The strangest thing

With not much happening this weekend, Brian, Dean, Derrick and I stayed close to home and paddled from St. Philips to Topsail Beach.  Round trip distance was 13.6 kms.

We got back to St. Philips, washed our boats and gear in the river, carried the kayaks up the bank and tied them onto the cars before having a coffee.

I felt good; satisfied with the contribution to the accumulating yearly total kilometers.

Several hours later I could barely move with the pain.  It came totally out of nowhere and felt like someone had stuck a knife in my ribs.  I could understand it if it happened on the water or carrying the kayak but without any apparent cause?  The strangest thing.

Jellyfish

There were a few jellyfish around on Sunday.  Some were huge.  Its always a surprise to see what comes out of sticking the camera under water.  A little bit of psychedelia?

Good day sunshine

We stopped in this little cove near Little Southern Harbour for lunch on our club paddle out of Chance Cove.  Gradually everyone got ready to continue.

Brent paddles by on flat water.  A perfect day for a level I paddle.

We reached a headland along the north shore where the plan was to cross back to the south side.  Normally we paddle back towards Caines Beach but Hazen chose a more direct approach nearer to Chance Cove.  Kayaks were strung out in a line as we made the crossing.

We made landfall at the small island Hazen had pointed out and carried on ...

... along the shore pockmarked by sea stacks.  On the way up in the morning they were shrouded in fog.

The procession back to Chance Cove continued in what looked like a line of kayaks.

We were nearing the end of the paddle.  Dean and I continually exchanged distances our GPS were showing, all the while hoping to get to 20 kms.

The paddle was advertised to be approximately 15 kms long.  Dean and I hugged the shore squeezing every meter out of the day.  A train of kayaks approaches this last sea stack before entering Little Chance Cove where ...

... the paddle ended.

Hazen's GPS showed 16.4 kms for the day.  Dean and I didn't quite reach 20 but clocked in at 19.4 after some slight of hand paddling to sneak in an additional 3 kms.

I met some new people and reconnected with some I hadn't seen in a while.  That's the good thing about club paddles.  It was a most enjoyable day along one of the more scenic coastlines on the Avalon Peninsula.

Check out Dean's shots of the day too at his blog.

Grey foggy paddle

Today Hazen led another KNL paddle, this time from the community of Chance Cove.  Dean and I arrived first to find the area shrouded in fog.  Before long the rest arrived in dribs and drabs.  I believe the count was 17 kayaks.

It took some time for later arrivals to put in and finally ...

... we were off around the north point of Little Chance Cove.  I wondered what the chances were we'd see the sun.

Some of us negotiated the first slot in the cliffs.

The shore between Chance Cove and Rantem is studded with sea stacks, small islands and rocks that on a sunny day are quite spectacular but ...

... on a foggy day are subdued.  Subdued but just showing a different side of its beauty as if hidden behind a veil.

The other attractions also kept us amused as here, Janet sizes up the line through this slot.

The husband and wife team of Sean and Cheryl in their double.

Rocky teeth arise out of the sea as we approach in the fog ...

... which persisted all the way to Rantem Harbour.  That was fine with me and didn't diminish the enjoyment.

Sue emerges after paddling through the channel.

While we stopped for lunch the sun began to win the battle with the fog as it slowly burned through.  It was foggy up to our lunch stop but the promise of sunshine meant we would be seeing a different coast on the return to Chance Cove.

Thursday sunset

The evenings are getting shorter which means we're catching sunsets before we head home after our regular Thursday evening practice.  After numerous paddles up wind to catch surfable waves going down wind we made just one more run.  Under the setting sun, it was the sweetest.

End of the road at Trinity

On day four of our trip we left Kerleys Harbour under cloudy skies and paddled around Bonaventure Head in fog.  As we got closer to our destination of Trinity the sun came out.  Here the gang pass in front of Green Island very near Trinity.

Hazen paddles between Salvage Head and some offshore rocks where the swell was breaking.

A majestic looking sea stack just outside of the entrance to Trinity.

Julie nears Fort Point with the lighthouse at the entrance to Trinity harbour.

The community of Trinity stretches along the shore.  I am drawn from a distance to this church to have a look before running my kayak up on ...

... the beach to end the trip.  The rest of the gang follow me in.  The end of four days and, for me, 82 kms.

The cars were parked nearby where they were left after the car shuttle four days earlier.  It didn't take us long to unload the kayaks and put in our customary order of ...

... fish and chips to celebrate the end of another excellent adventure.  Clockwise, from left is moi, Dean, Ron, Barb, Julie and Hazen.  Thanks to all for a memorable trip.

Here are the breadcrumbs for the entire trip.  Burgoynes Cove to First Pond; First Pond to Thoroughfare via Ireland's Eye; Thououghfare to Kerleys Harbour and the last day, on to Trinity.

Headland to headland

It rained hard the last night in Kerleys Harbour.  I saw how much when I got up and noticed there were 50 mm of water in the pot I left out in the rain.  Water was running everywhere.  What was a trickle when we landed the day before was now a torrent of water.  Blue bells hang on for dear life.

We survived the night.  Both the rain and the bears.  I noticed two areas where the tall grass had been beaten down.  Something had bedded down very near our tents and having seen fresh bear scat the day before, the bets were on it was a black bear.

Boats loaded, we paddled out of Kerleys Harbour bound for Trinity and the end of our four day trip.

Exiting Kerleys Harbour we made a bee line for Maiden Point in the distance under low hanging clouds ...

... but behind us the sky was blue with brilliant sunshine.

We reached Maiden Point.  Ahead the path was still overcast.  The sun tried to break through.

Paddling headland to headland Bonaventure Head came into view out of the fog.  There seemed to be some urgency to get around the headland.

On the other side of Bonaventure Head it looked like the sun was winning the battle against fog and ominous clouds.

Once around the big headland I thought we would paddle closer to shore but it was not to be.

We paddled inexorably towards Trinity, somewhere down the vanishing shoreline and the end of our four day trip.