Rasta, to templeofelementalevil
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

"Hello there!, I'll be your tour guide on a boating adventure, a day of exploration, in the summertime.

This is a harbour seal, I think. I refer to them as the Cute seals, the Grey Seal is much larger & also called a horsehead seal, because, THEY UGLY! 😂​

You don't have to be in a boat to see these. I can walk to most shorelines and see them.

These swim right up to the river.
https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/seals-phoques/species-especes/index-eng.html

@capla

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

We will be making this trip in a square back canoe. This isn't a portable canoe, it's solid fiberglass, very heavy, molded seats, square back.

My wife is disabled, & cannot help lift, load or move a boat. I have to move this beast myself.

1st photo isn't mine, it's a sample to show the size & weight before we begin.

My wife is sitting in front, we have a rod with us every time we go out on the ocean.

44°54'26.9"N 62°17'42.7"W

Looking forward from the back of the boat/canoe, my wife is in the front, ball cap and lifejacket on, and you can see part of her fishing rod. Only she can fish, I'm operating an electric motor, navigating and trying to take photos when conditions allow. In the distance, a kilometer away, from our launch point, is a large island. That is our destination.
A large crescent shaped island, 96 acres, once inhabited, now a camp remains but no residents. Most islands are uninhabited as we have 100 wild islands -in this area, the closest, we visit and explore.

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

It's not without risk. We are two seniors, alone, in an isolated rural community. The likelihood we would see another boat is rare.
On the way out, we saw one guy go by. You have to know the area, there are rocks, ledges, places to run aground. A larger boat could not go where we go. That's part of the advantage we have. We only need 2 feet of water to pass over rocks or obstacles. Unmarked, of course.

About half a kilometer from the shore, we saw a single 18 foot boat go by with one man in it and a large outboard motor. I don't even think he saw us, we don't make any sound, we use an electric motor, and silently move along.
Other islands and land look even further away, there will be no swimming back to shore, should something go wrong.
Most islands in this area, form under water ledges and shoals that are very dangerous, a big boat would run aground and a small boat would be in danger from the churning water around these ledges. It's the Atlantic Ocean, and it can be unkind.

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

A better look at the island from Google Maps, If you are local, you can see this from the Number 7 highway at Harrigan Cove ( )
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9155331,-62.2958808,787m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu

It took us about 30 minutes to arrive. The boat doesn't travel very fast, with two people and an electric trolling motor.

It was hard and damaging to drag the boat onto the shore. I carry a few pieces of Plastic Pipe, to roll the boat up, because I have to do it alone.

Rasta, (edited )
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

I sometimes worry, that someone might take our stuff, cut our boat free & leave us stranded.

I checked to see if there was any cellular signals out there, in case we got into trouble.

Leaving the boat here, seemed like the easiest place to get back off the shore, when the tide drops. We will be here all day, the boat will be high & dry; the rock ledges will be visible on low tide, we can't leave the same route on a different tide.

WE ARE NOT ALONE!

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

All of has amazing shorelines, some sandy, some with fascinating rock deposits.

As we move from the north end of the island, we cross an area called THE TURNIP PATCH, probably named for the turnip size boulders that have piled up in a big heap, on a narrow stretch between the end, and the main island portion.
Storms wash up debris, & driftwood
We discovered something else...
Heaps of Marine mammal bones!

When we reached the summit of the pile of stones, it's a long walk to the rest of the island. A bit difficult to walk on these round stones, especially for my wife, who struggles to keep her balance, walking with a cane. In the distance, at the end of the rocks, is forested area, the main body of the island
Today it is calm. But this is the windward side of the island. Most days, waves crash right up on the mound, and in storms, it crashed over to the other side of the island, shaping a hill of rocks behind it. Other islands in the distance
Trapped in the rocks, are thousands of tree roots and logs, driftwood ,flotsam (Washed off ships) and jetsam (tossed off ships, littering) , and debris. A cooking pot stands out in the rocks, left for decades on the shore. Far to the right, appears to be a field.

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

On the seaward side, the waves on most days, come crashing ashore, but we'd find heaps of bones in between.
Seals are known to fight, and perhaps that's what caused deaths, or they come here to die?
I set a few bones on a rock to get a photo.
There's some pretty interesting stuff, on beaches, such as the blanket of irish moss and kelp at the water's edge.

Difficult walking here, my wife has a cane

Some big rib bones lined up on a rock. They may not be marine mammals, they could easily be from the carcass of a deer that died on the island, or while swimming to it.
Orange blanket of thick, slippery kelp and irish moss Kelps are large brown algae or seaweeds. Chondrus crispus—commonly called Irish moss or carrageenan moss —is a species of red algae which grows abundantly along the rocky parts of the Atlantic coasts
A tangled mess of tree trunks, branches, logs and driftwood, block our path through the edge of the Turnip Patch. Sometimes we had to walk closer to the water to get by obstacles. I wonder what we'll find in the woods over there?

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus) is used as a thickening & gelling agent in foods and other products.

It is also used to clarify beverages such as beer.
https://www.bannerhealth.com/healthcareblog/teach-me/pros-and-cons-of-sea-moss-irish-moss

When we were kids, we'd gather it to sell, it has health and nutritional benefits.

You'd break your neck if you stepped on this, it's extremely slippery.
Some interesting shapes and textures on ;
I brought a big one home.

A horn shaped piece of ocean shaped driftwood. I'm holding it in one hand to show, with turnip patch stones below
a round piece of wood with patterns zigzagging across the face. Art created by the sea, carved as if by an artist hands.
A concrete manhole cover, the power of the sea is tremendous. If it washed this out to sea and up on an island, this is about 70 pounds/31 kg in weight. It didn't float here between the seaweed on the beach.

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

If you follow my Island stories, you'll know that I clean beaches, and bring in debris for proper disposal.
You can see the Turnip patch wood and debris from Satellite

I really wanted this Navigational Buoy. They don't recapture them, they put up new ones, when storms tear them free. I knew where a RED and GREEN one were, on different beaches.
Port And Starboard gate-posts of a Sailor's Driveway, MINE!

A HUGE red Navigational Buoy that was torn free in a storm, and washed up on the beach. It has XM6 on the side. I tried to carry it, but I could only drag it, and our boat could not take the weight, I wanted to make a second trip to get it, but when I did, it was gone. Someone else claimed it for a trophy. SIZE almost as long as I am, and just as heavy.
A concrete culvert section, about 4 foot long and 3 feet in diameter, half submerged in the ocean. It may have washed out from the highway where a bridge was replaced a few miles away, or been intentionally brought here to moor a boat off the beach
RED RIGHT RETURNING A drawing featuring green barrel, can or navigational buys on the left, and red on the right heading back to land. At the bottom shows a man in a boat, with arrows indicating the path to take

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

We had barely made the main part of the island, before it got sunny (and warm) and I spotted that same boat we saw leaving the harbour, heading home. Easier to see the man now that it is sunny.

We haven't seen him, but that HUGE deer is nearby. I can tell by the fresh scat (deer poop)
He's probably watching us carefully and stepping behind a tree to hide from us, as we pass by. I looked really hard. Never saw him.

Walking is difficult now

That large deer poop again. Normally deer poop is tiny round pellets like a large rabbit, but this is a compressed blob, and it's pretty fresh looking. The deer knows we are here, and is avoiding us
More uneven large rocks on the shore. The passage is restricted on the land, trees are dense, with no paths, trails or ways to bushwhack through (Cutting your way through making a path)
My wife is walking below, on the uneven boulders. She's getting warm from hiking in the sun now, and is carrying her jacket in one hand and her cane in the other. She's been having a hard time on these uneven rock surfaces. But she's a trooper. My backpack is laying behind her, I took it off to get between trees and take some photos

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

My wife could not get up a steep grade, so I stopped to take photos and let her stumble on ahead to catch up to her in a few minutes.

From my high point, I can see out to sea, other islands in the distance, and looking back to the left, you can see The Turnip Patch that we left earlier. It seems like forever, we're into about 3 hours now. It's a big island.

A seal follows us like a puppy dog, as we walk near it on the shoreline .

The light (appears sandy from a distance) white spot is the huge rocky mound called The Turnip Patch, on my left, behind us, but directly ahead in the focus point. There's some nice fluffy clouds up there, and sun is getting in. It's lovely out here, you should visit?
We've acquired a friend. A seal has been following us, watching us walk the shoreline. He's a little shy, sometime before I take the shot, he dives and hides again but I caught him in a photo this time. I've had them come so close to shore, where it is shallow and close to us.
Moving along my field of vision, more distant islands and below, a rocky ledge protruding out of the ocean at the shoreline

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

There were people living here once. I've been in contact with relatives of early settlers, asking me if I saw graves of their Great GrandFather on the island. Most likely, grown over and hidden.

We did discover a modern day camp. We gave it a wide berth. We don't want to be suspects in break-ins or vandalism. Most isolated camps have plenty of trail cams capturing wildlife and intruders.

We're just explorers.

I want that green buoy too!

A reddish brown cabin, a red stain on the face of exposed wallboards. A door, window and a chimney. People may come here in the fall to hunt, or as a close stopover when fishing. A shed is to the left. There's no path, or activity. It's not been used for some time, but we got no closer. We're careful to be good stewards on other people's land.
Another of the same Navigational Buoys. This one is still tied, but not where it should be. It's against the shore, within the dangerous rocking ledges arewa

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

First settlers were the BAPTISTE families, hence the name of the island. On the mainland, they also owned land, far back from the shore. We also went there, to check for signs of graves, of the relatives who contacted me and asked. We're good that way, I'll do the legwork to help them find their genealogical roots. I do my own genealogy.

Explaining why this field exists, there were likely grazing animals once. Cows or sheep.

The first settlers cleared the field, the old foundation in the distance is just in front of the modern cabin today. My wife is at the bottom right, paused to look at something while I snapped some photos and looked for that deer.
very old decaying lumber, used to cover a big well pit. It's not protecting it now, give it a wide berth. Without the wood giving it away, you can fall into a well in places like this, long since forgotten, unmarked and grown over
I used to hunt deer. I can track them too. There's signs of him everywhere near the open clearing or field. More scat (deer poop)

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

It's mid-afternoon, and we're just reaching the woods. This island fools you. You think you can walk it in a short while but it's an all day adventure.

We've reached a summit, and the view is excellent, trees so dense you need to turn back several times to find an alternative route.

Like an enchanted forest, the dying branches of the trees smothered from the sun by the density of the trees. We have to turn back again, we'd need a chainsaw to cut our way through here
I love this tree. It's a hundred branches in every direction, without a needle or leaf on any, just dried grey branches extending everywhere. underneath is rich green moss areas
From the summit, a break in the trees, when we turned to find another route, and you see blue ocean, fluffy clouds and distant islands showing between the trees

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

I don't know about you, but these views take my breath away. You can go see Peggys Cove if you like, this is what I like to see. No tourists, nobody knows it but us.
(and 100 fishermen LOL)

Did you ever walk a shoreline so rugged? It's hard for an able body hiker, I had to pull my wife over some of these rocks, there was no way for her to reach or balance her cane.

The next page ( ) will show more of the walking surface we navigated

Views of other nearby islands from a different spot. We're on an island, surrounded by islands, each no further away that we came to this island, but considerably further out to sea, we won't be going there
Had to go down to the shoreline to get past some dense forest patches, it's taking longer now, it's a difficult walk. On the left is a large smooth rock island, not far from this one, but from this angle, it looks like it's part of the shoreline but it's a little further away from the shore than it appears
Rocks, irregular shapes and sizes but mostly bigger than a car engine, it was like climbing a cliff at times to get over some.

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

If you haven't already discovered?
I promote wherever I go. You'll never see it all, you might as well just move here? Most of Ontario Canada has already done so, it seems. There's a dozen people I personally met, that did, in these small rural villages along the of

Anyone living on the shoreline, probably has a boat of some type, livelihood in these parts comes from the sea. It's not farmland.


Rocky shore, and islands across the sea, a reflection of the sun on the water
The bus-sized rocks don't stay on the shoreline, you can find them anywhere, sometimes in the middle of nowhere, a big rock protrudes from the ocean.
Near the South end of the island, again, all difficult rock crawling here.

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

Tried to run, Tried to hide...😎​
BREAK ON THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE ♪
Oh look, another small cove with a bit of a beach. The tide has dropped considerably. It's going to be hard to get the boat back in the water when we find it again.

Wouldn't you love to be here?
All by yourself, only seabirds and surf, no people, no pressure, at your own pace, EXPLORE! ?

And then the rocks reappeared...
I'm getting tired & my wife is exhausted

The ocean is even smooth here, you see sea bubbles floating near shore, reflective ripples from the sun, and slick wet black rocks on the shore. Every curve of the island reveals more
A hard walk again. Trees to dense to enter the forest, we're forced along a rocky shore again.
Looking down at large rock, one looks like a boat, flat on the top, shaped like a boat, these were all underwater when we arrived, but we are losing the tide fast, that may make it difficult to return quickly

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

We have to clear a path, trees and obstacles ,and that green buoy I want. It's frustrating that I have to leave them here, there's no way to get them home. I've been trying to get two for 5 years. I know where 2 green ones washed up, but someone (or the sea) took my red one.

Back on the opposite side of the Field there was a big piece of driftwood. I wanted it. I had to bring back a smaller one instead 😢​
My wife testing the water temp.
She wants to swim.

A lovely piece of driftwood at the bottom of that field on the shore. It's a tree trunk, upside down, the roots worn off into short arms rising up from the sand
My wife, balanced on her cane, bending over to test the water on this smooth sandy beach. The water in the ocean is never warm enough for me. She can swim, I won't.
A look back periodically to enjoy the view and catch our breath, from where we came in the last hour. These coves are long. Much more than we anticipated.

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

The forest is too dense to shortcut the rough shoreline. We tried a few times to penetrate that tangled mess.

I'm still cleaning beaches and collecting trophies, I've set down my jacket, backpack and a small buoy that I could carry.

Neverending Beaches. A dozen small coves, one rocky, one sandy, one rocky, one sandy.
All day, we really underestimated this hike.

BTW, we've been back again since this, buoys were gone 😿​

Thick rich green spruce. Nice to look at, still can't get through it.
Laying on the sand beach by some black dry eelgrass (seaweed) a cylindrical buoy about 2 foot l ong, a red backpack and a camo jacket rolled into one, where I sat it down to take some photos.
A little surf on this new small sandy beach. The first waves we've encountered all day, it's been amazingly calm until now, there's some more islands in the distance. No matter which way you look, there are more islands. You can see the mainland in places too

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

LOOK AT THIS?
On one island, there could be a dozen visitors, you'd never see each other, and never have to share a beach. The Turnip Patch is ahead. We've almost returned. ALMOST. Another hour? Maybe.

I'm sure we left the boat over there somewhere? I don't want to try to get home in the dark, we don't even have any lights.

It appears to be much further yet

I can see the mainland. The bridge is at Harrigan Cove

Not even close to the boat yet

A gull sits on a raised hump in the cove. A large hill ahead is forested, that's not the last cove before the boat at all.
44.91774157664731, -62.30729224093012 Harrigan Cove, Halifax, Nova Scotia. A bridge was recently replaced, and is a white straight object center of the image, above it, a communication tower (not cellular, there is no cellular service) It appears close, but I use ZOOM on the camera, it's over half a kilometer away
The debris field of dead trees and driftwood again. and a bit of the distant north end of the island where we started from, early in the morning.

Rasta, (edited )
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

That can't be the same seal, ours was cuter. Looks like a big Grey Seal, they look like a 'U' shape when they lay on rocks. I can't see the rock, but he obviously knew one was there, to lay in the sun.

Probably would lay on our island if he wasn't aware we were already here.

I didn't take a photo of the boat when I got back, but it was high and dry, and my wife dropped plastic pipe, and I pushed it towards the water to launch. And we went to check seals out

Rasta,
@Rasta@mstdn.ca avatar

We're heading home. Swells are coming up, water is getting choppy, we're in a canoe..
No time to dilly-dally, but there's so many seals!

♪ if I could talk to the animals
~ Rasta Doolittle
I did a lot this day,
not just a little 😉​

Almost on the mainland. I can almost see my vehicle. I left a note on the window:
2 seniors
DEPART - 9am
RETURN - 5pm (latest)
DESTINATION: Baptiste Island
BOAT: square back 16 ft Canoe

Did you enjoy my story?
THE END

?

Some huge rocks on the shoreline of the mainland, around the corner is my vehicle parked, waiting to load my boat, driftwood, trophies, garbage, and head home, completely exhausted from a full day exploring a 96 acre Wild Island

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