Knowing the Scenery

As we paddle along the seashore, we often watch the scenery and look for interesting items which make the paddling experience more rewarding. The possibilities are nearly endless, but recently I had occasion to be in a particularly interesting spot: The Joggins Fossil Cliffs on the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. This place is listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO because of the fossils found in the area. I took the beach walking tour, but when the water is higher, it's possible to paddle along the cliffs and see more or less the same things I saw. In the photo above you can discern the recent high water mark right at the base of the cliff, but being the Bay of Fundy, one needs to be very vigilant of the tides as they are among the highest in the world. As well the cliffs are very active with frequent rock falls exposing new fossils all the time.


There are two ways to see the 300 million year old fossil trees embedded in the cliffs. The first can be seen above as an impression of the bark of the tree remaining in the surrounding rocks where the tree once was. Often the results are astonishing clear and vivid, as seen in the above photo.


The second is the fossilized remains of the tree itself as seen above. These particular specimens once grew up to the height of ten story buildings. Today, their nearest relatives are club mosses, only a few centimeters high at most. Fossils collected at this site were used in the famous Darwin evolution trials in England, which partly accounts for the site's status with UNESCO.


At the time these fossil trees and animals were being buried, so where the swamp beds which created the oil and coal we find today. The Joggins area is laced with coal seams. In the above photo, a tiny one can be seen heading out into the Bay. Other larger ones can be seen in the cliffs, and the beaches are streaked with coal dust eroded from the cliffs.

So next time you watch the shore as you paddle by, wonder about how old it is and what its history might be. Oftentimes you'll be amazed!

Cape Breton In Winter

With the 'winter that never was' following the 'summer that never was' I decided to go in search of colder, snowier venues. What better place to look that Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island? Alas, it was milder, and even less snowy than my own home. However, the trip was well worth the effort for a whole host of reasons! If you've never gone there, don't be turned off by the winter. The place is beautiful - just look at that photo and tell me differently - and the people are warm and friendly.


This photo is looking south towards Cape Smokey and St Ann's Bay on the eastern side of the Cabot Trail. Gorgeous in winter and I'm already looking ahead to paddling along its shores come summer!

Oh, and I found my first Nova Scotian geocache thanks to a friend's sharp eyes!

Five Island Provincial Walk

Do you have a list of place you want to visit someday? I do and on that list is the American southwestern desert area. When I look at the photo above, I see that desert. The red coloured sandstone, the weathering, the layering of the rocks. It all evokes the southwest to me, but it isn't. It's what I saw as I strolled along the sea bed at low tide in Five Island Provincial Park in Nova Scotia.


Here's a cute little arch I discovered where the seemingly torrid desert stretches to the horizon. Interestingly, it's the camera angle which gives this false impression, making it seem much larger and more distant!


The red rocks are covered by a white layer, which might be an ash of some kind. The dark upper layer appears to be volcanic in origin, at least to my partly trained eye. The result is a kaleidoscope of colours in the cliff faces.


Finally the rapidly rising tide forced me off the sea floor and onto higher ground. Later in the day we paddled past this same area, floating meters above where I had walked that morning.

Foggy Day Hiking

Walking the dog along the beach I came to a couple of kayakers coming out of the fog. They were paddling just outside of the breakers, I suppose thinking by being in close to the shore they wouldn't get lost. Certainly it was the only way they were going to see anything other than their front decks!


A couple of weeks ago, on another foggy day, I chose to go hiking out along Cape Split in Nova Scotia. I was hoping to see the tidal race that forms out there. Being at the mouth of the Minas Basin off the Bay of Fundy, it is said to be quite the sight once it gets moving at mid-tide. The trail made for good going although it was a bit wet and muddy. Given it had been raining off and on for the previous month I wasn't too surprised.


Once at the headland, the cliffs opened up as the trees gave over to open grassy patches. There was no way I could see a way down the vertical drop to the water, but the fog made for some dramatic views. Gulls swirled about squawking. My luck, the tide was fully out. The water slack and nearly still. The 90 minute hike had not turned out to be quite what I had anticipated. What can you expect from a fresh-water paddler who forgets to check the tide tables before embarking on a hike in the fog? Had I known the water would be so quiet on my arrival, I might have tried paddling out in half the time. Still, in the fog, what would I have seen but the foggy shoreline, just like the paddlers I came across on my beach walk?

Cape Breton Island's Gulf Coast

There's a terrific road that winds its way along Cape Breton's Gulf shore. Called the 'Cabot Trail', it twists and turns its way around the hills and, now and then, gives one breath-taking vistas of the Gulf of St Lawrence. Just south of the National Park, I stopped to go for an afternoon paddle in order to have a look at the interesting shoreline.


I managed to launch from one of the very few sandy beaches and headed up the coast for a few hours. The sun had finally returned after weeks of cloudy weather and it gave me a chance to enjoy the incredible variety of rock formations in the cliff faces along my route.


Nova Scotia was actually part of north-western Africa before the Atlantic Ocean developed and so shares much of the same geology. I found this fascinating. I could almost imagine I was paddling along the coast of Morocco!


Along this section of the coast, the waters are relatively shallow and warm. As one heads further north, the hills grow in size, drop directly into the sea, the sandy beaches disappear and are replaced in a few spots by steep cobble beaches and the waters get deeper and colder. Whales are often seen feeding close to shore.

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

If you've ever spent a dime in Canada, then you'll know the Bluenose, the ship on the back. She was a Grand Banks schooner that made a reputation for herself racing similar boats along the northeastern seaboard years ago. In the photo above is her replica, Bluenose II, built in the same shipyard as the original. I suspect the first Bluenose didn't have the gleaming woodwork as this lady does, but it's good to know the ship on the dime is still sailing!


Right alongside the Bluenose II, two other period boats are also alive as well. The yellow dory is still used for many jobs, not the least of which is entering in the International Dory Races held each summer in Glouchester, Mass in the USA, which I referred to a few weeks ago. The white double-ender just came in to tie-up, her 'make n'break' motor making a very distinctive sound as she putted through the moored boats in the harbour.


These young people were out getting some dory rowing practice in while their 'coaches', quite a few of them actually, shouted various words of encouragement from the end of the wharf. I'm not sure if the coaching was all that useful, but the young ones took it all in stride nonetheless.

Lunenburg's a great place to visit, but paddling a modern, glass kayak seemed a little out of place amide all the history!

StanFest in Canso, Nova Scotia

In Nova Scotia when it rains, it appears to be ignored by most people, especially when there's some fun to be had. When it really pours down, then folks start looking around for their rain jacket or at least their fishing gear. So it was at StanFest, the annual folk festival held each summer in Canso, Nova Scotia in honour of the late Stan Rogers. I was here last year to paddle, but this year I'm here to listen to some amazing performers from around the world putting their music on stage for us all to hear.


Canso is not only the furthest east one can go on mainland North America, it's about the best place you can go to hear great folk music as well! I particularly enjoyed Anna Ludlow playing Stan's 'Mary Ellen Carter' on the fiddle. Totally awesome!

Five Islands Provincial Park, Nova Scotia

Just inside the Minas Basin, an offshoot of the Bay of Fundy is Five Islands Provincial Park. The weekend I was there, a 5km and 10km run was held across the tidal mud flats to the islands offshore. The run called Not Since Moses has been growing in popularity since it began a few years ago and attracts hundreds of people. It's now a two day event. If you're a runner, this one is definitely a challenge with a difference! If you click on the picture above you can make out the runners on their way out to the islands.


I chose to go for a geology walk along the shoreline, but later in the day when the tide returned a bunch of us went for a paddle over the same ground many of them had run on hours before. The red, black and white colours of the rocks in this area of Nova Scotia make for a fascinating paddle. Luckily for us, the weather was calm and we could take out time exploring the various caves along the way. In rainy weather there are waterfalls one can paddle under.


We made do paddling through a large arch that the 10km runners had gone through when the tide was lower earlier in the day.


The high tides in the Minas Basin force paddlers to keep a sharp eye on the clock. Generally one has about an hour either side of slack water. After that the tidal currents begin running at speeds well beyond the capacities of a kayaker. As we headed back to the Park, we could see the swirls and boils beginning to form on the surface. We didn't linger any longer...

The Nova Scotia Paddling Guy

I went down to Halifax, Nova Scotia last weekend for a bit of socializing, pub crawling and, inadvertently, to experience their interesting December weather. As I drove through Maine, it was obvious that things would be a little out of the usual when I saw snowplow trucks lined up along the inter-state, their salt bins full and at the ready. Passing into New Brunswick, the freezing rain caught up with me just moments before I pulled into my B&B in St Andrews. Wildly fluctuating temperatures with shifts of up to 16°C within a few kilometers - 'ribbon weather' was what one friend called it - were commonplace along the route as were high winds said to be close to 90 kph! The wave action along the Fundy shore was spectacular!

Browsing the waterfront's bars and bookstores seemed more in order than any outdoor activities! I was happy to discover a series of paddling guidebooks written by Bryan Darrell. These books are aimed at folks heading out of the Halifax area, the most recent being on the Bras'd'Or lakes of Cape Breton. His web site also has information about some stitch 'n glue kayaks boats he's designed for the home builder. Thinking back to my paddling trip to Nova Scotia last summer, I wish I had known about these books. Once the weather closed in, I could have profitably gone on many of the short days paddles listed in his books as I waited for improved conditions to return to the sea. Check out his site if you plan to visit Nova Scotia!

RV - Kayaking Report

Beach camping in Nova Scotia...
I bought my mini-RV last May and so far have made three overnight trips with it. The longest was roughly three weeks when I took it to Nova Scotia and the shortest was a couple of weeks ago when I went down to Maine to paddle for a few days. I thought I would reflect on the investment, both the good and the bad.

... with a view to die for!
To begin with, towing the lightweight trailer has definitely increased my gas consumption somewhat. Interestingly, traveling with the kayak on its roof rack accounts for the major decrease in mileage with the 450 lbs trailer adding only another slight decrease. The total amount is roughly a 17% decrease in mileage per tank full of gas. I feel this is a worthwhile cost given how much longer I'm able to travel in relative comfort and the savings I've gained not having to pay for motel accommodations each night while on the road. Generally my mini-RV has been subject to the same camping fees as my tent set-up had been in the past, so I haven't increased my camping costs to any extent.

The trailer has also allowed me to drive to and park directly on the beach when campgounds were located there. In Maine and Québec, there are many such places and this allows for making multiple day paddles in the same area with little fuss or inconvenience. In Nova Scotia, I was able to do the same thing in three campgrounds, but I ran into a couple of problems as well. Unlike most areas of North America, the province does not permit overnight parking anywhere but at licensed campgounds. In some areas, I discovered there were no campgounds available making it difficult to pull off the road when I got tired. In one case the place was filthy beyond belief, but I had to stay there as there was no other option. While I prefer to stay in convenient campgrounds, I believe Nova Scotia ought to take a more localized approach when banning overnight parking. It has been shown that local regulations tend to result in cleaner campgrounds and increased commerce by RV'ers as they pass through. Their one-rule-fits-all approach is ruining the camping experience which is a great pity given the beauty of the place and the wonderful people who live there.

I'm looking forward to taking my mini-RV south on another paddling trip this winter. I expect to be away for several months (depending on how good the skiing is here at home). So far the RV experience has been very positive and, I feel, has greatly enhanced my kayaking opportunities and enjoyment. I expect to see more RV-kayakers on the road!

Chignecto's Three Sisters

Around the corner from the 'Dory Rips' is a wall of cliffs which spread out to Cape Chignecto before heading northward into Chignecto Bay, one of the smaller bays which form the upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy. The bay has some great paddling which mixes spectacular scenary with the incredible tidal range for which the Fundy area is world famous.

I paddled from Apple River Bay about an hour before the tide rose to its highest point. Heading southward I passed through a small doable tide rip at the mouth of the bay and then worked my way along the coast toward the rock spires seen in the video above. I arrived just as the tide was beginning to turn and paddled in and around the amazing red and black formations all the while realizing it would be an 'up hill' paddle back to the put-in once the tide turned. The longer I spent at the Sisters, the stronger the opposing current would get.

I filmed as much as I could and headed back to Apple River. Fog began drifting in from further out on the Bay and I kept taking new compass readings hoping I didn't lose sight of the several headlands I needed to pass. Fortunately all went well and I got back to my put-in with little drama.

I considered returning from a closer put-in down the road to visit the Sisters at low tide when the area I just paddled could be walked. I decided in the end to save the area for another visit. It just wants to be savoured, not rushed through!

Dory Rips

As I'm en route to my sister's home in Georgia this evening, I thought I'd take advantage of the motel's hi-speed internet connection to finally upload some video footage I took while in Nova Scotia last July. This first offering - uploaded as a DVX file and looking dreadful on YouTube for some reason, is of the tide rip off Cape D'Or. This rip is caused when the incoming Fundy tide splits in two east and west of the Cape and then is turned back on itself and pushed back out into the Bay. The noise you hear on the video is partly wind sounds, but also the roaring of the waters as they rush past the Cape and out into the Bay of Fundy. The opposing waters, coming from three directions at once can create lots of fun for people with the skill and the nerve to play in such stuff. I filmed from the beach. Enough said.

Paddling Delights

Not all the thrill of kayaking comes from the paddling. Some comes from the shore features slowly passing by, some from the sea life which rises from the depths and some comes when from stopping on a beach to eat a lunch or setup camp for the night. I'm a beach-comber at heart and can bearly hold myself back from strolling along a beach to see what's washed ashore.

The crab shell in the picture came ashore - or got itself dropped onshore - on a small island near Taylor's Head, Nova Scotia. Not the most amazing find I've ever made on a beach, but one that proves every find can be a delight however tiny, even a crabby one!

The Road Not Taken

We came from far and wide, down this road and that. We came to paddle from Murphy's Cove to Wolfe's Island and beyond. A weekend of fun on the sea had been planned right to the last beer, but alas, the weather had other plans for us.


Heavy rain and stiff breezes saw to it that the road to the beach would not be taken. At least not by our boats. Coffee freaks and cribbage players were back and forth in great numbers visiting the little building - Murphy's court, you might call it - just out of sight on the right down this road. Sadly, the Pictou Paddlers and myself, well we folded our tents... err, well... and my trailer, and headed back up the roads the Some days just aren't made for paddling!

Taylor's Lower Lip

For those people who enjoyed paddling entire coastlines, Taylor's Head is one of the challenges to get safely around on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore. As you can see in the above photo, the 'head' is more of a protruding 'lower lip' in the sense that seen here at about mid-tide, there are considerable shoals stretching out to sea, well beyond the headland itself. When I paddled out to have a look, there was only a slight breeze coming in from offshore together with a mixed swell pattern coming from two directions, but both were less than a meter or so in height. Even so, long lines of breaking waves broke well out from the head and often in unexpected places. To get around the shallow 'lower lip' even on this relatively quiet day, it required one to watch for a while to see what was going on before committing to a course through the obstacles. Even then, it seemed to be a gamble and I kept asking myself if I was really where I wanted to be to avoid getting suddenly heaved about by a wave which could suddenly decide it wanted to break over me.


To the north and east of Taylor head, there are a number of islands and shoals again to provide interest to any paddler wishing to explore and play in the relatively sheltered waters. One of the delights is to come around a point of land and suddenly and expectedly come across a beach which abruptly changes from cobbles to sand in the blink of an eye. I landed on one such beach for lunch before continuing my explorations.

Here a Sherbrooke, There a Sherbrooke...

I was born in Sherbrooke, Québec, so when the road along Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore led to the village of Sherbrooke, naturally I had to stop and have a look. The town is smaller than my birth place, but it has a history which goes back to just about the same period. Today many of the original buildings have been preserved as a living museum open to the public. Children can spend a few days at the village, dressed in period costumes and, together with similarly dressed adults, go about 'living' as their ancestors did years ago. A great learning experience!


One thing that caught my eye was a 'penny-farthing' bicycle being ridden through the village. I discovered that these bikes, with one very large front wheel and a tiny rear wheel are making a comeback of sorts. The ones being ridden in the village come from California. I didn't try one out, but they seemed to be very easy to ride and certainly given a commanding view of the road.

Ok, back to paddling!

Sea Wolves Chase Kayak!

Canso Village is reputed to be one of the oldest fishing villages in North America. Today is it the very end of the road on mainland Nova Scotia. One of the islands, called Green Island just across the harbour, is where one of the first trans-Altantic cables came ashore. Today you can go out there, tour the island and read about its history. Of course today Canso is also famous for the Stan Rogers festival it puts on each summer.


With that done, I paddled through a narrow gut between two of the larger islands and came out in a maze of granite islands which reminded me very much of the part of Georgian Bay I had visited a month or so ago.


This lone cabin looked over the island group. It had a commanding view of the whole archipelago almost to itself, although there were a couple of other houses hidden on one of the larger treed islands a bit further out. All in all, a quiet little paradise on the day I was there. I suspect things can get a lot livelier when the wind kicks up!


Returning to the mainland I headed southward in Glasgow Harbour to get a look at what the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia looked like. Again, it resembled Georgian Bay with the addition of salty water, tides and grey seals. This group attracted my attention with their wolf-like howling. When I got closer to investigate, many of them got in the water and swam out to have a closer look at me. Bobbing up ever closer, we all got good views of each other. Several followed (chased?) me for a while as I paddled away to explore some more.

Water Yes, Land No

Glenn MacKay and I took to the warm waters of Northumberland Strait yesterday in mid afternoon. Glenn wanted to head down the coast a ways to have a look at the fossil cliffs in Arisaig Provincial Park. Conditions were perfect, a bit of wind, some current and warm weather, it was shirt-sleeve paddling. The run down to the park was fairly rapid and it seemed we were at the cliffs in no time. Ice cream was on our minds, but after landing and making a few enquiries, it was discovered, the Park was an ice-cream free zone. Incredible! What an over-sight!

We had a look for some fossils and Glenn found a rock on the beach with some tiny shell impressions on one of its surfaces. They didn't look that interesting at first glance, but when you realize they are some of the world oldest shell fossils, literally hundreds of millions of years old, their importance to science begins to sink in. I thought these rocks, carefully placed in little niches in the cliff, made up for the fact I didn't find any fossils...


It then occurred to us that if we couldn't have ice cream, we could get some fresh fish and chips back at Lismore where we'd put-in, so back we paddled. A cairn on the shore marked the landing site of boatloads of Scots who first landed in this area to begin new lives having been removed from their ancestral homes in Scotland. Scottish culture is still visible in this region as a result of the successful homesteading these people carried out.

Boats back on the van, we headed up the road to our fish feed. The place was closed. Another over-sight! We crawled back to Glenn's, weakened from our efforts and finally settled for pizza gratefully provided by Glenn's sympathetic wife. A great day on the water no matter we didn't find exactly what we wanted on land!

Visiting the Sisters

Nova Scotia's Cape Chignecto Provincial Park has some great paddling spots probably the best of which is a visit to the Three Sisters. These are a series of spires and stacks just off the cliffs. At high tide it's possible to paddle around them and gaze into the numerous small sea caves under the cliffs. At low tide, the area turns into a walking tour after you paddle to the site. I chose to paddle longer than necessary. There's a put-in in Spicers Cove only a short distance away.

My paddle to see the Sisters from Apple River Bay began about an hour before high tide. This gave me time to paddle the distance, see the girls and then return to my put-in before the Fundy tides had their way with me. Earlier in the day I'd had lunch at the Cape d'Or lighthouse and watched the tide have some fun in the Dory Rips just off the cape. Truly a sight - and sound - to see and hear! It's a spot only the best of paddlers might want to find themselves in and then only by choice.

Once at the Three Sisters, I was astounded at the site of the needle-like spires of rock, some black and others red jutting out of the sea. Some veered off at unlikely angles, others were slender needles pointing straight up. The on-shore cliffs, glowing red in the late afternoon sun, towered overhead and were pierced by wave action all along their bases. I was lucky to have quiet sea conditions and sunny skies during my visit. On the paddle back to the car, fog came and went and a thunder cloud rumbled now and then over my left shoulder

Blogging off the Beach!

One of the delights about travel is making sudden and unexpected discoveries. At the last minute I changed directions, turned off the east bound highway I was on and headed south to visit Nova Scotia's Fundy shore. In a few moments I was in Springhill, the home town of Anne Murray . a well known Canadian singer. Not long afterwards I was looking across the Minas Basin. Here the narrow entrance creates interesting tidal currents not intended for the faint of heart, with streams running over 12 knots at times.

I turned westward towards Cape Chignecto, a potential paddling venue in the coming few days. The Cape and Bay area offer cliffs, currents, stacks and sea caves, everything to make a paddle along the coast interesting and exciting - provided the weather cooperates. We'll see what the days ahead will allow...

For now, I'm camped at The Old Shipyard Beach Campground in Spencer's Island. The ghost ship 'Marie Celeste' was actually built here on the beach years ago. She was christened 'The Amazon' at her launching, but later became more famously known as the 'Marie Celeste' when she was found drifting at sea, abandoned by all aboard.