Practice in St.Phillip's

Usually when the winds are beyond 50 km I go and mow the lawn, head to the Farmer's market... but yesterday I got an invite to join a group on the water just outside St.Phillip's.
What a day to test a kayak and skills!
In the relative protection of this inlet and just beyond the headland you get a good sense of the power of the wind and waves. In the search for realistic practice opportunities this was the ultimate.
I was the last to arrive and the first to leave but it was a good though quick workout.
This location is close to St.John's and easily accessible - a bonus for me was the harbour master didn't charge for launching.

Ferryland

Whether you are hiking or paddling this is a great place to visit.
The hike to the lighthouse is about 20 minutes and you can get a picnic lunch. If you miss getting a reservation - bring your own. While watching a couple of humpbacks one couple shared a bottle of champagne they brought with extra plastic champagne glasses. What a spot - you never know who you will run into.

Pre hurricane paddle

A paddle on Conception Paddle was significant for the high tide effects - mostly alterations on the beach and what seemed to result in a clearing of debris from shore. We expected a little more wave activity but it was calm this past Saturday until the wind picked up on the way in to about 18 knots. There was no whale activity, but an interesting find was this shark egg capsule which in some regions is called a Mermaid's Purse.

Southern Shore - whale watch

We had to go out quite a ways out to get some shots of these whales - there were two minkes and two humpbacks but they were preoccupied with feeding presumably since they only briefly surfaced.