Day 2 in Notre Dame Bay: Part 2

The icebergs were incredible. Here is the view from our campsite on the second night. Impressive!

After crossing to Little Bay Islands, here Isabelle enters the harbour of the only village on the island.

Here is one of the older houses near the entrance of the harbour.

No danger of missing this house when you paddle around the harbour!

We continued north to North Harbour. We had to paddle past this iceberg to enter the harbour.

North Harbour is totally protected from the wind and sea. Here is our campsite for Day 2. A great spot. A stream and picnic table were located in the background of this photo.

Day 2 in Notre Dame Bay: Part 1

On Day 2, we paddled from Pilley's Island to Oil Islands and then on to Little Bay Islands, for a total of 24.5 kms.

Here's the cabin we stayed in at Fox Cove on Pilley's Island. Boats are packed and we're ready to head out for Day 2.

As we paddled around the north end of Pilley's Island we entered Long Island Tickle. Long Island is on the right.

I discovered this old wooden trough or slide coming down the side of a cliff on the north side of Pilley's Island. I asked a nearby lobster fisherman what it was and he said it was a slide for loading firewood cut on top of the cliff into a boat.

From the Tickle, we paddled north to Oil Islands, where we stopped for lunch. Harvey Rice and Colin Hiscock had both suggested it was worth a visit. The cobble area had a dozen food pits dug into the rock by Beothuks. The views up and down the bay from this narrow bar were outstanding.

Here's the view to the north with Little Bay Islands on the left and the Baie Verte peninsula in the background.

The crossing from Oil Islands to Little Bay Islands is 5 km. Conditions were ideal for us.

There were 7 icebergs visible across Note Dame Bay on this crossing.

For those of you away from Newfoundland, this is the best year for icebergs since I moved here in 2000. The abundance of icebergs varies a lot from year to year. Northeast winds in spring help bring the icebergs (floating down from Greenland) closer to the Newfoundland coastline. Without those winds, the icebergs follow the Labrador current out around the Grand Banks, never getting close to shore.

I'll post the rest of the photos from Day 2 soon.

Six-day paddling trip in Notre Dame Bay

Last week, Isabelle and I took off for a six-day sea kayak trip in the Triton area of western Notre Dame Bay (see the blue box on the above map). I highly recommend this area for Level 2 paddling trips. The many islands and channels offer protected water in any wind. You can adapt your route depending on the forecast.

On Day 1, we launched in the mid-afternoon at Pilley's Island and paddled under the causeway to Triton Island, and then on up Pilley's Tickle in a moderate to strong headwind. We called it quits at Fox Cove and camped out in a small woodcutter's cabin, which was unlocked (Thanks!). Freshwater was available from a stream just a few steps behind the cabin. It was a short day because of the late put-in (just 10.3 km). Below is Isabelle at the put-in as we packed the boats.

The village of Pilley's Island in the afternoon sun.

Paddling up Pilley's Tickle in the rising wind. The area had several mussel aquaculture operations (the yellow and blue floats in the photos below).

More mussel growing operations and Nogood Island behind Isabelle. The island didn't look so bad to us?! The iceberg in the background posed a risk to the mussel lines.

The next post will feature some of the highlights we encountered on Day 2. This part of Notre Dame Bay has many interesting natural and culture sites worth visiting.

More Icebergs!

Isabelle, Alison Dyer, and I paddled from Alison's cabin in Capelin Cove (Hant's Harbour) to New Melbourne in northeast Trinity Bay. We ran into several bergy bits at New Melbourne, which gave Alison a big smile above.

Here we are passing the lighthouse at the entrance to Hant's Harbour. Below Isabelle and Alison explore the rocky shoreline.

Near New Chelsea, we found this interesting archway.

We stopped for lunch at Alison's favourite picnic beach at New Chelsea. Below is a the view of an old house near the beach.

We paddled on to New Melbourne where we encountered the ice. This was Alison's first ice experience for 2007.

There were more bergs in the distance.

A very pleasant day on the water. And another section of coastline covered for the Kayak Newfoundland & Labrador's Circle the Avalon Club Challenge.

Paddling out of Old Perlican, Trinity Bay

On Saturday, June 23rd, four of us paddled from Old Perlican in northeastern Trinity Bay to New Melbourne. It was a windy day, so things we interesting. There were many icebergs in northern Trinity Bay, so we had lots to look at. Above is Dick Wardle in his Capella. Below is Brian Duffett in his latest cedar-strip creation.

Below is Alex McGruer in his used and abused Explorer.

As we approached the beach at New Melbourne, the wind shifted around to the north and increased rapidly. The seas responded immediately and grew rough. We put ashore at the most sheltered spot we could find. Brian's truck was close by, so a quick car shuttle and we were done.

I decided to stay overnight at friend Alison Dyer's cabin near Hant's Harbour for more paddling on Sunday. The rest headed home to St. John's.

Paddling La Manche & Great Island

Last weekend, four of us went for a paddle on the Southern Shore (an hour south of St. John's) from Brigus South to Bauline East. We stopped at La Manche for lunch and then circled Great Island, which is one of the seabird islands in Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. The photo above shows paddling buddies Des Sullivan, Malcolm Rowe and Isabelle Hubert.


This shot shows the group under the East Coast Trail bridge at La Manche. It's a gorgeous spot. There was a fishing village here one hundred years ago, with stages, fishing rooms, and fish flakes for drying salt cod.

Here is the view to seaward from the La Manche bridge. We had a great day for paddling: sunny, hot and swell less than one metre.

As we approached Great Island, the numbers of puffins, murres, kittiwakes, and the occasional razorbill grew overwhelming. The seabirds were in the water all around us diving and feeding. The air was FULL of birds, flying back and forth to the island, carrying fish. As we got closer to the island, the smell and noise of the nesting birds reached a fevered pitch.


This rock has common murres standing on top and kittiwakes sitting on nests below.

Here is a tunnel on the seaward side of Great Island. The swells are always bigger on this side of the island, and this day they were surging through this tunnel. We had a close look but played it safe and didn't paddle through.

Here's a group of murres and razorbills on the water beside the island. It's amazing how close you can get with a sea kayak.

We enjoyed a fantastic day on the water. The paddle ended on a bit of a sour note in Bauline East. Some thoughtful soul had left a chest freezer full of rotten meat (or fish?) near the wharf. The smell was truly appalling. We didn't linger long.

Another great reason to paddle!

Here's a fantastic photo of my partner Isabelle Hubert, taken by Tony Lee on the KNL Father's Day Paddle at Cape Broyle on June 17. Isabelle is a real joy to paddle with. I'm a very lucky man!

You can see more photos of the Father's Day Paddle (and dozens of other Newfoundland paddles) on Tony's Kayak the Rock website http://www.kayaktherock.com/

Just look under Gallery and scroll down.

Tony's website is so popular that some people have been recognized by total strangers across the island from Tony's paddling photos. You've had your 15 minutes of fame now, Paul, so step aside!

Making a Greenland Paddle

In early May, I helped organize a workshop for KNL members interested in making a Greenland paddle. Darren McDonald generously arranged access to a wood shop for us to work in. Brian Duffett, who has made many Greenland paddles of different designs, joined us and shared his experience and advice.

Most of us started with the paddle design instructions of Chuck Holst (available free at http://www.qajaqusa.org/QK/makegreen2.pdf) and the free instructional video by Matt Johnson (at http://www.carvegp.com/). Thanks to Chuck and Matt for sharing their knowledge and helping others.

We bought our wood, calculated the paddle dimensions in relation to our body size, and laid out the dimensions on the wood. We made the rough cuts along the outline of the paddle. Then started the slow and steady use of a plane, spokeshave and/or drawknife to carve the wood to the right shape.

Being a glutton for punishment, I decided to laminate several different kinds of wood together to make my paddle (spruce, cedar and virola). Why do it, when you can overdo it! I glued the pieces together with epoxy resin (left over from kayak building last year). Below is the paddle, cut out in one dimension, with the dimension lines marked on in pencil. It looks pretty square!

You can see the lines that mark the shape that needs to be planed to. In this photo, the bottom side has been planed to the line, and the board flipped over. I now need to plane the top side to the line.

Below you can see the start of the process of planing the bevel into the face of the paddle blade. I used a block plane for the paddle faces and a spokeshave for carving the shoulders and the loom (round part in the middle of the shaft).

I will continue this in a later post and show you how the paddle turned out.

Icebergs in Trinity Bay

Here is Paul Benson approaching a bergy bit (a house-sized chunk of iceberg) near Shag Rock in Whiteway Bay in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. A group of 10 paddlers made our way from Greens Harbour to Islington last Saturday. It was sunny, warm ... fantastic!

The geology along the way was striking. The colour of the shoreline bedrock went from gray to red to green. Here's Paul again in front of a striking red outcrop.

Back to the bergy bit: Tony Lee, Paul and I couldn't resist sliding into a small fissure in the ice. Yes, this is risky paddling behaviour. Icebergs are unpredictable and potentially dangerous; chunks break off and bergs can roll over. Here's Tony happily risking his neck.

The sea stacks and rock hopping was great in a small swell and little wind. Below is Sue Duffett.

Dan Miller paddling past more interesting rock formations.

Paul Simmons exploring the shoreline cliffs.


We found another iceberg off Long Point (near Islington). Tony and I paddled out to take a closer look. On days this nice, it is always a disappointment to reach the take-out and the end of the paddle.