St. Philip's to Topsail

I really wanted to go for a paddle today so I sent out an email Friday to see who was interested.

A few people were either busy with other plans or sick but we managed to get a group of 4 out today.

Brian, Julie, Cathy, and myself had a great time on our trip to Topsail beach.

I was surprised it was so choppy today but that's what made it more fun.  Group shot of Brian, Cathy, and Julie

Cathy...she was in some pretty good stuff here.

 Julie

Brian

Gives a pretty good idea of how big the waves were today.  I like this picture!

Another nice shot.  

I was busy paying attention to my camera and not the waves.  At the last second of the video you can see a big wave caught me off guard.  I didn't tip over... here...thanks to my friends giving me a heads up haha.

Here's the still at the end of the video

We made it to Topsail and pulled up on the beach for a rest and a snack.  We had a chat about different boats and swimming and then took off back to St. Philips

 I like this one of Julie and Brian on our way back.

One more shot of the group...it goes Brian, Cathy, Julie.

So I thought I would finish today's post with some humour.

 Here I am thinking about it.

 Here I am going for it.

 And I almost made it when...

 Beached.

This was a really fun day I got wet a few times but that's all the more fun.  I think everyone enjoyed the day...it was a fun trip to Topsail back.  Thanks Brian, Julie, and Cathy for the great day and especially thanks to Brian for helping get back in my boat a few times and Cathy for the great pictures.

If you guys are up for another laugh check out this video.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rw9qlcu41ol88w4/2015-10-25%2009.57.12.mp4?dl=0

this link shows a better video.

The Extended St. Philips Paddle

Yesterday Tony sent out an e-mail suggesting a paddle from St. Philips to Topsail Beach.

As usual I said I would join in so we met up in St. Philips this morning with a pretty good turnout of 8 or 9 people.

Our plan was to go from St. Philips to Topsail beach, but when we got out in the cove we noticed a bunch of whales playing around down by Portugal Cove so we headed that way to get a closer look.

I got close enough to get a few little videos but there were a lot of whales today.  Nice surprise on a Sunday paddle

This was the best video I thought.

A few time a whale came up right beside me but I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get any shots.

The whales seemed to have slowed down so we moved on to Portugal cove.

It's been a while since I had a paddle with Dean... Great Colinet Island I think? 

Most of us trying to squeeze through every little channel we could.  We had a high tide today so it was a lot of fun paddling between all the rocks.

When we got to Portugal cove there we a lot of rocks to meander through so we stopped to have a little fun there.  No big waves or anything but fun all the same.

After we had our fill of fun we made our way back to St. Philips.

Dean just couldn't keep his boat away from the rock today haha.

I must have paddle this at least a dozen times this year and today was the first time I notice this little mini sea arch.

That's pretty much it... for the St. Philips / Portugal Cove run.

I think it was Tony, Dean, Brian, Clyde, Cathy, Derek, Gerard, and myself for this portion of the paddle.  I don't think I forgot anyone there.  Anyway a few of us weren't satisfied yet so Tony, Gerard, Cathy, and myself carried on to Topsail beach.  My camera ran out of battery so I didn't get any pictures of this leg of the trip, but Tony had his camera to catch a few shots.

We stopped half way to Topsail and had a little rest and a snack then continued on to finish the trip.

I believe we did close to 24 KM today, not bad for a Sunday paddle.

Between the whales and the rocks I had a great day paddling.  Thanks to everyone who joined in the fun!  Hopefully we'll do it all again next week!!

Check out MY NEWFOUNDLAND KAYAK EXPERIENCE and

Newfoundland Kayakoholic

for more picture of the day.

Solo trip to Kelly's Island

This year I have paddle a lot with PNL, and with our regular group that gets together on Wednesdays and weekends.  I've gained a lot of confidence and learned so much so I decided it was time for me to do my first solo trip.

I left from Long Pond, CBS and made my way over to Kelly's Island.  Not an overly long trip but on the Ocean and solo all the same.

Here is Long Pond and the island you see out past the ship is Kelly's Island

 Got the kayak unloaded and geared up and made my way out.

Here is the end of Long Pond and where the Ocean starts.

 I'm out in the open sea here now and I have to admit being my first solo trip I was a little nervous but very determined to get to Kelly's Island.

Here is a shot of CBS from about ⅓ of the way across.

I'm getting close to the Island here as you can see.  I like how you can see the different layers of rock in the cliff face.

And here we are, the beach where I'll stop for my snack and some rest.

Got a decent panoramic shot of the beach and CBS in the back.

 I knew there was a small beach where I could get out and rest for a minute from some pictures I've seen of Kelly's Island.  As you can see most of this island is cliff so its a good idea to make sure there is a place you can get out of your boat.  Especially going solo.

I took the day off work to go do this, so after I had a snack I relaxed for a while and took in the scenery.  Perfect day off!

 Time to head back.  There was a little bit of waves so I paddled out around the end of the island for a bit before I headed back. 

 Kelly's Island in my rear view.

Ship Docked in Long Pond.

This trip took me about 2 ½ hours, but I was taking my time and a lot of pictures along the way.

Feels good to do a trip alone.  I think my next solo trip will be an over nighter somewhere.

The Paddle season is slowing down now with PNL done for the year and Wednesday evening paddles all finishes BUT I will be paddling all winter long and I will post new pictures of different trips every chance I get

Thanks a lot to all the guys that helped me grow my skills throughout the year, you guys all know who you are and I appreciate all the help.  Great group of guys to learn from.  I love the sport more than ever and can't wait to get back on the water.