Sydney Winter Paddling Photo

Wow, take a look at this photo, snapped by Rob off the southern Sydney cliffs last week in the middle of an extraordinary spell of clear, calm mid-Winter weather. 
That's John Lee & Neil Duffy lookin' for the pot of gold.
I've loaded it up at a decent resolution, feel free to expand it out to full screen, quite an image.

Moments in time

It's two years to the day since Rob, Chris James and I finished the wonderful adventure that was the North Reef Expedition. I had a glance back tonight at the pics and the memories came flooding back. I thought I'd share the video record of the trip.

Putting Back - Upcoming EK Sponsored Events

Paddling has given Rob & I many years of enjoyment, and now a successful little business that to be honest, is so much fun it's almost a joke to describe it as 'work'!
As benefactors of the community to which we belong and hopefully contribute, we feel an obligation to put back into the sport in the hope of growing it even further.
Here are some of the gatherings we're supporting over the coming paddle season, note also one or both of us will be taking part in each & every one of these great paddle events:

September 8 - The Royal Challenge Hydrothon

A 1.3km ocean swim, 10km open water ski paddle, and 10km run along the promenade of the iconic Cronulla, Eloura & Wanda beaches.
Event & entry details are here - http://www.theroyalchallenge.com.au/hydrothon.aspx

September 14 - The Myall Classic

One of the ‘Big Three’ flatwater marathon races in Australia along with the Hawkesbury Classic and the Murray Marathon. Every year hundreds of paddlers gather at Tea Gardens to battle it out on the stunning waters of the Myall Lakes. There are three races aimed at all ability levels, a 12km, 27km & 48km.
Event & entry details are here - http://www.justpaddlers.org.au/myall-classic/

October 27 - Hawkesbury Classic

The focus event for marathon paddlers from around the country, ranging 111km along the Hawkesbury River overnight from the foothills of the Blue Mountains all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge. A very tough event, in which as many as 500 hardy souls take part each year. My write up of last year's race is here - Emptying the Tank.
Event & entry details are here - http://www.canoeclassic.asn.au

November 9/10 - The SSCC All at Sea Weekend

Following on from last year's hugely successful All At Sea Weekend held at Bundeena, event organisers have shifted this years venue to the gateway to the Beecroft Peninsula, Currarong on the NSW South Coast. This event is open to SSCC members only and is already fully subscribed.

November 23 - The Royal Challenge

The focus of all of my training so far this year, a 10.5km paddle, followed by a 21km trail run (!) and another 10.5km paddle leg along the Hacking to finish off. This event is open to teams of two or four, so if you have a mate who can run it's a great race to share around some pain & achievement! I also have a bunch of running club mates keen to do the run section if anyone fancies doing the paddle leg in a team that would be very competitive (at least in the run part!)
Event & entry details are here - http://www.theroyalchallenge.com.au/default.aspx (race entry is open later this month)

March 8/9 2014 - NSWSKC Rock & Roll Weekend

Expedition Kayaks have been the major sponsor of the Rock & Roll weekend since we came into being in 2007. Sharon & Rob are life members, & Rob a past President, whilst I have been a member since 2001. Rock & Roll is a fantastic event, fast becoming the peak sea kayak gathering in the country with registrations regularly pushing 200 paddlers. Get along if you can.
Event details will posted shortly on the NSWSKC website here - http://www.nswseakayaker.asn.au/homepage/trips/rocknrolls

We've also recently sponsored events like the Cronulla Bay Runner, the Cockatoo Cup race & the annual Hunter Klancopia on the central coast, rounding off a diverse range of paddling activities encompassing much of what paddling is all about.

If you need any information on any of these myriad events please drop me a line.

Sydney Winter Sunrise

Some nice pics of Rob & Sharon off Coogee this morning, my second sunrise in a row, yesterday's on the harbour:

..and today's on the sea…

Valley Gemini SP RM & Tiderace Xtra - Playtime!

Tide Race Xtra - nearly here…!

We are a couple of weeks away from getting our paws on the Tiderace Xtra, having spent the last 6 months getting to know & love the Valley Gemini SP & Tiderace Xcite. Surfing these high performance playboats has been a joy, moves and control you couldn't previously imagine become possible and the waves turn into something to genuinely play on, rather than just survive.

We can now announce that the rotomoulded version of the Valley Gemini SP is under production and will be shipping with our next Valley container in August, arriving here some time in late September. Despite worsening currency rates we are still confident that these Gemini SP RM kayaks will come in under $2000, and we have plenty coming.

Stand by for a summer of play & surf.