quiet and the prospect of blue skies.  Hard to imagine a more peaceful scene as I poked my head out of my tent at Rosiru to this beautiful sight.

We had breakfast, broke camp and headed towards Merasheen, the community.

Mirror, mirror

The water was dead calm, a welcomed change to the conditions the previous day.

Vanishing point

Paddling south with Rosiru Island to port and Merasheen Island to starboard.

 Ripples

The only thing to disturb the perfectly calm water were the kayaks of Clyde and Hazen.

Hogan Cove

A couple of hours after departing Rosiru we arrived at Hogan Cove.  Hogan Cove was going to be our jumping off point for the paddle around the exposed south end of Merasheen.  Forecasted weather for that segment of the trip forced us to paddle further on day one making our bid from Rosiru instead.  There was a feeling that a weather layover day would be more welcomed at Merasheen than here.  Having seen Hogan Cove, a second night here would not have been so bad.

A river runs through it

Hogan Cove was a beautiful, brown sandy beach with many caribou hoof prints.  A river that was almost reduced to a trickle because of the dry summer ran into the cove and must be the supply source of all the sand.

I walked up the river to make first use of my Katadyn Pocket Microfilter.  Previous trips I've stretched water I've carried from home or boiled water.  A water filter made more sense.

 Otter tracks

In addition to the caribou tracks, and suspected moose tracks, a sea otter walked across the sandy beach.  I suspect very recently, in fact, probably as we made our way onto the beach.  Two of them kept an eye on us from the safety of the sea as we took our break.

All the comforts

I questioned the suitability of Hogan Cove as a campsite during the planning but I kept it to myself.  I was wrong.  Beautiful sandy beach, grassy areas for tents and fresh water - the perfect campsite.

We didn't stay long before we resumed our paddle towards Merasheen.

End of day one

Campsite

After landing on the beach at Rosiru and getting some shots of the machinery of whaling I got to work and set my tent up with the guys.  What looked like a lush green field from the water was a field of stinger nettles so we set up just above the high water mark.

Clothesline

Neville set up a clothesline.  Gortex or not, all of us were wet from the exertions of the day.

Fire on the beach

After supper and as it was getting dark we managed to gather up enough wood to have a small fire on the beach.  A few swallies and some good natured joking made a perfect ending to the first day of our trip around Merasheen.

The machinery of whaling

We arrived at Rosiru (Rose au Rue) on Merasheen Island after a 36.5 km paddle from Arnolds Cove.  What looked like a green field from afar turned out to be a field of stinger nettles with huge, rusting pieces of machinery of what used to be a whaling station.

Newfoundland has a long history connected to whaling.  The first whaling occurred at Red Bay in Labrador in the mid 1500s.

In 1904 whaling in Newfoundland produced 1,492,456 gallons of oil from a kill of 1,275 whales.

I found it troubling to walk around the machinery that rendered huge, majestic animals into barrels of oil.  I've had a number of close and personal encounters with whales in my kayak so I find whaling particularly disturbing.  I was with a group of kayakers in June 2009 when we had this very close encounter.   

Large scale whaling is something from the past.  Smaller whaling efforts continue today under the guise of "science".  It should also be consigned to the past.

If you would rather see whales from the seat of a kayak or other un-intrusive vessel and help put a stop to whaling, check out this site.

The whaling station at Rosiru ceased operations in 1945 and all that's left from that era were these rusting relics.  I, for one, am happy to see it in this state of decay.

Rosiru (Rose au Rue)

Breadcrumbs

The breadcrumbs from the top of Merasheen to Rosiru.  Originally Rose au Rue, it is usually called Rosiru by local people.  The batteries in the GPS went dead at Rose au Rue Point.

 Heading south

Having arrived at Merasheen Island after our crossing from Arnolds Cove we turned our bows south towards Big Island.

 Little Brule Harbour

Clyde and Neville crossing the mouth of Little Brule Harbour (pronounced Brewley).

 Passable?

It looked like we could get through here but the tide was still too low so what appeared to be an island was still attached to Mersheen proper.  We paddled around and into Crabbe Cove.

 Great Brule

We entered the harbour at Great Brule where we intended to stop for lunch.  Great Brule was the site of a community that was established in the early 1800's and had a peak population of 108 in 1951.  Just four years later it was abandoned.

Looking east

Landed on the beach at Great Brule and looking east showed it was well protected.  I recall seeing  picture of this harbour filled with anchored schooners but can't quite find it to provide a link.  Seeing the place now, its hard to believe it was once so active.

 Narrow neck

Great Brule harbour on the east is separated from St. Bernard's Cove on the west by a narrow neck almost cutting Mersheen in two here.  I was unable to get high and far away enough to catch the water on both sides but the beach at St. Barnard's in the foreground gives an indication of the narrowness of the neck.

Typical coastline

Paddling down the east side of Merasheen a bit of a breeze was blowing up the Middle Channel between it and Long Island to starboard.  The camera seems to flatten the water but we all had water  regularly flowing over the bow and foredeck.  It made for a bit of a slog as we approached Butler Island just ahead, but it was brightening up.

Rosiru Island

 Rosiru Island meant the first day paddle was almost over.

Rosiru reached

The patch of green in front of my bow beckoned at the end of a 36.5 km paddle, much of it into the wind.  Mercifully, the wind dropped on the approach to Rosiru, protected by Rosiru Island.

Rosiru, settled in 1884, was the site of a whaling station and there was plenty of evidence of its past laying around as we would see.

Merasheen, here we come

The breadcrumbs

Last year when we circumnavigated Long Island we looked over at Merasheen Island from Welcome Beach and vowed to make it the paddling destination for this year.  We spent the winter looking over maps and planning the trip to Merasheen.  Finally, the departure date arrived and Hazen picked me up at 5:30 on Saturday (August 11) to rendezvous with  Clyde, Dean and Neville for the drive to Arnolds Cove from where we would do the crossing.

 Loading the gear

We quickly started loading the kayaks after we arrived at Arnolds Cove.  We were all apprehensive about whether all our food and gear would fit in the boats as we piled it next to the kayaks.  Luckily we didn't have to leave anything behind.

 Conferring

Boats loaded and on the water, we conferred on bearing and ...

Foggy horizon

... left Arnolds Cove behind heading for Bordeaux Island, half hidden in fog on the horizon.  The island would be our jumping off point for the crossing first to Long Island Point.

Bordeaux Island

This was it, time to take the leap.  From Bordeaux Island we struck across Placentia Bay towards Long Island 6 kms away on a heading of 240.

Bread and Cheese Islands

Dean leads the way.  We'd paddle keeping Bread and Cheese Islands on our starboard but they are still a long way off yet.

 Long Island Point

Arriving at Long Island Point, the biggest part of the crossing was complete.

So far, so good

I like open crossings.  I like being on the open expanse of the ocean.  It makes me feel small.  But they can be tricky if caught by unexpected wind so its always a relief to reach the safety of land.  We paused briefly in this small cove before beginning the shorter 3.5 km crossing to the top of Merasheen Island.

Merasheen arrival

Dean and I arrived before the other guys.  Slightly shrouded in fog we could see down the west side but we were headed down the Central Channel on the east side of the island.

Up close

I paddled up close, reached out to touch the island and grabbed a handful of seaweed.  The circumnavigation was starting.

And, they're off

A while ago

One more sleep and five of us are off to circumnavigate Merasheen Island in Placentia Bay.  I haven't paddled much lately with express purpose of saving my shoulder for this week long trip so I haven't had much to post.  I will remedy that in a week when I return.

Hazen is picking me up at 5:30 for the hour long + ride to Arnolds Cove where we will cross from.  Should be an epic trip and hopefully return with piles of pictures and tales to share.

Back in town

Lumpy seas

After a week out of town without my kayak I'm anxious to get back to paddling.  For the first time in years its been two weeks since I was in my boat.  I miss it but the half enforced absence is probably a good thing because its given my shoulder a chance to rest.

Rest is needed because in just over week we are off to do our circumnavigation of Merasheen Island.  Though the shoulder is not at 100% I'm committed to going even if it means it will limit my fall paddling.  Its just a trip that I cannot miss.

So, back in town, back to paddling.  If not today then tomorrow for sure.