On the Tasman Sea - ship ahoy!
Ordinarily the ocean swell that buffets Sydney is pretty intense and my paddles have largely remained on estuaries. But on this particular day, a quick paddle to Grotto Point to watch the sunrise brought me into the swell which was, well, non-existant!
So for the first time I continued my paddle past the Grotto Point reserve and into Manly, before paddling around the inside of North Head. Then as I got to the exposed end of the head, I decided to keep going and head to sea.
Watching a maxi-yacht re-enter the Harbour
This still involved a good km or so of paddle past the southern cliffs of North Head to actually leave the Harbour and get out to sea (and braving the swell bouncing off the cliffs and broadsiding me from the opposite side to the swell), and by this time the swell had not only picked up, but had wind-driven cross-waves of 4-5 feet making my paddle pretty scary.
Then finally I passed the head and paddled about half a km out to sea, keeping a careful eye on yacht and fishing boat traffic, whilst admiring the rugged cliffs of the Sydney coastline.
Looking back at the Sydney skyline from sea
Then after deciding I’d been scared long enough, I turned around and rode the swell back into the Harbour before returning to The Spit for a much needed coffee at Sydney Harbour Kayaks. Another minor challenge on my journey out the way. Now, bring on the Classic! 
Tags: tasman sea
Fat Paddler on Tweeterview.com
I was interviewed by Twitter celebrity @ireckon tonight about the upcoming Hawkesbury Classic via a new website service called Tweeterview. This great site facilitates online interviews in real time which are also fed to Twitter, but the real benefit comes at the end where it publishes a permanent record of the tweeterview on the site for future referencing.
Big thanks to @ireckon for letting me take part – cheers!
Tags: tweeterview
Fat Paddler sighting in Greenland
I received this great photo from Chris Paton, a remarkable bloke living in Uummannaq Greenland who is preparing for (and I quote from his Facebook Page):
“The Seven Settlements 2010 is a solo folding kayak expedition that will visit all seven settlements in the Uummannaq fjord region of North West Greenland. 450km of paddling among icebergs and whales, 650km north of the Arctic Circle.”
Besides the fact I thought it was way cool to see the Fat Paddler logo on ice in such a distant land, Chris is embarking on an amazing journey and I wanted to give him a plug for he is doing. The photos alone of his “training lead-up” in the arctic are worth checking out, especially of you are fond of whales, icebergs or the Northern Lights.
His various online locations as follows: Official Website | Facebook | Twitter . Best of luck Chris.
Sometimes words just don’t do the photos justice. Big bad James “NomadRip”, originator of the Fat Paddler slogan and winner of a Fat Paddler tshirt, published this series of photos of him doing the tshirt proud, all the way over in sunny Florida, USA. Great stuff mate, absolutely sensational! Now on to the photos…..
Apparently that's a spring roll. Looks like a large intestine!
What would a Fat Paddler buy at the store?
Must.... eat.... more!!
Tags: NomadRip
Sea-kayak lessons at Sydney Harbour Kayaks
Following an early morning paddle I did a full day’s sea-kayaking class at Sydney Harbour Kayaks. This course is the beginners guide to different paddle strokes and assisted/solo rescues, so I was quite excited about the chance to learn some interesting stuff.
Adrian, sea-kayak instructor at Sydney Harbour Kayaks
The instructor Adrian was both passionate and knowledgeable on the subject and offered a range of good tips on navigation etc before we hit the water. He also had some “seiously mad skillz” in the kayak, demonstating many different paddle strokes and basic kayak skills before moving onto the forward stroke and rescue sections after lunch.
Sea-kayak lesson, Sydney Harbour Kayaks
One of the sections to come later was rescues (solo and assisted). Now, having never worn a skirt on the kayak before I was a little nervous about this, but of course my overzealous paddling soon saw me flip over well before we’d started the rescue section. So there I am, upside down, strapped into the kayak, and honestly in a state of complete panic. Not too much though, as I still managed to get the skirt off the correct way and roll out of the kayak, before trying the first of the assisted rescues for the day.
A big man about to climb (dis)gracefully into his kayak
Needless to say it was good practice for the rest of the day, as we did a fair bit of rescuing, and being rescued. And despite the wet cold feeling the day had offered a whole range of new skills that were well worth learning (and practicing).
A big thanks to Adrian and Sydney Harbour Kayaks – I had a great day!
Adrian & Fat Paddler both looking drenched
Tags: sea kayak, sea kayak lessons
