Leaving my camp on Herring Point, I paddled well off the coast to avoid the shallow surf off Bayswater Beach. This was an exposed piece of coast, despite a few islands, and I was nervous about the next crossing of Saint Margaret's Bay. The wind was not bad, though, and I decided to paddle straight across from Southwest Island to Peggy's Cove. I landed in the cove and pulled the kayak up onto the dock before taking a walk around the village and up to the famous lighthouse. This area can be pretty fearsome in a storm, so I did not linger, but relaunched and aimed my bow towards West Dover. From this point on, I was back in a part of the coast that I knew relatively well from day trips in the kayak and hiking expeditions.
West Dover, at that time, had a restaurant run by a father of one of the victims of the Swiss Air crash. He had opened a restaurant to be closer to where his daughter had met a tragic end and to honour her memory. There is a memorial nearby in memory of all the people who died in that terrible airplane crash, and I recalled that a year earlier we had been forced to change course to avoid the crash investigation area, while sailing the coast on Water Music. I had lunch at the restaurant and managed to convince the owner to fill one of my gallon jugs with drinking water. He was begrudging about this and complained to me about the locals who were always asking him for water. I believe he had to make his fresh water from seawater via reverse osmosis. He seemed unhappy to be where he was, and I hope he eventually found some peace.
After lunch, I paddled between numerous small islands that make this area a delight to explore in a small boat. I passed Prospect and Terrance Bay, which were favourite kayaking destinations for day trips from Halifax. I was tempted to stop and camp on Hearn Island because it had a good beach and great memories from previous trips in Fraser's sailboat, Itchy and Scratchy. However, it was still early, and I was feeling strong after my heavy fish and chips lunch, so I continued past Pennant Point and landed near Crystal Crescent Beach, where I set up my tent on the lovely white sand. This is a popular hiking spot and close to a nude beach, so I had a few curious people wonder past my camp as I cooked my supper.
My final day was also the longest day. My only mistake that day was to overload the bow area of my boat with my spare water, which made it difficult to keep the boat on track. I had to paddle most of the day with my right arm only. Thinking back, I wonder that I did not stop and reload the boat to make it steer properly! This stretch of coast was the most familiar, being one of my favourite hiking and sailing areas. I paddled inside of Sambro Island and past the light at Ketch Head. Whenever I pass Sambro island, I remember one of my first open ocean paddles. With my friend Chris Mills, whio at that time was a lighthouse keeper, we paddled out to the Island, which has one of the oldest lighthouses on the coast. There, we set up our tents and camped overnight amongst hundreds of nesting seagulls. The gulls were unimpressed by our presence and kept up such a crying and commotion all night that Chris did not sleep at all.
From Ketch head on, the coast has a few coves that were once the location of fishing villages, including Ketch Harbour, Portugese Cove, and Purcell's Cove. Today, large houses line the granite shores and few fishing boats make their home in these harbours. The paddled ended without incident at the head of the Northwest arm, where Fraser greeted me at the dock. As it turns out, I have not paddled on a longer solo trip like this since that day. Some day I would like to come back to Nova Scotia and do something similar, perhaps further down the South Shore.
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