Staycation 2020 - Little Bay Islands; Arriving

Wednesday, July 15th, we had gotten ourselves in position to paddle to Little Bay Island from Paddocks Bight on Sunday Cove Island.  We took advantage of a picnic table where we had camped.

The day started off mostly cloudy as we set our sights on the Oil Islands 3.5 kms hence and just off of Long Island.

Almost an hour after leaving Paddocks Bight we arrived at the Oil Islands in a little cove dominated by a huge cobble bar.

I wondered why we were getting out here as Brian beached his kayak.  Turns out Brian had done some research.  As we climbed onto the upper level we saw numerous deep pits that Brian explained were food cache pits of unknown age.  They could have been Native Beothuk Indian or even predating to Paleo-Eskimo.  Seals were hunted in season and cached in the 1+ meter deep pits and covered with rocks.  Difficult to get perspective but the stick that was in the pit was about 1 meter long.  In the bottom was another archaic artifact of plastic *lol* which ...

... this gnarly tree probably dates from too.

The location is called the Oil "Islands", plural as the topo map showed a passage between two land masses.  We poked into the inlet but it was only passable at high tide.

Leaving the Oil Islands we made our way to the community of Lushes Bight.  We could see the lights of the town from our campsite at Paddocks Bight which, on location, made the town appear much larger than it was.  We were attracted to the brightly painted stages.  After checking out Lushes Bight and talking to locals it was getting close to lunch time so we ...

... paddled on to find this beach where we had lunch in preparation for ...

... our 5 km crossing to Little Bay Island under clear blue skies and calm water.

I paddled to within sight of the bridge connecting Little Bay Island to Macks Island but did not enter the harbour.  We would save that for the next day so proceeded down the southwest coast of the island to find ...

... our campsite at Suly Ann Cove.

We set up the tents, cooked supper and later walked to the resettled community of Little Bay Islands but more on that next time.

Here are the breadcrumbs of the day's paddle.

Staycation 2020 - Little Bay Islands; getting in position

In 2010 Ralph, Stan and I were on hand for the funeral of Grand Bruit on the South Coast.  The community was being resettled and we were there to witness it.  On December 31, 2019 the community of Little Bay Islands was effectively resettled as the last ferry departed and services were discontinued.  Only two people decided to stay and live independently.

December 31st was not a time of year to be caught on the northeast coast of Newfoundland in a kayak if a person wanted to enjoy it.  So we waited for summer.  On July 15th Brian, Clyde, Hazen Neville and I set off from home to see the depopulated community.

It was an almost six hour drive from home to our jumping off location of Miles Cove on Sunday Cove Island.  We arrived at 4:00, loaded our kayaks and set off for Paddocks Bight a short distance away into a little breeze.  The late hour mandated it would be our campsite for the night.

Forty minutes later we arrived glad to see plenty of green open space.

The northerly breeze was chilly but we were happy to arrive; the kayaks hauled up on the pebbly beach.

There were two cabins on site, one of which had occupants.  We walked over to see a Mr. Hewlett and inquire about permission to camp.  He said we could camp anywhere and as the owners of this cabin weren't around we ducked in behind and tucked our tents out of the wind.

Beautiful roses on site!

Prior to leaving Hazen proposed we each purchase two beer varieties from Quidi Vidi Brewery to sample and rate each night of the trip.  He even purchased green wool hats for the beer tasters.  All for one and one for all.  Notice the book in hand to record the evaluations from 1 - 10.

As the evening wore on the temperature dipped further.  Luckily there was enough wood to gather for a fire for heat.  We had to stand however as the smoke followed us around so we had to keep moving.  There'd be no sitting in wobbly chairs this evening.

Eventually the sleeping bags called to us.  We were content to be where we were and in the morning we'd be off to Little Bay Island.

Here are the breadcrumbs.

Just exercise, pure and simple

With an expedition of indeterminate length in sight we felt we should at least try to get a bit of paddling in to get in shape or assess our conditioning.  Access to the slipway was limited so we carried the kayaks down over a bank and nestled them alongside of the river in St. Philips.

The plan was a 19 km paddle to and from Brocks Pond Falls.  As we left St Philips we spotted a juvenile Bald Eagle.  The Eagle didn't move until we were directly underneath it.  The heads of Bald Eagles do not turn white until they're 3-4 years old.  This one was obviously a juvenile but was still a sizeable bird.

The paddle was primarily exercise, a work-out, but we did take advantage of paddling around rocks and channels.

Nine and one half kilometers after setting out we were at Brocks Pond Falls.  This was our first paddle there this year but our third overall.  This past winter we viewed the falls from up on high having ridden there on our fatbikes.

Returning to St. Philips we completed our work-out of 19 kms pleased with our conditioning though we hadn't done much paddling of late.  One or two more paddles and we'll feel confident we'll be ready.  We'll try to fit one of those into wind and waves.

Way down upon the Rocky River

Now for something different.  A paddle down the Hodge and Rocky Rivers in my Pyranha Micro 240 creek boat.  It was an event organized by Hazen and enjoyed by the fours of us including Brian, Neville and myself.

It not the ideal boat for river paddling but it did hold me in good stead once we reached the much shallower Rocky River.

I waited at Markland while Brian, Hazen and Neville shuttled two vehicles to Colinet where the river would end for us.  An hour later we were on our way in the fast flowing Hodge.

We took the right hand channel around an island in the river.

We started out under cloudy overcast skies but eventually the sun broke out to highlight our serene surroundings.  Everywhere birds chirped serenading our float downriver.

The black flies were out so we looked for an exposed point of land with a bit of wind to have our lunch.  The slight breeze kept the flies down so we could enjoy our lunch in peace.

The landscape took on a different, flatter look at an elevation of 25 meters from the 65 at the put-in, a drop of 40 over 20 kilometers.

As we neared Colinet we heard the roar of the falls where it dropped over the rocks.  None of us were prepared to tempt fate by challenging the falls so we looked for a path away to the road where the shuttled vehicles stood.  A bit of scouting and we ...

... found a path and carried the kayaks up to unload our gear and head for home.

It was something different for sure but it was fun to do  It was a relaxed paddle where the current made our work a pleasure.  Its not something that presents an opportunity very often.  We needed a lot of rain, which we got, and we needed to get on the same page.

After some 55 mm of rain six days ago the river peaked at 120 cubic meters/second.  We were looking for 30, the bare minimum on the Rocky River, and good weather.  Today we got both.  It was fun, not something I would do every day but a nice change of pace.

Cape Broyle

Hazen organized the trip to Cape Broyle.  There were two groups to comply with health directives: one group of five and one group of one, me *lol*.  Cape Broyle is a scenic paddle destination.  It is also one of ten favourite places of our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.  If I remember correctly he had his stag party there.

Not long after getting underway I came upon this loon swimming along the shore.  It felt is was an apt representation of the loony times we currently live in.

The usual first destination in Cape Broyle is Horsechops River Falls.  Surprisingly very much subdued at this time of year given spring runoff should be underway.

We started off along the north side of the harbour and at The Narrows we crossed over to the south side.  There are a number of sea stacks on that side as well as caves and massive cliffs like ...

 ... here!

Showertime!  We each took turns under this stream of cascading water that fell from some 20 meters.  Bone chilling but exhilarating.  No chickening out was tolerated *lol*

One of a number of caves.

The destination of Cape Broyle was predicated on the tide being at maximum when we arrived.  That allowed us to get over a rocky entrance and into and thru a tunnel.  There was a little bit of wave action guarding the entrance that Clyde and I got over no problem.  The others opted to go around which was unfortunate to miss the opportunity.

This is not said tunnel but one of the caves yet, it gives a pretty good idea of what the tunnel exit looks like.

Ashleigh and Hazen are dwarfed by the sea stack as you enter Lance Cove.  Lance Cove is the usual destination and turn around point for club paddles.  We debated having lunch here but decided we'd carry on further east and have lunch at ...

... Church Cove.  We turned into the cove into a head wind and found a bit of swell made for a tricky surf landing on the dumping beach.  All hands made an uneventful landing and after lunch, an uneventful launch.

18.5 kms after leaving the put-in we were back, got out of our padding gear, loaded the kayaks aboard the vehicles and congratulated ourselves on an outstanding day, all at a safe distance apart.

Physical distancing = 1 paddle length

One of the issues for people who are adhering to the health measures to flatten the Covid-19 curve is not being able to see friends.  The five of us that paddled have been good.  Today was also the 11th straight day of no new cases and about 18 days with zero or 1 new case.

We decided the weather beckoned and given the above we decided to get out for a paddle using physical distancing.  That was easy to do on the water.

We agreed to meet at St. Philips where we were careful to maintain physical distancing while putting in and we were on our way north into a gentle breeze.

While we had the gentlest of breezes there was a slight swell running that heaved up when it hit the rocks.  There is a passage behind these waves but the first paddle in some time meant exercising good judgement until skills were sharpened after the layoff.

I thought some rocks were safe enough to get around so I went and caught Brian and Hazen who opted not to.

Derrick claimed the day was his eighth paddle of the year.  That's about eight more than he did all of last year *lol*.  We might see more of him if they don't put sailboats in the water at the Holyrood Yacht Club this year.

Brian and Dean emerge from the channel at Sailing Point.

In due course we neared our destination of Portugal Cove with the coast stretching far off into the distance to Cape St. Francis.

At Portugal Cove we bobbed around for a while before heading back to St. Philips.  This is what physical distancing looks like and may continue to look like for some time to come.  Its the new normal.  Its a shame we won't be stopping for post paddle coffee anytime soon but at least it was great to get out for a paddle with these guys.