Brian's Kayak Adventures

[FundyBrian]

The humble craft kitted out with 2 rotating GoPro camera mounts, the watertight little blue box is for my iPhone 6, the small grey Pelican case is for a DSLR. The iPhone only comes out when it is very calm. Still looking for a good waterproof case that can accommodate my Moment lens mount. Any suggestions? Likewise, the DSLR stayed inside the case under the spray skirt unless it is safe to take it out. An Olympus TG-4 resides in a pocket sewn on the front of my PFD. The TG-4 is an ideal kayaking camera. It is waterproof to 50' down. Farther than I'll ever go.
Today was my first foray out into the Bay of Fundy this season. The Bay of Fundy water stays dangerously hypothermia cold halfway through the summer. I had on my dry suit today with that in mind. I ventured out towards Owl's Head from Alma. The waves began to pick up so I headed in to more sheltered water in the Upper Salmon River.

At high tide the water comes close to these beached boats.

 

[RoseCat]

Looks like you're ready for quite an adventurous summer!

 

[FundyBrian]

A few days ago I paddled a 5.25km section of Shepody River near Riverside-Albert, NB. Fabi dropped me off where the Marsh Road crosses the river and picked me up later at the other end.

Fabi made a shot of me once I was in the kayak and ready to go.
The plan was to casually paddle downstream and enjoy the meanderings of the river as it winds through the marshlands where some people harvest hay and others graze some cows. When you are on the water the banks of the river are at least 10 feet higher, obscuring your overall view beyond the riverbanks. Sometimes the river goes east, then North, then west, not your as-the-crow-flies route.
What I had not counted on was the stiff headwind that rose up to make me work harder. The current was swift but the wind was 3 times stronger, gusting to 38km on my handy dandy hand held anemometer I just got at Princess Auto. Even in the seemingly protected space I was in the wind caused waves and whitecaps to appear. I had trouble keeping my hat on.

I mentioned the cows earlier. There are lots of fences on the land but once the fence meets the river there is some danger the cows will wade in the river to go around the end of the fence. Because of this the fences extend out into the water a bit, looking very odd.
This picture isn't very exciting but was very hard won. I had to paddle beyond the fence, quickly take my iPhone out of the watertight box, frame up the shot as I'm drifting backwards, and hopefully end up at the right vantage point to get the composition I wanted, then put my iPhone back in the box before paddling back again. It took about 20 tries so even if you don't like the picture you have to appreciate my persistence. It was too risky to take the iPhone out of the watertight box to make any other shots.

 

[mwolfer]

Thank you for your persistence. I've never seen a fence go into the water before. Interesting!

 

[FundyBrian]

Tonight I went kayaking at Bennett Lake in Fundy National Park. The tide wasn't timed right for a trip on the Bay of Fundy this evening. I decided to give you a more rounded impression of Bennett Lake. It lies about 25 km inland from the Bay and up in the hills. It is a man-made lake going back over 100 years when a dam was made to run a sawmill. Since then it has become a recreational spot for boating (canoes & rowboats), a picnic ground and a swimming beach.
When I arrived the black flies were terrible and I quickly donned my trusty bug net while I got my kayak stuff ready to go. I headed out onto the lake hoping to escape the bugs in the wind. Just then the sun went behind a large ominous looking cloud.

There was no mention of rain in the forecast so I carried on. So did the black flies so I kept my bug net on.
I went right to the far end of the lake, about 1km, to visit the old beaver lodge. There were signs of recent maintenance so the lodge must be active.

Sure enough, as I sat there admiring their handiwork 2 beavers cruised around to check me out.

Naturally I didn't have my Moment tele with me for fear I would drop it in the lake so I just zoomed in as much as PureShot would allow and made several shots.

I have photographed beavers with a variety of cameras in the past but never before with my iPhone. Considering the standard lens is quite wide angle it isn't the ideal tool for the job. None the less, I managed to get some half decent shots just because the beavers came quite close, about 3 meters.

Here, one of the Beavers is expressing its displeasure at my presence by slapping its tail on the water, making a sound like someone heaved a large rock into the water. I decided to vacate their dooryard.

A selfie with bug net.

A view at the back end of the lake just around the corner from the beaver lodge.

Going clockwise around the lake here's a view looking towards the other end of the lake, where the road and the dam are.
I decided to wait and see what the sunset looked like. I have had good luck there in the past. In the meantime, I'm killing time waiting, by paddling around the lake.

This is looking back towards the end of the lake again, just next to one of the small islands. You can see the near-sunset lighting angle.

The sky to the west became completely clear of clouds. This is as close to sunset colour as I got. The sun went down in pale blue with no sunset colour at all.
I headed for home. There I discovered I had collected 22 black fly bites inside my shirt. Time for bed now.

 

[RoseCat]

How beautiful! There's two beaver lodges where I go camping... I know the tail slap very well! [emoji23]

Loving the bug net (every biting bug LOVES my blood) but I can't believe they got you through your shirt! You looked pretty covered up and the clothing looked substantial.

 

[FundyBrian]

How beautiful! There's two beaver lodges where I go camping... I know the tail slap very well! [emoji23]

Loving the bug net (every biting bug LOVES my blood) but I can't believe they got you through your shirt! You looked pretty covered up and the clothing looked substantial.

There are a couple of other 'junior' lodges at Bennett lake also but they don't look active this year. I could hear the sounds of young beavers at the main lodge.
I make the bug nets from stuff I buy at Fabricville. I find if I can keep the bugs from crawling on my face it makes the situation much more tolerable. I think for kayaking I need a longer design since the paddling action makes the short one ride up and require frequent re-tucking. The black flies must have been getting in around my collar. They sure are itchy now. I discovered about 6 more since my first count.
Here's something I saved about bugs.
"Mosquitoes are attracted to type O blood, dark clothing, pregnant women, beer drinkers. "
I have certainly seen the truth about the dark clothing. I saw someone take off their dark windbreaker and hold it out at arm's length and the bugs stayed with the jacket.
At this time of year, black fly season, I think they go after anything that lives. Some campers told me they stayed inside their trailer most of the day.
How are the no-see-ums out your way? They come out a bit later in the season and are small enough to go right through window screens. You can feel them biting you but it takes a close inspection to actually see what is biting you. and they are very persistent.

 

[RoseCat]

Here's something I saved about bugs.
"Mosquitoes are attracted to type O blood, dark clothing, pregnant women, beer drinkers. "

Huh!! Well I am type O so maybe that's the answer to the mystery!

How are the no-see-ums out your way?

I haven't seen any where I live but where I've gone camping you'll find them along the woodsy hiking trails, in big swarm patches. You'll be walking along and suddenly walk into a cloud of them.... [emoji16]

 

[FundyBrian]

An exciting day! My new kayak arrived today.

I was on hand when the Delta kayak order arrived from BC. Made in Canada no less. Each was wrapped in Mylar covered bubble wrap. Blinding in the sun! We unwrapped them on the grass in front of the Kayak Exchange before carrying then inside. Mine is green[emoji41]. I didn't name my last kayak but maybe this time... The Green Avenger? Kermit? It doesn't seem to me a name for a boat is much use unless it would come when called. Then there's the issue of christening the boat with a champagne bottle. It would just bounce off the boat and not break. Besides, it isn't environmentally friendly to deposit broken glass in the water.
The next thing will be fitting it out with camera attachments.
The continuing effort is getting my sweetie pie interested in kayaking with me. It would be nice to have another activity to do together.

 

[FundyBrian]

Maiden voyage of my new kayak.

Here I am just getting ready to paddle out to the Bay of Fundy on my first outing with my new kayak. It was windy and rough out there so I braved the wind and waves for a while. Let's just say it was a good workout. The craft seems stable and quite capable in the waves. After a while I returned and paddled in the river where it was a bit more sheltered.

This is as far as you can paddle without running into rocks and shallow water. There used to be a dam and sawmill here back in the old days.

 

[RoseCat]

She's a beauty!! Perhaps you should name her Venomator.

 

[FundyBrian]

I have had more kayak outings where it wasn't safe to take my iPhone out of the watertight box to use it. I got some great shots on my 2 GoPro cameras and Olympus TG-4 underwater camera. Still looking for a suitable all-weather iPhone case that will accommodate the Moment lens mount. I wrote to HitCase and they said the HitCase was a very tight fit and doubted the Moment lens adapter would fit inside and also close.
One outing there were 2-3 foot waves. There were a few shots of big splashes that were quite dramatic.

 

[FundyBrian]

This last outing I brought my brother, Gary along. He was here visiting from Montreal. Lots of great shots with my GoPros and Olympus TG-4 underwater camera. Unfortunately, no iPhone shots. I can't find a waterproof housing that will work with the Moment lens mounting plate attached.

 

[lisamjw]

Looks like great fun; but, keep that camera dry!

 

[FundyBrian]

At last a kayak outing where it was relatively safe to take my iPhone out of the waterproof box.

Sunrise over Owl's Head as I'm rounding Joel's Head.
I left the house a little after 5am. High tide was at 7:15am and I wanted to start out about 2 hours before.

As I paddled towards Owl's Head the sun kept falling behind the Headland as I got closer and then rising again. All pictures shot with iPhone 6 and Fusion.

When I reached Owl's Head the sun was a bit higher.

My kayak ready to go. The tide is rising. I got my front rotating GoPro mount made. The rear mount is still fixed (non-rotating).

 

[FundyBrian]

According to my GPS this morning's paddle was 9.2km.

Here is my new rotating GoPro mount.

This time made smaller and using more brass and stainless parts to help ward off corrosion in the salt water. It is much more sealed against water, too, although complete immersion for a while would get it wet inside. It should be OK being splashed by waves.

 

[FundyBrian]

Here are a couple of wackier versions of this morning's kayak adventure.

Made with Simply HDR.

I'm curious to know what people think of these slightly more extreme HDRs.

 

[lisamjw]

They're all fab but I really like the first image. Something about that sky reminds me of fireworks.

 

[RoseCat]

At last a kayak outing where it was relatively safe to take my iPhone out of the waterproof box.
View attachment 66787
Sunrise over Owl's Head as I'm rounding Joel's Head.
I left the house a little after 5am. High tide was at 7:15am and I wanted to start out about 2 hours before.
View attachment 66788
As I paddled towards Owl's Head the sun kept falling behind the Headland as I got closer and then rising again. All pictures shot with iPhone 6 and Fusion.
View attachment 66789
When I reached Owl's Head the sun was a bit higher.
View attachment 66790
My kayak ready to go. The tide is rising. I got my front rotating GoPro mount made. The rear mount is still fixed (non-rotating).

The mount is awesome!! As is the sunrise....

 

[RoseCat]

Here are a couple of wackier versions of this morning's kayak adventure.
View attachment 66793
Made with Simply HDR.
View attachment 66794
View attachment 66795
I'm curious to know what people think of these slightly more extreme HDRs.

My favorite is the second image.... love the deep periwinkle blue against the gold.

 

[mwolfer]

I like your extreme edits but am partial to the originals that you posted.

 

[FundyBrian]

Today my kayak outing was in the Aldouane area, near Richibucto, NB. This is also salt water but the Atlantic coast rather than the Bay of Fundy. I was exploring the mouths of Daigle Creek and the St. Charles River where they meet Richibucto harbour.
It was a rainy day and the picture opportunities were not very exciting, except this area of oyster aquaculture.

I liked the way the oyster growing things curved off into the distance with the rather threatening sky behind. This was a brief lull in the rain so I took out my iPhone 6 to make a few shots with Fusion. This version is a combination (using Leonardo) of the Fusion result with a Simply HDR version that was a bit too edgy.

This is the straight Fusion result.

For the fun of it I also made this otherworldly version using LAB Photo. It is from a much more interesting parallel universe.

 

[lisamjw]

I knew about the mussels from PEI but had no idea about the oysters from NB. Very cool.

 

[FundyBrian]

Breakfast at Owl's Head.
I set out at 6:30am in a heavy mist - OK, pessimists would call it a light rain. It was very calm but foggy. The top of Owl's Head is obscured by fog.

The misting stopped and I continued along the shore towards Owl's Head, a little more than 4km.

I especially enjoy looking at the coastal cliffs.
I passed a family of Peregrine Falcons on the cliff, making quite a racket.

I found a waterfall in a very narrow gorge.

I visited the bell buoy on the way back. It was bigger and farther away than I expected. In the background is Owl's Head, also farther away than it looks, because it's very big. The buoy marks the drop off where the water is deep enough for fishing boats at low tide, about 1 km from shore.
On my way into the harbour some real rain began. So much for the sunshine forecast yesterday. My Drysuit turned out to be appropriate attire. A lovely outing none the less.

 

[FundyBrian]

Aug 20: Alma to Waterside Beach. 12.1 km. New Brunswick, Canada. Bay of Fundy, high tide.
I also made this trip about a week ago but somehow forgot my iPhone in the car so no pics. It was foggy that time. Aug 20 was warm and surprisingly calm. Beautiful for kayaking.

Starting my journey: heading out of Alma harbour and around Joel's Head paddling roughly east. All these pictures were made on my iPhone 6 using Fusion. Between shots my iPhone was safely stored in a waterproof box.

The next major landmark is Owl's Head. Don't be fooled. It's farther than it looks. About 4.5 km from Alma. This part of the Bay of Fundy shore is mostly rugged cliffs, offering very few landing spots.

This is a 4-shot panorama put together in AutoStitch.

Arriving at Owl's Head. It has s distinctive profile easily recognized from quite a distance in either direction on the coast. There are rough beaches along here, quite rocky but it would be possible to land a kayak in a pinch.

Beyond Owl's Head the shore becomes more rugged and offers much less in the way of landing sites.

Boulders that fall from the cliff fall directly into the water with no beach.

The cliffs gradually taper off to be replaced by gravel/sand banks. This is where the beaches are, far right - Dennis Beach.

Beyond Dennis Beach the red cliffs of Red Head rise up. This particular rock formation, red Triassic sandstone, is unique along this shore.

This is one of my favourite areas to come for photography. On foot you can only get here at low tide and this picture makes it obvious you must be out of here before the tide comes in. Remember, the tide here is 12.5 metres.

Red Head is getting full of holes, eroding fast.
Continued....