At what cost?

This will be a different type of kayak post.

My local kayak friends know that I am mired in a massive project, as did anyone who read an earlier post of mine to say my paddling would not be as consistent for a while.

I built my own home some 30 years ago.  Well, 95% of it anyway.  That included shingling the roof.

I've been lucky stretching the life of the roof but this year the roof has to be re-shingled.

My plan was to do the job again myself.  105 bundles, yikes!

After two days I've realized I'm not as young as I was when I did it the first time.  I'm also much more nervous up on the roof at 5 meters above the ground.

After two weeks of prep work I was feeling the effort.  I was also feeling the pressure of getting the roof done without letting rain water into the house.  Say nothing of the loss of sleep due to worry.

Two days into stripping the old shingles and putting down a protective underlay I realized it was beyond me.  It was going to take much more time than I anticipated and at the end I'd be nothing but skin and bone so ...

... I made the decision to pay someone else to do the job.  Once I made that decision the stress just melted away.

Like I said, I've been mired in this project for three weeks.  I've missed a a four day kayak camp trip and I've missed paddling on weekends.  At the end of each day I've been too tired to pick up my guitar.  Both of these things that give me such pleasure were suffering.

They say time is money.  We are all given a bank of time, no more time will be dispensed.  Money is relative and there are no pockets in that final suit - you can't take it with you.  May as well use some of it to buy time to do the things I enjoy.

A special thanks to friend Cathy for validation of that decision.

Noah's Ark - FOUND!!!

All speculation of Noah's Ark finding its resting place on Mount Ararat is unfounded.  It has been found and it is in Conception Bay.

Another Wednesday evening saw six of us show up at St. Philips.  We started by riding the surge over the rocks at the south end of the cove while waiting for others to arrive.

At 6:00 and no one on the beach to put in we headed for Portugal Cove along a shoreline awash with foam.

At the G-Spot the larger swells were really piling over the rocks so timing was essential to avoid being caught and swept up onto the rocks.

On our way back from Portugal Cove we made the discovery of the century.  It had to be Noah's Ark with its boards sealed with pitch.

We went close to investigate to see if Noah and his animals were still aboard but they had apparently already disembarked to leave the Ark floating in the small cove.  It had already suffered considerable damage being slammed into the cliff by the swell.

The only items I saw worth salvaging on the Ark were some solar panels ;).  After some time marveling at the unusual construction we ...

... left the Ark to its destiny and made our way back to St. Philips under the golden glow of the setting sun.

And, so ended an eventual Wednesday evening; never a dull moment!

Back in the saddle again

Its been two weeks since I had my bum in the kayak.  I've got a major home project underway that has kept me busy, exhausted and off the water.  But, Wednesday evening came along and our regular weekly get-together at St. Philips.  It was a beautiful evening without conditions so the group of 10 of us just went for a leisurely paddle.

The tide had been falling since 2:00 pm so by 5:00 there were places we couldn't get through unless in a plastic boat.  The glass kayaks had to detour around.

Julie.

New to Wednesday evening was Bobbie in the center.  Always great to see new people show up.  We had 10 and could have set a record attendance if some of the guys studying for their Paddle Canada Level IV certification could have broken away from their research and study.

Some of the group backlit by the sun setting behind the billowing clouds.

Whoa!  Some waves rolled in as Brian and I were ready to scoot through between this rock and the hard place.  We ...

... waited patiently as water surged through the gap eventually making it through.

Turning back the sunlight cast a warm golden glow on the scene.

I'm still tied up with my longer term project but I was over the moon to be back in my kayak.  Paddling will be sporadic over the next month but I'll get out when I can, at least on Wednesday evenings after I've put in my day's work.  They don't pay me enough to work overtime. *lol*

Too busy to paddle?

I didn't paddle last weekend and it doesn't look good for this weekend.  The last time I paddled was a Wednesday evening 10 days ago.

I'm tied up with a major project - re-shingling my roof.  The only opportunities I see until I get it finished is on an evening (that should be fun after being on the roof all day!) or on a heavy rain day when I won't work.

I'm just sayin' to let anyone dropping by know I have not given up paddling or posting, I've just faced up to reality and responsibility.  My posts until I'm done will be a bit hit or miss.

Big smiles in big swell

Cathy's daughter was coming for our Wednesday evening practice at St. Philips.  It blew pretty good all day.  I was apprehensive about a novice paddler coming out under those conditions but by evening the wind dropped   Then we had my favourite paddling conditions - big swell and no wind.  And by the smiles on Larina's face, her's too.

Eleven of us at times just hung around floating in the broad open swell in between ...

... paddling north into a swell of ...

... a meter to a meter and a half.  Jen in front of me in her sweet looking new Etain by Valley.  The black hull and white deck separated by a red line was very eye catching.

No wind meant it was just paddling into massive amounts of water without breaking waves.

Mother and daughter.  Impossible to tell who was the novice paddler!

The 11 of us paddled into the swell with the hopes of catching surf rides back but, without the wind, the waves didn't steepen making it difficult to drop in.  I felt lucky to catch two rides of any distance.

Back in the cove the moveable swell met the immovable rocky shoreline and ...

... exploded skywards.  Brian ...

... Neville and I hung out just on the periphery of the chaos practicing boat control in the confusion.

The evening ended with a little rescue practice and a game of frisbee after one of the gang found one floating in the water.

It was a fun evening with smiles all around, most notably by Larina and Cathy, happy to have her daughter share some time on the water.

Great Colinet Island (2016) Part 3

We arrived in Wild Cove on Great Colinet Island on Saturday for our one night club kayak camp trip.  Sunday morning it was time to pack up and head home.  Under cool, grey skies everyone had breakfast, well, most of us except the late sleepers and broke camp.

We paddled into Wild Cove on the east side where the rocks dipped to the west.  Leaving on the west side the rocks dipped to the east, which means???  Wild Cove sits in the axis of a syncline!

All along the west side the weaker sedimentary beds were eroded making passages to paddle through.

At South Point we paddled under massive cliffs that ...

... trailed off towards the west side of the island with little coves to investigate.

Rounding the last corner we were face into the wind.  The forecast for Sunday was an easterly wind which would have afforded the group protection until the crossing back to Admirals Beach.  It didn't quite work out that way as winds were more NNE so it was a little more of a workout than anticipated.

The husband and wife team of Brian and Sue.  The more experienced paddlers spaced themselves out among the group to make sure everyone was safe.

I looked across at Cathy and thought how the verdant hills matched the green of her kayak.  What a trooper paddling on without breakfast, well, a banana and a granola bar.

We had a tow to do in the wind.  I saw a rope in the water and realized Dean had a customer.  I called out I would hook on to him and we'd do a tandem tow.  After some time Hazen and Clyde took over and had a turn.  We rested in the protection of this small cove before ...

... Shane and Derek took a turn.

As we approached Back Cove we stopped and everyone took a breather.  I sampled some of Sarah's curry dip finding it went well with baby carrots, even watermellon and Cathy's brownies *lol*.  That and some of Shane's trail mix and I was good to go again.

The wind seemed to drop after our stop making the passage across Regina much easier dispensing with the need for the tow.  At, what I understood to be Mother-in-Law rock, we made the turn for Admirals Beach 1.5 kms across to the mainland.  The small wind waves on the beam made paddling easier for everyone having paid our dues earlier in the morning.

Back at Admirals Beach with Great Colinet Island in the background.  Dave the beluga was still hanging out in the harbour so some decided to have a swim with him while the rest of us unloaded our kayaks.

It was only a short one night trip but it was filled with adventure and a great bunch of 15 other adventurers.  Thanks to Dean and Hazen for organizing the trip.

You can catch another take on the trip at Shane's blog.