Glorious sunset

It was a calm, warm evening for our Thursday evening practice at St. Philips.  We decided to paddle up towards Portugal Cove.  Practice then consisted of practicing the forward stroke.  Or, it was just a  fine evening to spend a couple of hours on the water.

Evenings are getting shorter every week.  That means we're catching sunsets at the end of our evenings when its time to pack up.

This stuff is nourishment for the soul.

Sailing clear blue waters

A few years back I did some paddling with Malcolm.  It was great stuff because Malcolm liked to paddle in the bigger stuff.  Two years ago he bought a sailboat and he hasn't paddled much since, for obvious reasons.

A little while ago he mailed to ask if I'd be interested in doing some sailing.  Today it happened.  We met at the Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club at 8:30.  I looked around marveling at the $$$ tied up.

A few instructions as to my duties upon return, Malcolm started the engine and we heaved off the mooring lines.  The rules are specific - leave the harbour under motor power.

We motored out into Conception Bay where I assumed my first responsibility - hold the yacht into the wind while Malcolm raised the mainsail.

We set sail for the south end of Kellys Island.  After a bit Malcolm asked if I'd take the tiller.  Having never sailed before I felt  little intimidated because only so much can go wrong in a kayak but so much more can go wrong on a 28 foot yacht.

It turned out the angle to the wind on that heading was good.  Enough wind to keep the sail full and make good headway.

We got around the south end safely with my hand on the tiller.  It was interesting getting in tune with the boat, getting a feel for how the rudder affected the direction of sailing.  In a quartering sea in my kayak I edge into the wave as it approaches to keep the stern from being pushed downwind and level again as is passes.  Its easier than sweeping.  I found myself trying to make the sailboat do the same thing but with the tiller - steering the bow downwind and pulling it back as the wave passed.  Don't know if that's correct but seemed to work.

I expected to be a passenger more or less but I kept to the tiller while Malcolm keep an eye on proceedings.

We sailed around the island and Malcolm suggested we sail upwind and around a couple of vessels anchored in the bay.  That meant we were going to have to tack to beat our way upwind.

We tacked, if memory serves me correctly, three times.  Again, a similarity with kayaking.  Get up some good speed, sweep and bow rudder.  In the sailboat its also gather some good speed and then smartly pull the tiller to effect the turn while trying to maintain some speed through the turn.  I think we made one very good tack which I felt good about as a newbie.

After rounding the anchored vessels we returned to the harbour as another sailboat was leaving.

All in all it was a great experience.  I found there was more "work" involved in sailing than I imagined and I only had to handle the tiller.  Malcolm had to keep an eye on everything and trim sails etc.  A challenge for a single handed sailor but I'm sure no problem as experience is gained.  Malcolm is well on his way in that department.

Thanks Malcolm for the opportunity.

A paddle nonetheless

It was supposed to blow hard today so I didn't think a paddle would happen.  We organized a bounce in St Philips with some surfing.  When we got there the wind dropped so we opted for a paddle anyay down to Topsail.

I was going to shoot some video of the surf action and when that didn't happen I decided I try to capture the action on our paddle.  It was pretty tame but it was fun.  Here's the clip I put together and  posted to YouTube.


OK, I'm having some trouble embedding it in this post so here is a link to the clip.

Music by Bif Naked and Audioslav.

A record Thursday evening turnout

We've been averaging 6 - 8 paddlers all summer for Thursday evening practices at St. Philips.  Sometimes we get 10.  This evening we had 15.  It was an excellent turnout.

It was an excellent turnout not only for the numbers but also because it was blowing hard all day and that usually means smaller numbers.  But, the wind dropped over the later afternoon and was gone when we arrived.  We didn't have conditions but it was still an enjoyable evening on the water.  Its always good to get in the kayak.

Club paddle in Aquaforte

Aquaforte was the destination of a club paddle on Saturday.  Its an arm of the sea that penetrates into the land some 6 kilometers, well protected from the wind.  A crew of 28 kayaks with paddlers of mixed skills showed up on a brilliantly sunny day.

Dean and I arrived early and decided to paddle up the river that flows into the harbour to crank out some paddle strokes while the rest arrived and were ready to put-in.  We returned as most were floating in their boats waiting for the starting gun.

And, they're off!  Looking down the long arm of the harbour.  Gerard, leading the trip, wisely decided on keeping to the north side as the forecast was for increasing winds later in the day when the south side would give better protection for the return.

The paddle along the north side was nondescript until we reached ...

... the Spout River falls.  Its been a wet end to summer so there was lots of water falling.

Some of us decided to paddle up to the thunderous falls close enough to feel the power in the water and spray on our faces.

Things started to look more interesting as we reached Howlett Point on our way towards Broom Cove and North Head.

A cave to explore carved out of the steeply dipping siltstones of the Conception Group.

We arrived at North Head, at the mouth of Aquaforte Harbour.  The wind had slowly picked up as the morning progressed and at North Head the water was a bit lumpy.  Some people got their first taste of more exposed waters but it was only a taste as the harbour is only a tad over one kilometer wide.  We set off for a beach on the south side where we would stop for lunch.

With everyone safely escorted across and deposited on the beach, Dean, Gerard, Ron and I made a short detour past Spurwink Island and past South Head to check out this impressive ...

... sea arch.

The four of us returned to a congested beach but found room to take out.  We had lunch under a gloriously sunny sky.

As chance would have it, the wind dropped out for our paddle back into the harbour.  A relief to most and, for some, different reasons I'm sure.

Dick paddles by this small sea stack adorned by a lone forlorn tree.  Amazing to see the places life decides to take hold.

The rest of the paddle back into the harbour was uneventful as a procession of kayaks passes.  Back in the inner reaches, part of the group tried to paddle up the river at the head of the harbour but the tide had fallen considerably since Dean and I had been there earlier to block access.

Kayaks were loaded and wet gear stowed for the hour long drive back to the big city.  A drive worth taking for a fun day on the water.

Spit is the answer

My Olympus Stylus Tough 6020 camera is gone for repairs.  Its cheaper than buying a new camera.  In the meantime, I've been using a Nikon Coolpix to capture images of my kayak adventures.  I take lots because when the lens cover gets wet, the resulting pictures look smudged.

I googled the problem.  The answer is spit.  Thursday evening, while Dean was doing a backdeck scramble on recovery, I tested it.

The picture taking procedure now goes: take camera out of PFD pocket, turn on, lick, immerse in water and shoot.  Its quite an involved procedure but appears to work fine.

The spit keeps a film of water on the lens cover which then becomes part of the optics.

I was happy to see the results when I downloaded the shots from the evening.  I'll still takes lots of shots to make sure I have some keepers, like this unaltered shot as the sun was going down.  Unusual colours but sharp in any case.

Sister golden hair surprise

Sunday, on our return to St. Philips, we stopped for a bit near a bed of sea weed.  The sun penetrated the clear water highlighting the life under the surface.

I stuck the camera underwater and took a bunch of speculative pictures.  Some were not very interesting but several were.  This one just had the right amount of light that gave an interesting effect.  I also like the mirrored reflections on the underside of the surface.

In a group there isn't much time to lollygag because the group just continues on and then I'm continually playing catch up.  But, on a solo trip when there are no pictures to take of kayakers there are opportunities to stick the camera under water and see what happens.