3 Island Weekend (Placentia Bay)

A few weeks ago myself and Terry decided to go on a three day trip for May 24th to Placentia Bay hitting Sound Island, Woody Island, and Bar Haven Island.  We checked with a few others to see if they were up for the trip but most were busy with the retreat weekend so it was just the two of us for this trip.

Saturday morning I loaded up all the gear I had packed the night before went to pick up Terry then took off to Garden Cove.

Just under two hours and here we are excited to get the trip underway.

Here is the view of Sound Island from the slipway.

It didn't take us too long to load up our boats and set off to explore.

The wind was up a little when we headed out so instead of taking a chance on the east side of Sound Island we went through the channel.

These three Islands have nice beaches all over the place.  No trouble at all to find a place to camp for the night.

We took our time taking in all the scenery and looking down at the ocean floor through the crystal clear water but before we knew it we were crossing over to Woody Island.

I can see why people still have cabins and summer homes out here.  What an awesome place with amazing view.

The resort

A few of the locals were around and a few people up on the resort deck giving us a shout so we decided to show off a little with a few rolls.

After playing and touring around the cove we headed back down the channel to hunt for our camp site for the weekend.

We decided Creve Islet would be home for the weekend.  Perfect spot we found on this tiny little Island.

By the time we got unpacked and camp set up it was after five so we decided to paddle over to Woody Island in our jeans and hiking boots to go explore.

We weren't sure how long we would be and the tide was coming in so to parked our kayaks up on these logs.

This is what I mean by amazing views.  Who wouldn't want to wake up here every morning???

I thought this made for a really nice picture.  Named Main Rd. Woody Island by me.

 We came across this old sign I thought was just a random thing...

But about 50 yards down the road we came across the old school grounds.

This is where church used to be.

Just by great luck when myself and Terry were reading the plaque these two little girls showed up and one says "that's my great grandfather".

I thought it was pretty awesome to run into these girls just as we were reading about their Grandfather.

Here is what the old grounds used to look like.

 Here is the view from shore of the same place in one of my earlier pictures.

We came across a little museum on our hike across Woody Island.  The doors were locked but I managed a picture through the glass.

At the end of our hike was Back Cove.  What a huge beautiful beach with a front row view of Placentia Bay.

 I took some really nice picture on the way back.  With the sun setting it made it hard to beat this kind of scenery.

We finished up what was almost a 10KM hike of Woody Island and headed back to camp for some supper.

The menu was Tenderloin Steak and Marinated Chicken Thighs with baked potato.

We finished the night off with a nice fire and Jiffy Pop!

The second day our plan was to paddle to Bar Haven and depending on time and weather either continue around the Island or come back the way we came.

We ate a good breakfast and packed enough food and water to last the day then took off to Bar Haven Island.

That's Little Woody Island in the distance and Bar Haven Island to the right.

We paddled over to Little Woody and cut across to Bar Haven then.

From the way the day was shaping up I prepared myself for at least a 30 KM day.

Making our way around the island into Bar Haven you can see how clear the water is here.

A few shots of sea life...

We got to Bar Haven took off our dry suits, laced up our boots, and went for another 5KM hike.

Caution: If you camp with Terry bring comfortable boots...and lots of water lol ;)

Old TV the had in the Town Hall

The bell set up where the old Church used to be.

After we finished our hike through the woods and got back to the "Bar" we had some lunch before continuing on with the second half of our trip.

This is the South view from our lunch break

And the North view.

We made our way around the South end of Bar Haven Island and crossed over to Gultch where we played in the little current there and picked a few mussels for supper.

Heading back up to Woody Island we saw two Bald Eagles.

This guy was a monster!  Wicked animals!

Our feed of Mussels.

Our last fire for the trip.

We packed up early the next morning after we had breakfast and headed back up to Sound Island only this time we took the East side route.

When we got over to Sound Island and got half way up we came across a mini Paradise.

I paddled right past the beach not realizing it was an L shaped channel...Good thing Terry was paying attention.

This was the highlight of the trip for me. 

I wasted ZERO time climbing out of my kayak and jumping in by the falls.

Myself and Terry both enjoyed this place and weren't in any hurry to leave.

We stuck around playing in the water here and had a snack for close on an hour before deciding to carry on.

The bad news of the trip is my camera broke part way through the second day.  I thought it was just the screen and I was still getting pictures but the pictures are not usable.

A few key picture I really wish would have came through are:

-An Eagle swooping down from a sea stack as we made our way around the South end of Sound Island.

-Pictures I took around and on Bar Haven Island including Sea Stacks, Islands, and Caves

-A video of myself and Terry running down the current at Gultch.

-And the one I REALLY wanted pictures of which was our mini Paradise.

Other than the camera and me missing a few million dollar shots this was an incredible trip!

One of the most beautiful places I've ever been for sure.

This was mine and Terry's first time kayaking in this area and we both agreed it was an unforgettable place.  We had warm calm warm weather all three days which made for perfect camping and great conditions to be able to explore every bit of coastline.

We saw some amazing things and met some great people who were more than willing to offer up some history on the places they were living.

We ended up kayaking 56.4 KMs

And hiking 14.6 KMs 

I will 100% be doing another trip here in the future!

Great weekend Terry! 

Chance Cove

This weekend it was decided that a paddle in Chance Cove would be good as a few of us have never been there and the weather was ideal.

When we got to Chance Cove there was pretty heavy fog but by the time we got the kayaks in the water it was clearing off.

Having never been here I didn't know what to expect from the day.  I asked Tony should I wear my hat or helmet, it didn't look like we would get into anything to crazy from shore, but I chose the helmet just in case.  I'm glad I chose my helmet...

This place it AWESOME!

Dean having some fun.

As we were paddling along a beach myself and Derrick were in the "surf zone" not paying too much attention and before we knew it there was a big wave headed our way.  We pointed our boats at the wave and started paddling.  I remember looking over and seeing Derrick rolling up and just as the wave reached the front of my kayak it broke and came piling into me.  I tried to brace but it failed then I ended up rolling up and right away I saw another wave that seemed bigger than the first.  I started paddling hard to try to crest the wave before it broke but I wasn't fast enough.  As my kayak climbed the wave it broke on top of me again but this time my brace held and I was able to regain control as the wave passed me and paddle into safety.

This was by a landslide the highlight of my day.  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera mount so I didn't get any video, but I can say I surprised myself with how I handled it, and was a little proud of myself when I came out of it.

This place is action packed with caves, tunnels, sea stacks, and passage ways.

Brian was the only one who went through the little tunnel, and he made it look easy.

Here is a shot of most of us.  Cathy and Sue were right behind me.

Derrick

This one stood out to me.  Had to add it in.

Our routine lunch break!

After lunch we carried on around the shore just far enough to see the rig at Bull Arm then turned around to head back.

Spotted a Bald Eagle up in the trees.  I love seeing these birds up close, impressive animals.

Heading back was pretty much a straight paddle until we got across the harbor where a few of the bys stopped to have their last bit of fun for the day.

Brian

Here is a quick little video of Dean having some fun:

https://youtu.be/353QZwf1_ZA

Definitely a day I wont forget!

We all had a lot of fun and the scenery here is unbeatable.

Hazen, Dean, Brian, Sue, Tony, Cathy, Ron, Clyde, Derrick,

Thanks for the unforgettable day!

Placentia - Camping Begins

A few weeks ago Terry had mentioned going out to Placentia again for the weekend and I said I would join if the plans went ahead.  Friday came and Terry was still a go for the weekend so on Saturday I packed my gear and met Terry in Placentia.

When I got to Placentia me and Terry geared up and went out for a little play.

There wasn't too much exciting on the first day of our trip as far as current goes...

So after an hour or so we decided to load up our camping gear and find our home for the night.

Terry remembered seeing what he thought would make for good camp sites up the Northeast Arm. 

Mirror calm as we made our way up the arm.

Just when we thought we were short on luck we found our spot for the night.

First thing was to get our tents up and sleeping bags organized before it got too dark.

Nice waterfront view for the evening.

Terry got to cooking Tenderloin steaks and oinion right away...and it smelled amazing!

I had to make a fire to cook my supper because I wanted to try out a camp grill I made.

 Once I had my grill set up I  threw on my salmon steaks and sweet potato.

Me and Terry both had a great feast!

When we got to our site and took a walk around we saw what we thought was a lot of bear droppings in several different spots, and I gotta say this made me nervous haha.  Once supper was done we did a good clean up and sealed our food and cookware in our kayak hatches for the night.

Then it was just time to relax and enjoy the fire for a few hours.

When morning came and I finally crawled out of my tent Terry was cooking us oatmeal for breakfast.

We didn't waste too much time before packing up after breakfast and getting ready to head back to the bridge to catch the action we came for.

I believe this is what they call Ontario Islands.

It was a little choppy when we got around the islands, and a good slog back as we were paddling in to 25 km/h +  winds.

When we finally got back to the slipway we unloaded all of our gear and took off to have our fun.

Myself and Terry had a great first camping trip of 2016.

Our first day was pretty calm and was mostly about the camping part of the trip, but the second day is where things got a little more exciting!

I put together a little movie of the day.  I only got the first half of the day then my camera died but it gives an idea of what we got into anyway.

Check out my video here:

https://youtu.be/XaJ-nd8A-O4

Beachy Cove Solo

Today was a beautiful day with warmer temperatures, sunshine, and a very light breeze.

I had nothing to do after work today so I thought it would be a nice evening to get out on the water.

I didn't bother sending out an email because most of my kayaking friends were just out yesterday to Bay Bulls and I didn't think there would be much interest so I loaded my gear and took off to St. Philip's

Making my way out.

I decided to head toward Beachy Cove for a short relaxing paddle.

The water was pretty calm heading up and even flatter coming back.

I like caves a lot so I always manage to stop and poke my nose in this little one.

A little passage way we always make our way through.

It wasn't too long before I got to Beachy Cove and I pulled my boat on the beach and went for a little walk.

Nice little falls just up from the beach.

This is by far my favorite picture of the day.  Chances are this one will be hanging on my wall very soon.

Another shot of the beach.

After I had my little walk and relaxed on the beach for a few minutes it was time to head back.

Up on the Beach ready to do a...

Seal launch.

Thought this was a nice picture too.

And of course to finish the day...

Nice relaxing evening on the water.  Can't think of anything I'd rather be doing.

And just for an update the neck seal I put in my semi drysuit works perfectly, I didn't have a single drop of water on my shirt.