Chance Cove to Rantem

On Monday evening Trent and I did a short evening paddle from Chance Cove to Rantem and back, a total distance of about 10kms. It was a beautiful evening, not a breath of wind and just a minor swell. With the high tide it made for a bit of fun rock hopping.There were a lot of eagles around, more than I've seen in any other part of the island. At one point we counted 7 on the cliffs and trees around us.

Anyhow, here are some pics. I had an old 3MP camera with me, so they aren't the best.

Spectacular coastline

Heading for a keyhole to the other side

Trent timed this one just right.....I didn't when it was my turn

Blow hole. Some video of it here

Pretty neat

Cliffs near Chance Cove

Secluded beach

On the way to Rantem

Some big overhangs

Going through one of the doors

Cape Broyle

I know Cape Broyle is old hat to most paddlers in the Newfoundland Kayak community, but no matter how many times I paddle there, it always amazes me. As far as sea caves go, I don't think there is a better place on the island (that's as easily accessible anyways). It was Chad's first paddle, so I don't think we could have had a better day, or a better location for that matter.

We came across a family of otters too, which was really cool.

A family of otters checking us out

This otter was looking right at Trent

As you can see, lots of caves and waterfalls. Another awesome day on the water.

Paradise Sound

This past weekend Trent, Les and I did a 2 day trip in Paradise Sound, on the Burin Peninsula.

What a trip it was, perfect weather, perfect conditions, with lots of good food, beer and wildlife.
Monkstown, where we departed from, is about 160kms from Whitbourne. We loaded up three boats and all our gear into Trent's truck, and arrived at Monkstown at about 10:00am, and were ready to go about 11:00am. Just outside of Monkstown, a huge black bear crossed the road in front of us, but I had my camera packed away in the back :(

Loaded down with food, beer and paddling gear, we headed across the sound to get under the wind. The forecast was for NW winds 20km/h gusting to 40 km/hr, so we knew if we got on the western side we'd be sheltered by the hills and cliffs. The western side of the sound looked a lot more appealing anyways, and our planned campsite, in Darby Harbour was on that side as well. Crossing the sound we definitly felt a few of those "gusting to 40" breezes, and I would not have to paddle into that for any length of time.

We paddled about 19kms down the sound to Darby Harbour, and were dismayed to see 4 or 5 cabins in the prime camping locations, but there was a nice beach on the far side, out of view of the cabins, so we opted to camp there, the only issue was the lack of fresh water on the beach, but there was a brook just around the point, so we paddled there to fill up our water bottles. Trent spotted 2 caribou at this brook while he was filling the water bottles. Nice touch. The black flies were raging, so we had to get a fire going right away, burn a few green alders to get the smoke going for some relief from those buggers.

We ate like kings, ribs, steak, baked potato, stir fried veggies.......mmmm. And lots of cold beer to wash it down.

Up at 5am for the sunrise and a breakfast of bacon, toutons and scrambled eggs. We were on the water again by about 7:30am. The forecast was for winds SW 20km/h gusting to 40km/h, which was perfect for a fast surf back to the beach in Monkstown. What a great ride! We hardly had to paddle, just keep the kayaks pointed in the right direction and let the wind and the waves do the rest. I managed to hit a few good surf rides along the way.

We were back to Monkstown before dinner. The only hiccup we had was a flat tire just outside of Swift Current. A quick patch job, and we were back on the road again. We also spotted 2 caribou on the Burin highway.

Overall an amazing weekend.

Loading up the boats

Departure beach, Monkstown


Lots of huge cliffs along the western side of Paradise Sound


Facing SW down the sound

What a day on the water!

Trent filling up our water bottles. There were lots of small streams along the way.

Another massive cliff

Les peeking out of a small cave

Trent passes by a cliff

Trent poking inside another small cave

We are almost to our campsite, Cheers!

Nice waterfall, complete with some lobster traps

Our campsite, Darby's Harbour

Ribs and veggies. mmmmm

Slow roasting sausages

Sunrise on Paradise Sound. Worth getting up at 5am for.

Fog and SW winds as soon as we hit the water. The fog lifted after an hour, but the winds got stronger as the day passed on. Some great surfing on the way back, it was a blast.

Les taking a nap during a lunch break on our way back. Les is new to kayaking, and this was his first overnight trip, so I think he was pretty beat out :-)

Back in Monkstown. What a trip!