December 21 - Trial Island (#119)

Dan, Gordin and I set out from "rat bay" to paddle around Trial Island and enjoy some of the wind and waves. The winds were in the 20 to 30 knot range for most of our paddle. Trial island reported  a steady 21 knots at 10 AM. Discovery reported similar winds between 10 and 12. Shortly after we came in the wind picked up another notch to 35/40 knots (Trial island 1 PM). Ten Mile Point also reported similar winds (main 10 mile site):

We played around in the "bumps" off Trial, but found more fun in the waves between the two islands. We then paddled over to the cardinal buoy by Mouat reef and found the largest waves between there and Enterprise Channel (we estimate 3 metres or more at times)

click to enlarge

I managed to leave my trusty carbon paddle (made by Superior) in my garage - fortunately Gordin (thanks!) was able to lend me his spare. However, I found myself surprised at how much less comfortable I felt with a Euro paddle. The Greenland paddle just seems to be smoother,more efficient, more stable and reassuring in big conditions. To test this I borrowed Dan's paddle at the end and went back into the lumpy stuff to check - no question, the GP felt better..

8 km, 4 NM, YTD 1172 km.