Its Hammer time

Sunday morning was going to be windy.  A good time for a bounce in St. Philips as Neville took delivery of his new ocean playboat, a P & H Hammer.

Well the forecast was wrong.  No wind but a bit of easy action along the shore made perfect conditions to take the Hammer for a test drive.

We stopped to fool around at the G-Spot.  Again nothing very big, just enough to get a feel for the boat.  Also, easy for Clye, Dean and myself in the fibreglass Nordkapps.

At Sailing Point the channel was calm.  Neville had the skeg down for tracking.

Exiting another channel which we have to name yet.

Just before Wester Point at Portugal Cove we got through another tight spot that's accessible only at high water.

There are numerous rocks at Wester Point and with just a bit of swell running in it was again a chance to play.

After a short break on the beach by the ferry terminal we made our way back along the shore.

Clyde and myself getting through a narrow spot.

I was running late not expecting to spend so much time playing around the rocks so I bid adieu to my paddle mates and raced back to St. Philips to take out and get home just in the nick of time - without being berated that is *lol*

Dean has some pics on his blog from the point after I departed.

Two sunsets for the price of one

Thursday evening was going to be our first practice session for the season.  It was cold.  I arrived early, paddled around in the cove for a while waiting for anyone else to show up and decided just before 6:00 that I'd be on my own.

What to do?  I looked at the time, did a quick calculation and decided I had time for the 5 km crossing to Bel Island and back before the sunset.

The closer I got to Bell Island the taller the cliffs got until I paddled myself into a sunset.  I didn't stay long as the evening was getting on.

Heading back I was in sunlight again as the bay opened up between Bell Island, cloaked in shadow, and the cliffs of the mainland bathed in sunshine as they marched north.

I arrived back at St. Philips with the sunset one sun diameter above the horizon.  I decided to wait the 10 minutes and sat watching the sun sink away for the day.

It got frosty quickly after the sun departed with the watery film on the hull turning to ice as I loaded the kayak and drove for home.  Hopefully warmer next week and a few more people will show up.

A GoPro Mount - Making it stick

So far I've used the GoPro mounted on my helmet.  That was flexible as all I had to do was look at the subject when capturing video.  But, it also had the paddle flashing in and out of the video.

Next, I made up a mount I could reach on the foredeck from the cockpit.  That put a long view of the deck in every video.

I wanted to try a mount further up near the bow.  There the deck doesn't have any flat surface to attach the camera, except the hatch cover.  I put on my thinking cap and came up with a solution.

I made up these two clips by bending and shaping a couple of pieces of sheet metal plus ...

... buying a dual suction cup setup to pull dents out of car body panes and cutting a piece of plexiglass.

The suction cup will accept 3/4 PVC pipe.  The suction cup won't stick to the rubber hatch cover so it is first put on the plexiglass (which I sprayed black).  Put together it looks like ...

... this.  The suction cup, plexiglass base plate and 3/4 PVC mast are secured to the hatch cover by looping a strap through the clips in the first photo and then cinching it down by tightening the strap.

I wasn't sure about the height of the mast so I just used duct tape for the test so I could shorten it later if necessary.

I found it a bit high on the foredeck but fine on the rear deck.  I made up similar arrangement but with a shorter mast for up front an spray painted the works black.

The only problem is the camera can't be manually operated from the cockpit.  I'll either buy a used smartphone with the GoPro app or a remote to solve that issue.

A look along the shore to Topsail

An almost 6 minute edit of the 105 captured of Dean and my paddle on Friday from St. Philips to Topsail Beach.

Seems like some of the width is missing so here's the link to YouTube.

Looking out the back door

After stopping at Topsail Beach I moved the camera mount from the fore hatch cover to the aft hatch cover.  Leaving Topsail Beach I had a look around to see where Dean was.

Ah, there he is.  I was wondering if I'd just be capturing only myself but this looks like we were a threesome out for a paddle and the third in the group got a picture of myself and Dean.

Not quite knowing what video I was capturing, I edged to port thinking I'd get Dean in the shot, and I did.  The world tilted.

More of Tony's back with Dean paddling near the cliffs.  The wind dropped as we made our way back to St. Philips.

Among the rocks the bottom was bright under the sun.  I was amazed reviewing the video how much detail the GoPro captured of the bottom.

Ya never know what goes on behind your back until its videoed.

Taking a bead on a passage between rocks.

And, one last shot of the two of us before the battery died.

I was pleased with the rear mounted camera.  On the way up I found with the taller mount it was disorienting as it swayed back and forth in the I had the camera 40 cms (16 inches).

I have one more idea for a rear mounted camera that I'll try the next surfing opportunity.

A paddle on Best Friday

Today is called "Good Friday" in the Christian world.  In Tony's world its called "Best Friday".  Every Friday, the end of the work week for most, is always good but when its a holiday it deserves to be called "Best".

We were going to have west winds in the 15 - 20 knot range so Dean and I opted for a bouncy paddle to Topsail Beach.  I was interested in a bounce because I wanted to try a new GoPro camera mount.  The mount is 40 cms (16 inches +/-) high and mounted on the fore hatch cover.  More details another day.

Right away we were into it as a wave breaks over Dean's kayak.

Dean going uphill.

I hoped to avoid water drops on the lens but to no avail, at least, not in the conditions we had today.

I quickly identified one issue.  With the mount directly in my field of view, I found watching it sway back and forth was giving me a bit of vertigo with some discomfort.  Gradually I learned to ignore it and felt more at ease.

My intention for the day was to capture video constantly and select some shots that was more representative of the day.  At 30 frames per second I knew I stood a better chance than with the single shot Olympus.

As the kayak swayed it of course tilted the horizon.

Dean tried out his new Euro blade that he bought to use with his soon to be delivered Jackson Karma RG.  He had his GP as a spare.

The benefit of taking stills from the video is no camera to hold in one hand and the paddle in the other when ...

... this comes at ya and ...

... is going to give you a cold shower ...

... but at least an upright one!

We got out at Topsail Beach for a stretch and I moved the mount to the back hatch pointing forward.

Overall I was happy with the mount but I think I'll make another about 15 cm (6 inches) shorter and leave the longer one for the back deck.

Incidentally, I got 105 minutes and 21 seconds of recording time out of the Hero4 battery in near 0C temperatures.

Between a rock and a rock

Dean scoots through a narrow passage; a picture I exported from some video I captured this past weekend.  The GoPro is known for its excellent video footage but the stills that can be exported are also quite acceptable.