Tomorrow I'm off!
Ah, those long awaited words. Everything's done. Quit my job, the house is under contract for sale (real estate legaleeze for sold), books & clothes donated, furniture, appliances, tools, extra sports gear & stuff sold, the house cleaned and camping & kayak gear loaded into the truck.
I'm laying here in an empty house on the kitchen floor because this is one of the few rooms with an overhead light. I have some chores to do in the morning and house inspectors coming at 2pm. When they leave I'll be right behind them. Hasta la vista, bay-be!
The first day out I wanted to get north of Mount Desert Island, Maine but with such a late start that won't happen. This is the primary location of the Acadia National Park. Acadia contains a great deal of good paddling as well as good hiking and bicycling trails. It also marks my northern most forays into Maine and I wanted to get past there on the first day so everything from that point on would be a new experience. I'll probably stop off in Freeport or maybe Bath, Maine the first night instead. Clyde's first rule of sea kayaking: be flexible and adapt travel plans to changing conditions.
My original departure date of May 15th was delayed until June 16th for a variety of reasons. Because of this, I have to push a little harder on the way to Newfoundland.
I know I'll spend 1-2 days around the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick exploring from the coast. This is where they have the world's highest tides (30-50 feet) and the largest tidal bore (I think). The huge tides move in and out very quickly. I've heard stories of people paddling like hell to keep up with an ebb (outgoing) tide and being left stranded in miles of mud and muck until the tide came back in. Other stories are of people strolling way out on beaches being overtaken by the flood tide when it started coming back in.
My understanding of a tidal bore is a river with a fast current meeting a very strong flood (incoming) tide. The conflicting currents cause major turbulence and large standing waves when they meet. With all of this stuff going on, I want to spend a little time observing these tides and currents from a safe shore before attempting to paddle them.
I think the world's second largest whirlpool (the Old Sow) is in this area too. At 50 feet across, it doesn't sound very big (probably until you get caught up in it). I wonder how deep it is? I heard a story about a guy caught in the Old Sow. When asked about it he said "I didn't mind getting caught in it but sure hated to paddle up hill to get out". I think the largest whirlpool is the Hag, in Scotland.
I expect to be entering Nova Scotia at the beginning of my 2nd week. I'll probably drive north to Cape Bretton Island for a drive on the Cabot Trail. This is supposed to be an extremely mountainous region with breathtaking views. I believe the trail is 100 miles + or.. There are many other scenic trails you can drive in Nova Scotia and people have had good things to say about all of them.
I'll take the ferry from Sydney, Cape Bretton to Newfoundland. I'll be paddling the east coast of Newfoundland so may take a few days to drive up the west coast to see what things are like over there.
By the first of July, I'll be on Notre Dame Bay on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. Near there is the eastern most point of land in North/South America. There should be lots of icebergs flowing down from the Labrador Sea to the North Atlantic and hopefully lot of whales of different species, lots of islands, fjords, abandoned fishing villages and the like. Somewhere in this area are the archeological digs of a Viking village. Yup, Lief Erickson and/or Eric the Red landed here centuries(?) before Christopher Columbus and that crew sent over by Queen Isabella. I also expect lots of eagles, seals, puffins, dolphins and tons of birds (hopefully not tons of that white stuff they drop from the sky though).
Other probable Newfoundland touring locations will be Bonvista Bay, Trinity Bay, the South Coast, Gros Morne National Park and anything else that sounds fun and interesting.
I expect to start heading south in early September for some doctor appointments near the end of the month. I'll spend a little more time sea kayaking in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and northern Maine, maybe spending a few days at Acadia National Park.
This is what I plan on doing. I'll let you know more about what I really did on the trip north in early July, probably from St. John's, Newfoundland.