Keppel Sea Kayak Symposium - Rob's Photo Diary

Rob & Sharon have been off on their annual norther sojourn, this year slotting the inaugural Keppel Sea Kayak Symposium into their schedule of island hopping around the Keppel Group of islands in the Capricornia region.

They've sent back a bunch of lovely pics which tell the story all by themselves….

Preparing to leave

Heading out to North Keppel

Keppel sunset

Instruction paddle break

Sea cave on North Keppel

Mega raft

Sharon on the beach

The show's over

Island views (Conical Island)

Fog bank

Sunset vista

First footprints

Sharon

Calm rock garden

Sharon in the Etain 17'3

Looking back 

Conical Private Resort

Pandanus

A Year in the Tiderace Xtra - Peter Kelly

We got our hands on the first of our stock Tiderace Xtra's on Friday, but there has been another one at the far edges of the colony, busting moves in the cold waters of southern Tassie, plioted by our buddy Peter Kelly. We brought this boat in for Pete in our first ever Tiderace shipment last year.
Pete was asked to pen a review of his Xtra for a paddle mag in the US, and he's kindly allowed us to reproduce it here.

The Tiderace Xtra

It is always tricky business to pen a review of a boat as choice is such a personal thing, I will only compare the boat to craft I have either owned or spent considerable time in.

About Me 
I am 194cm tall and 115ks, cursed with size 15 feet, I have been sea kayaking for about 6 years, mostly in the cold windy waters of Southern Tasmania. In my paddling life I have owned an Aquanaught HV RM, North Shore Atlantic, Impex Assateague, Rockpool GT, Valley Etain 17.7, Valley, Nordkapp and now The TideRace Xtra.  I have also Spent a reasonable amount of time in a SKUK Explorer, and for the purposes of this review will compare the boat directly to the Boats mentioned.

Initial Impressions
When the boat arrived in August 2012 the first thing that struck me after the initial “ooh very shiny” (And it was VERY shiny) is that the boat looked like a lead tipped arrow (or Darth Vaders Codpiece if you were my mate looking on) the boat is Very fish form and carries more volume in front of the cockpit than any boat I have ever seen. There is a heavily bevelled deck that creates a spine running the entire length of the boat, this adds to the incredible stiffness of the deck, the only one I have been able to sit on without ANY flex, it also allows for a knees up paddling position.
The second most striking feature has to be how flat the section of the hull is under the cockpit, sitting out on the grass the boat sits completely flat with no rocking side to side, it has very hard chine’s, and compared to my other kayaks and insane amount of rocker. The seat was comfortable and the footpegs sturdy, build quality was the best I had seen.

On The Water 

The boat is stable, and the transition to secondary stability is smooth, and once up on edge, it locks onto its chine and sits there, with an incredibly predictable healing motion akin to the Atlantic or Aquanaut when hard over on edge, although far more agile than either. As it turns out the boat turns faster than any boat that has been in the water next to it in the last 10 months. It responds predictably to both bow and stern rudder and sideslips on a hanging draw faster than any boat I have paddled. Close quartering amongst rocks or manoeuvring in the surf the boats agility adds to its feeling of security, and while most boats are still broaching, the Xtra has turned around and facing out to sea.
Although not marketed as a fast boat, I have not had any trouble keeping up on club trips, as given any texture in the water, regardless of direction, the boat just gets up and uses the planning hull to its advantage, I don’t want to speculate what sort of magic has been applied to the hull by Aled Williams, but I am grateful. Other paddlers that have tried the boat described it as a Hydrofoil feeling where the boat “Sits up out of the water at speed” These are not my words, but mirror my feeling in the boat on textured water. As I hate paddling on mirror flat water, I cannot comment on its speed in these conditions.
In rough water, rebound and big swell the boat is extremely predictable and secure, it tracks well enough, a little loose like an Atlantic, not as hard as a GT or Explorer, the skeg aids with this in strong wind, but I like my boats lively. I have not struggled ever to maintain a heading.
I have loaded the boat and taken it on an overnight paddle where including myself the boat carried about 150kgs, the noticeable thing was there was no apparent change in the agility of the boat when loaded, and as I was leading the group, it was great to be able to easily move amongst the group back and forth without any perceived extra effort.

Surf 
Ok, I need to say this boat surfs better than ANY boat I have ever paddled. The planning hull has to be experience to be believed, making the boat sit up and the higher section of the wave similar to a surfboard. This means that the boat is easily able to change direction with an applied sturn rudder, or by digging in the very hard chine and transferring your body weight. The boat can run strait and true along a wave face, carve turn or make diagonal runs along a wave face with ease, it performs the “hit and spin” easily and can quickly turn from front to reverse surf, or vice versa.

The boat encourages you to attempt steeper waves than you previously thought possible as the massive volume up front allows the boat to pop out and shoot forward on its planing hull. When it all goes south, the boat is very predictable and doesn’t stay caught up in the front of the foam pile, preferring to pop and sit up on top, or “hit and spin”, both allowing for a speedy exit from the danger zone. The boat is an easy roller both in set up, unpredictable situations and re enter and roll, the aggressive thigh braces locking you in place.

Summary 
I must admit I have been pleasantly surprised by this boat design. I ordered the boat untested from Expedition Kayaks in Sydney on the basis of reviews I had read from Europe, and whispers amongst the European community of a new great boat for surf/instruction.  It has done all that I need in a boat, has bomber build quality, is always up for a play, and looks damn sexy on the water. If these are qualities you are looking for in a kayak, I strongly recommend you take one for a blast, just make sure you are near some surf or rough water when you do so, because a boat design this good needs to be in a place where the hull was intended to shine. 
Happy Paddling.
Peter Kelly.

The Magic Box….

This magic truck from Tiderace pulled up at our place today, & wonderful things kept appearing.

Once unpacked we found Pace 17 Tours, Evokes, and the much awaited Xtra (which is now on my roof bound for a breaking in session at Bundeena over the weekend).

Happy weekend adventures!

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…