Wednesday was a municipal holiday in St. John's. Five of us decided to go for a paddle rather than take in the festivities at the annual Royal St. John's Regatta. Clyde, Dean, Hazen, Ron and I drove to Tors Cove with the hopes of seeing some humpback whales around the islands of the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve.
We left the beach in Tors Cove and paddled through the Gut between Fox Island and the mainland. There was a bit of swell running creating clapotis, rebounding waves, off of the island.
There didn't seem to be a plan but we just headed for Great Island in the distance. Away from Fox Island the confused sea settled down.
We arrived at Great Island at the ...
... Cribby Rocks which we ...
... paddled around.
The intention was then to paddle along the exposed eastern side of Great Island where it got rather large. It was a good spot to practice a rescue before we decided to return to ...
... and paddle through the Cribby Rocks.
Along the east shore of Great Island it was calm under the guano covered cliffs of sandstone. It was along here that we spotted the one and only indication of a whale and that was only a solitary spout in the distance.
The seabirds are nesting at this time of year. The sky seemed full of puffins and hundreds floated on the water, though, to get the idea, you will need to click on the picture to enlarge.
We arrived at the south end of the island. I decided to paddle out far enough to catch sight of the great leaning slot.
That was pretty much the day. We left Great Island for Ship Island where the other guys stopped for a break whereas I carried on back to Tors Cove with other plans for the remainder of the day.
The whales are about but its often a hit or miss situation. This day was a miss but still a good day in the kayaks.
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