Another kayak trip off the list!- PICTURE HEAVY!

[Grant Lamontagne]

There are a few local trips I have wanted to make kayaking since I started... well... kayaking.  Today I crossed another one off the list.  For those not familiar with East Coast Canadian geography (and I would imagine that would be most of you!) I live in a city that's a peninsula in a province that's a peninsula.  It's always been one of my personal challenges to circumnavigate my city, and today I did it.  Frank (my usual kayaking partner) showed up bright and early this morning and I made breakfast before we loaded up the boats and headed out.

Here's a map:



As you can imagine, my track is the blue line.  As I am not a huge fan of the ocean (it gives me the willies) this was a bit more of a momentous challenge for me, especially considering the amount of heavy traffic the whole way around!    

Of course, when I say "heavy" I mean heavy.  Halifax is a major shipping port and we started at the boat launch not too far from my house which is right next door to a container yard.  Add to that the Tall Ships festival in town and all the small boat traffic of folks trying to see the Tall Ships from a different angle, and well, you get an idea of how much bloody traffic there really was!  There were boats everywhere, and just about all of them larger than me!

I tried to take as many photos as I could but the wakes from the many many other, large boats made it reasonably dangerous- worse because the harbour is pretty polluted!   

Anyways, I am too exhausted to recount all of it, so here are some pics.  There are no shots of the really rough stuff for obvious reasons! 























We met up with a kayaking couple in some Boreal boats.  While she may have been cute, I swear I was snapping pictures of the boats since I'm interested in Boreal boats!











This one is pretty neat- it's an old amphibious military troop transport converted to amphibious tour bus.  We call them (there are many of them) Harbour Hoppers.







There are more pics but I think that's enough punishment for your modems for now! 

Def

[jerseydevil]

Nice pics, Def.    Tall ships are cool.  I go usually go into NYC for Fleet Week, and it's always neat to go and watch them enter the harbor.  The USCGC Eagle I've been aboard at New London, CT.  There seems to be a number of warships there too, all Canadian Navy?

[Grant Lamontagne]

Actually we have a number of visiting Navy ships at any one time too.  Halifax is a pretty popular port for shipping, Navy, private vessels and cruise ships.

Def

[bushidomosquito]

Wow Grant. That's great kayak territory and some really great pics. Looks like you live on a peninsula on a peninsula on a peninsula on a peninsula. And now I'll always remember how to spell peninsula.

[Zed]

Grea pics Def    due to weather here ive not looked into my kayak yet so possibly might wait till winter now and hopefully pic one up cheaper    looks like you have a good time 

[JRB65]

Nice pictures

Looks like your friend had a fishing rod out... did he catch anything?

[Grant Lamontagne]

Wow Grant. That's great kayak territory and some really great pics. Looks like you live on a peninsula on a peninsula on a peninsula on a peninsula. And now I'll always remember how to spell peninsula.

It certainly is- the city on the other side of the harbour from me (Dartmouth) is known as The City of Lakes since there are (I think) 21 or 22 different lakes within city limits, and all within a few minutes drive of me.  Then there's the Shubie Canal system, a series of lakes and rivers that go from one side of the province to the other, then there are two major rivers (The LaHave and the Musquodoboit) and the rest of the province is dotted with lakes and rivers as well.  Then there's the Atlantic Ocean, which on my side of the province leads right out into open water, and on the other side of the province has the warmest tides north of Florida thanks to the St Lawrence Seaway dumping out into it.  All in all, if you are into water sports (no, not that kind!   ) then this is the place to be.  There's millions of places to go kayaking, canoeing, diving, snorkeling, body boarding, surfing, windsurfing, para sailing, sailing.... even our license plates say "Nova Scotia- Canada's Ocean Playground."

Grea pics Def    due to weather here ive not looked into my kayak yet so possibly might wait till winter now and hopefully pic one up cheaper    looks like you have a good time 

Bad weather is the best time to buy a kayak- keep an eye on the local listings.  The weather here this summer has been perhaps the most beautiful I have ever seen in this province, and it prompted one of the big box stores to put out a heck of a deal on kayaks and I snapped one up for my wife.... but she lets me use it too! 

Nice pictures

Looks like your friend had a fishing rod out... did he catch anything?

Not yesterday, but then some drunk kids in a small sailboat almost hit him, veered away at the last second and the keel of their boat broke his line and almost snapped his rod.  The kids are lucky it was Frank they almost hit as I would have taken out the side of their boat with my CRKT Neckolas, and let them try to explain what happened when they got back to the marina.

Def