Harbour le Cou to La Plante Harbour

Harbour le Cou

Harbour le Cou greeted me as I looked out my tent door first thing in the morning. I heard Ralph zip out and that was my cue to get a move-on. I had a breakfast of stick-to-your-ribs porridge to fortify myself for the day ahead. A quick listen to the marine weather forecast let us know we wouldn't be forced to stay on shore as we got all of our necessities crammed into the kayaks.

Finally, on the water

After 2 days paddling around Burgeo waiting for the scheduled Tuesday sailing and after 2 more days of off and on trepidation over whether we would be able to get on the ferry, we were on our way back to Burgeo some 100 kms back up the coast.

Sugarloaf shrouded in fog

The fog hung low over the hills looking down the arm towards Lobster Cove in Harbour le Cou let us know what was in store. It wouldn't get much better during the day as we set our sights on Indian Harbour and our proposed first night's campsite.

Is that Petites ahead?

Outside of the harbour the fog proved to be fairly thick. Near the resettled community of Petites there are a number of small islands and sunken rocks (sunkers in Newfoundland speak) that proved to be a bit unnerving. The swell was breaking over the sunkers that were only heard as they were hidden in the fog. Stan made sure we steered clear of danger and we passed safely.

Kelp bed stop

About 2 hours into the paddle and having completed the most demanding section passing Petites and its rocky islands in fairly thick fog we stopped at this location. There aren't many options along this coast so if ya see a rest stop its best to take it.

Big Seal Island

Invigorated after a short stop we paddled between the mainland and Big Seal Island. The south coast is an unforgiving coast for the most part but there were opportunities to skirt inside of islands to escape the constant swell. Here, the boys approach Sarsaparilla Point ... jeesh, who comes up with the names? A returning tourist from Mexico?

Hatcher's Cove opens up

In Little Garia Bay the fog lay low in the distance, always threatening to envelope us. Ralph had a GPS but I knew the sound of swell breaking on port meant we were on course whether we could see land or not.

Duck Island

Passing inside of Deer Island and Pigeon, Tinker and Whale Islands we didn't have much swell. We paddled also inside of Duck Island but then had to veer south and swing wide of a string of small islands and low rocks the swell was breaking over.

Campsite La Plante Harbour

After 26 kms paddling and one stop we arrived at our campsite for the night at La Plante Harbour. When Ralph planned the trip he selected Indian Harbour for the first night campsite but this turned out to be a good choice. There are cabins at Indian Harbour and I'm not a fan of cabins because they remind me of civilization.

The fog rolled in and out all evening but it didn't dampen our spirits. We were on our way and had a quarter already behind us.