A glorious day is finished at Middle Cove

Finished lunch in Flatrock we set off on the return leg too Middle Cove.  A man was taking pictures of us.  Turns out he was from the Netherlands.  For me, "een kans om een beetje nederlands te praten", a chance to speak a little Dutch.  I dallied too long while the group paddled on.  I said my good-bye and dug in to catch the crowd which I did a kilometer further at the Beemer.  They were playing riding the surge of the submerged extension of Flatrock Point.

Done playing we paddled back down the channel south of the Point and ...

... check out the iceberg again.  Some of us grabbed some of the chunks floating around.  I threw a good size piece into the cockpit hoping its size would help it survive in the heat.

As we passed by the cliffs we noticed a group of climbers had arrived to climb.  I zoomed and ...

... caught one on the rock face.

Massive slabs of rock loom over Cathy in this cave.

Terry and I check out another cave paddling over indigo coloured waters.

As we approached Torbay the sun highlighted the petrified ripples of and ancient seafloor of the Neoproterozoic.  You would need to click on the image to enlarge to see the ripples just at 11:00 of Brian's cap.  Sedimentary rocks are dated by reference to fossils they contain.  As these rocks date from before the emergence of complex life they cannot be dated with accuracy and are ascribed to a period from 1 billion to 541 million years ago.  That's a long time for ripples to survive.

As on the paddle to Flatrock we crossed across the cove and did not go down into Torbay.  We explored some of the caves between Torbay and Middle Cove.  This one was a beauty that ran ...

... deep into the rocks.  Hard to get a good clear shot because there's not enough light for the camera to auto-focus.

Running out of caves we round a bend and catch sight of the beach at Middle Cove.  When we left in the morning around 9:30 there were only a few people to see us off but ...

... when we returned the beach was crowded with people out enjoying the super weather.

I checked my piece of iceberg I had collected and 90% of it had turned to water.  Realizing what was left would not survive the trip home, I spotted  group who would appreciate the ice for their drinks.

Brian, Cathy and Des had to leave directly.  Gary, Hazen, Terry and I stopped for a coffee before heading home.  It was a most fantastic day along a spectacular coast with high cliffs, caves and this day, one iceberg.

A waterhaul in Flatrock for pumpkin chutney

Saturday Brian Cathy, Des, Gary, Hazen, Terry and I met at Middle Cove for a paddle to Flatrock.  As we readied the kayaks to put-in Cathy said her sister Julie would be waiting for us in Flatrock with pumpkin chutney.  Not only was the day starting out with the anticipation of a fantastic paddle along a stunning coastline but also the exotic taste of pumpkin chutney.

Under blue skies without a cloud we left Middle Cove.

The sea was perfectly still even at Motion between Middle Cove and Torbay where the slightest swell causes challenging conditions.

We crossed the cove at Torbay without going int the community and reached our first cave of the day which of course ...

... we had to probe and explore.

Where we put-in at Middle Cove we could see there would be an iceberg in our day and soon we came a bergy bit.  Brian went over and chipped off a chunk.

The sun beat down on the imposing cliffs giving the black slates a purplish tinge.

As we entered Church Cove the grey to black slates gave way to the conglomerates and sandstones of the Cabot Group of sedimentary rocks stretching all the way to Flatrock.

The group ahead is dwarfed by vertical cliffs.

Near Flatrock Point a small, tabular iceberg floated.  Small chunks hissed effervescently as air bubbles trapped in the ice for thousands of years escaped the melting ice.  It was the same fizzle of bubbles when a soft drink is poured into a glass.

Within reach of Flatrock Point we paddled through this channel.  The sea was calm but on a day where it is more active the rocks to the right provide protection from the maddening waters.

The rocks at Flatrock Point extend out under the water and is known as "The Beemer".  There a little bit of swell provided enough surge to catch surf rides for 10 minutes or so before paddling down into Flatrock for ...

... our lunch stop.

At this point we were hoping to see Julie and the *lol* pumpkin chutney that would add spice to our fare but, alas, there was no Julie.  Cathy tried texting but evidently she had gone hiking and we came up with a waterhaul (known as pulling a fish net without catching anything).

No matter, we didn't come for the chutney.  Our reward was lunch under warm blue skies and the sharing of companionship.  It doesn't get any better than that.

Flying home

After a weekend of high winds and a Sunday commitment that kept me off the water I was happy for Wednesday evening to arrive.  It was windy also but that was a good thing.  The wind was blowing at 15 - 20 knots generating small wind waves.

We paddled along the shore where there was just enough ...

... action for novice Ryan to get a taste.  Sadly, again, the pictures don't do the conditions justice.

We paddled between the rocks.

Behind the "Rock of Ages" it was calm as the SW wind generated waves were prevented from entering.

At "Harald Bluetooth" we turned, paddled somewhat out into the bay until the SW wind waves were at our backs and lined up with the cove at St. Philips.

That's when the fun began as we surfed back to the cove.  I regretted I didn't have my GPS with me for I knew I literally flew at times and I wondered what kinds of speed I was reaching.  Other times I only had to put the paddle in the water occasionally to keep the kayak moving.

I find the Nordkapp a wonderful boat to surf.  Without trying I arrived back at the cove well ahead of the other guys so I went up the river to wash up by myself.  Just as I arrived it began to rain heavily as the raindrop danced on the fresh water.

It was a fun few hours and a mid-week treat.

Rikki is here

I don't know the date Cathy ordered her new kayak but it was some time ago.  Its been a difficult birthing process.  One kayak was selected and some time later there were issues with it.  She had to pick another.  There were three colours to pick from.  She picked the lime one.  Surprisingly looks great!

So, yesterday evening I was sitting doing a little guitar practice and I see an email come in.  "RIKKI IS HERE!!! :-) :-) :-)" it read.

Then another quickly on the heels of the first: "It's Rikki time!!!!!!!
I am going out for a dip in the cove :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)"

I replied "Getting ready to join you."

I arrived before her and waited patiently.  She arrived bubbling over with joy.

She loaded her Rikki and we put her in ...

... the water of the harbour boat basin.  Content with stability we entered the ...

... flat waters of the cove.

Wondering how Rikki felt to roll, Cathy immediately did a couple.  At this point Cathy was over the moon!

We knew Neville, Ron, Shane and Terry were on the water but we didn't know which direction they went.  We set off towards Topsail in search.  When we got so far where we could look down the coast and we didn't see them we turned to look for them towards Portugal Cove.

We went as far as Beachy Cove.  It was getting late and if they had gone that way we should have connected with them by that time.  We didn't see them so again we turned to go back to St. Philips.

As we approached St Philips we saw them playing among the rocks.  They had gone towards Topsail after all.

The guys immediately surrounded Rikki welcoming the newcomer.

I've been at the sea trials of Dean's Nordkapp "North Cape Jenny" and his Karma RG.  I've also been present at the launch of Sean's "Black Pearl" and Terry's "Chatham" (I think I have that right).  I remember when I took delivery of my "Stardust" and every time a new boat arrives I remember the joy.

I was happy to share in another.

Cape Broyle in the heat - Part 2

After stopping fr lunch at Lance Cove we got back on the water to paddle to check out ...

... Cathedral Cave.  There the red sandstone beds have been tilted to near 90 degrees and the sea has found a zone of weakness to carve out a ...

... deep, massive cave.  Its called "Cathedral Cave" for good reason.  Oddly, only Cathy and Dean joined me in the cave while the rest paddle on.

After we had our fill of Cathedral Cave we followed the gang east and out to North Point.  As we neared the Point we could feel the swell running from the northeast.

Under clouds billowing in an otherwise blue sky we bobbed about for a bit having a sight of the coast north and south as far as the eye could see.

On our way back to the take-out we stopped at Freshwater Cove for a break.  Some of us cooled off in the waterfall in the cove.  This was something we would not have been able to do in March when we last paddled here because ...

... the waterfall was frozen solid.  Reminds me of some song called Turn, turn, turn".

Cape Broyle in the heat - Part 1

Three months ago, on March 13th, some of us paddled Cape Broyle in cold and snow.  On Sunday, it was much warmer as we arrived there in brilliant sunshine.

Our first stop was to catch a ride in the current flowing out of this micro hydroelectric facility in Brians Cove.  There are a number of these along the Southern Shore fed by freshwater ponds from higher ground.  This one is fed by Horse Chops Pond but not ...

... all the water goes there.  Here the Horse Chops River runs into the sea.

At Sheeps Head we crossed The Narrows to the south side of the harbour where the cliffs were ...

... more dramatic.

There's access here to the underworld that is hard to see.  The dark patch opens up to ...

... a tunnel of light.  Not great for picture taking as looking out to the light from the dark overwhelms the camera but its dramatic to paddle through.  From this point on it was mostly Cathy and me as the rest carried on while we ...

... investigated every cave and ...

... waterfall.  While it was warm in he sun, the extended showering did send a chill through the bones.

Back in sunshine we checked out this cave and ...

... waterfall though this one was out of reach from the seat of our kayaks.  We would enjoy its refreshing waters on our return though.

At last we reached Lance Cove where we stopped ...

... for lunch.  We occupied the west side of the beach as some hikers on the East Coast Trail were camping on the other side.