Fortune Bay return

All good things must come to an end and so it was on the seventh day of our Fortune Bay trip.

It was windy all night and so it was when we got up on Friday morning.  We listened to the marine forecast and discussed the options as we watched whitecaps on the water in the protected cove we were camped in.  We took our time with breakfast while our indecision simmered.

As we finished breakfast it seemed like the wind abated a bit so we decided to break camp and stick our noses out past Lobster Cove Point.  If it looked safe we'd carry on.  If not we'd come back and pitch the tents again.

Things looked OK but sizable.  The saving grace was that what wind there was would be behind us.  There wasn't much wind but the sea continued to run with 1 - 1.5 meter waves.  Here's a short 1 minute video of conditions at Friar Head.  Practice at St. Philips was paying off.

Looks smooth but looks are deceptive.  I put on a burst of speed to catch Dean and Neville and the sea stack, just barely.  Funny thing was when we passed Friar Head there was no discussion of whether we should go back.  In my mind there was never any doubt we were going.  While some waves broke over the kayak it was exhilarating paddling.

At Conne Big Head the land turns and we had protection from the larger waves but only while we were in Big Conne.

At Tranmer Cove we were in it again and the first hour was behind us.

An hour later we were in Wild Bight and the entrance to the resettled community of Femme.  Things were calm as Petticoat Island to starboard provided the protection.

Near Femme we stopped to stretch our legs and a snack.  It continued foggy and grey as we exited back out into the bay between Petticoat Island and Red Cove.

At Fish Rock near New Harbour we set off into the fog to cross over to Bay L'Argent.  Somewhere over there lay land, beyond our compass bearing of 130 degrees.

We kept paddling in the beam sea and sure enough land began to appear.  To be truthful, we couldn't miss because we would have hit land nywhere in the direction we were going but its comforting to know ...

... our navigation skills were up to the task.  The headland at Harbour Mille is dark on port and Bay L'Argent to starboard with the 1,000 foot beacon of Sugarloaf Hill right in front of my bow.

Neville and I arrive at Bay L'Argent just as skies were beginning to clear at 1:00.

Brilliant sunshine erupted while we unloaded the kayaks and prepared for the 2.5 hour drive home.  We were headed home but not before we had our traditional feed of fish and chips.

The trip was over.  We managed to clock 150.1 kilometers.  We had a bit of everything: sun, fog, rain, calm and wind.  That is to be expected on any week long trip.  I enjoyed every minute of it.

Thanks Dean, Hazen and Neville.  To Clyde who was part of the planning but had to bail at the last minute, you were missed.  Maybe next year.  Now, where are my maps!

The last leg!