I see i-c-i-c-l-e-s

Ever since January 20th when "Frozen" movie theme photo was reported on CBC News people have been flocking to Middle Cove to see the huge frozen wall of ice for themselves.

Today myself and seakayak "Stardust" went to have a look ourselves.  We were not disappointed as were ...

... these three ladies.  It wasn't the only ice clinging to the cliff at Middle Cove.

I was by myself as no one else was able to make it for various reasons.  It was cold when I arrived at 10:00.  There were a number of people on the beach.  Some said I had a nice day for a paddle.  I coudn't agree more as I set out towards Outer Cove on calm seas.

Salt water was frozen to the base of the cliffs and rocks and fresh water percolating through the rock crevices froze into long elegant icicles.  Here, I approach the sea cave known as "The Molar".

I made a swift entrance into the cave crossing my fingers that none of the icicles would break lose as I slid in.

In Outer Cove I got myself into a bit of a predicament when I got in behind a wall of ice to take a shot and found it difficult to extricate myself.  But I did escape to retrace my steps to Middle Cove where ...

... the flow of people continued unabated to the "ice castle".  Everyone wanted photos.  Some were more serious about it bringing tripods.

I crossed along the beach and paddled past the area known as "The Motion" between Middle Cove and Torbay.  Some of the little coves were filled with slob ice that felt like paddling through cement.

I was comfortably in the wind shadow of the land until I entered Torbay where I ran into an incoming snow squall and a stiffer wind.  My plan was to paddle to the beach in Torbay.  I made no concession to the wind to touch the pebbly beach before ...

... turning to have the wind at my back.  In Torbay the cliffs were also clad in sheets of icicles, the reflection in the water catching my eye.

As I approached Motion again I spotted an eagle perched on top of the rock in the center.  I stopped paddling and let the kayak glide hoping it would bring me close enough to take a picture of it before ...

... flew away.  Click on the photos to enlarge to get a better look.

Back at Middle Cove two and a half hours later I took out after a wonderful short paddle.  I could have been using a black and white camera.  The only colours being the the drysuit I was wearing and the mango of the kayak deck.

GoPro Clamp mount

While I learning to use my new GoPro Hero4 Silver I'm researching different camera mounts, mainly on YouTube.  One I liked because it was simple and because it looked versatile, was a clamp mount.

The clip on YouTube was a simple 1/4 inch bolt through the top of the clamp that the tripod mount screwed into.  I thought I could improve on the basic design.

I cut a couple of old window shade slats (out of styrene I think) and epoxied them to the sides of the clamp ...

... like so.  Then I ...

... cut and epoxied two strips each of about 10 cms wide and ...

... epoxied them to the top edge of the first pieces I attached.  These widened the top surface area I could epoxy a top piece of styrene that I ...

... attached the flat sticky mount.

Here's a top view which more clearly shows the finished product.

Its a versatile mount that is easily moved around and clamped to flat surfaces.

A rock day on the water

Some days are rocks, some days are diamonds.  Today was a rock on any level.

I made two prototypes to try as GoPro mounts yesterday out of some scrap lumber.  One was something I mounted on the foredeck.  The other was a simple mount on the aftdeck.

As soon as I got in the kayak it was evident the foredeck configuration would not work.

The first issue was it had the camera too high.  That made the kayak a bugger to handle in the rough water, almost knocking me over three times as I worked with the camera, and any video was going to be swinging wildly from side to side.

The second issue was the mount extended too far beyond the gunwales which made my paddle stroke awkward and inefficient.  I constantly fell behind Dean and Neville.

On both counts, my own fault.  I put it together late the night before and didn't try it out before I headed to the water.

Dean fixed the first issue by yanking the vertical member off but the second issue I had to contend with all the way to Topsail Beach.  The wind and waves didn't make it any easier also.  When Topsail Beach came into view it was for me the "Promised Land".  I just wanted to get there and remove the remaining piece of the mount ...

... which I did before mounting the camera on the rear deck.  Leaving Topsail Beach we had some huge breaking seas.  I had the camera pointing backwards hoping to get in front of the guys and video them paddling behind me.

As we made our way in the breaking seas I thought to myself that I was capturing some awesome video.  Back at St. Philips I was hugely disappointed to discover the camera was on but not recording (more on that in a day or so).

We had great paddling conditions.  I felt the distraction of the problems with the camera operation took away from the experience as I concentrated more on the video than the paddling.

Oh well, chaulk it up to experience.  There are some things with the GoPro that I'm not being attentive enough.  I'll have to work on that.

On the bright side I spent another day on the water and I'm a day wiser.  No sense getting older without getting wiser.

First GoPro video edit

I had my new GoPro Hero4 Silver less than a week and anxious to try it out for video quality.  It is all it is hyped up to be.  Stunning clarity I think.

This is the result of my first edit of the video I shot from a quickly mounted helmet mount.  Not fussy about the helmet mount as it requires concentration not to move the head around abruptly and I'm not struck with the paddle flashing in and out of the field of view.  And, to say nothing about trying to control the camera with neoprene mitts!

Its only a start.  I'll start making some different mounts to get different perspectives.  It will take some time but for now I'm excited about this new aspect of kayaking.

Song "Chapter 2", thanks for use by local Newfoundland band "Another North" from their CD "nomadic" - www.anotthernorthmusic.com

For some reason there's no "full screen" button on the embedded video (which makes for better viewing), so here's a link to the YouTube site

GoPro shake down paddle

I purchased a GoPro Hero 4 Silver a week ago and spent the first 5 days learning the various settings.  Sunday, I took it out on the water for a shake down paddle.  It was a simple mount to start off - just a mount on my helmet.

The buttons on the GoPro are a nice size but I wondered how it would work operating the camera on the top of my head with neoprene mitts on.  As soon as I got on the water I tried it.  I didn't feel like I had enough confidence that the camera was on the right settings etc, etc so I remove my helmet, turned it on,  pressed the record button and put the helmet back on.  Too much operational overhead for me.

Anyway, it was only a trial run with a simple mount with the intention of seeing the video output.  Unknowingly, I was recording video and stills (one every 5 seconds).  So, I ended up with 400 stills.

More on my GoPro adventure later but for now I was interested in comparing the quality of the stills taken with the GoPro against the Olympus Stylus Tough 6020.  Both cameras were in sync time wise so I was able to compare the same shot, more or less.  Here are the results:

This is a shot of Dean with the Olympus, resized from 4288 x 3216 to 1000 x 750.

This is the GoPro still resized from 3840 x 2160 to 1000 x 563.

The GoPro has a wider angle lens so it captured more even though both pictures were captured at the exact same time (maybe nanoseconds apart?).  The video quality is stunning (hope to edit some later) and the still are also good quality, I just have to get closer if I want to replicate the Olympus field of view.

If you click on the shots to enlarge and compare I believe you will agree the GoPro captured a sharper, more crisp photo of the same action.

I think its going to get interesting as I gain more experience with the GoPro and develop more and different mountings.

On the mend in Bay Bulls

Last weekend I did not paddle.  The cold I've been fighting for six weeks was taking its toll so I opted for rest.  But, there's only so much standing on the sidelines I can take so today Brian, Dean and I met in Bay Bulls for a paddle.  It was cold but no wind actually made it feel comfortable.

The put-in was covered in snow and ice which meant I was able to do a seal launch without worrying about gelcoat.

We headed out on flat calm water with the sun trying to burn through the cloud cover.

In the inner harbour it was flat calm but some swell running in from the southeast began to make its effects felt the nearer we got to North Head.

It got choppy in the rebounding clapotis.

It did not feel cold but the snow and ice on the cliffs made sure we were reminded it was still winter ...

... which we felt with full effect as we turned south into the biting wind to cross the mouth of the harbour and to the south side of Bay Bulls.

Soon we were on the south side and amidst a bunch of sea stacks named Baboul Rocks.

Though open to the southeast swell, I was surprised is was as calm as it was making it enjoyable paddling through the stacks.

Departing Babou Rocks we entered the harbour proper paddling west along the south side where the cliffs were draped with icicles which ...

... I think adds interest to any seascape.

Back inside the inner harbour it was calm and peaceful again as we approached the takeout which ...

...  arrived at first to photograph Brian and Dean coming in also.

We put-in just after 9:00 and surprisingly we got back just at the stroke of midday.  Given an early end to the day's paddle we had time for coffee before heading home.

It was two weeks between paddles.  I missed it.  The cold still hangs on but I was getting my fix today, thanks to Brian and Dean.

A pruner to compliment my hatchet and saw

I've had a nagging cold for what seems like forever.  I've paddled through it the last three weekends but last week's paddle set me back.  This weekend I decided I best stay off the water to give my body the rest it needs to get over the cold.

Instead of paddling, I read about paddling and thought about past camping experiences.  Last summer we landed in Parsons Cove where the only place to camp was on a shrubby bank above the high water mark.  I used my small hatchet to clear a spot but it was really overkill.  The hatchet worked but it wasn't very efficient and bounced off of rocks in trying to cut the twigs off at ground level.

Reflecting on that this weekend I thought I need a set of pruners for small branch low shrubs.  Not only that, but I can use them for cutting the ends of boughs to make a soft bed to lay the tent on if need be.  They don't take up much room and can be crammed in anywhere so today I picked up a pair.  All I need to do is add it to my gear checklist.