Top 10 paddles of 2015 - #9

On August 15th a group of us were in Harbour Grace for a paddle to Salmon Cove.  Harbour Grace itself is not very interesting.  The main attraction is the beached former coastal supply vessel the Kyle.

Newfoundland had many isolated communities around the bays and inlets and the only way to supply them with goods people could not supply themselves was by ship.  The Kyle was one of them.  After floating around inspecting what was left of her we paddled approximately 5 kms out of the harbour until we were at ...

... the Feather the south headland of the harbour where we stopped for lunch.  In truth the paddle out of the harbour was not that interesting but it would get better.

After lunch we made a crossing to the Harbour Grace Islands.

There the scenery improved and was really quite spectacular.

We left the Harbour Grace Islands as the winds strengthened and made for Carbonear Island, behind Gary, and reached the mainland again near the community of Freshwater.  It was a diverse group on the day that got spread out during the paddle into the wind.  We were soon back together again to continue the paddle into Salmon Cove.

The coastline leading into Salmon Cove was punctuated by seas stacks that made the day.

After I had taken the picture of Derek, Hazen snapped one of me in the same spot.

This is just a short overview of this paddle with some shots not in the original posts which can be found here and here.

Harbour Grace was our furthest day paddle from home for the year.  Sometimes its hard to shake the aversion for the longer drives but thanks to Hazen we had a super day.  I enjoyed the coast from Freshwater to Salmon Cove and maybe in 2016 we'll start in Freshwater and paddle further north.

Top 10 paddles of 2015 - #10

On May 30th Clyde, Dean and I were in Cape Broyle.  Cape Broyle has it all, waterfalls and ...

... imposing cliffs and ...

... sea stacks and ...

... caves and ...

... beaches and (garden ornaments *lol* to carry home).

I don't paddle in Cape Broyle very often, maybe because I don't want it to become too familiar.  Its special and that's why its my 10th favourite paddle for the year.

The original posts are here and here.

I even recorded some video.

Short but sweet

Last weekend Dean laid down the law.  The put-in time was 9:30 not the meeting time.  Reading between the lines one had better no be late.  Someone hung the moniker of "Mean" Dean on him.

This Saturday I suggested a meeting time of 9:00 which would have meant lots of time to put-in by 9:30.  Cathy mailed looking for verification that it was a meeting time and not a put-in time.  Dean said yes meeting time.

Cathy, Gary, Neville and I arrived before 9:00.  As 9:00 approached there was no sign of Dean.  We milled about for a while when Cathy and Neville tried to contact Dean.  The response "Crap, the alarm didn't go off".  Too funny.

We told him we'd wait for him to arrive before setting out.  We hung around testing the waves crashing on the rocks.

About 9:45 we were on our way with very little wind but a fair size open swell running in out of the north.  I spent its energy in masses of foam on the rocks.

Looks are deceiving.  What looks placid in a still was in reality ...

... really quite violent.

As we paddle south the wind began to pick up.  We were paddling in a weather window with strong winds in the forecast that we were informed would gust to 70 kms in the afternoon.  I wondered if the winds were arriving early so discussing with Dean we decided to turn around and paddle back catching the occasional surf ride.

Back at the put-in Cathy decided to try a roll.  She's been working on it at the pool the last three weeks and has had some success.  The roll can seem like a symphony of many parts when learning it.  Sometimes the parts are all in tune, sometimes not so much.  Cathy missed on this attempt and had to wet exit but kudos to her for giving it a go. 

 
There was help close at hand.  Neville was first to grab her kayak.  For some unexplained reason her rear hatch cover came off spilling the contents and completely filling with water.  I stabilized Neville as he pulled the kayak over his deck and rocked it back and forth to empty it.  While Dean took Cathy on his ...

... back deck to get her out of the chilly water.  When the kayak ready for occupancy again it was a ...

... communal effort to have her crawl over Gary's rear deck and back into hers.  I contributed with evidence gathering *lol*

Only a short paddle of 10 kms but it was entertaining and it was on the water.

Dean has some more pic and commentary on his blog.

The longest 14 kilometers

Eight of us put in at 9:30 with plans for a bounce as the winds were forecast to be W30 kms gusting to 48.  There was no wind to speak of so we went for a paddle.  But before doing so ...

... Cathy got her first roll in the cold salty water after trying two evenings in the warm waters of the pool.  Sorry, didn't get a picture of that but she also wanted to practice an assisted rescue which Neville helped her with.

While there was no wind there was enough action around the rocks to make for a bit of fun.

Behind some rocks in calmer water Brian jumped out of his kayak and talked Cathy and Derek through a rescue.  Its not only knowing what to do while being rescued but also being able to do one oneself.

Between these intermittent stops we carried on along the shore except ...

... Dean who stopped every now and then to do a roll.

Time was slipping by the further we paddled.

The snows from a week ago had melted in the warmer weather and rain but it was still cool and damp.  Brian pulled out his pocket shelter by Outdoor Research.  It holds four people, Brian ;-) and three others.

Four hours later we approached our put-in point having paddled fourteen kilometers.  It wasn't all about the paddle on the day as new skills were learned along the way.  We were greeted by a rainbow on our return as the solid grey skies broke out into broken sunshine.

At the pool

Oh the weather outside is frightful but ...

... the weather in here is delightful.

A second fun night at the pool last night.

A first winter paddle

Yesterday, Friday, we had our first dump of snow when 30 cms fell.  Today six of us met at St. Philips for our first winter paddle.  Technically its still not winter but it sure felt like it.  No need to carry the kayaks to the slipway.  We just slid them along in the snow.

Once everyone was on the water we turned south into a gentle breeze.  Derek gave his new strip built Back Pearl its first taste of salt water.

Cathy cruising along snow covered rocks.  The trees were dusted with snow looking like someone had sifted icing sugar on them.

Terry sizing up the wave pattern before committing to passing through the rocks.  Quite one moment, waves crashing skywards the next.

Dean checking where everyone else was.  I thought the rocks looked darer and more sinister with the white of the snow.

The temperature was  few degrees below zero, -6 with the wind chill.  Where there was a larger flow of water it was liquid.  Here, the water seeped out and we had our first icicles since last winter.

Arriving at Topsail Beach.

We stopped to stretch our legs at Topsail Beach.  Derek boiled the kettle for steaming hot tea.

The sun came out and we could feel the difference as we made our way under Topsail Bluff.

The water changed colour from inky dark to aerated indigo.

The wind picked up to about 25 kms and the sea quickly became more active with a good smattering of whitecaps.

Back in St. Philips I paddled up the fresh water river to wash the salt out of my gear.  I was warmed up from the exertion of making distance at the same time making sure I stayed upright as waves coursed over my spray deck.  I didn't feel the cold as I splashed around so I didn't have to rinse everything out at home.

A usual when we paddle out of St. Philips we stopped for hot drinks at the restaurant by the beach to debrief the paddle.  Thanks to Brian, Cathy, Dean, Derek, and Terry for sharing the day.

Dean has his pictures from the day posted on his blog.

Rolling - putting the pieces together

Pool sessions began Tuesday past.  A couple of my kayak buddies are learning to roll.  Part of their learning curve includes watching videos on YouTube.  Those videos go pretty quick making it hard to see exactly what's going on. So, I thought to edit a short video and slow the process down to 12.5% of actual speed making it easier to see.

I don't consider myself an authority on rolling but this works for me.

In my opinion these are the key success factors in developing a roll:

• be comfortable under water.  It only takes seconds to roll and most people can hold their breaths for 20 seconds or more.
• relax and do a proper set-up.
• gas off - roll the wrist forward like slacking off on gas on a motorcycle.  That tilts the leading edge of the paddle up so it skims across the water versus plunging into the depths.
• sweep the paddle out in an arc.  Either follow the paddle with your eyes or face up to the sky.  That will keep the head down.
• lean back and bring the head out last.
• be careful not to exert too much force or you'll overcompensate and go over again.  The active hand can execute a roll just grasping the paddle between the thumb and forefinger.  OK, in the pool, in conditions that grasp would be my last concern.

 Hope this is useful.