Arrrrr pirates!

Exit

A late start today after a morning of grunt work. That has to be done too. Dean, Gary and I left Long Pond to do a short crossing to Kellys Island at 1:00. Kellys Island is reputed to have pirate treasure burried somewhere on the island. If I only knew where!

The put-in was crowded with all sorts of power boats as this was the last weekend of the summer food fishery when the ordinary Joe can go and catch a meal of cod fish.

Crossing

The water was like oil, the only disturbance caused by the multitude of motor boats buzzing around the bay looking for the best place to catch fish. They had that annoying sound like bees buzzing around. I was grateful for the quiet in between.

Cooling down

It was hot. Summer decided to show up again for a few days. We got over to Kellys Island and did a few rolls before starting our paddle around. Note to self: Camera cooled in seawater will result in ...

Mirage

blurry images as the cool camera meets the warmer air to fog up the lens.

Up on high

Kellys Island is only a 30 minute paddle from the community of Conception Bay South. Because its an island it is an option close by for a one night camp trip. We knew of a couple of places where we could get off the water that might serve as campsites. This was the first place we scoped out. A bit of a climb to carry the gear but a great view.

Going down

We climbed down from our perch high above the bay but didn't look like mountaineers at all. A bit warm to climb in drysuits but a dip in the sea soon had us back to a comfortable operating temperature.

Sammy, the seal

A the south end of the island we came upon a seal sunning itself in the warm sun. Seals usually slip off the rocks into the sea when we get anywhere close but this guy didn't mind us at all.

Viewpoint

At Martins Cove we got out again to check out another possible campsite. Not as high and a bit more isolated in that we'd be away from the lights along the shore on the other side.

Behemoth

The tanker Jasmine Knutson was in the bay and riding high after discharging her cargo of Bunker C. We figured it was worth a paddle over to have a look see.

The elephant and the mouse

It was an impressive sight paddling up close and in the shadow of the giant beast. With her cargo discharged she's riding high in the water and its easy to see she also has a good bit of rocker. Makes her easy to turn when put op on her sides *lol*

We took out back at Long Pond amidst the hub-bub of people launching and extracting power boats. We had a shortish paddle of 16 kms and I, for one, was happy to be doing it in a kayak.