nova scotia , new brunswick , newfoundland

I am a sea kayaker from the uk. normally living in western canada. i am
visiting the halifax, dartmouth, bedford area now but i am trying to
get some paddling in. where do i go? when i get to newfoundland next
week i have a friend that will help me put more miles under my boat in
a week that i would in a a year; but here there seems to be very little
happening on the sea kayak scene. easten passage looks wonderfull but i
have yet to see a kayak there. i have a rented yellow squal tied to a
rented car and i don't want to make for the islands outside of the
harbour with no knowlege of currents and local issues.
i am having troubles finding charts of the area as well. this is as
much my fault as anyones becuase my work conflicts with the chandlers
open hours.
any help would ne nice.
fiona

oh.. i just realized this si a ww group. sorry. i am posting anyway.

On 24-Aug-2005, "Fiona Stirling" <ffstirling DeleteThis @excite.com> wrote:

> i am
> visiting the halifax, dartmouth, bedford area now but i am trying to
> get some paddling in. where do i go?

I've been there a few times and that's a great place for paddling. The
following from memory:

The Halifax harbour is pretty gross (they don't treat the sewage properly
there). Head out to Porter Lake park - about 45 min drive the other side
of Dartmouth. That's a big saltwater lake that's protected compared to
the open ocean. You can paddle to within a stones throw of the ocean,
but the short river out of the lake is not runnable in a sea kayak at
the tide levels I've seen - maybe if it was higher.

If you want surf, Lawrencetown beach (on the way to Porter Lake) is the
local surfing spot.

Further up the Eastern Shore you'll find lots of islands that you can
paddle among. Murphy Point (IIRC) near Tangier gives access to lots
of paddling.

At Tangier, Coastal Adventures outfitters are nice folks who can help you
with info. Scott Cunningham runs it.

There are topo maps of the area that are good. You don't need a chandler,
you could get the maps at Mountain Equipment Coop - they are downtown.
For that matter, MEC's staff in the paddling department can probably help
you somewhat and the store's bulletin board may have notes from paddling
clubs for get togethers.

I know folks that live there and it's true that you won't see many sea
kayaks. That has more to do with the small population and large area
than the lack of a sea kayaking scene.

Mike