Exploring the NW Conway Narrows by kayak

The Conway Narrows section between Cascumpec Bay and Frederick Cove is the hardest to explore – especially by sailboat.  The channels in this section are narrow, and the water is relatively shallow throughout. So the best way to explore this area of the Conway Narrows is by kayak at high tide. During the summer of 2020, I made two kayak trips in this area from the end of Pete Con Road. 

Conway Narrows, the northwest half

GE map, July 29th, 15.2km track

The end of Pete Con Road is a good kayak and OSC launching point. It’s undeveloped, and the sandy shore is firm enough to drive on the beach at the end of the road (to the right). On the first outing, I headed SE to explore the Conway channel islands and the sandhills. On July 29th, I was on the water fairly early in the morning in very calm and misty/foggy conditions, which made for great paddling and some beautiful scenery.  

After crossing the 0.5 km to the sandhill, I kept paddling SE along the shoreline towards Frederick Cove. I made my way in the shallow water behind CONISA & B and went to check out SHA30, but decided that it wasn’t a great place to cross over to the gulf side.  After exploring CONISB, I went ashore at SHA35 and went for a sandhill beach walk. Given the calm morning, I was surprised to see so much wave/surf action on the gulf side. Then it was a short paddle around to SHA38 for another walk on the sandhill and some lunch. After lunch, I explored as far as the huge Frederick sandflat (1 sq. km) and then started my paddle home via the PEI shoreline. I went by the end of Mickie Allan Road – where I should have stopped for a bitter at the Moth Lane pub!

 

GE map, Aug 8, 2020, 10.7km track

On August 8th, I did a second kayak outing from the end of Pete Con Road, but this time I went exploring to the NW towards Cascumpec Bay. It was again a calm day, but this time the sun was out, and it was a beautiful clear day. I paddled across to the first sandflat from the launch beach and went for a short walk to the gulf side. This sandflat is entirely exposed to the gulf with a 0.5 km break in the sandhill. My next stop to the NW was at SHA25 to check up on another NCC Conway sandhill property. For the next paddling segment, I entered into the SHC20 channel. I could have paddled into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but I usually don’t venture in the gulf when I’m solo. I went ashore for another walk and lunch. After lunch, I paddled back to the mainland and followed the shore back to Pete Con Road. At the beginning of the return paddle, I did have to walk across parts of the sandflat in very shallow water. A bit of walking is fine as long as the bottom is suitably firm. 

This shallow 8km stretch of the Conway Narrows is great to explore since it’s mostly undeveloped and not heavily used for oyster farming.  It’s a great place to spot Great Blue Herons and other shorebirds.

Great Blue Herons	Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron	Sea Sandwort