Sea Kayaking - North east or Canada

[wgonfan]

sometime between May and August I'm taking the ole lady on a weekend getaway. While there I'd like to do a little ocean Kayaking. We were looking at Rhode island, Maine or somewhere up that way. Also thinking Canada possibly. I was wondering if any of you guys have every done any ocean kayaking and could recommend a destination.

[Stan]

In 2007 I did some sea kayaking in the northeast. I paddled:

Parc du Bic in Quebec: A very pretty provincial park on the St. Lawrence River on the north side of Gaspe Peninsula. Very nice sea kayaking. Highway 132 circumnavigates the Gaspe Peninsula and is a terrific drive.

Note: In Quebec all the road signs are in French – no English. In the rest of Canada road signs are in both French & English. I suggest brushing up on French road signs before venturing into Quebec.

Bay of Fundy: In a couple of places.
Advocate Harbour, Nova Scotia. I saw some terrific rock formations including the Three Sisters. This was a very challenging paddle with a strong wind and 2-3 foot waves. I went with a group.

Cobscook Bay State Park, Maine: This is a more sheltered area. No wind and no waves and a very peaceful paddle among the rock outcroppings – at least on that day.

Note: As I was getting ready to launch at Cobscook, a local lady stopped and asked me which way I was going. When I pointed off to my right, she said “Yes, that way is OK”. She proceeded to tell me that off to our left was a “Reversing Waterfall’. The Bay of Fundy has a number of these. The water flows into the bay at low tide and flows inland at high tide. Getting caught in a reversing waterfall can be very nasty. In fact several kayakers had died in the waterfall near Cobscook. And this kind stranger was just looking out for my welfare.

The Bay of Fundy has some of the greatest tide changes in the world. The water came up about 30 feet on my Nova Scotia paddle. It rose about 6 feet in an hour at Cobscook. I suggest checking with knowledgeable people before venturing onto the Bay of Fundy. I had known about the tremendous tide changes and knew that I needed to be careful. That is why I went with a group in Nova Scotia and had checked with a ranger at Cobscook before deciding to paddle.


“Stan” AKA Margaret Bartelt

[Cowper]

My list of "top ten reasons I shouldn't be alive today" includes kayaking in and around Acadia National Park in Maine.

http://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not that it was particularly difficult, but I was 22 years old, paddling alone, probably 15 years before I even saw my first drysuit much less owned one. And oh yeah, I had just recently learned to roll so it was far from bombproof and may or may not have worked with my kayak fully loaded with overnight gear. So let's go paddling offshore with just a map and compass, woo-hoo!

BUT, it was a beautiful place. The NPS website above is short on info, and mentions boat rentals in surrounding towns. What I remember is island hopping; some of the larger islands are inhabited; smaller ones are just rock outcroppings with only birds. Sounds like some may be seasonally closed now to prevent interference with breeding season.

[fiddleboy]

I wouldn't try to pass myself off as an expert, but one of the few times I've sea kayaked was on Lake Bras d'Or on Cape Breton Island which is part of Nova Scotia. Even though it is called a "lake" it is actually an inlet of the ocean, so it is salt water. So you are protected from the rough waters of the open sea, while still having an opportunity to see whales, cormorants, etc. We paddled up the coast to a spot near an occupied bald eagle's nest (they are very common up there), which was pretty cool. Apart from that, Cape Breton is just an AWESOME place. The Cape Breton Highlands Park forms the northern extreme of the island, and there are plenty of opportunities to kayak in most of the waters surrounding the park.