New to tripping, looking for some basic advice

[tump_lion]

NB or NS is probably practically closer to NFLD than Labrador...even tho they're technically the same province since confederation in '49...

 

[yellowcanoe]

NB or NS is probably practically closer to NFLD than Labrador...even tho they're technically the same province since confederation in '49...

not really when you factor in ferry times. ( those things are not fast and Marine Atlantic has nice boats but they do suffer breakdowns). The Blanc Sablon Ferry from St Barbe to Blanc Sablon QC( right on the Labrador border) is pretty short. 50 km . The kicker would be that St Barbe is some 700 km from St Johns.. The ferry from Nova Scotia ( North Sydney.. a desolate little port when Timmies runs out of coffee or in my case the ice machine breaks on a 33 degree day )is some 17 hours ( 400 km) to Argentia.( then its a 90 minute drive to St Johns.)

I'd recommend Gibson Creek for a canoe dealer in St John NB but its about five hours to North Sydney NS to the ferry terminal to Port Aux Basques NL , a seven to nine hour ferry ride and then.. 900 km to St Johns where the OP lives.

Geography in the East is kind of wild. I can get to Port Aux Basques ( even with the ferry ride) quicker than I can get to Chicago. Canoecopia for me is a big ride..farther than St Johns NL!

We will probably wander across the Trans Labrador Highway next year and catch the Blanc Sablon - St Barbe ferry to the Rock ... maybe wander down again to the Avalon. I am real estate hunting..There could be boat room.
Admittedly I am just a visitor to NL but rather in love with the Newfoundland part. Eight weeks there over the past couple of years. Can't get enough. We need to investigate the Labrador part.

 

[Wayfaring_Stranger]

All,
Thanks again for the input, sage advice. Looking forward to this adventure.

 

[Seeker]

Some more authors to stay away from... Warren Miller, George Washington Sears (aka Nessmuk), Claude Fordyce, Edward Breck, Townsend Whelen, and Bradford Angier... Whelen especially will have you spending money and making stuff like packs and tents and moccasins... we don't want any of THAT, do we?

On a serious note, three books that I wish I'd read first are Whelen's "On Your Own in the Wilderness", Rutstrum's "New Way of the Wilderness", and Ray Jardine's "Beyond Backpacking". They're not necessarily about canoeing, but they validated later what I'd already learned by experience (ie, the hard way.)

 

[Guest]

Another book, more specific to your query

http://www.amazon.com/Cradle-Canoe-...136977&sr=1-1&keywords=canoeing+with+children