On the third day of our kayak camp trip at Little Bay Island we awoke to another beautiful day with light winds. We left our tents up and decided on a circumnavigation of the island. The only question was clockwise or counterclockwise. Decision made we got our kayaks off of the rocky put-in and ...
... left Suly Ann Cove and headed counterclockwise past Black Head and turning Berry Head entered Southern Harbour ...
... under the bridge connecting houses on Mack's Island to the rest of the community of Little By Islands.
Little Bay Islands was a prosperous community in its day with schooners being built and sailed to the Labrador coast to fish. As I coasted along the shoreline I noticed the remnants of slipways remaining from the days schooners were built and launched.
The house at Campbell's Point with Ethel Wellon Wiseman's shop on the right. I stopped to speak to the new owner of the property who told me the shop originally was on the other side of what now was a road and was a two story. He moved the shop, reduced the height and was using it to store his equipment. FYI Dawn Rae!
We paddled around the perimeter of the harbour. Some of us refilled our water containers at the house of a weekend visitor and ...
... departed through Boatswain Tickle.
What had been a nondescript shoreline on the west side began to appeal as we entered Wellman Bight on the northeast.
I believe this is Back Cove. Its not noted on the topo but seems to me a logical place where I'm told the child Marion was saved from the clutches of the sea.
Paddling on we rounded Venison Point and across Batt Cove to enter North Harbour. There we noticed a small cabin and approaching Mike Parsons came down to chat with us. Mike and his wife are the only two people living year round on the now resettled and isolated community. We had a grand chat and did not impose on his secluded getaway opting to head further down the arm to have lunch on this beach with a great view.
Now Newfoundland is a geological wonderland. I couldn't pass by this site without having a closer look and snap a picture. This entire area is composed of submarine dark to light volcanic rocks, parts of the earth's mantle as continents collided starting in the Ordovician Period and unseparated igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. In laypersons terms, a mishmash! Here a deposit of breccia is sliced showing an angular and subangular deposit of rocks close to their source.
Leaving North Harbour to continue our circumnavigation.
The gang of five stopped at Burnt Head Cove. Left to right: Brian, Neville, Clyde, Hazen and myself.
At Western Cove we spotted a lovely meadow with a splash of red. Landing we figured people lived here because piles of rock and been picked to make vegetable gardens and someone had planted these distinctive red poppies in a home flower garden. The topo shows a dashed trail which would make a fine day hike from the main community.
Back at our campsite we had the convenience of standing tents and only had supper to cook. We made a bigger effort to collect firewood for the evening's fire hoping it would keep the flies away. As the fire burned we sampled and rated another two beers from Quidi Vidi Brewery which was part of our regular nightly schedule.
It was an awesome paddle along a spectacular coastline. We could not have had better luck with the weather. We hoped it would hold.
Here you have the breadcrumbs for the day's paddle.
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