T.A. Loeffler of St. John’s, Newfoundland, and Karen Warren of Pelham, Massachussets
Contact Info: (709) 737-8670
Maps: 1:50,000 scale NTS, Random Island (2 C/4)
Boats: Necky Looksha IV and Old Town
Millennium 16
Wed, June 25: St. John’s to Lower Lance
Cove to Fishhook Cove
Left St. John’s at
midmorning for our put-in at Lower Lance Cove on Random Island. We had a fine chat
with a man at the put-in as we loaded the boats and collected valuable tidbits of local
knowledge. He was one of a few people we met who were a little skeptical of two
woman out kayaking this wild coast, not knowing our many years of experience in the
outdoors and in sea kayaks. We were on the water by 3 pm with a strong quartering
sea at our backs. After paddling 6.7 km we pulled up on a small pocket beach in
Fishhook Cove (not marked on the map but it looks like a fishhook). A grassy bench
above the beach made an adequate campsite. The bugs were in fine form prompting
Karen to regret leaving her headnet in Massachusetts during packing. There was a lot
of moose and bear sign in the clearing.
Woke to 20 knot westerly
winds. With the long fetch, the wind funneled down Smith Sound. We decided to
make a leisurely breakfast and wait for the seas to stabilize. By 11 am, the waves
had stopped building and we decided to give it a go. The lop settled a bit as the
winds started to shift to the southwest. We explored Long Harbour, found it to be a
protected spot from all winds with a couple potential camping spots and an inactive mussel
farm. Bald eagle sightings were prevalent along this shore and the entire trip.
We had no trouble around Haydon Point and pulled into the first cove south of
Hayden Point in the Thoroughfare. We stopped for lunch then crossed the Thoroughfare
on a building southwest sea. We used the lee of the Hayden and Indian Islands to
partially block the waves. We could see the surf breaking heavily at the south end
of the Thoroughfare.
Our goal for the next two nights was to
basecamp on Ireland’s Eye and explore it more completely. We had originally
considered camping in one of the harbours on the southeast side but strong southwesterlies
were predicted for the next few days so we opted for Broad Cove on the northeast side of
Ireland’s Eye. Camping at Broad Cove allowed us access to most of the island
during our layover explorations. There is an indistinct portage trail from the head
of Broad Cove across into Traytown Harbour. There were a few cabins and we met a
couple that had come by boat to stay in their cabin at the end of the cove. They
confirmed that there was quite a blow on the south side of the island and had seen so many
whales, they “had to steer around them.” A gorgeous sunset from our perch
on comfortable juniper above the beach ended a great day.
Click on thumbnail to enlarge. Paddling out of Long Harbour (June 26), Photo T.A. Loeffler
Click on thumbnail to enlarge. Sunset from Broad Cove (June 26), Photo T.A. Loeffler
Click on thumbnail to enlarge. Campsite at Broad Cove (June 26 & 27), Photo T.A. Loeffler
The weather report was for mid to moderate southwesterlies in the morning, building to strong winds by noon. We got an early start so we could explore some of the island before the winds picked up. Our original plan was to paddle to Round Harbour and possibly Ireland’s Eye as we knew we could retreat into Traytown Harbour and portage back to our camp if things got rough. As was our fortune the whole trip, the winds laid down as we began the paddle. At our short stop in Round Harbour, we checked the VHF again to hear that the predicted weather pattern was still the same, so we headed to the resettled community of Ireland’s Eye. It was a jewel of a harbour with a couple of active cabins and the fallen down weathered wood of 12-15 old home sites.
We explored the old church that was mostly
fallen over except for the entryway with a beautiful arching window looking out on the
harbour. Wild nettles grew in profusion on the hillside so I donned paddling gloves
and collected some for dinner. There was a small stream at the head of the harbour
that could be a water source.
Click on thumbnail to enlarge. Classic View from Ireland's Eye Church Window (June 27), Photo T.A. Loeffler
Click on thumbnail to enlarge. Karen going into Ireland's Eye Church (June 27), Photo T.A. Loeffler
The seas were just starting to get rough so we
decided to give it a go and continue the circumnavigation of Ireland’s Eye. The
rugged east coast affords few landing places. Anthony’s Island looked like a
fine place to explore had we not been trying to outpace the winds. We rounded
Ireland’s Eye point with a good view of New Bonaventure and Bonaventure Head in the
distance. There were fun coves and a fallen sea stack to paddle around and
under. As predicted, the winds picked up but we were in the lee of the island now so
we cruised down to Black Duck Harbour for lunch. We didn’t find the cabin
marked on the map but discovered a nice picnic table to have lunch on! On our way
back to Broad Cove, we saw a few more bald eagles. We still had a fine sunny
afternoon ahead of us, so while Karen settled down with watercolor paints, T.A. went on a
land exploration to find the old road to Black Duck Cove, as the topo shows an old
road/trail accessing the resettled communities.
Click on thumbnail to enlarge. Lunch Spot at Black Duck Cove (June 27), Photo Karen Warren
An old trail left the saddle between Broad Cove
and Traytown Harbour and headed up the hill towards Broad Duck Cove through the forest
along the coast. The trail then dropped down and became more indistinct as it
crossed a small stream and ended in a bog. After tramping along for awhile in the
bog and finding the small cove just southwest of Broad Cove (as well as a Liberal campaign
sign), T.A . found the trail again and made it to Black Duck Cove in about 45
minutes. At the back of the cove, the trail continues up a ravine towards
Ireland’s Eye. At the saddle between the two communities, there is a wonderful
old cemetery to visit with graves dating back to the late 1800’s. T.A. hiked
about 15 minutes beyond the cemetery to the church ruins at Ireland’s Eye. The
return hike from Ireland’s Eye to Broad Cove took about 50 minutes since no trail
finding was necessary.
Back at camp, a local couple out lobstering
stopped for a chat. Sea kayaks are still enough of a rarity out here to evoke
curiosity. They told me they owned the first two cabins over the ridge on the
portage trail and we were welcome to seek refuge there if it rained. They also said
there was an open well for drinking water between the two cabins across from a small
bridge. We filled up our water bags with the fine tannin colored water. That
evening we needed to make a decision about which way to head for the rest of the trip.
We originally had intended to cross over to New Bonaventure and continue up the
coast toward Trinity and have a long hitchhike back to our car or paddle back up Smith
Sound to Lower Lance Cove. But the remoteness of the east coast of Random Island
intrigued us, and with advantageous winds predicted, we opted for a more ambitious paddle.
Sat,
June 28: Broad Cove to Verge Island
A foggy morning with a steady southwest wind
greeted us. We navigated off the west shore of the Thoroughfare and around an
unnamed point just north of Connor and Sullivan Islands in a thick fog. We stopped
for a break on Connor Island. We then headed into Rider Harbour by passing between
the two islands. Since the tide was low, we had to get out of our kayaks at one
point and drag them across one area of extremely low water. We rounded Sullivan
Island and made for Siltdown Point just as the fog started to burn off. We crossed
from Siltdown Point to Cold East Flake where we took another break and listened for
another weather forecast. The paddle south from Cold East Flake to East Head
was challenging and into the wind at times. The Bird Islands drifted in and out of
the fog. As we rounded East Head heading towards Long Point, the sun struggled to
break through the fog again. T.A. looked behind where we just had paddled and yelled
“Oh, my god, look what’s behind us!!!” Karen nearly had a heart
attack, but in looking behind us, we saw a huge iceberg emerging from the fog. A
moment later we saw our first minke whale feeding nearby. It was as if the ocean had
erupted in scenic wonder at that instance.
Click on thumbnail to enlarge. Karen in front of Iceberg (June 28), Photo T.A. Loeffler
We had lunch at Long Point and tried to figure out how far out the iceberg was and how big it really was. Not being able to resist its siren song, we paddled out to inspect it. It was beautiful turquoise and white and grey in the sun. Instead of heading back into Deer Harbour to camp, we decided to paddle to Verge Island to camp so we could watch the berg from camp. We managed to find a landing on Verge Island after several attempts. We finally found a rocky but quiet cove inlet at a north-facing break in the sheer rock walls at mid island. Our kitchen in the rocks at the landing was situated so we could see the iceberg framed by the encompassing rock walls and sea stacks. Our tent was set on the highest point of the northeast head of the island. It was quite a schlep to haul gear up there but the view of the iceberg, the black guillemots swimming in patterned flocks far below, and the sunset over Deer Harbour made it all worth it.
Click on thumbnail to enlarge. Boat parking at Long Point (June 28), Photo T.A. Loeffler
Click on thumbnail to enlarge. Iceberg from campsite on Verge Island (June 28th), Photo T.A. Loeffler
Sun,
June 29: Verge Island to Strong Tickle
This day would bring the roughest seas of the
trip. The remoteness of this part of the east coast is both beautiful and
daunting. There is no road access, only a boat or two, deep bays, and few
landings. This section should only be attempted by experienced paddlers with the
right equipment (dry/wetsuits, full rescue gear and the ability to use it, VHF radio,
compass or GPS, and good maps/charts). We found the topos more useful than the
nautical charts for this trip.
The paddle from the north side of Verge to
Motion Head was a front quartering sea at about 20 knots. Instead of following the
coastline of Random Harbour, we aimed off Motion Head hoping to find a passageway between
the promontory with the lighthouse and the head itself. The fetch across all of
Trinity Bay made for heavy seas. The paddle was a definite treadmill in the other
direction. We finally made it to the cove between the lighthouse island and the
head. There was a small channel there to the other side but it was not floatable at
low tide. We landed on the rock slab of the island. We called this our
winch-landing as we needed to tie the boats tight when they were on the rock slab because
they kept slipping back into the water. It made a great sideways seal launch when we
resumed.
We checked out the lighthouse that is no longer
in use. The wind had increased to about 25 knots and was gusting. We were
concerned about the refracting waves on the other side of the point as we could see the
looming cliffs around the corner. We decided to have lunch and a nap and wait to see
what the winds would do. Finally, they began to subside a bit and we paddled around
East Random Head. Huge cliffs and beautiful sea caves lined this southeast side of
Random Island. There were no easy landings to be seen along the whole way until
Salmon Cove. We found a few small icebergs that had calved off. We had fun sucking
on iceberg ice.
Salmon Cove was a great stop to take off layers
as the day had heated up and the winds had laid down. A curious minke whale
surfaced and dived just a few meters from our landing. The sleek black head and
mouth were visible as it slowly moved by us. We didn’t paddle all the way back
into Salmon Cove electing, instead, to get freshwater at the next cove which had a small
beach and lovely waterfall.
As we paddled up the Northwest Arm of Random
Sound we saw a huge flat-topped iceberg the size of an aircraft carrier. It almost
filled the whole bay. Our plan was to camp on one of the islands in Strong Tickle
but they were very steep. We finally found a landing on West Strong Island, but as
Karen reconned for a tent site before we unpacked, another friendly Newfoundland couple in
a boat stopped by and informed T.A. that there was a nice meadow in the back of the tickle
for camping. Paddling back there was like leaving the ocean environment and entering
the Northwoods of northern Minnesota/Ontario. It reminded us both of our paddling
days in the Boundary Waters. There was a fresh water stream at the very back of the
tickle and the meadow was a beautiful though buggy campsite.
Mon, June 30: Layover at Strong Tickle
As it was a layover day, we
slept in and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. Most of the morning was spent lounging
around, watching the tide go out and enjoying the deep stillness of Strong Tickle.
After lunch, time was spent reading, writing, exploring behind the campsite and watching
the tide come in. It would be hard to get in or out of the campsite at low tide -
you might have to get out and pull your boat depending on how much draw you had.
Karen prepared a mighty feast of sushi and we alternated doing hits of wasabi. A
memorable campsite and wonderful layover location.
Click on thumbnail to enlarge. Campsite at Strong Tickle (June 29/30), Photo T.A. Loeffler
Tues, July 1: Strong Tickle to
Hickman’s Harbour
T.A. sang all the patriotic Canadian songs for
Karen in honor of Canada Day. We got off early after a leftover sushi breakfast and
paddled around the corner to Hickman’s Harbour. We got one more look at our
humongous iceberg on the way. We took out on the east side of the harbour near the
general store. A very nice local man and his son gave us a ride back to the car at
Lower Lance Cove.
Overall, and in each moment, this was a
fabulous trip. We were treated to cooperative winds and seas, visited remote
coastline, viewed wildlife and formed many precious memories along this stretch of
coastline. We completed a classic Newfoundland sea kayak trip by visiting
Ireland’s Eye and then extended it by heading around Random Island for the
half-circumnavigation. We only wished we’d had one more day so that we could
have explored Deer Harbour. We heard there may be pictographs along one of the
streams that drains into Deer Harbour. We highly recommend the trip to anyone with
the skills and weather forecast to attempt it. Enjoy!
GROUP:
Tent
MSR Whisperlite
Fuel Bottles
Tarp
Fry Bake Pan
Pot Set
Kitchen stuff
TP kit
Waterbags
Water Filter/bleach
Candle Lantern
First Aid Kit
SEA KAYAK GROUP:
VHF radio
GPS
Flares
Air horn
Strobe
Tow/throw rope
Pump
Paddle float
Spare Paddle
Repair Kit
Slings
Charts
Tide/current tables
Karen Warren is an outdoor instructor for the Hampshire College
Outdoors Program in Amherst, MA, USA. She has led sea kayaking trips for over 15
years in many places along the US east coast, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, and New
Zealand.
T.A. Loeffler is an assistant professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St.
John's, Newfoundland. She is a rabid hockey player and sea kayaks between hockey
seasons. T.A. instructs sea kayaking courses for the National Outdoor Leadership
School in Baja California, Mexico.