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Post by nomadpeanut on Nov 23, 2010 17:01:49 GMT -5
Hi all! Well I'm new to this forum, so it's my very first post here. I'd like to do a kayak trip with one of my friend this summer, and I need some advices about my journey. I planned to start the trip on the black river, at the crossing of the 11 road near Glenwood, and then move up to the north to reach the end of the miramichi river, and paddle along the shore, to reach fox island, spend some time there, and paddle to the shore again. I have some question reguarding this river, if someone knows this region. How the black river is in general? (rapids, depth etc..) I planned my trip using google earth, and got a total distance of 33km from Glenwood to fox island. Is the current too much strong to attempt going on this island? I was searching for a river that could offer a trip into the wild, and to explore such islands close to the sea , this river seems to be cool to paddle on! I have some paddling experience I got from my own trips, and from the army cadet, wich gave me good training. I've passed the "class 1" certificate of the quebec canoe/kayak federation while doing a summer camp with the cadets quite a few years ago.. since then I try to do some kayak trips organized on my own at least one time per summer. So that is a kind of a presentation of myself I guess! Thanks in advance for the answers.
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Post by Ken Corbett on Nov 24, 2010 12:28:23 GMT -5
hey nomadpeanut,
Welcome to the forum.
I don't know anything about those little rivers on the east coast. There must be a few locals on this board who have paddled Black River. I imagine it is small, with no big rapids ....
Anyone?
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Post by ryanward10 on Dec 2, 2010 11:04:11 GMT -5
Growing up I had family that lived along both the Black and Napan Rivers. They're both basically brooks that go tidal before they accumulate much. I wouldn't bother fighting the alder choked narrow parts only to have many kms of flat water. It would be easier to rig up for flat water with a long kayak and put in on Rte. 117 which crosses both Black and Napan Rivers and at a point where both have become tidal. To paddle out to Fox Island from there would be 25-30kms of flat water paddling one way. I would suggest that is probably the upper limit of what you can comfortably accomplish in a day with ideal weather conditions, and far too ambitious for bad weather. I'd guess you'd need to camp overnight at Fox Island or get picked up at Hardwicke. I know nothing of either of those locations and my flat water paddling experience is entirely confined to lakes as seen in posts on this board. I'm guessing even a protected tidal bay would be rougher, colder, and require much more caution and respect than my little lake excursions. I'd love to hear about your experiences if you make the trip though.
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Post by nomadpeanut on Dec 9, 2010 16:51:10 GMT -5
Thanks for the information! I will surely post my experience about the trip when I'll be coming back from it, but I'll have to wait until august to do it... I guess I have a lot of time to spend in the preparation of this trip ! I've thinked about other rivers that seems cool to paddle on, like the tabusintac river, and another one near "bay du vin" wich is joining on the miramichi bay as well. I'll make a final decision when I'll be ready to make this trip, as both rivers seems interesting. Thanks again!
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Post by nomadpeanut on Jun 2, 2011 19:32:21 GMT -5
Hey! my trip is coming soon and I had time to think of how I'm going to get to fox island. I was planning a full 3 day of kayaking, so I maked some modifications to the route me and my friend we'll be taking.
I've thought of the wine river, wich seems to be a little bit more larger than the black river; we could start near st-margarets village, and paddle all the way to fox island and sleep for a night there.
now according to previous messages, this could make a full day of kayaking; I still have 2 more days to spend. So I'm asking you if it would be possible to leave fox island and head north east, paddling between the coast and the sand dunes, all the way to riviere du portage.
From the view I get on google earth it seems to be a cool trip to do, So I'm asking you if it would be doable and if the current from the miramichi river is not strong enough to push us off the coast or something until we get to the dunes.
If this trip works, I will post some feedback on this forum. Thank you very much for the advices!
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Post by ryanward10 on Jun 3, 2011 18:20:49 GMT -5
Good luck nomad. Riviere du Portage seems awfully far for 3 days, how long a kayak are you guys running? I had much the same idea in my head as you. My buddy and I run 14-16ft kayaks with sails, we thought the two ends of the trip would be Tabisintac in the north, and somewhere between Baie St-Anne and Baie du Vin in the south. We figured 3 days, and we'd wait until we knew the weather forecast and start at whichever end had the favorable winds. Our only concern was the Ship Channel as I have found no information on the strength of the current at this choke point. The crossing looks like about 2.5kms and if you didn't time it right, and/or encountered unfavorable winds, it seems like you might end up in trouble quickly. Maybe it's a non-concern, but I'm glad you're going first. The other concern we had was where a second campsite would be, are any of those other barrier islands suitable? Are there any spots on the North Shore of the mainland? Happy paddling, i'll be in the fresh waters of Spednic Lake this weekend.
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Post by nomadpeanut on Jun 6, 2011 19:21:57 GMT -5
Hey, thanks for your reply ryan.
My friend and I will be taking place in an old town tandem kayak, without seperations between the front and the back seat. I'm getting a little bit anxious about how safe this trip route is, I'd like to know if the currents are really a big concern for those 2.5 kms that separates fox island to portage island as you mentioned. After you crossed this section you're nearly behind the sand dunes so yeah... If someone knows well this portion of the miramichi river I'd like to get more information about this.. About campsite; I don't know if those sand dunes would offer much wood suitable to make a campfire, I guess that it could but I never been there; If the weather permits it I guess those dunes could be alright, on the land it looks like it's pretty much marshes?
I guess we rely on the knowledge of the other paddlers here on the board to answer our questions, I hope you'll have a great trip. When will you make it? Me and my buddy figured it would be like in the middle of august..
Thanks in advance for all future answers!
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