Isle Valen: Thank you

I got into Isle Valen on Tuesday and discovered there was no cell phone service.  I was concerned that if I had to wait a few days to get out my wife would be worried I hadn't made contact.

With that weighing on my mind I decided to pack everything I didn't need for the night stay, hit the hay early and planned as early a morning departure as possible.  The wind continued to buffet the tent and sometime overnight the wind dropped.

I awoke at 4:30, packed my sleeping bag, air mattress and tent, put on my kayak gear and Stardust was ready to face the day.  It was foggy!

At 5:10 I was on my way wondering about sea state.  Near the entrance it seemed the fog was even thicker.  I knew I wouldn't be losing touch with the shoreline and luckily the sea was flat calm making that possible.

I decided on following the south shore of Isle Valen east and then north.  I knew I was going to have to make a blind crossing back to the Burin Peninsula in fog.  I had a map and a bearing to get to Deep Cove but I liked the comfort of knowing near the end of the island it bent in the direction I wanted to go so all I had to do was depart on the same bearing I held on the last bit of coast.

At Beachy Cove Head almost an hour after leaving the fog seem to lift a bit as entered Pete Cove.

The fog lifted further until I got to the northern tip of the island and beyond the fog thickened.  I launched out ...

... into the soup trusting my compass and I also had a backstop to rely on.  It was a 2 km crossing so I knew that if I didn't make landfall at the end of 20 - 25 minutes I had better take a more aggressive track to port.

Twenty minutes after leaving Isle Valen I could hear birds singing but still couldn't see land.  I paddled a bit further and it loomed out of the fog.

At 8:10 I had been on the water for 3 hours and I had not yet eaten breakfast.  Ladder Cove offered one of only a few places to get off of the water along the coast.  Just on speculation I took out my cell phone and on this isolated beach remarkably I managed to place a phone call.  That was a relief!  Then I set about cooking up some ...

... seaweed stew!!!  Just kidding.  I had porridge and a cup of tea and cleaned my pot with seaweed.  Refueled and ready to carry on I continued on along the fog shrouded coast maintaining close contact with just shadows at times until ...

... a couple of boats loomed out of the fog in Davis Cove which confirmed where I was.  I kept track of where I was by counting off the blocks on my topo by 10 minute, 1 km, intervals for 12 kms after making landfall.

Four kilometers on the fog dissipated at Great Sandy Harbour so I could made the crossing across the mouth of the harbour before landing at Gulch Pond and lunch time.

Reinvigorated after a good meal and a cup of tea I crossed over to Bar Haven Island and my paddling day ended after 42 kms at Browns Cove.

The day brightened with off and on sunshine.  I set up my tent and collected some ...

... firewood.  There was lots on the beach so I collected enough to start a fire and add more as the fire was burning.

After eating supper, which I did in a bit of drizzle every now and then, I got the festivities underway.  Oh ya, entertainment for the night.

I burned quite a lot of wood, some of it big sticks so I stopped piling on more wood and let it burn down to die before I hit the sleeping bag.

The day that started out with some trepidation resolved into a day of fulfillment unlike any I've had in a kayak up to then.  I felt great and the song "Thank You" by Alanis Morissette came to mind:

"Thank you India
Thank you terror
Thank you disillusionment
Thank you frailty
Thank you consequence
Thank you thank you silence"

 I sang it but substituted "Isle Valen" for "India".

Isle Valen: A short look

The narrow entrance to Isle Valen Harbour did not escape me in the fog as I found my way in.  My first impression was that the harbour was hemmed in on all sides by either vertical rock walls or steeply upsloping banks.

Here's a screen capture from Google Earth showing the layout of the harbour.  I ended up finding just enough flat ground to pitch my tent (in the northeast end of the harbour) ...

... by the side of the water.  There was level ground further away but a longish carry uphill.

The next thing I did was to try to call home to say I had arrived safe and sound.  I climbed to the highest hill without finding any service.  That made me a little concerned that people may worry.  You see, I wasn't 100% sure I'd get out in the morning an I already heard from the attendant at Garden Cove that he had been stranded here for 30 days a number of years ago.

The fog started to lift just a bit so as I came down from the top of the hill I got some photos.  Here you can see how the harbour is hemmed in by steep cliffs.

Here was an option with some level ground but a long carry from the kayak.

I was getting the real Placentia Bay experience where fog is a regular companion.  I would have enjoyed a bit of sunshine and more walking access around the harbour but it was what it was and like any lady dolled up, the harbour in sunshine would look a lot better and, to prove it, heres a link to sunshine photos of Isle Valen.

Isle Valen was settled in the early 1800's with the census for 1836 showing 167 persons.  The population peaked at 289 in 1857 and thereafter began a steady decline.  By 1921 the population declined to 184 individuals in 38 families.  by 1945 the population was down to 147 and completely resettled in the late 1960's.

This is the only house left behind as a common practice of resettlement was to float and tow houses to new communities.  I went to have  ...

... look inside.  This room looked like it could have been used as a dining room used for special occasions.  The sideboard still had some old dinner ware stacked on it.

I wondered what family lived here and decided to just leave everything behind.  The census for 1935 shows the predominant family surnames were Bennett, Gaulton, Leonard, Lockyer and Williams.  Was it one of them?

Turns out the mother of a friend of my wife was born there and is listed in the 1935 census: Mabel Williams, age 16, daughter of John and Julia.  They also had a son named Jethro, age 23.

The census of 1945 shows son Jethro married and with a new child named Doreen which is also the name of my wife's friend, but not surnamed Williams.

The stairs looked safe enough to climb but I didn't investigate upstairs where the bedrooms were.

Here's the entry to the kitchen, the paint still looking pretty fresh after about 50 years.

The kitchen stove!  This would be the central focus, and warmest room, of the house.  Everyday meals would be eaten here and guests entertained.

I have been to many resettled communities and have always wondered how people managed to eek out a living and survive in Newfoundland's isolated outports.  Some places had good arable land, others not so much.  Here in Isle Valen I couldn't see how anyone could even plant a few pototoes to fill a barrel let alone to feed a family for a year.  I take my hat off to their memory.

So much of Newfoundland's history is in these resettled communities.  Granted we have census records but so many stories of survival, how people lived and appreciation for the tenacity of the residents is being lost.

I always feel we have it pretty cushy by Isle Valen of yesterday standards.

Isle Valen: Here I am

After a marvelous day Monday I camped on Ship Island.  It was warm in the tent overnight and a bit damp caused by the fog rolling in after a day of glorious sunshine.  I woke at 5:30 and had a peek out of the tent to see what the day was doing.  Totally calm with lingering low laying fog.  Woohoo, a great day for a paddle to Isle Valen.

I was excited with the prospect of getting into Isle Valen Harbour so I didn't waste any time getting breakfast on the go, packing up and hitting the water.  Just on the left is the beach on Ship Island and in the distance, the dark horizon is Great Sandy Harbour, my first port of call for the day.

I crossed straight across the wide open mouth (1.5 kms wide) of Great Sandy Harbour with my next target down the coast of Little Chambers Island just before Davis Cove, here just 150 meters off of the coast.

I squeezed through the opening and into Davis Cove.  At Davis Cove the sun was working its magic and starting to burn the fog off of the land.  I thought it might turn out to be a bright day after an overcast start.

At Butts Hole, seriously, you couldn't make this up, the sun had won the battle over the fog but ...

... my optimism was dashed 40 minutes later at Ladder Cove Head where the fog was clearly winning.

And so it was for some six kms along the shore when Isle Valen came into view with the fog easing a little.  I intended to paddle to Benny Point at Deep Cove when the crossing to Isle Valen was only 2 kms but as I could see the island, I noted the compass reading and decided I may as well make the longer crossing directly.  What could go wrong?  If the fog got thicker and the island disappeared in the fog I'd just paddle trusting the compass.

The island creeps closer!

And, landfall.  Small wind waves were forming with some whitecaps coming from the south.  The island is 5.5 kms long end to end.  One km from the south end the coast bends to the southeast and there I realized it was going to get interesting.  There the fog was lurking again and I could really feel the wind that, while not strong by any means, was blowing at 15 knots, gusting a bit over.

With the long fetch to the south, it was whipping up 1 meter wind waves as I turned Dongle Head (my name, click to enlarge the track image below and you'll see why I so named it!).  Oh boy, out here by myself, I questioned my sanity.  But, I'd been out in that many times before (thank you St. Philips) and the Nordkapp was heavily loaded making her very stable but ...

... still knowing the entrance to the harbour was very narrow I had to concentrate on the conditions and keep a close watch for it.  I breathed a little easier 500 meters out when I got behind the Canary Islands, the sea quieted behind them and the entrance came into view, barely.

Yahoo!  I was here, goal realized.  I cruised easily into the harbour and snapped my first pic before paddling around the harbour that looked hemmed in everywhere by vertical rock walls.  Tim Hollett and company stopped here in 2007, if I remember the year correctly, and moved on citing a shortage of suitable camping ground.

I wasn't going to give up the ground gained so I couldn't be as choosy.  I found just enough level, man made ground barely 2 meters wide and settled in for a stay.

Here are the breadcrumbs from the day's paddle, a distance of 32 kms from Ship Island.

Isle Valen: I'm on the way!

In 2015 Dean, Hazen, Neville, Terry and I did a trip in Placentia Bay visiting abandoned communities from Clattice Harbour to Channels Harbour.  On the third day of the trip we paddled by Isle Valen on our way to St. Kyrans.  I wished afterwards we had gone to at least have a look while we were so close.

Fast forward to 2017.  I noticed a stable air mass had set in and mailed around to people who could go midweek.  Unfortunately I didn't get any favourable responses.  Ummm, I wondered would I go myself?  The answer was a resounding "yes".

On Monday I was off to Garden Cove to begin my four day trip to and from Isle Valen.

It was a beautiful calm day but Placentia Bay is famous for its foggy weather.  As I left Garden Cove I prepared to made my way over to Sound Island and I noticed fog in the distance but ...

... it was in the distance and on the west side of Sound Island the summer cabins were bathed in brilliant sunshine.  Well, that good weather came to an end as I passed Brimstone Point and ...

... fog was as thick as pea soup.  I hugged the shoreline identifying places on my map to keep track of where I was.

At Sound Island Point I spotted the lighthouse that was showing on my topo and entered Muddy Hole, a broad open cove at the southern end of the island and made the short crossing to Holletts Point on Woody Island, the home of ...

... Woody Island Resort which gives guests a taste of outport Newfoundland living.  The day's guests were standing around in Garden Cove waiting to depart in the vessel Merasheen looking inquisitively at what I was doing.  I departed as they started to board but they got here before me.

The fog that looked like it would persist completely evaporated and it got hot.  Where I had passed on the west side of Sound Island I elected to paddled down the east side of Woody Island and take the inside channel.  There was no wind as I entered Jean Cove with Creve Islets offshore.

Between Allens Point and Barrets Point on Woody Island the coast curves west and I followed the shore which guided me onwards to the Burin Peninsula on the mainland.  I entered La Plante Cove and thought it was a ...

... good place to stop for a bite to eat.  I chose the south side of a little beach that was in shadow and therefore a bit cooler.  From here I carried on south until I got to Gulch Head where the wind picked up a bit in the open two km crossing to Ship Island.  I had camped at Gulch Pond several times before but on this trip I opted for a beach om Ship Island that I knew was a good camping spot.

A bit of work getting to Ship Island but worth it.  I arrived at 2:30, changed out of my paddling gear, set up my tent and generally got the campsite organized, had a good long lay down looking down the water I had just come down and had supper.  Then it was time to ...

... pick up some wood for the night's campfire.  I might have been alone and would have to do all the collecting myself but there was going to be a fire!

With the firewood ready I occupied myself with leaving a legacy on Ship Island.  I don't think there many people who frequent this beach but anyone who does will wonder who TR is.  I made it up out of concrete slabs that were falling out of old decaying lobster pots.

It gets dark later this time of year and I had a long day ahead the next day to get into Isle Valen Harbour.  So, I started the fire just as he sun was about to set.

I knew I wouldn't see the fire in the dark.  I burned what wood I had collected as it got duckish and when it was burned out and ...

.. as the red in the sky deepened, I toddled off to bed.

It was a most satisfying day.  While I would have welcomed company, I was elated to be out by myself.  The trip got off to a wonderful start.

Here's a Google Earth screen shot of the day's Garmin track:

Distance of 24.7 kms for the day.

A fine day in Cape Broyle, if it was January

Nine of us were in Cape Broyle today for a day paddle.  It was 7C but with the wind chill it felt like 3C.  That would be a fine day in January but on July 2nd, dreadful.  It speaks volumes though about the crew today.

The wind was forecasted to be 10 knots SE but it looked more like ESE as it was pretty much in our faces as we paddled east from the put-in.

A usual stop along the north side of the harbour is at Horsechops Falls where the river meets the sea.

We crossed at "The Narrows" to the south side.  Here, the black slates of the St. John's Formation are compressed and folded into an anticline.  Notice the curved beds with the convex up!

It was a relaxed paddle stopping every now and then to examine sea stacks along the way.

Low tide had been reached a hour earlier and I wondered if we'd be able to get into the tunnel.  As luck would have it, the rising water had risen enough for us to gain entrance.

Some of us grabbed a shower at this waterfall but it was chilly and a sudden cool down.

There were caves to explore.

We entered Lance Cove with its impressive sea stack.  The plan was ...

... to carry on to Church Cove but Eugene decided to get out at Lance Cove.  Brian went to check on him.  He was OK to stop there for lunch by himself but as we made our way towards Church Cove the plan began to come apart.  Dean, Shane and Ron thought they should go back with Eugene.  Brian, Cathy, Gary, Sue and myself continued on for a while until Brian and Sue also signaled they were returning to Lance Cove.  At that point Cathy, Gary and I felt compelled to also return.

I was disappointed but sometimes these things can't be helped.  In the end it was better to stay together.  There will be other days to make Church Cove and check out the huge cave called Cathedral Cave.