Choppy seas
Today Dean was going to be spending his 100th time in his kayak this year. That's a large number and seemed to me that we should do something with a bit of pizzazz. The winds were supposed to pick up from the 25 kms at launch to 40. I suggested we paddle the 5 km to Bell Island and we'd have the wind behind us for the return trip.
Arrived
We arrived at Bell Island after 45 minutes. Not bad time in a port beam sea given that a flat calm crossing runs 38 - 40 minutes. Under the protective cliffs of Bell Island the sea flattened.
Dominion Pier
Dean paddled through the piles of the long abandoned Dominion Pier.
Jumble
The temperature hovered around the big goose egg celcius but the sun was out periodically. Here the sun highlighted the hematite stained rocks of Bell Island beyond the remains of Scotia Pier.
Hawaii?
This could be Hawaii with its waterfalls except the snow formed at the base of the falls gives it away.
Going home
We paddled almost to Lance Cove in the protection of the cliffs from the westerly winds before deciding to return across the bay to St. Thomas Cove. As we crossed we lost the protection of the land and paddled eventually in a starboard beam sea. In the distance Little Bell Island and Kelly's Island hovered on the horizon.
Refreshing
Back at the put in we performed our regular ritual of washing the salt water out of our gear in the fresh water of the river at St. Philips. Its really not that bad after working up some heat crossing from Bell Island.
Havin' a java
Another ritual is having a coffee at By the Beach Restaurant. After putting the gear away it sure felt good to wrap my cold hands around the hot coffee mug, to say nothing about the inner warmings of the drink.
Congrats Dean on a significant milestone. 100 times in the kayak is a large number by anyone's standard. Glad to be able to share it with you today.
No comments:
Post a Comment