A windy forecast kept us on the beach today. We have one more pivotal paddle rounding the top of South Twillingate Island to complete our All Around the Circle expedition. It’s has been pouring rain all morning starting just as we pitched the tarp (where there is cellular coverage on the other side of the beach) in time for me to do a VOCM interview that will air on Monday.

The past few days have been very full and rich. We left Sandy Cove with a bit of tail wind until we rounded around Round Head. There, we traded the wind push for a bit of current that helped us push against the headwind we had until we got to Fogo town.

The NW swell kicked up by entrance to the Lion’s Den and so we continued and found the seam between islands that got us to the edge of Fogo Harbour. A sweet beach on Simms Island invited us in and we landed after 4.5 hours in the boats. We took a long lunch and climbed up to the top of the island to enjoy the view.

From there, I texted the Chair of the Brimstone Head Cultural and Historic Society that we’d be passing through “The Canal” (an opening) at the other end of the harbour. As we approached the bridge, we noticed several folks we’d met the night before on the bridge, waving to us. As we passed under the bridge, Gary Mitchell sang, I’s the B’y, to us once more.

We paddled South towards Deep Bay on an oily, reflective sea. In no time, we were at a decision point, do we stop and camp or put on a big push and cross to Change Islands in near perfect conditions. After kicking it around, we set course for the tickle (narrow channel of water) that separates the North Change Islands from the South. We’d already put in a full day’s paddling but the conditions were too good to pass up.

Ninety or so minutes later, we pulled past the outer islands that guard the tickle. My phone buzzed and beeped. We had an invite to spend the evening with the mayor of Change Islands! Paula (mayor and kayaker) and Dennis (town councillor and kayaker) welcomed us, toured us around, and fed us! It was only my second visit to Change Islands ( the first being in 1998) and Marian’s first. I enjoyed learning about the town, the recreation and seniors programs they run, and getting a sense of the community. We also dropped by to surprise a dear friend who was celebrating her birthday at her place on Change Islands.

After such a day wonderfully filled with challenging paddling and kind folks, we slept deeply with the plan to finish the crossing to Herring Neck the next day. It was hard to leave but we wanted an early start to get some kilometres in before the wind rose. We set course for Mile Island (technically about 2.6 km) off shore, then to Fishing Island. The wind picked up and stood the water up into waves that crested with white caps. Progress was slow and hard fought but eventually we pulled into the lee of Duck Island. It was like a different world. We took a breather and had a snack as a Coast Guard ship passed by.

Refueled, we paddled down Duck Island and then changed course again for the entrance of Pike’s Arm. The wind eased as we went and we pulled into a beach about an hour later for lunch. Using some tickles, some natural, some created we made our way through Herring Neck-where’d we thought we stop for the night. Realizing it was early afternoon, we made a plan to go out Gut Tickle and cross from New World Island to South Twillingate Island. We were lucky with our timing as the tide had changed and we were jetted through the opening on a river-like current.

We set course for Little Harbour but didn’t find a beach that would let us land easily so we rounded Gunning Head and swung round into Codjacks Cove. So glad we did! Codjacks Cove is stunning, has a lovely beach for landing a kayak, and protection from wind ( as a storm was coming). It was home for the night which became home for two nights with today’s forecasted wind. So it’s been a layover, lay around, stay dry, use lulls in the rain to get a few things done kinda day. Maybe even a nap will make the to do list as well.

The nap was fantastic! We had hot lunch (butter chicken) which was nice on a cool and rainy day to warm us up from the inside out. It appears the rain has lulled so I’m going to pop out of the tent and send this off and get a weather forecast for tomorrow!

inReach message from TA Loeffler

We are conducting this expedition as RCGS Expedition Grantees and we thank the society for their support!