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Friday, March 27, 2009

Theory of livin' in a fog

The village of Torbay in Nfld, hidden in a veil of fog, with a bit of ice to boot!

It was going to be a foggy day and I had a plan to paddle in Middle Cove to try for some pictures in what I thought might have been interesting light. I got to Middle Cove, Newfoundland but couldn't put-in as the cove was choked with ice. I tried at the nearby Torbay and the ice there wasn't pushed right up to the beach so after having a chat with a lady called Cathy, I put-in there.

The Avalon Peninsula gets the most fog of any region in Canada. The reason we're blessed with this "gift" *lol* is our proximity to both the warm Gulf Stream that flows up the eastern seaboard of North America and the cold Labrador Current that flows down from the Arctic past Labrador. When the warm and cold waters meet - fog.

We are used to it. One benefit of fog is that the winds are then usually calm. And so it was today. I was going to paddle close to the cliffs but for safety I had my compass just in case. I didn't need it because the ice was too thick to get thru further out the cove. So I contented myself with manoeuvering around the ice floes and through open leads. While I didn't paddle any great distance, it was great fun using hanging draws and bow rudders etc to get around. Good practice for rock hopping later this year.

Tony :-)

The ice was pretty thick towards where the wharf is in Torbay and also out in the bay

Pretty primordial, rock and ice

There was a lot of small ice but a few larger pans. This is ice that has drifted down the coast from northern Newfoundland where it had frozen over the past winter. A lot of the ice was not more than a metre thick.

Along one side of the shore the ice wasn't as bad. The water was glassy calm.

I ran the boat onto an ice pan to grab a bite to eat

4 comments:

  1. Looks like you had a fun day playing in the ice. I'm hoping to get out tomorrow for the first time this season.

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  2. Ya Brian, it was interesting. At one point I thought I'd have to get out of the boat to haul it to open water over the ice. I was a bit more careful after not to get ice bound.

    Tony :-)

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  3. Hey Tony good to see ya getting out there. Nice shots too. I am putting in in Quidi Vidi tomorrow for a paddle to St.John's harbour. That is if the ice stays out from cliff's edge. It looks like from signal hill anyways. I'll check in the early am. I'mm putting in at 0830 hrs. If not quid Vidi then the harbour.


    Stan

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  4. I will see you there!!! The wind forecast from the NW should loosen the ice a bit.

    Tony :-)

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