Huge fun in a rare waterfall off the Roseville Bridge

It’s funny how some of the best paddling days start off with low expectations. With Sydney being deluged with water and hit by waves of big blowy storms, I really didn’t expect much from the day’s paddle other than a hard slog into chop and wind, but needed to get out and test the new “Rock Garden Series” by Adanac Paddles. Luckily on arrival at The Spit we were at least greeted with glassy conditions across the murky stirred-up water.

With half of Team Fat Paddler unable to make the day’s paddle, I hooked up with Alan Jones and Tim Kennings for a run up to the Roseville Bridge. But as we took off up into Middle Harbour, we were met with a floating raft of debris washed into the Harbour from the flooding rains, that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Debris packing the surface of Middle Harbour tangling our kayaks

Cutting through the debris proved annoying, although it did yield a treasure trove of tennis balls, which we promptly scooped up to throw at each as we made our way through the mess. Like ice-breakers in Antarctica, we smashed our way through, only needing to reverse back out of tangled timber on a few occassions.

Once in Bantry Bay we met the Coffee Boat for a quick coffee in the pouring rain, before making our way west to the Roseville Bridge. As we travelled, we started to discover waterfalls gushing through the hills and into the Harbour, which we promptly paddled over to for closer inspection. These falls were beautiful, slicing through the hills and amongst the trees, but I was bummed that I couldn’t get a decent shot from the kayaks. Still, we photographed a few as we went.

Rushing water and oyster beds

More rushing water

Waterfalls hidden in the green bushland, seen from the oyster beds

Once we turned the corner into the Roseville marina area, we could see the Roseville bridge a kilometre in the distance and could just make out a series of waterfalls cascading off the bridge, with one big central waterfall in the bridge’s centre. Alan immediately joked that he was going through it, despite our protests that the water would be dirty from the bridge above. We all paddled down to the Bridge to get a good position to see Alan go through, but seeing him laughing wildly as he ducked under the rushing water like the Solo Man, we all decided to get in on the fun.

Alan's first run through the waterfall

Timbo follows with a dash under the shower

Fat Paddler wants a turn with his new Adanac Paddles!

Alan runs through again, giving us his best "Solo Man" impression

This day of ordinary weather was turning into a heap of fun, as we mucked about in the waterfalls laughing and giggling like kids. Of course we needed to get Alan’s hire boat back to Sydney Harbour Kayaks before it got too late, so we turned around and made our way back through the debris to The Spit.

The Adanac paddles proved brilliant (full review coming soon) and the day proved that no matter how gray the weather may look, when you’re paddling with friends there’s always a heap of good times to be had. Get out there, get wet and have fun! Cheers – FP

More fun that Disneyland!

Rock Garden Series by Adanac Paddles

After a week in snowy Chicago (brrr!), I’ve finally arrived back home in Sydney, with my new custom made Adanac Paddles. I’ve had these for a week but hadn’t opened them properly until tonight, to get my first close look at them.  And I must say, my first impressions are pretty good!

Travel tube, and Adanac paddles in their booties

Full-length and storm-length Greenland paddles

The initial thing I noticed was the incredible rich smell, no doubt owing to whatever secret treatment paddle-maker Jill Ellis has used to finish them off. The smell is mesmerising, as is the beauty of the matching paddles.

Then I noticed the pimped tips – Purple-Heart tips (an extremely hardy Sth American hardwood) with the Fat Paddler logo carved into them.

Pimped paddle tips!

The loom on these paddles is very different from my Aussie-made Greenland-style paddles, which tend to have a fairly small oval-shaped cross section. This feels lovely in the hand but may be a little weak. These Adanac Paddles however have a thick squared-off cross section with rounded corners and feel incredibly sturdy in the hand. I can’t wait to get them in the water tomorrow.

Paddles and paddle booties

Completed with a pair of “paddle booties”, this is the ultimate package for a rough paddle-abuser like myself. Called the “Rock Garden Series”, this new product set from Adanac Paddles looks to be the goods. Can’t wait to test them out whilst kayaking tomorrow! Cheers – FP

What a terrible spot to paddle! Bora Bora, South Pacific

Over dinner tonight Mark, a Chicago-based colleague of mine, mentioned to me that I’d inspired him to go paddling during a recent family vacation to the French island of Bora Bora in the South Pacific. He couldn’t talk highly enough about Bora Bora itself, the amazing snorkling he did with reef sharks and stingrays, and of course the paddling he got up to.

Bora Bora - a Pacific paradise!

Now I haven’t met anyone in Chicago who’s actually been kayaking, so this was great to hear. And by the sounds of it, Mark had numerous great paddles on the clear waters of this tropical paradise. So yet again, I have another paddling spot on my list of places to paddle – thanks Mark! Cheers – FP

The view from Mark's kayak at Bora Bora

The Cove - Japan's Shame

As a kayaker, I feel incredibly close to the waters I paddle in and the life within it. There is no doubt that paddling has made me into an environmentalist, as I see first hand both the splendour of our natural aquatic world, and the damage that we as a species are doing to it.

I have particularly deep feelings about our mammalian cousins who live in our waters, the cetaceans that allow us to share their world. From playful dolphins surfing along our shores to giant whales breaching along our coastline and occassionally in Sydney Harbour, I can’t help but feel these incredible and gentle creatures need to be protected from the men and women who would do them harm.

At 35000 feet above the Pacific Ocean on a flight to the USA, I was happy to see that our Australian national airline Qantas had supported Australia’s stance against whaling by including “The Cove” on its list of inflight movies. This incredible documentary and feature movie had grabbed my attention recently when I started advertising it on FatPaddler.com, so I was quick to make this my first selection during the long 13 hour flight.

Now I find myself sitting here looking out the window high above the world’s greatest ocean trying to hide my tears from the other passengers. It is hard to describe the real horror of this movie, but I wanted to write a short synopsis in the hope that others might look out for The Cove and add their voice to those that are exposing such horrific actions. Whilst it is not a movie that involves paddling at any point, as men and women sharing our waters with our cetacean friends I believe this is a movie that we can all relate to.

The Cove stars Ric O’Barry, the dolphin-trainer responsible for the original Flipper series, and his fight with both his own conscience and the Japanese authorities. His Flipper series created a global demand for the capture of dolphins for theme parks, and the birth of a global trade in dolphins, a point that tortures Ric as he discovers the truth behind the industry his television series had created.

The great disservice nature had bestowed upon dolphins was giving them a natural smile, and for years trainers like Ric saw the dolphins as happy playful animals that adapted to captivity well. However, evidence started to mount that stress was killing captive dolphins and Ric’s epiphony came when one of the original Flipper “actors” swam up to him and drowned itself in his arms – a literal dolphin suicide.

From that day Ric became a champion for freeing captive dolphins, not just as an advocate, but as a man of action who literally travelled the globe cutting into enclosures to free their dolphin captives. Finally he discovers a terrible secret in Japan, where 23,000 dolphins a year are slaughtered, with the town of Taiji at the centre of the horror.

The movie follows his battle with Japanese fishermen, politicians and police to gather evidence of the dolphin slaughter. It shows the high levels of profits and corruption, the incredibly high levels of mercury poisoning occuring through the consumption of dolphin meat, and the inability of the International Whaling Committee to take any meaningful action. Finally, with the aid of an incredible team of special effects wizards, adrenalin junkies and divers, he mounts a daring raid on “The Cove”, the hidden and well guarded killing ground of Taiji.

Using underwater microphones, cameras mounted in fake rocks, remote control helicopters and a cute “whale shaped” blimp, the team gets incredible footage of the barbaric slaughter enabling them to publicise the deception surrounding the dolphin industry.

Hidden Camera Designs... The Rock

This is not a movie for the squeamish. The scene of an escaping dolphin, wounded, terrified and gushing blood will haunt you, as it did the couple who filmed it. But it is an incredibly important documentary highlighting not only the terrible secret of Taiji, but of the corruption surrounding international whaling as led by Japan.

Like shooting fish in a barrel....

Lastly, watching the movie is only the beginning, and I would urge you to take further action if you feel as I do about our cetacean friends. Be it signing the petition to world leaders, or donating to the organisations taking action against dolphin and whale hunting, or even just writing your own review of the movie, do your bit to help protect our wildlife. Cheers – FP

Take action! The following organisations are fighting cetacean hunting:

TheCoveMovie.com

Greenpeace.org

SeaShepherd.org

Surfers for Cetaceans

The Cove available on Amazon

Team Fat Paddler passing Grotto Point and heading for Middle Head

It’s incredible how much difference a week makes! On week 2 of training for TFP, we changed to composite boats from Sydney Harbour Kayaks and head off for Grotto Point in search of some lumpy water. The lads had decided they needed a little taste of rough water to prepare for passing Middle Head during the Kayak for Kids, so I decided to take them out to Grotto Point where they could get a taste as well as have the ability to duck back behind the point if the going got too much. My major concern was Grumm, who had lost his paddling cherry only the previous week, and who had not looked remotely stable nor strong enough to handle too much.

But a miracle had happened. Grumm was now racing in the lead, wielding his paddle like it was Excalibur, and looking…. well, looking pretty good!  So good in fact that, with the the other lads, they passed Grotto Point and kept paddling towards Sydney Heads, riding the choppy swell beautifully.  Of course, I had to call them back, since they were without skirts, safety gear, or training in rescues etc, but I did escort them for a quick peak around Middle Head before heading back to Grotto Point and into the calm waters beyond.

A fellow paddler... gday Mr Pelican!

Once in the calmer waters, I suggested a quick clinic in assisted rescues, to demonstrate to them how to get back in should they fall out somewhere. Pulling into the nearest beach, each of the boys had a turn at re-entering their kayaks with the assistance of the Fat Paddler, learning the basics of assisted rescues.

Team Fat Paddler comparing ugly shorts on the beach after assisted rescue clinic

With that complete, we took off for a leisurely paddle to past Clontarf Beach, under The Spit Bridge, around the marina and back, before running into our paddling mate Tim Kennings, who joined us on the beach at Sydney Harbour Kayaks for a few coffees and a few dozen funny paddling stories!

Sacha passing some slightly bigger boats

All up another beautiful day on the Harbour for TFP, some fun in the lumps, and an incredible improvement in Grumm’s performance. Nice stuff boys!  Cheers – FP

The Kayak Kowboy - Alan

The Great Improver - Grumm

The Wise-cracking Creative Type - Sacha

The Barely-Afloat - Fat Paddler