Robin Hood and a band of merry kayakers

That's enough

After some 45 minutes of paddling around the ice bergs north of Quidi Vidi we split up for the rest of the day. Three of the guys decided to call it a day while Clyde, Gerard, Hazen and I paddled to Logy Bay via Robin Hood Bay for a look. It was a good decision.

A cave

At Small Point Gerard went to explore this cave carved into the almost vertically standing red sandstone.

Sugarloaf Head

Rounding Small Point we saw the prominent landmark of Sugarloaf Head. And, much to our amazement, another huge ice island nestled in Robin Hood Bay.

Huge ice island

From afar it looked to be huge and it was. I waited to take a picture until the length of the iceberg filled the entire scene. Hazen in front sets the scale as a reference point.

Reach out and touch

At the lower end of the berg Clyde got close to reach out and feel the cold icy surface. A blue vein in the iceberg was a fissure in the icecap filled with water that froze again before calving off of the glacier.

Others were out

When we reached Sugarloaf Head I saw a couple of kayakers coming south towards us. Its not very often that happens. Turns out it was Cory and Des who had been out before us and had paddled as far as Torbay Point.

Entering Logy Bay

After exchanging greetings with Cory and Des we made our way into Logy Bay ...

Cleft in the rocks

but not before exploring this cleft in the rocks. The red sandstone rocks along this side of the shore are the upright arm of a southerly plunging syncline. The other side of the syncline is expressed at Cape Spear where the beds dip in the opposite direction. The northerly wind and waves have found a weakness in the sedimentary beds and exploited it, pounding this cleft.

Marine Lab

Logy Bay is the site of Memorial University of Newfoundland's Marine Lab. It looks a bit like a spaceship landed from another planet. The technical name given by the University is the "Ocean Sciences Centre" but locally is called the Marine Lab. There they do research "conducted on the North Atlantic fishery, aquaculture, oceanography, ecology, behavior and physiology. Research is conducted on organisms ranging from bacteria to seals."

Rocky take-out

There's no soft sandy beach to take out in Logy Bay. Clyde and Gerard took out for lunch. I hadn't considered stopping for lunch so mine was back in the car. Hazen and myself sat in the boats for a while before taking our time to paddle back to Quidi Vidi.

We had a fantastic day on Saturday. It was the first time in three years that icebergs came this close to the coast. Sometimes is only by chance that winds carry them in the right direction. Otherwise they float south, well offshore. We really took advantage of the opportunity and I hope they stick around for another chance to paddle with icebergs.