Cape Broyle in winter

Clyde the icebreaker

The plan Saturday was to paddle from Cape Broyle to Brigus South. We were going to put in at the slipway at Cape Broyle because our normal access was not cleared of snow. When we got there I was dismayed ... ice for about 250 metres before there was clear water. We're such babies with fibreglass boats aren't we?

I followed Clyde, in his plastic boat, to open water through the channel he broke.

First stop

The first stop when paddling in Cape Boyle is the falls in Shore's Cove. Its always fun to stick the bow of the kayak into the falls but not today. There was still some water running but it was much subdued compared to normal. The tide was falling during our paddle as evidenced by the high water mark nibbling off the ends of the icicles clinging to the rocks.

Nooks and crannies

Dean floats on the crystal clear green waters of this a notch in the cliffs.

Along the north side

Cape Broyle is a familiar paddling destination to most paddlers on the Avalon. Most cross at The Narrows over to the south side to explore caves and have lunch at Lance Cove. On this day we kept to the north side where there is also lots to see and explore.

Raising the roof

Around Admiral' s Head on the north side we entered this small enclave that at one time would have been a cave. At some point the roof collapsed allowing the elements in. We stayed clear of the icicles clinging to the walls overhead for fear of being skewered.

Frozen still

It was a glorious day evidenced by the blue sky and bright sunshine, excellent paddling, spectacular scenery and friends to share it with.

Brigus Head

To get to Brigus South from Cape Broyle means a short paddle across an exposed headland. It was a little bumpy but overall today it was pretty mild. We are such small insignificant specks in this environment with the backdrop of 200 foot high cliffs. An eagle soaring overhead probably thought the same thing of us.

Lunch stop

Having rounded Brigus Head we considered lunching in the community of Brigus South so as to be in sunshine. Coughlan Cove just outside of the community had just enough sunlight falling in it to allow us to have both a bit of heat from the sun and a bit of privacy.

After lunch we returned to Cape Broyle to check out a number of caves and more waterfalls. But I'll leave that for another post.