Location: CAMPOBELLO ISLAND, New Brunswick, Canada
Date: August 16 - 18, 2019
Temperature: 21C (70F)
Distance Paddled: Day 1 - 8.5 km ( 5.3 miles)
Distance Paddled: Day 2 - 11.3 km ( 7 miles)
# people: 4

This was a “bucket list” trip. I had heard so much about Campobello Island and the whales. I was not disappointed. Easily the best paddle trip I have ever taken. I am definitely going back! We only scratched the surface of the places to paddle and to see the sea life.

There were four of us all with cameras. Taking pictures of various creatures was NOT easy. Especially the whales, dauphins and seals. If you saw one, you usually didn't have your camera ready. Then you try to guess where it will re-appear. Most of the time you miss it. Then selecting the pictures I wanted to post was from a pool of about 350. I got it down to 46 but it again was not easy.

Campobello Island is 275 km (171 miles) south of Moncton straight east of Eastport, Maine and Lubec, Maine. Access to the island is by two methods. The way we went took us to Back Bay, New Brunswick and onto the Deer Island Ferry to Deer Island. We then drove across the length of Deer Island (about 20 minutes) to the ferry crossing to Welshpool, on Campobello Island. Each crossing was approximately 20 minutes long. The alternate method is to travel down to Lubec, Maine and take the bridge across. Cheaper yes, but, it meant another 3 hours and crossing into the USA. We did not bring our passports and chose to do the ferry crossings and save 3 hours.

Of course, Campobello Island is most famous as the summer residence for President Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States. Unfortunately, I didn't get to the estate to tour it. One of these times, I will.

The ferry to Deer Island is a fair size standard ferry but is a fair size. There is nothing to do or see except get out of your car and watch the scenery. The ferry crossing was anything but standard from Deer Island to Campobello. It was basically a ferry platform but the power was provided by a powerful “tug” style boat that was attached to the car platform by a swivel arrangement that allowed the “tug' to completely turn itself around without turning the platform with it. Never seen anything like it before but very neat. Hard to explain, but as the old saying goes “a picture is worth a thousand words” and I got pictures. The other interesting thing about this ferry is that it lands on a beach on Deer Island! There is no ramp or anything fancy like that.

We got over to Campobello and Wilson's Beach, about 3 PM on Friday and the cabin we booked was not quite ready. We said, no problem, we'll go for a paddle. The cabin was ready when we got back. That paddle was from the beach where we stayed at Wilson's Beach to the Head Harbour Lighthouse. The weather was perfect with very little wind, bright blue sky with some clouds, and calm seas. As with any paddle in the ocean tide is always a factor. We timed it almost perfectly. On that first day we saw, what may of been a nesting pair of Bald Eagles. Don't think they liked us too near their nest. Of course there were lots of Sea Gulls, Cormorants and Terns. We also saw Minke and Finback whales. They were a good safe distance from us. We also saw some Harbour Seals.

After our paddle, and before supper, we took a walk down to a pier in Wilson's Beach where we stayed. There is a very old building that is partially collapse and is a real problem on the island along with unwanted and illegal dumping of garbage. There is no “dump” on the island. Ignoring the garbage and the collapsed building, the wharf was interesting. While we were there, a large container ship called “Star Juventas” appeared. We looked it up afterwards and it started in Eastport, Maine and was heading to France with a cargo on deck. Expected arrival time in France is August 30. LONG trip.

Day two was a much different paddle. The weather was foggy and on and off mist and showers. No problem for paddling and about the same temperature as the previous paddle. We ended up doing the same paddle as we did the previous day. We tried to paddle over to an island called Casco Island which was about 1 km (.6 miles) off shore. It might as well of been 10 km (6.2 miles) away. We paddle hard but the rip tide was constantly pushing us back and away from the island. After awhile we decided to scrub that idea and just do the same paddle as we had done the previous day. The whole time we were out we could here two fog horns. One south of where we started and one at the lighthouse we were heading to.
On this day we again saw Minke and Finback whales, Harbour Seals, our Bald Eagles again, Cormorants and Terns. The big treat this time was we found a school of Harbour Porpoise that were feeding. As a result the didn't pay much attention to us and we were able to get very close to them. Several times we also saw schools of Herring jumping out of the water. So frequent that it looked like rain hitting the surface of the water. The fish were about 15 to 20 cm (6” to 8”) long. By the time we got up to the lighthouse again we went through a cut just before the lighthouse and the tide was against us again. It was a short distance however, so no problem. We paddled a short distance into the bay on the back side of the lighthouse.

I took 119 pictures and 3 movies. The others took at least as much so it is VERY hard to pick out the best of them to post and needless to say, many good ones have been dropped.

As I said, a very exciting and interesting trip that I will definitely repeat.

Enjoy the pictures

https://pbase.com/ckayaker/paddling_in_canada_2019


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