THE NEWSLETTER OF KAYAK NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR Spring 2004 Volume 4(1) Ebb & Flow IN THIS ISSUE: Paddling Smith Sound, Water levels & white water paddling, Duffett’s skin boat, Chapel Arm trip report, Ruth Gordon biography, and more Meet your Executive Dan Miller - president Lots of paddling [email protected] Peter Buckingham - vice-president [email protected] events this season Peter Armitage - secretary [email protected] Louise Green - treasurer [email protected] President’s message Richard Alexander - past president [email protected] Members at Large Spring is finally here, and if you are like me, you are getting itchy to get out on the water and into some real paddling rather than roll practice and Neil Burgess careening into each other at the Aquarena. Your club executive has been John Knight hard at work organizing some great paddling events for the coming season. Mark Dykeman Alex McGruer Two of the best paddling events of the year have already occurred. First off Mark Simpson the mark was the Piper's Hole white water rodeo organized by Chris Letters to the editor Buchanan. This was a tremendously successful event again this year with exceptionally high water levels and a superb surfing wave for the Address your letters to competition. The next big event was the annual Woody Island sea kayaking [email protected]. Published letters weekend organized by Jim Price. The weather this year was the best in the may be edited for length and clarity. six years that this event has been held, and three days of exceptional paddling were enjoyed by 31 participants. Cover photo - Susan Duffett, Sherrill Knight & friends, Minchen’s Cove (photo Dan KNL's biggest event of the year, the annual Kayaker's retreat in the Miller). Glovertown/ Traytown area, will be held May 21-24 this year. Organizers, Betsy Willson and Geoff Minielly, with help from many club volunteers, Newsletter Submissions Kayak Newfoundland and Labrador is a have put together a great program for both whitewater and sea kayakers. provincial kayaking club representing the Special guests from the Canadian Freestyle Kayaking team, Ruth Gordon interests of both sea and whitewater and Tyler Curtis, will give clinics and demonstrations at the Ruins and a kayakers.Ebb & Flow is the club’s official presentation at our retreat banquet. newsletter and is published 2-3 times per year depending on the executive’s available Scheduled club paddling events are planned during every month of the time. paddling season. Organizers are working on some special events such as a women's paddle, a knot tying clinic and a geology interpretation paddle. We welcome your submissions to future There are always adhoc weekend paddles going on during the summer so issues of the newsletter. However, we can’ t keep an eye on the nf.paddling newsgroup for details at: guarantee we’ll publish them all. We reserve the right to edit submissions for http://groups.google.com/groups?q=nf.paddling&btnG=Google+Search style, spelling and length. If you have an article you would like to contribute, please Get out there and paddle and be safe!! Dan Miller, President KNL contact Peter Armitage at the email address above. Hot off the press! Around the Rock: A Sea Ebb & Flow production Peter Armitage (editor in chief), Richard Kayaking Journey Around Newfoundland. Like Alexander (copy editor & layout assistance), a geological afterthought, the rugged island of and Peter Buckingham (advertising). Newfoundland juts into the wild waters of the North Atlantic. Summer storms, icebergs, whales and the imposing rocky coastline are Interested in joining Kayak just some of the images presented in this Newfoundland & Labrador? captivating account of a 2,700 km sea kayak journey around the island. Beginning and Membership renewal- April 1st (one year) ending in St. John's, Ken Campbell's 13-week voyage took him to tiny outports and deserted Drop us a note by snail mail at: Box 2, Stn. “C”, St. John’s, NF, A1C 5H4, windswept beaches as he made his way around or pick up an application from our website - this ancient shore. Copies on sale now at www.kayakers.nf.ca. Downhomer, etc. 2 Square Dancing with Eagles: A Chapel Arm - South Dildo Trip Report By Alison Dyer Trip length: 17km. NTS Map: Dildo, 1N/12, scale 1:50,000. Nautical Chart: Trinity Bay, Southern Portion, scale 1:60,000 When an armada of kayaks (particularly a root cellar. Although we had paddled prerequisite for vegetative maintenance or one in the pink, white and green) surge for only a little over an hour, this was an growth. And some of the rocks, with into a small Newfoundland community, it ideal location for lunch and a cook-up. It their jagged edges and faces a smooth is not unusual for a few locals to gather was also obviously a favourite with steely grey, appear like two-dimensional and hurl questions and suggestions to the locals, and we found several old fire pits paper cutouts. Although we didn't stop, group. On a trip to Chapel Arm (1), on the beach. Paul toed one, found it still there is a particularly inviting pebble Trinity Bay, a Mr. Otto Warren went one smouldering, and quickly got a fire going beach just before Matyrs Cove Point with step further. While scrambling to zip up, for a rabbit and tea boil-up. a brook. buckle shut, and snap down, I became absorbed by Mr. Warren's description of We had only the slightest of waves, good eagle preying behaviour (we had spotted visibility, and could clearly see the partly one hardly a stone's throw from the wooded Dildo Islands off to our left. As slipway). Within moments, he was we paddled over to Burn Point in the reversing his car with a promise to bring middle of Spread Eagle Bay, I saw a dark the group some frozen mackerel. Before mark high above some paddlers out in our entire group of lucky 13 had launched front and remembered the thawing bait from the slipway, Mr. Warren handed me behind me. I was too far away to go for the bait in a plastic shopping bag. Tying it. it on behind the cockpit, I slipped into the Arm, looking forward to some eagle Between Burn Point and Southern Spread training. Eric Knight in front of some pillow lava Eagle, the shoreline rocks change from (Photo Alison Dyer) Cambrian to Proterozoic across an The group had met at 10:30 am at the important geological unconformity. From Chapel Arm slipway and was on the water here around Spread Eagle Bay to Old at 11:20 am. Dan and John Smeda had We pushed the kayaks back in the water Shop Point and south to South Dildo, the left one vehicle at South Dildo enabling a around 1:20 pm and paddled north toward shoreline consists of late Proterozoic one-way paddle. The weather was high the tip McCleod Point on the topo, sedimentary rocks that are more than 570 cloud cover, unseasonably warm, with a Southern Point on the chart! Paddling million years old according to the light SW breeze. along, one can clearly see, across the Arm, Geology of the Avalon Peninsula map the steep cliffs stretching from Norman's (Map 88-01 compiled by A. F. King, Directly after leaving the slipway, I Cove to Chapel Head. Like a bad case of 1988). paddled over to the eagle's perch, and sunburn, the cliff has a wide horizontal flung out some bait. An immature slipped strip of red. The sedimentary rocks at Long Spread Eagle (3) is cabin country, but it into the air eyeing it and us. It circled, Cove are a designated site of interest (noted used to be a permanent settlement until took stock and returned to its perch. in the Newfoundland & Labrador 1967. As we continued paddling between Obviously, I was too close. Trainer zero, Traveller's Guide to Geology). The rocks Spread Eagle Island, a small island, bird zero. exposed in the cliffs comprise westerly partially wooded of low relief, and Old dipping Cambrian quartzites, sandstones, Shop Point, the houses of Dildo, Broad We paddled up the eastern side of the conglomerates with apparently excellent Cove were clearly visible on the other Arm, which for the most part has fairly crossbedding overlain by red and green side of the bay. We paddled parallel to steep cliffs without any decent take-out shales, and red and green limestones, all the coast to Old Shop, over to Lynch's places until the barasway at Little Ridge apparently deposited on a shallow Point, and down to South Dildo (4). A Rock. But the rocks are worth a closer continental shelf. Both sides of Chapel few locals were out in the water picking look. There are many examples of pillow Arm are bounded by Cambrian rocks that mussels. We finished the paddle at 2:50 lavas a volcanic rock that is deposited were deposited about 525-550 million pm. Arriving at low tide, we had a bit of from submarine lava flows. There are also years ago. As you paddle along the shore, slippery rockweed to navigate across. a couple of interesting sculpted overhangs there are numerous faults and igneous Finally, cramming into Dan's van, we and one or two arches that are not intrusions. ferried back up to Chapel Arm. passable at low tide. Rounding McLeod or Southern Point, one What happened with the eagle training About half way up the Arm, is Little has a good view around Trinity Bay. The you wonder? Paddling around Lynch's Ridge Rock, a narrow rock formation, coast from Southern Point to Martys Point, it dawned on me that I had tied that offers more places to scoot around.