Insane fun

On the penultimate Wednesday evening practice at St. Philips the group of nine broke into two groups.  Clyde, Dean, Shane and I had some fun riding water surging over the rocks.  We started just at the south point of the cove.  The others went north for a short paddle.

Click on the pix to enlarge for full effect.

Then we moved around the corner for some better action.  The other guys were in their whitewater boats.  I was in my Nordkapp.  Here there was not enough room between the rocks and the cliff for me to catch the rides.  The long boat just doesn't turn quickly enough to prevent a run onto the rocks.

I was content to get as close as possible to snap some of the action.

Clyde in action.

Clyde catches a ride while Shane powers out.

Shane almost swallowed.

Later we moved to the G-Spot where things got a little out of hand *lol*.  Shane taking a ride backwards, not by choice.

Dean and Clyde.

In the soup.

Here there was more room for me to catch a few rides but I still had to be selective by taking diagonal runs on the medium sized waves.  The largest waves would have driven me onto the rocks as Dean found out a few years ago.

It was a blast and only darkness ended the evening as the group combined again with the people who went for a paddle.  Its getting dark early now so next week will be the last Wednesday evening practice.  But there will be weekends when we hope to push the envelope again.

Along a familiar coast

There is a saying that familiarity breeds contempt.  No so for the stretch of coast from St. Philips to Topsail Beach.  Its close by and always different depending on wind, wind direction and tide level.

Sunday morning Clyde, Dean, Derrick and I met to paddle this familiar coast.  The harbour was blocked with the trucks and trailers of persons out for the fall food fishery so we didn't use the slipway but rather ...

... carried our kayaks down over the bank to the river to put in.

We paddled into Snivellers' Gulch and around the Rock of Ages.

We had frost the night before.  The temperature had not yet recovered making it cold on the hands especially while we paddled under the shadow of the cliffs.  This was where Clyde, Dean and I paddled while ...

... Derrick paddled a straight line further off shore and in the sun.

As the morning passed the sun got higher and by the time we were at the rock "Harald Bluetooth" we had moments we were in the sun and moments ...

... we were back in shade.

We stopped at Topsail Beach where we got out to stretch our legs and warm ourselves in the sun.

Its only a short paddle but convenient when time is an issue.  It was just what I needed after an extended absence from paddling but I am back.

Dusting off my kayak

I feel like the summer has passed me by.  Since the middle of July I've been busy with a housing project and I haven't paddled much.  I stated to shingle the roof but decided to pass it off to a dedicated roofer.  But, since then I've been busy replacing 320 linear feet of plywood soffit with vented vinyl and cladding the facia with metal.

I used my table saw quite a bit and looked with dismay as sawdust settled on my kayak.

Here's a shot of my handiwork setting up some scaffolding I put up.

But, all good things must come to an end; or, in this case my travails.  Wednesday evening was the first time in a month I was in my kayak.  The relief as I put in on the water to step in was palpable.  Slowly the sea washed the accumulated sawdust away.  I waited for my friend Cathy to burp her drysuit and celebrate my rebirth, so to speak.

Three of us paddled out into the cove with wind waves rolling in.  We hung around in the cove for a while as we were joined by others making a group of nine.

This was all well and good but I hungered for a bit more action.  As did Shane so ...

... of we went towards Topsail Beach hugging the shore to take maximum advantage of the waves rolling in and bashing the shoreline.  I looked behind off and on but we were off on our own.

It didn't take long to settle in to a comfortable rhythm after a month off.  A couple of times I got pasted by breaking waves including a narrow escape from getting carried onto the rocks with Shane.  We paddled a couple of kilometers enjoying action before turning back to meet some of our buddies coming towards us to accompany us home.

I didn't take many pictures; I was enjoying myself too much.

So, I have not gone into the great beyond.  I will be back to my usual self and paddle regularly.  I've got  lot of catching up to do.