Paddling against the flow

I had a demo paddle scheduled early this morning down at the picturesque Swallow Rock Reserve in Port Hacking. Arriving a bit early planning a fitness paddle before the demo, I had a choice, paddle down to Bundeena & go for a surf on the bar, or go upstream to Audley, a 6km return trip on glassy flat water.
Deciding variety is the spice of life, & opting for a 'form' session, a cruisy 40 minutes where I just concentrate purely on my stroke, I headed for the Audley Weir, in the Royal National Park.

The river valley is a gem, with shallow oyster beds passing below the tannin stained water, white sandy slivers of beach backed by Sydney's iconic sandstone strata.

I chugged up to the weir to find it expelling the heavy rainfall from the Hacking River at a great rate. I messed around in the outgoing flow for a few minutes, paddling against it like one of those space-challenged swimmers with a BaduStream. Wing paddles are not the most sensible choice in aerated water, relying as they do on a good catch to start things off, & I had a few underwater airswings. I video'd the little outflow above, minutes of amusement!

I also got a nice little bonus on my return to Swallow Rock when Olympic kayaker Tony Schumacher was setting up at the car park for his morning training paddle. I introduced myself & we shot the breeze for a few minutes on ski & racing boat designs & his thoughts on what works & what doesn't. One of my mottos in life is that you never get better information about things you don't know too much about until you talk to people that do, & Tony knows his stuff, as you'd expect!

WA Sea Kayak Symposium

Les Allen has announced the inaugural WA Sea Kayak Symposium, to held this coming February. Les has a comprehensive expeditioning record, having paddled great swathes of the WA Coast and been their leading instructor now for many years. He made it across to the RnR this year & obviously liked what he saw, & has set about establishing a similar event in his own backyard.
The symposium will be held at Point Peron in the magnificent Shoalwater Bay area just outside Perth, & will be a 'live-in' style event very similar to the NSW Rock & Roll complete with cabin accommodation.
Les has drafted in Sandy Robson as a guest, fresh from the first leg of her attempt to retrace Oskar Speck's Germany to Australia paddle, and our own Rob Mercer will be an instructor. Sharon Betteridge is joining Rob for the weekend, and will be presenting a female perspective on paddling. 

We attend almost all of the major paddling events around the country & it's pleasing to see them gaining popularity. A weekend among paddling peers, sharing experiences, learning new skills & having a good time off the water is an opportunity too good to miss.
The itinerary is above on the flyer, and you can register using the application form HERE.

One Degree South - Fuel for the Long Haul

I've just penned a short peice on my nutrition plan for the One Degree South paddle - http://1degs.blogspot.com/2011/12/fuel-for-long-haul.html

North Reef Expedition featured in Ocean Paddler Magazine

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We were all thrilled to have the trip report of our North Reef expedition published in the esteemed sea kayaking magazine in the UK, Ocean Paddler.
The article featured in an expedition issue, packed with the sorts of useful tips & information that all paddlers looking to journey in their craft should know.
Ocean Paddler is heavily subscribed here in Australia, so if you're not getting this superb magazine due to the distance factor, rest assured that your copy, like mine, arrives on time each & every time. 
Unlike most of the kayak mags around the world which cover a broad scope of paddling, Ocean Paddler zeros in on sea kayaking, with almost all of the content written about sea kayaking that happens….on the sea! In my eyes it's proof positive that you don't need to be all things to all people to in order to produce a successful formula, that satisfies the market for which it is intended.
The good folks at OP have given permission for us to re-produce the North Reef article, if you'd like to have a read through, click HERE.
You can subscribe to the digital or soft copy version of Ocean Paddler though THIS link.

Last Chance - Next Valley Shipment Closes Today!

Today is the last day we'll be taking orders against our next container from Valley & North Shore.
If you'd like a completely customised, carbon kevlar, three piece, pink & orange, foot pump installed Valley Sea Kayak please let us know straight away!

Training Paddle in the Epic 18x & Wind 585

Training for our One Degree South paddle is now in full swing. I grabbed some time yesterday with a rare blank schedule & Rob & I went for a training paddle out to sea from La Perouse. I was paddling the Epic 18x, my boat for the challenge, & Rob had the Wind 585 while his Taran is being modified.
Conditions were pretty benign, a 12-15 knot breeze and a typical little sea running on top of a metre or so of swell. 

We ran 7km straight out, averaging about 8.4kmh into the wind. I shot some video of Rob in the 585 as I realised we have precious few movies showing how our boats actually look moving along in the sea. Reviewing the footage later, the 585 is a very sleek creature in the ocean! Rob was impressed by how well it chews the distance with a minimum of fuss, & once engaged with moving water just how much the stability hardens up.
We saw a container ship leaving the bay as we neared the turnaround point so headed north to dodge the shipping lane, whereby I managed to once again whip up a bluebottle & loop it neatly around my throat. As a warning for out trip it was most timely. I will now develop my paddle clothing to try to prevent this from happening again, as bluebottles are definitely going to out in abundance in the weather & wind conditions we are planning for.
The run home was a hoot. My GPS trace had me running mostly between 10-15kmh as I threaded the little runners bad into the bay. The new rudder system on the 18x is definitely a success. The only time I broached unexpectedly was when I backed off to try & get cute on a wave, allowing the boat to lift back up the following wave & release the stern into thin air. My weight was back, the rudder lost all bite & I skewed off to the right. Noting this error, I kept the foot down for the next 20 minutes & once again didn't have to call on a corrective braking stroke once. I'm salivating at the idea of 110+km downsea in this boat.
We pulled into Little Congwong Beach & swapped boats. Rob paddled the final 3km home in calmer water & marvelled at the lack of resistance in the 18x hull, and the engaging responsiveness.
I got a go in the 585 & there was a definite contrast. If the 18x is the Spitfire, the 585 is the Lancaster. Hard tracking, solid as rock on the water & as fast as any traditional sea kayak out there. For a long expedition with a group you'd be hard pressed to find a more user friendly design, capable of carrying monumental amounts of gear.
The next objective is to wait for a hanking Nor Easter & get out amongst it for the final judgement on the boat.

One Degree South Blog

Our blog for January's 'One Degree South' paddle is now live. You can see it HERE.
There is an initial post outlining the paddle, as well as a portal to allow you to donate to RU OK Day, the suicide awareness charity we are supporting.
We will be updating with training notes, gear and other aspects of the challenge over the next month or so, as we count down to the attempt