Paddling in Venice, Italy

(Rialto Bridge and gondola. Photo: René Seindal)

Ok, so it took me a while to get these pics up, but here they are.

During our honeymoon, we visited Venice, Italy, where we took a kayaking tour of the canals with René Seindal of Venice Kayak (www.venicekayak.com).

René was a fantastic guide, that really knows the history of the region, and hearing these stories was fascinating. It was also nice to know that he knew the rules of the "road" in the busy waterways. I was amazed at the amount of boat traffic. Coming from a small fishing village in Newfoundland, where there is next to no boat traffic, only the scatter fishing boat, it was crazy to see all these ferries, gondolas, personal boats, water taxis, etc.... It seemed like chaos, but when i thought about it, they were much like any city street; busy with traffic, but somewhat organized if the drivers know what they are doing.

If you ever end up in this part of the world, it is well worth your while to do this. It is truly a unique way to see the city. It gets you away from the crowded piazza's and streets, and is something different than the traditional gondolas.

Piazza San Marco, Campanile (bell tower) and Doges Palace. (photo: René Seindal)

This one really shows the amount of traffic (photo: René Seindal)

Parking in Venice :-)

Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal

On the Grand Canal

"It was a fine day for hanging clothes"

Me and Rene

Parking the kayaks for a coffee break

The shade here was really nice

Behind Angie is the Venice Cemetary. We learned that even the hearses are boats here!

It was an interesting setup to get into and out of our kayaks, but Rene came up with a workable solution, a floating beach and a ladder. It seemed a bit dodgy at first, but it works quite effectively.

Rock over London, Rock on Chicago

Dolphins Video

My first Video Post! A short clip of the dolphins I saw on Saturday:

Whales and Dolphins

Yesterday was my first ever solo paddle on the ocean. I have paddled solo on ponds and lakes by myself, but never on salt water. Well yesterday was a banner day, or as we'd say here a "large" day, 27C with no wind. I couldn't have asked for any better.

As I left Spreadeagle, I paddled past the eagles nest, where I saw two adult eagles and one young eagle. I kept seeing these 3 all day.

Once I got over into Chapel Arm I saw 2 humpbacks and while I was watching them I noticed on the other side of the arm there were 50+ dolphins making their way out of the arm. So I paddled like hell until I was over among them. WOW, it was crazy, dolphins were jumping about everywhere. It was hard to get a sensible picture, and every time I got near they'd dive and circle around me.

After they left the arm, I went back to where I saw the humpbacks. I got to within 100ft of one, and sat there and watched him for about 20 minutes. It was lying around on the surface of the water, and every now and then it would dive. Very amazing experience and when it dove, I got pretty nervous about where it was going to come up. You can see in one of the pictures the big splash from it thrashing its tail on the surface

After a lunch on the beach at Little Ridge, I made my way back to Spreadeagle, and saw 2 more humpbacks and at least 3 pothead whales.

It was a large day indeed!

Rock over London, Rock on Chicago
Brian

Blaketown (Dildo) Pond

A few weeks ago, me and Trent went for an evening paddle in Blaketown Pond (Dildo Pond on the map). The pond is about 5kms long with a few small islands on it. It has some interesting history:

From http://www.baccalieutourism.com/baccalieu/blake.htm

"The town is best known for the Beothuk site that has been excavated at Russell's Point which has produced one half of the Beothuk arrow heads that have been found in the province.The Russell's Point site in Blaketown was discovered in 1988 by William Gilbert and Ken Reynolds during an archaeological survey which was carried out to locate a Beothuk camp described in the journals of John Guy and Henry Crout of the Cupers Cove (Cupids Colony) which was founded in 1610. In their journals, Guy and Crout recounted finding three Beothuk dwellings and a canoe on 26 October, 1612.From excavations, the archaeologists determined that Russell's Point had been a fall and winter camp used by the Beothuk and their ancesters from about AD 1000 to AD 1650. The Beothuk came to the site because was on a migration route for caribou and provided them with good hunting grounds.

Trent brought along his dog, Rooster to join him on his kayak. He has a pretty neat set of pontoons rigged up to help him carry the dog.

Anyway, it was a great way to pass a few hours.

Rock over London, Rock on Chicago
Brian

Young Eagles

Last week me and a friend paddled out of Spread Eagle, Trinity Bay and came across an eagles nest, with two eaglets in it. When we got closer we saw that there was another eaglet on the beach below. Poor little fellow, he must have fallen out, or failed at its first attempt to fly. We were able to get pretty close for a few pictures. I called the wild life department about it the next day, and they said they'd check it out to make sure it wasn't injured, and they also told me it was pretty common, and not to worry about it.

We paddled over to Chapel Arm and saw a few pothead (pilot) whales, but weren't able to get close enough for a sensible picture, but I did manage to get a shot of a dorsal fin off in the distance.

Here a few pics from along the way.

Rock over London, Rock on Chicago